Friends Rent Control: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

Your cast of good-looking single hangarounds live in a fancy apartment in the middle of the town. None of them seems to work, or if they do, they're usually [[One-Hour Work Week|actors, columnists or whatever leaves them with a lot of leisure time]] to have drama in their clean, well-furnished flats. How can they afford it? They have '''Friends Rent Control''', named after ''[[Friends]]'', where the cast [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] their situation by saying they had rent control.

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* Arguably omnipresent in this category given that Japan has higher housing costs than almost anywhere else. Just about every anime has an unspoken district in Tokyo where decently sized apartments or full-fledged houses can be bought cheaply. A few acknowledge it with even a line about it being an old family home or something, once... maybe. The breadwinner in [[Death Note|Light Yagami]]'s household is a policeman (Though he is Chief of Japan's National Police Agency which is comparable to say the FBI); in [[Sailor Moon]]'s household (in the particularly expensive Tokyo district of Juubangai), it's a ''news photographer'' (although later it seems he's been promoted to editor, and in the Manga and live-action television series he's instead highly respected and well-known photojournalist); and in ''[[Tantei Gakuen Q]]'', it's not clear if Kyu's mom actually ''has'' a job, but they're all able to afford houses in Tokyo.

* ''Possibly'' averted in ''[[My Lovely Ghost Kana]]'', because the apartment building where Daikichi lives is described as "nearly abandoned" and he may actually be squatting. Neither is it entirely clear what he actually does for a living.

* Averted in the ''[[Knights of the Dinner Table]]'' comics. The main character have the free time and wherewithal to participate in a once-a-week [[Hackmaster]] campaign and many other events in the local gaming community. But despite the unusual amount of time devoted to this hobby, most characters in the comic do have fairly realistic jobs and home situations that tend to suffer when neglected.

* [[Donald Duck]] lives in a free-standing two-floor house, despite not being able to hold a job for very long, or living on his uncle's slave labor wages. Handwaved by claiming Scrooge rents him the house, but that just raises more questions.

** Somewhat averted in the same series, as the main character lives in a cramped basement apartment, rents a small office for his business, and spends a few books worrying about how he'll pay rent.

* In ''[[Becker]]'', Linda the brain dead bimbo nurse of Dr. Becker lives in a spacious flat that Becker is completely envious of. Though this is because her parents, who are extremely rich, pay for it. Becker himself has told her that he has the desire to murder her and live there, played for laughs.

* ''[[Friends]]'', the [[Trope Namer]]. [[Handwaved]] by Monica claiming that her place actually belongs to her grandmother: Monica is illegally subletting it. The superintendent is actually aware that Monica is breaking the law, and one episode centered on Joey trying to persuade him not to blow the whistle after his patience runs out. Chandler and Joey's apartment across the hall is an aversion, as Chandler has what is implied to be a high-paying white collar job which would allow him to support both himself and the frequently unemployed Joey. By the end of the series, all of the characters ended up with jobs that would have allowed them to afford the apartments outright.

* Subverted in ''[[Rhapsodies]]''. Kate, Paul and Brian live in an apartment across the street from a popular park, owned by Brian's parents. However, the three units surrounding Brian's apartment are almost unrentable so his parents are virtually giving them away at slum rates.

* Justified in ''[[SSDD]]'' as Richard is actually the landlord and willing to give his friends a lot of leeway when it comes to rent (Norman helps him shake up the tenants in his other properties, Kingston often pays in dope, and Anne sleeps with him). Neither is he above threatening to chuck Kingston or even [[Comedic Sociopathy|Norman]] out if they really try his patience.

== Web Original ==

** Subverted when [[Reality Ensues|mid-explanation there's a knock on '90s Kid's door]].

{{quote|''' '90s Kid''': Oh, that's probably my land lord with another eviction note [Crashing sound] And a battering ram. [[[Dramatic Gun Cock]]] And a sawed-off shotgun... }}

== Western Animation ==