Titus: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

[[File:titus-cast.jpg|frame|Shiny Happy People? Oh no no.]]

 

 

Titus talked to the audience from a black-and-white room referred to by fans as the "Neutral Space." (It was never verified exactly what that room represented: his stream of consciousness, his thoughts during a therapy session, or a realm where he can literally [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|break the fourth wall]] and talk to the audience? Hints are given towards each one.) From that room, he detailed his thoughts, feelings and [[Backstory]] elements that can better explain the current story. It also allowed a [[Jump Cut]] to a [[Flash Back]] or [[Imagine Spot]] when needed.

Because it made fun of such sensitive things, it was considered pushing the envelope too far and was canceled after three seasons. In retrospect, Christopher Titus said that the ratings were always solid but he would prefer it be canceled for how controversial it was rather than being a failure.

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Abusive Parents]]: ''Titus'' took this trope, [[Up to Eleven|turned it up to eleven]], ''and'' played it for both Laughs and Drama.

* [[An Aesop]]: In all its incarnations and variations. Once Titus took comfort in the fact that he and Erin had a fight and they [[Rash Equilibrium|cheated on each other]]. Titus said that, for him, good things are just bad things that haven't happened yet. So no matter how perfect their relationship got, Titus and Erin could always take solace in the fact that they once cheated on each other. (And no one could ever take that away from them.)

* [[Altar the Speed]]: Titus and Erin tried to get married before any of their dysfunctional relatives arrived. It failed. [[Hilarity Ensues|Hilarity Ensued]].

* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Tommy. Justified in that {{spoiler|Tommy's father was gay and Tommy emulated what his father did -- minus the "having-sex-with-men" part -- not knowing that it would brand him as being gay}}.

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Titus names off three massacres in history that started off with "Surprise!": the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor, the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive, and...Titus's uncle's 50th birthday party. Turns out the last one isn't as harmless as it should be as {{spoiler|Titus's uncle fired a gun in the room and killed two people before Titus stopped him}}.

* [[Beard of Sorrow]]: Christopher's car shop went under and he pushed Erin away when he went back to the bottle. He seemed to instantly get three days' growth, but him shaving (after accidentally setting fire to a crudely-made dummy version of Erin during a drunken candlelight dinner) was a sign he was trying to get sober again.

* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: While it's hard to do, pushing Tommy too far may get him to {{spoiler|tase your juvenile delinquent ass up or kick the homophobic shit out of you and force you to scream "I'm a homo!"}}

** Titus drunkenly falling into the bonfire is mentioned frequently, as well as the few times he lived with his deranged Mom as a child.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: As stated, Dave. Justified in that he is also [[The Stoner]] and most of what he says could be the marijuana talking.

* [[The Danza]]: Titus himself.

* {{spoiler|[[Dead All Along]]}}: {{spoiler|Juanita at the end of "The Visit." Just as Titus, Dave, Tommy, and Ken are about to attack Juanita, thinking that she escaped from the mental hospital again, Erin comes in with a phone, telling Titus that his mom was found dead four hours ago in Missouri from a suicide.}}

** Titus' schizophrenic mother Juanita (who also was abusive to Ken, often threatening his life and using sex to lure him back to her) was abused by her psychologist fiance ( {{spoiler|until she shot him}}).

* [[Dope Slap]]: Titus frequently did this to Dave, to the point where when Titus was unconscious in the hospital, Dave would hit himself with Titus' limp hand, crying "It's not the same!"

* [[Double Entendre]]: Often. Dave frequently hears things as one, or his goofiness will make things that aren't double entendres into one for the audience. Papa Titus also frequently makes them, especially when he hits on women or makes fun of Tommy's supposed homosexuality.

'''Dave''': (''gasps happily'') "It talks?!" }}

* [[Double Standard]]: Addressed when Tommy encounters an old girlfriend with a restraining order against him. They had sex when they were together and she was debating on breaking up with him. When he approached her (naked) to have sex again she used it as an excuse to break up with him and filed the restraining order. When talking to her in the present she claimed he tried to rape her. Titus picked apart the trope by telling her that claiming rape when they already had regular intercourse is not a substitute for telling Tommy that she hated him and never wanted to see him again.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: {{spoiler|Titus' mom at the end of "The Visit." At the beginning of "Insanity Genetic, Part One," the first thing Christopher and Ken asked when news of Juanita's death hit was "Did she take anyone else with her?" Fortunately for them, she didn't}}.

