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Cousin Oliver: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"'''Do?''' What does he '''do?''' Why, he's '''adorable!''' And people will '''love''' it!"''
|'''Dr. Forrester,''' ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000|MST3K]]''}}
{{quote|''"Aw, I freakin' hate that little kid! Why'd they ever bring her on the show?"''
|'''[[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad]]''', [http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail165.html strong badathlon]}}
[[Cousin Oliver]] is that inexplicable kid added to the show's roster, usually in an attempt to liven up an aging cast with a character the younger demographics can ([[Totally Radical|supposedly]]) relate to. However, such a character is likely to upset the dynamic of the show. And since their only character trait is to be cute and innocently wisecracking, it's far too easy for them to become overbearing and annoying to viewers, especially the ones who have followed the series for a while, making Cousin Olivers very susceptible to becoming [[The Scrappy]].
Sometimes they're introduced at the end of a character's season-long pregnancy arc. Once the new baby hijinks are up, they are then afflicted with [[Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome]]. This doesn't always make it better. Compare [[Kid Appeal Character]], who is generally there from the beginning. If the addition is a literal cousin, also [[Nephewism]].
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== Live Action TV ==
* The [[Trope Namer]] -- played by Robbie Rist -- was added to ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' toward the end and was the last gasp of the show. He's also cited as the definitive proof of the franchise having [[Jump the Shark|jumped the shark]].
** Robbie Rist became a Cousin Oliver again a couple of years later when he was Ted Baxter's adopted son in ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]''.
** And then he did it ''again'' when he played Doctor Zee in ''[[
* Stephanie on ''[[All in The Family]]'', arguably a case of [[Tropes Are Not Bad]].
* Somewhat parodied on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' with Dawn. Buffy comes home at the end of an episode and {{spoiler|suddenly has a little sister, when up to that moment she'd always been explicitly an only child. Everyone acts like she'd had a sister all along, and no one notices anything strange - except crazy people. An entire episode passes like this. Luckily, we soon learn that Dawn is there because of [[Cosmic Retcon|a magic spell which altered everyone's memories]] (including hers) and that she's actually a [[Cosmic Keystone]] in human form}}.
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