History Main / IndubitablyUninterestingIndividual

* ''Franchise/{{TheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy}}'' seems to paint this as one of the Vogons' hats, with VastBureaucracy and ObstructiveBureaucrat built-in. Their poetry is so uninteresting and terrible that it's used as a method of torture. It's even more egregious with the [[Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy 2005 Movie]] where every Vogon's lifestyle seems to revolve around conformity, bureaucracy, and inhibition of creativity. (All of their buildings are dull, almost-featureless block-like skyscrapers on the outside AND inside, the majority of them dress in ill-fitting suits, their lives are governed by filing and transfer of properly signed paperwork, and they work according to a consistent schedule.) [[spoiler:On Vogsphere, the planet of the Vogons, there is a species of subterranean plant that slaps anyone who has a coherent thought or idea upside the head.]]

* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy'' seems to paint this as one of the Vogons' hats, with VastBureaucracy and ObstructiveBureaucrat built-in. Their poetry is so uninteresting and terrible that it's used as a method of torture. It's even more egregious with the [[Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy 2005 Movie]] where every Vogon's lifestyle seems to revolve around conformity, bureaucracy, and inhibition of creativity. (All of their buildings are dull, almost-featureless block-like skyscrapers on the outside AND inside, the majority of them dress in ill-fitting suits, their lives are governed by filing and transfer of properly signed paperwork, and they work according to a consistent schedule.) [[spoiler:On Vogsphere, the planet of the Vogons, there is a species of subterranean plant that slaps anyone who has a coherent thought or idea upside the head.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic:'' Brings us Maude Pie. A LiteralMinded, exceedingly calm and seemingly emotionless pony. Her debut episode sees her visit her [[SiblingYinYang sister Pinkie Pie]] as well as gain the chance to meet Pinkie Pie's friends for the first time. They all find her off-putting due to her interests in rocks,rock related poetry and her pet rock-- a pebble named Boulder. Presented with a collection of beautiful dresses that Rarity made, she promptly decides on wearing an old dishtowel. When offered a muffin, she inadvertently eats a sizeable rock that was dropped into the batch. Adding to the difficulty, [[CreepyMonotone she always speaks flatly.]] The episode culminates in all of them deciding that their friendship with Pinky Pie is what unites them as friends. Though Maude's expression never changes in the slightest, Pinky Pie remarks that she's never seen Maude more excited.

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* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin's parents seem to be like this, from his point-of-view.

* ''Series/MADtv'': The skit [[https://youtu.be/ExNvVnWLSWc "How To Telephone A Girl"]] parodies the depiction of the early 1950s as this, while also serving as a blatant advertisement for Bell Telephone and social propaganda from The Daughters of the Confederacy. Two school students, Eddie, a "normal" person, and Bud, a jock, are told about a hayride on Friday. Both of them plan to call someone for a date. Eddie later telephones Janet, a seemingly prim, proper girl, on a Bell Telephone. Unfortunately, Janet's mother tells Eddie that Janet is in the bathtub bathing; this arouses Eddie, who gets a bulge in his jeans. Eddie [[FelonyMisdemeanor acts as if he has sinned and goes to his bedroom to pray.]] Bud, on the other hand, calls Janet using an inferior "oriental" telephone and is seemingly destined for a bad date on the hayride. Despite this, Bud has the rowdiest romantic time of his life there, while Eddie and Janet (both dressed in spic-and-span clothing) treat touching each other as if it were blasphemous.

** Unless something is wrong aboard ship, on most starships including the Enterprise-D, the corridors, hallways, and crew quarters are spick-and-span spotless. This, combined with its design, has led some people to compare the Enterprise to a glorified cruise ship. Even Scotty, in the episode "Relics", points this out.
--->'''Scotty:''' Good lord man, where have you put me?

** On the other hand, this is semi-averted with Data. He was built that way. He does not need to consume food. His off-duty activities include reading poems, studying schematics, listening to music, painting, being company for his pet cat Spot, and playing the violin. Despite this, his exploration of humanity, his desire to be more human, and his superhuman abilities make him interesting. Also averted in that he does find acting in certain stories, such as Sherlock Holmes or The Tempest, appealing.
*** Furthermore, in a canceled spin-off called "Star Trek: Federation", the United Federation of Planets becomes this, losing a lot of member worlds in the process.

