The Old Country: Difference between revisions

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There's just one problem - if you claim this geographic hodgepodge is a real country, you'll get a lot of complaints from nationals of that country, either because you've totally misrepresented their traditions, or because you've just described them as a bunch of uneducated peasants. So, the best route to take is to ignore the country issue altogether: Whenever you need to have your character talk about his origins, have them call it "the old country".

The old country is usually a [[Ruritania]] or [[Uberwald]], with splashes of [[Oktoberfest|Bavaria]], [[Olive Garden|the Mediterranean]], [[In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You|the Former Soviet Union]], [[Norse By Norsewest|Scandinavia]] and [[Scotireland]]. Expect everyone to drive [[The Alleged Car|Ladas]] and tractors (if not goat carts), eat some sort of [[Foreign Queasine|bizarre offal sausage]] and speak in a lilting yet guttural tongue.

The old country is usually a [[Ruritania]] or [[Uberwald]], with splashes of [[Oktoberfest|Bavaria]], [[Olive Garden|the Mediterranean]], [[In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You|the Former Soviet Union]], [[Norse by Norsewest|Scandinavia]] and [[Scotireland]]. Expect everyone to drive [[The Alleged Car|Ladas]] and tractors (if not goat carts), eat some sort of [[Foreign Queasine|bizarre offal sausage]] and speak in a lilting yet guttural tongue.

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== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* ''[[House (TV)|House]]'' and ''[[Scrubs]]'' have both featured doctors, struggling with their [[Worthless Foreign Degree|Worthless Foreign Degrees]], who merely came from the old country.

* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' and ''[[Scrubs]]'' have both featured doctors, struggling with their [[Worthless Foreign Degree|Worthless Foreign Degrees]], who merely came from the old country.

* Let us not forget [[Andy Kaufman|Latka Gravas]] of ''[[Taxi]]'' fame, whose country was entirely fictional and rather vague. Probably the [[Trope Codifier]] for the current era.

* The original ''[[All That]]'' had a recurring character named Ishboo (played by Kenan Thompson) who fit this trope.

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== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Rolf from ''[[Ed, Edd n Eddy]]'' claims to be from "the old country", which is a land of strange folk tales, ghastly traditions involving seafood, and lederhosen. Perhaps he's actually from [[Cloudcuckooland]]?

* Rolf from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' claims to be from "the old country", which is a land of strange folk tales, ghastly traditions involving seafood, and lederhosen. Perhaps he's actually from [[Cloudcuckooland]]?

** Rolf is based (and exaggerated) from childhood experiences of the show's creator, Danny Antonucci, himself the child of Italian immigrants, dealing with the culture shock that sort of upbringing provides.

* Didi's parents on ''[[Rugrats]]'' are like this. Especially her father. Apparently, in the old country, a woman gives birth in the potato fields, puts the child on her back and keeps going. Yeah.

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* Parodied on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' - see the page quote.

* Tish's family in ''[[The Weekenders]]''. Again, it is just called ''The Old Country'' and nobody knows which one. When a television report was done on Tish, they said experts were unable to locate on a map or even ''pronounce'' the country. Presumably it no longer exists...

* In ''[[Kick Buttowski]]'', this is where Gunther's family is from. Aparently it is set somewhere [[Norse By Norsewest]], where the people [[Horny Vikings|still follow the old ways]]. One episode takes place there, and it is indeed called The Old Country.

* In ''[[Kick Buttowski]]'', this is where Gunther's family is from. Aparently it is set somewhere [[Norse by Norsewest]], where the people [[Horny Vikings|still follow the old ways]]. One episode takes place there, and it is indeed called The Old Country.

== [[Real Life]] ==