* [[Dude, Not Funny]]: Christopher Titus said that ''every'' episode involved a phone call to the network trying to explain the humor behind such episode topics as mental illness, road rage, gun use, homophobia, family dysfunction, and alcoholism (among other things). The season one episode "Intervention" almost got banned because the story involved Tommy, Dave, Erin, and Titus trying to get Papa Titus to drink again, as he functioned better in life when he was a drunk.

* [[The Fun in Funeral]]: Christopher went to an ex-girlfriend's funeral not because he was saddened, but because he wanted to make sure [[Yandere|she was really dead]].

** Considering how he introduces her at the beginning of the series:

** Something interesting but, for all of the gay jokes on the show (mostly centered on Tommy being [[Ambiguously Gay]] according to Titus's dad), the two executive producers Brian Hargrove and Jack Kenny were gay themselves. "Tommy's Not Gay" even won a GLAAD award for its hilarious, yet realistic approach to homosexuality and homophobia.

** Cynthia Watros said that nearly every episode she would approach Christopher and ask "This ''actually'' happened to you?" and hugged him.

* [[Hammerspace]]: Granted the Neutral Space was not exactly reality, but it did often have random things appear. Video editing equipment, giant wall safe, food and of course hammers showed up often.

* [[Hilariously Abusive Childhood]]: The entire series is based around this.

* [[In Memoriam]]: The real Ken Titus was honored in the episode "The Pendulum" (where Titus is in a coma and Ken [Stacy Keach] is narrating the story in the Neutral Space) with a clip from a visit he made to the set where he sat in the Neutral Space chair and said, "There's about 10% of truth to this..." with Christopher laughing in the background going "Right..."

* [[I Take Offense to That Last One]]: When Christopher starts drinking again, he calls himself an alcoholic. Papa Titus' reply was "You're not an alcoholic; you haven't earned it."

* [[The Load]]: Titus frequently had to bail Dave out of whatever crap he had gotten himself into.

* [[Magical Security Cam]]: The Neutral Space would introduce some film clips of past events, sometimes realistically done like a stationary security cam, and sometimes done like a camcorder. Other times, it would show something from someone else's point of view ("Biological Mom Cam," "Dad Cam," "Minimum Wage Cam," "Marijuana Task Force Cam," "Back of Dad's Hand Cam," "Fist Cam," "Stripper Girlfriend Cam," "Miracle of Life Cam," "Psycho-Bitch Cam", "NASCAR Cam," and "Van Damme Fan Cam")

* [[Meaningful Echo]]: Papa Titus' [[Catch Phrase]] is "Quit being a wussy!" and when Titus' shop went under, he turned to alcohol. Papa Titus gave him a rare moment of genuine concern but also explained the concept of a [[Crapsack World]] and finished it with:

* [[Mercy Lead]]: Spoofed. In "The Protector" once {{spoiler|the man who molested Amy is exposed, Amy is about to go to town on him with a baseball bat. Then the school principal walks in...}}

'''Principal''': I'm going to take about five minutes. ''[beat]'' Maybe thirty. ''[beat]'' Call me when I'm "done". }}

* [[Metaphorgotten]]

* [[Missing Episode]]: Aired out of order, but you get the sense that they were changed because they were originally going to be taken out entirely, as both episode only aired at the end of the season; while there was only a light storyline, it still created some skewed continuity. They were held back because of how extreme the subject matter got. "The Wedding" was moved five episodes down to the end of the second season because the episode involved domestic violence in a church (Juanita's boyfriend punches her in the face and Juanita shoots him). "The Protector" takes place in the middle of the third season but was moved to the end (after the "Insanity Genetic" two-parter) because it dealt with child molestation ( {{spoiler|Erin's niece Amy reveals that she was molested by a family friend who turns out to be the father of a boy who sexually harasses her at school}}).

* [[Mistaken for Cheating]]: "Sex With Pudding"

** In Episode Eleven, Titus humiliates his dad and starts joking at him. Then, in the middle of Ken's stuttering rebuttals, {{spoiler|he suddenly goes into cardiac arrest, while the doctors come rushing in to help him}}

* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: Several of Erin's outfits, especially in season 3, had her breasts more out than in. Justified in that Cynthia Watros was pregnant for a couple episodes of season two ([[Hide Your Pregnancy|it was hidden, naturally]]) and had just given birth in between seasons two and three.

* [[No Fourth Wall]]: In the Neutral Space cutaways.

* [[No, You]]: In "The Pendulum" Tommy is too upset and responds to Ken's common insult with "No! ''You'' are gay!"

* [[Only Sane Man]]: Erin. Sure, she has her "If you can't beat them, join them" moments and her family is more dysfunctional than Titus's, but she's the only one who tries logic first. Tommy tries it too, but [[Butt Monkey|he's such a wet sack nobody listens to him]].