** Amy Farrah Fowler, who was originally [[DistaffCounterpart a female Sheldon]], started out this way. On their first date, she ordered a glass of tepid water; when she was invited to her first-ever "girl's night," she had to buy a set of genuinely comfortable clothes (since she didn't own any) and printed out a list of activities to follow; and her favorite TV show is the decidedly old-fashioned ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie.'' Over time, though, CharacterDevelopment kicked in, and she started exploring other activities and becoming more social. Tellingly, in the penultimate season, she gets legitimately angry when Penny and Bernadette arrange a quilting bee for her bachelorette party. They acquiesce and go to a bar instead...where Amy [[CantHoldHisLiquor promptly passes out after one shot of liquor.]]

*** In another episode, Homer encounters Flanders at a historic cider mill, where not only does he rattle off cider trivia, but even shows his cider mill '''season pass''', which happens to be number...00001.

** Probably because of his mother Agnes' influence, Principal Seymour Skinner is another good example. His activities mainly include being the Principal of Springfield Elementary, doing light-silhouette cutouts with his mother, and helping her around the house.
** In "Bart's Friend Falls in Love", one-off students Ezekiel and Ishmael are prohibited from watching a sex-ed film, and their appearance makes Flanders' family seem saintly. Both wear clean white collared shirts and dress shorts, sit up straight, and sport eerily-proper haircuts. One of them has his hands clasped together over what is implied to be a Bible.

[[/folder]]
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* ’’WesternAnimation/GravityFalls’’ is a town where everyone’s a little bit strange, except for one man, the very ironically named Tad Strange.

* ’’WesternAnimation/Gravity Falls is a town where everyone’s a little bit strange, except for one man, the very ironically named Tad Strange.

* ''Series/ThePeterSerafinowiczShow'' had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGxqXzbE5jM 1940s parody]] of ''Series/WhoWantstoBeaMillionaire'', titled ''Who Would like to Win 100 [British] Pounds?''. It's set in what can be considered a parlor, the clapping and speaking are as polite as that of a golf match, the only music is provided by a harp, "Silly Town" is the best possible parody answer, and the audience is dressed in their Sunday best. The host provides "jokes" resulting in stilted, polite laughter.

Have you ever seen a character that never seems to move outside the boundaries of what society deems as mundane or boring? The air around them is so dry and uninteresting that it makes you want to drink a water-cooler-jug's worth of water. Their most extreme hobbies include such things as solitaire, knitting, reading the newspaper, and listening to chamber music. Their favorite foods tend to be white bread, white rice, water, plain boiled macaroni, unflavored oatmeal, or any dull, tasteless fare. Their collections tend to involve paper cuttings or chotchkes that have no real subjective value (such as doilies or painted walnut shells). They love IncrediblyLameFun. They may dress in muted or prim-and-proper attire (barring tuxedos and evening gowns), even when the situation may not call for it. Their house is immaculate and clean, and their manners are polite, courteous, and non-threatening. They may even stick closely to a planned-in-advance schedule. They sit up straight, follow the rules, and never make a fuss -- so much so that their voice may never waver above an octave or 50db (the normal decibel range for conversation). Sometimes they are meek and timid. Even if they do "lash out" and "curse", either what they say is cute at best, or has no verbal force at worst, and [[FelonyMisdemeanor people who have the same personality may overreact as if they actually HAD said something offensive.]] Furthermore, when they become "greedy" (whether related to food or buying), their additional desire is only a slight step above what they normally have (i.e. obtaining an extra spoonful of cereal, or asking for just a few extra mundane items for Christmas.) Sometimes, the character may be overly weak, even unable to defend themselves or offer any offensive strength. If they are older, GamesoftheElderly, such as checkers, chess, bingo, bridge, etc., will likely be depicted as the most exciting event of the day. For extra comedy, they may move extremely slowly, at a snail's pace. The rooms of elderly individuals may either be spartan, or feature old-style decor and, again, chotchkes. [[note]]However, some of this may just be an outer appearance, as the old person may have some HiddenDepths to them (e.g. They were a war veteran, and their room contains memorabilia related to the war that they served in, or their chotchkes are a heartfelt reminder of significant-others passed on)[[/note]]

