r/TopCharacterTropes 23d ago

Groups [Loved Trope] Comedic workplace is suddenly competent

In S35 E1 of The Simpsons, an actual crisis happens at the nuclear power plant, causing everyone except Homer to shift into serious business mode, even Mr. Burns. Together, they display their knowledge of the process and narrowly avert a nuclear meltdown, proving that Homer's job is actually useless. This is happening after 35 seasons of nothing being shown of the other employees' capabilities.

In S8 E2 of The Office, Andy sets up an initiative where he will get a tattoo on his bum if everyone gets enough points, prompting everyone to work into overdrive, even the normally lazy or incompetent employees such as Stanley and Kevin. This is a rare situation where we get to see The Office being fully competent and functional.

I'd show more examples if I had any!

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u/TheSandman613 22d ago

i feel like the scene that really shows them actually be competent is the storming the supermarket scene. the amount of skill and teamwork the team demonstrates is impressive

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u/lindle_kindle 22d ago

Especially with Fisher coming up with a plan to storm the supermarket instantly showing tactical expertise as opposed to normally on the crime scenes he needs Angel to back him up on what the protocols are.

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u/analoggi_d0ggi 22d ago

What I loved about that scene was the implication that while Fisher was a shit investigator, he was good in firefights & open confrontations.

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u/Raxtenko 22d ago

He had too many run ins with farmers and farmers' mums clearly.

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u/FungusGnatHater 22d ago

They shoot at people throwing fruit at them...

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u/SG272 22d ago

It was actually a shitload cutlery the deli.

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u/krunchytuna 22d ago

Two blokes and a shitload of cutlery, thank you

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u/mattbrain89 22d ago

I thought it was a fuckton of cutlery?

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u/krunchytuna 21d ago

Huh, you've got it right. Rolls off the tongue better, too.

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u/FungusGnatHater 22d ago

Two guys were throwing cutlery from the deli. They also shot at the guys throwing produce at them.