Topic on Talk:Unintentional Period Piece
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Sorry to revive the thread, but it's actually a somewhat interesting topic:
The thing is, yes, it's a trope, but not as TVTropes has it described currently.
The trope is about things that unintentionally slap you in the face with when they were made in ways that stand out extraordinarily. It needs to literally be bleeding "I was made in [year]" out its eyeballs in order to be a true Unintentional Period Piece, IMHO.
The Barney Miller example (discussion of police raids on gay bars, and a possible smallpox outbreak) provided the perfect example because it was dated in a very sharp, very particular way. The current TVTropes "concrete example" is too vague by comparison.
And yeah, you're right, it's an Audience Reaction.