Have you ever seen a character that never seems to move outside the boundaries of what society deems as mundane or boring? The air around them is so dry and uninteresting that it makes you want to drink a water-cooler-jug's worth of water. Their most extreme hobbies include such things as solitaire, knitting, reading the newspaper, and listening to chamber music. Their favorite foods tend to be white bread, white rice, water, plain boiled macaroni, unflavored oatmeal, or any dull, tasteless fare. Their collections tend to involve paper cuttings or chotchkes that have no real subjective value (such as doilies or painted walnut shells). They love IncrediblyLameFun. They may dress in muted or prim-and-proper attire (barring tuxedos and evening gowns), even when the situation may not call for it. Their house is immaculate and clean, and their manners are polite, courteous, and non-threatening. They may even stick closely to a planned-in-advance schedule. They sit up straight, follow the rules, and never make a fuss -- so much so that their voice may never waver above an octave or 50db (the normal decibel range for conversation). Sometimes they are meek and timid. Even if they do "lash out" and "curse", either what they say is cute at best, or has no verbal force at worst, and [[FelonyMisdemeanor people who have the same personality may overreact as if they actually HAD said something offensive.]] Furthermore, when they become "greedy" (whether related to food or buying), their additional desire is only a slight step above what they normally have (i.e. obtaining an extra spoonful of cereal, or asking for just a few extra mundane items for Christmas.) Sometimes, the character may be overly weak, even unable to defend themselves or offer any offensive strength. If they are older, GamesoftheElderly, such as checkers, chess, bingo, bridge, etc., will likely be depicted as the most exciting event of the day. For extra comedy, they may move extremely slowly, at a snail's pace. The rooms of elderly individuals may either be spartan, or feature old-style decor and, again, chotchkes. [[note]]However, some of this may just be an outer appearance, as the old person may have some HiddenDepths to them.(e.g. They were a war veteran, and their room contains memorabilia related to the war that they served in, or their chotchkes are a heartfelt reminder of significant-others passed on)[[/note]]

In fact, they are so boring, perfect, and unwavering that one may think something is wrong with them; to drive their characterization home further, [[ObsessivelyNormal their interests and tastes may be entirely arbitrary, as if they know that other kinds of desires exist, but they are putting on a face or find the other desires to be negative, rude, or evil in some way.]] The individual may even have a HolierThanThou air about them, and be condescending towards others. They may even try to force that "extreme normality" on others if they think it will benefit the other person. However, if being completely uninteresting is the character-in-question's basic way of living, and they decide to go beyond their boundaries, it may be a case of OOCIsSeriousBusiness; or for the better, CharacterDevelopment.

A super-trope of PlainPalate, TheBore, ObsessivelyNormal and IncrediblyLameFun. May cross over with StepfordSmiler, AbusiveParents, BigBrotherIsWatching, TheEvilsofFreeWill, HiddenDepths, {{Flanderization}}, or if it has to do with work, either SoulCrushingDeskJob, VastBureaucracy, and/or WhiteCollarWorker. If the characters are sweet, then it can dip into TastesLikeDiabetes. If the person can't seem to get away from a maternal influence that has this personality, then it's MyBelovedSmother. When applied to an entire community, it's a StepfordSuburbia, which further may apply to the fictional idea of a {{Cult}}, where this idea may be enforced by its leader(s) and followers. If the person has other odd interests besides dull and dreary foods and activities, but just can't seem to mesh with other people, then maybe they're a StrawLoser. Compare RidiculouslyAverageGuy, where the character-in-question is like everyone else, but the fact that they blend in with the crowd gets them unnoticed.

* Played with in ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}''. Izuru Kamukura was created from [[spoiler:Hajime Hinata]] through a series of operations and surgeries to create a perfect genius talented in everything. However, this procedure involved excising [[spoiler:Hajime]]'s interests, emotions and memories along with anything else that could interfere with developing talent. The project succeeded in making Izuru perfect but also made him undeniably bored with the world, having no feelings towards anything, and lacking motivation altogether. His official likes and dislikes are even listed as 'none'.

* ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'' plays with this, with a bit of CrapsaccharineWorld to boot. The titular [[ShowWithinAShow show within a movie]] is a ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver''-esque black-and-white program where everyone is perpetually pleasant, the firefighters do nothing but rescue cats from trees, families are completely wholesome, and all problems (which are minor inconveniences to begin with) can be solved within a single twenty-two minute episode. Main character David thinks that Pleasantville must be a paradise, while his sister Jennifer calls it stupid. Eventually, David and Jennifer are [[TrappedInTVLand sucked into the world of Pleasantville]]; while they try to find a way to escape, David quickly learns that the so-called "perfect" town is more like a StepfordSuburbia where everyone ''must'' be Indubitably Uninteresting: the books are all blank because no one reads, the roads don't lead anywhere because no one can escape, no one thinks for themselves or questions anything because they literally can't imagine any other type of life, and--most shockingly of all--no one knows anything about sex. As Jennifer (and later David) start to introduce new ideas and concepts to the citizens of Pleasantville, the townspeople begin to feel genuine emotion for the first time, which turns them (along with various objects) from black-and-white to fully colored. The change leads to some rather [[{{Anvilicious}} heavy-handed]] but [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped important]] metaphors about "coloreds" ruining the town and how being old-fashioned is the only way to live. [[spoiler: By the film's end, ''everyone'' in Pleasantville has fully changed, and the world is lush and colorful; to symbolize that the world is now real, the roads actually lead out of town, setting people free to live their own lives.]]

--->'''Gunhaver:''' Uh, sorry Reynold, I'm afraid lights-out for you is at oh-now hundred hours!
--->'''Fightgar:''' Yeah, all that cuss-language might give you nightmares. ''[laughs]''
--->'''Reynold:''' Oh, I can handle it. Why, I can even swear a cuss myself! *ahem* ''Diaper biscuits.''
--->''[The rest of the Cheat Commandos laugh at him]''

--->'''Strong Bad:''' ''[As Reynold]'' Oh, I really need to go grocery shopping. I wish my girlfriend didn't leave me.

--->'''Reynold:''' And I'd like to submit a formal request for you to shut your face whenever it's convenient for you, and if not, then no problem!

--->'''Reynold:''' [[RageBreakingPoint I'll tear off your face! I'll tear it right off! I'll tear it off and wear it to town!]]

*** In another episode, Ned joins Alcoholics Anonymous for over 4000 days (almost 11 years) because one nigh, he had a blackberry schnapps. This exchange occurs:

*** A HopeSpot about any interesting addition to the tour occurs when the factory chairman mentions in one of the rooms that it has one important difference, until he says...:

** Squidward and his hobbies. The most extreme sport he's willing to engage in is riding a bicycle. The episode "Squidville" takes this to the logical extreme -- EVERYONE is like him the town that he moves to, having the exact same interests and a taste for canned bread. Eventually, he's driven to insanity by the town's lack of enthusiasm and heads back to Bikini Bottom by the end of the episode.

[[/folder]]

* ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'' plays with this, with a bit of CrapsaccharineWorld to boot. The titular [[ShowWithinAShow show within a movie]] is a ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver''-esque black-and-white program where everyone is perpetually pleasant, the firefighters do nothing but rescue cats from trees, families are completely wholesome, and all problems (which are minor inconveniences to begin with) can be solved within a single twenty-two minute episode. Main character David thinks that Pleasantville must be a paradise, while his sister Jennifer calls it stupid. Eventually, David and Jennifer are [[TrappedInTVLand sucked into the world of Pleasantville]]; while they try to find a way to escape, David quickly learns that the so-called "perfect" town is more like a StepfordSuburbia where everyone is Indubitably Uninteresting: the books are all blank because no one reads, the roads don't lead anywhere because no one can escape, everyone is forced to follow rigid, uninteresting hobbies to maintain an idealized life, and--most shockingly of all--no one knows anything about sex. As Jennifer (and later David) start to introduce new ideas and concepts to the citizens of Pleasantville, the townspeople begin to feel genuine emotion for the first time, which turns them (along with various objects) from black-and-white to fully colored. The change leads to some rather [[{{Anvillicious}} heavy-handed]] but [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped important]] metaphors about "coloreds" ruining the town and how being old-fashioned is the only way to live. [[spoiler: By the film's end, ''everyone'' in Pleasantville has fully changed, and the world is lush and colorful; to symbolize that the world is now real, the roads actually lead out of town, setting people free to live their own lives.]]

* ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'' plays with this, with a bit of CrapsaccharineWorld to boot. Everything in the world of television is done according to 1950's standards. At first, there is no sex, no books, no fire (the firefighters only rescue cats from trees), and no painting (because it doesn't exist within the show). Eventually, and slowly-but-surely, the story starts to become Anvillicious, with a bit of SomeAnvilsNeedtoBeDropped thrown in for good measure.

You ever see a character that never seems to move outside the boundaries of what society deems as mundane or boring? The air around themselves is so dry and uninteresting that it makes you want to drink a water-cooler-jug's worth of water. Their most extreme hobbies include Solitaire, knitting, reading the newspaper, and listening to chamber music, or similar things. Their favorite foods tend to be white bread, white rice, water, plain boiled macaroni, unflavored oatmeal, or any dull, tasteless fare. Their collections tend to involve paper cuttings or chotchkes that have no real subjective value (such as doilies or painted walnut shells). They love IncrediblyLameFun. They may dress in muted or prim-and-proper attire (barring tuxedos and evening gowns), even when the situation may not call for it. Their house is immaculate and clean, and their manners are polite, courteous, and non-threatening. They may even stick extremely closely to a planned-in-advance schedule. They sit up straight, follow the rules, and never make a fuss -- so much so, that their voice may never waver above an octave or 50db (the normal decibel range for conversation). Sometimes they are also meek and timid. Even if they do "lash out" and "curse", either what they say is cute at best, or has no verbal force at worst, and [[FelonyMisdemeanor people who have the same personality may over-react as if they actually HAD said something offensive.]] Furthermore, when they become "greedy" (Whether related to food or buying), their additional desire is only a slight step above what they normally have. (i.e. an extra spoonful of cereal, or asking for just a little bit more more-common or mundane items for Christmas.) Sometimes, the character may be overly-weak or not even be able to defend themselves or offer any offensive strength. If they are elderly, then GamesoftheElderly, such as checkers, chess, bingo, bridge, etc., are depicted as the most exciting event of the day. For extra comedy, they may move extremely slowly, at the pace of a snail. The rooms of elderly individuals may either be spartan, or with old-style decor and, again, chotchkes. [[note]]However, some of this may just be an outer appearance, as the elderly person may have some HiddenDepths to them.(e.g. They were a war veteran, and their room contains memorabilia related to the war that they served in, or their chotchkes are a heartfelt reminder of significant-others passed-on)[[/note]]

In fact, they are so boring, perfect, and unwavering that makes one think something is wrong with them; to drive their characterization home further, [[ObsessivelyNormal their interests and tastes may be entirely arbitrary, like they know that other kinds of desires exist, but they are putting on a face or find the other desires to be negative, rude, or evil in some way.]] The individual may even have a HolierThanThou air about them, and be condescending towards others. They may even try to force that "extreme normality" on others, if they think it will benefit the other person. However, if being completely uninteresting is the character-in-question's basic way of living, and they decide to go beyond their boundaries, it may be a case of OOCIsSeriousBusiness; or for the better, CharacterDevelopment.

A super-trope of PlainPalate, TheBore, ObsessivelyNormal and IncrediblyLameFun. May cross over with StepfordSmiler, AbusiveParents, BigBrotherIsWatching, TheEvilsofFreeWill, HiddenDepths, {{Main/Flanderization}}, or if it has to do with work, either SoulCrushingDeskJob, VastBureaucracy, and/or WhiteCollarWorker. If the characters are sweet, then it can dip into TastesLikeDiabetes. If the person can't seem to get away from a maternal influence that has this personality, then it's MyBelovedSmother. When applied to an entire community, it's a StepfordSuburbia, which further may apply to the fictional idea of a {{Main/Cult}}, where this idea may be enforced by its leader(s) and followers. If the person has other odd interests besides dull and dreary foods and activities, but just can't seem to mesh with other people, then maybe they're a StrawLoser. Compare RidiculouslyAverageGuy, where the character-in-question is like everyone else, but the fact that they blend in with the crowd gets them unnoticed.

