Milk a sitcom for some more rating points
Also Known As
Don't-they-have-any-shame-whatsoever Pattern
Motivation
- A show has been on the air for longer than anybody would have wished, and the writers have long since run out of good storylines. But the channel does not want to risk taking it off the air and replacing it with something unproven, thereby losing its primetime spot.
- The lead actors are beginning to have weight problems.
- Things are not so hunky dory since the sickeningly cute child star hit puberty and looks plain sickening, instead.
Typically applies to sitcoms where each episode is self-contained, thereby affording easy entry and exit of, say, one of the main character's childhood friends or estranged sister.
Consequences
- The show in question loses even more credibility
- The actors are richer by another million dollars
Brad Pitt in Friends; George Clooney in Friends; Christina Applegate in -- where else -- Friends.
Related Patterns
Air-cuts-from-old-episodes-as-flashbacks Pattern