* [[The Other Darrin]]: Played straight with Titus's mom, who was played by three different actresses during the show's short-run, as well as the psychiatrist dating her who only appeared in two episodes; averted with Erin's family, as all of them were played by the same actors in such episodes as "The Perfect Thanksgiving" and "Deprogramming Erin" (though Amy didn't appear in "The Perfect Thanksgiving").

** On a more intentional [[Anachronic Order]], some episodes reference upcoming stories, such as Ken's "heart attack" while driving ending the first season but was referenced earlier.

* [[Reality Subtext]]: Titus's real father (Ken Titus) died in mid-second season and Christopher got some time off to take care of things. The first episode upon returning involved Christopher and Papa Titus (played here by Stacy Keach) being manipulated by Erin to take a road trip together (each thinking the other was dying). The real Christopher had to take a break a few times because he felt really uncomfortable doing an episode about the death of his father.

* [[Real Time]]: With few exceptions, each episode's main story took place in real time on one set. If not, then in a close time frame (like an afternoon). They kept up [[Rapid-Fire Comedy|the energy]] by using the neutral space for flashbacks and imagine spots.

* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: The entire series could count given the subject matter, but the episode "Errr" took it to new heights with the topic of people attempting suicide over a jilted romance.

* [[Rule of Three]]: Mentioned in the [[DVD Commentary]] that they always tried to work in one particular joke three times. Dave's breath spray in "Tommy's Not Gay" is an example.

* [[Running Gag]]: Every episode had either actual fire or had the threat of someone or something being set on fire, including the story of how Christopher got drunk during a school beach party and fell into a bonfire (which [[Real Life Writes the Plot|actually happened to him]], according to the comedy special, "Norman Rockwell is Bleeding.")

** In "Hard Ass," (the episode where Amy stays over with Erin and Titus) there's a running flashback gag where every time Ken finds teenage Titus's marijuana stash, Ken punishes teenage Titus, then keeps the marijuana for himself.

* [[The Sadistic Choice]]: Titus being asked which parent he wanted to stay with.

'''Titus''': "I don't have to choose between you. I'm not 5... 7, 12, or 16 anymore." }}

* [[Tough Love]]: Ken Titus speciality. Titus tries it on Dave on the episode "Into Thin Air".

* [[Screw the Money, I Have Rules]] and [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]]: Subverted. In "Titus Integritus," Titus broods over a request from a customer to make an ugly modern attachment to a classic hot rod which brings him into conflict with everyone else who wants to get paid. Just as he brings some of the others to his side, the customer gives him a check with a lot of 'zeroes.'

* [[Sink or Swim Mentor]]: Papa Titus throws Dave into the water to teach him how to swim. When he turns out to be too much of a "wussy", he throws Titus in to "save [his] brother." Then he eats Titus' sandwich. The kids were around 10 at the time.

* [[Stepford Smiler]]: Erin. She was frequently shown as trying to be optimistic despite the horrible surroundings, only to have it all blow up in her face, time after time. This show being [[Black Comedy|what it is,]] it was always [[Played for Laughs]].

* [[Survival Mantra]]: Erin's "HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY..."

* [[Very Special Episode]]: The entire show was also a [[Deconstruction]] of the very idea. ''Every'' episode had something most TV shows either wouldn't do because it's too controversial or would do, but would make it more dramatic than comedic. The closest it's come to something more traditional were "Tommy's Not Gay" (where Tommy gets angry at his father after his father confesses that he's gay), "The Last Noelle," (where Titus goes to the funeral of his abusive ex-girlfriend), and "The Protector" (where Amy recognizes the father of the boy who sexually harasses her at school as the man who molested her as a kid).

* [[Wham! Episode]]: "The Visit". {{spoiler|After Titus, Dave, Tommy, and Papa Titus have Juanita cornered in the closet -- thinking that she escaped the mental hospital again, Erin comes in with a call from the Missouri police, stating that Juanita Titus was found dead four hours ago from a suicide. Titus doesn't believe Erin until he opens the closet and finds no one there}}.

'''Papa Titus''': Oh well, that makes sense. First time I saw a black guy take a TV ''into'' a house. }}

** Also:

'''Papa Titus''': That's my kind of Mexican! }}

** And:

'''Papa Titus''': In ''society's'' eyes, I'm saying! }}

* [[What Could Have Been]]: Tommy (David Shatraw's character) was almost played by Steve Carrell.

* [[The Woobie]]: Christopher ''and'' Erin both fit.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Dom Com]]