Despite the opinionated prominence in some real-life people and cultures, as is with similar tropes involving personal opinions, '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease!!!'''

*** A HopeSpot about any interesting addition to the tour occurs when the factory chairman mentions in one of the rooms that it has one important difference, until...:
---> '''Chairman:''' "...oh, we took that out. Yes, it is just like the other rooms."
*** The chairman's small main office is equally as spartan and dull as the rest of the factory, as well as being very small and cramped with an arbitrary yellow line for tours to follow, going from the door, around his desk, and back out.

** Squidward and his hobbies. The most extreme sport he's willing to do is ride a bicycle. The episode "Squidville" also takes this, again, to the logical extreme, wherein the town that he moves to, EVERYONE is like him, with the exact same interests, and the most interesting food is canned bread. Eventually, he's driven to insanity from the lack of enthusiasm of the town, to try to liven up the place, and heads back to Bikini Bottom by the end of the episode.
** The two nerds from "No Weenies Allowed", although with the advent of nerd culture in the late 2000s to 2020, this appears to have become a subverted trope.
* The Pixies from ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' are a magical species built around being boring businessmen. They all dress in grey, speak in deadpan gloomy voices (except during their occasional rap numbers), [[TheStoic and never show emotion]]. Unlike fairies, they refuse to grant fun wishes and only conduct magic through bureaucratic paperwork. The only game they enjoy is golf. The main conflict of their episodes is that they want to replace fun things with boring things, and even kidnapped a clown child to raise him as an anti-fun lawyer to enforce their ideals.

* ''Series/SpittingImage'' played with this trope at least twice. World snooker champion Steve Davis, a man who preferred to live a quiet uneventful life outside the billiard room, and whose snooker playing was methodical and consistently good rather than flamboyant, became ''Steve "Interesting" Davis'' for the show, a complete bore who was pathetically desperate to show to the world how multilayered and interesting he was, really, honestly.
** They did it again with UsefulNotes/JohnMajor, who became a monotone grey-skinned blur of a human being, whose idea of excitement was eating peas with his tea.
* On ''Series/SesameStreet'', this is one of Bert's defining qualities. His list of hobbies and interests include pigeons, collecting bottle caps and paper clips, playing checkers, and oatmeal. Some of the spin-off books explore this further: his favorite color is apparently beige and, when he met a genuine genie, he wished for things like new shoelaces and a birdcage for his pet pigeon Berniece (the genie even remarked that Bert was making the oddest wishes he'd ever seen). Bert's hobbies are meant to teach AnAesop to children about not having the same interests as your friends but still getting along with them, since Ernie, Bert's roommate, is far more social and likes typical kid activities like playing sports, inventing loud games, and going outside. This has led some to label Bert UnintentionallySympathetic, though--even though he's ostensibly "the boring one" to Ernie's more fun, energetic, child-friendly character, he also genuinely likes doing the things he does and has fun in his own way. Furthermore, Ernie often forces Bert to abandon his own activities just to go with what ''he'' wants to do while never trying Bert's choices for himself.

** Strong Sad, while originally a one-note depressed character, now seems to have developed into a more rounded character. Yet, his brother, Strong Bad, thinks that his interests are lame and have no punch. Strong Sad likes to listen to public radio (Similar to NPR). His favorite pastime is writing poetry and prose. On the other hand, ironically, he also hosts a fan club based on Strong Bad Email, called "The Deleteheads".

--->'''Reynold:''' "Ha ha, yeah. That's like how I labeled and alphabetized all you guys' combat accessories so it'll save on valuable mission time."

--->'''Gunhaver:''' "Uh, sorry Reynold, I'm afraid lights-out for you is at oh-now hundred hours!"
--->'''Fightgar:''' "Yeah, all that cuss-language might give you nightmares. ''[laughs]''
--->'''Reynold:''' "Oh, I can handle it. Why, I can even swear a cuss myself! *ahem* ''Diaper biscuits.''"

--->'''Strong Bad:''' ''[As Reynold]'' "Oh, I really need to go grocery shopping. I wish my girlfriend didn't leave me."

--->'''Reynold:''' "And I'd like to submit a formal request for you to shut your face whenever it's convenient for you, and if not, then no problem!"

--->'''Reynold:''' [[RageBreakingPoint "I'll tear off your face! I'll tear it right off! I'll tear it off and wear it to town!"]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieLifeInTheDreamhouse'', this is Midge's main characterization--she's so old-fashioned that she's originally [[DeliberatelyMonochrome black and white]] and lacks articulated joints. Even after getting a literally colorful makeover, her idea of a "wild time" is an afternoon of macrame. When the gang goes on a beach picnic, she turns down Barbie's offer of "spicy food"--namely, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole-wheat bread (the bread set her off).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' has this, along with TheDitz, in the form of Fred Fredburger.
** In one episode, the only "interesting" thing he wanted to do after winning a "Spend the Day with Grim" essay contest was "I want to eet sum frozun yogert" (And the minimum word count requirement was 500 words. He wrote it ''ad infinitum'' on the pages of paper.)
* In ''Main/TheSimpsons'':

*** Their most extreme snack was "Nachos, Flanders style", which was just cold cucumber slices topped with cottage cheese.

*** In one episode, Ned punishes Rod by taking away his Bible Story privileges (When Rod repeats Homer's cursing from earlier in the episode). Maude reacts as if he had raised his voice at him.
---->'''Maude:''' "Weren't you a little hard on him?"
---->'''Ned:''' "Well, you knew I had a temper when you married me."
*** In another, Ned signs himself up to Alcoholics Anonymous for over 4000 days (almost 11 years) because one night, he had a blackberry schnapps, and this exchange occurs:
---->'''Maude:''' "Ned, did you clip [the] Ann Landers [newspaper column] today?"
---->'''Ned:''' "Ann Landers is a boring old biddy!"
---->'''Maude:''' "''[gasp]'' Ned!"
*** This trope even comes into focus in one episode, ''"Viva Ned Flanders"'', where it's revealed that Ned is 60 years old, but hasn't taken an impulsive risk in his life.

** Kirk Van Houten is a good example. When Bart gets tangled up in a lie about being kidnapped by Kirk, it's revealed that one of Kirk's favorite pasttimes is playing video poker (actually a cheap handheld game) and eating popcorn (from an equally-cheap and questionable brand):[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8qFz5getk8]]
** Probably because of Agnes Skinner, his mother, Principal Seymour Skinner is another good example. His activities mostly include being the Principal of Springfield Elementary, doing light-silhouette cutouts with his mother, and helping her around the house.
** In "Bart's Friend Falls in Love", two one-time students for the sake of a gag, Ezekiel and Ishmael, are disallowed from watching a sex-ed film, and their appearance makes Flanders' family seem saintly. Both are dressed as if they belong in the Jehovah's Witnesses, as both of them are wearing clean white collared shirts and dress shorts, sitting up straight, and both of them with eerily-proper haircuts, while one of them has his hands clasped together over what is implied to be a Bible.
---> '''Ms. Krabappel:''' "Ezekiel and Ishmael, in accordance with your parents' wishes, you may step out into the hall and pray for our souls."
** In "The Joy of Sect", nearly all of Springfield becomes this, with the people joining the Movementarians, being forced to work day after day harvesting and eating nothing but lima beans, from being brainwashed into an idea of joy and serenity. The recruiters that Homer meets early in the episode also give off this vibe, being overly calm, nice, and "trusting". (for lack of a better term)
** In "Bart Gets Famous", this trope is played completely straight, where at the beginning of the episode, Principal Skinner reveals that the field trip of the day is a tour of the local Cardboard Box Factory. In addition to the overall monotonous aspect of the field trip, there are several sub-jokes that take the atmosphere from dull and dreary to ActuallyPrettyFunny, including the fact that the factory workers treat their occupation as (somewhat) serious, but boring, business:
*** The exterior of the factory looks slightly run-down and shoddy, while the only notable elements within the interior of the factory are unpainted brick walls, large glass industrial venting windows, exposed electrical piping conduits and air ducts, industrial shaded ceiling lamps, and slow, creaking conveyor belts leading to sparsely-arranged silent machines automating assembly and folding of the boxes one. step. at. a. '''tiiiiiiiime...''' (As opposed to a person building the boxes by hand)

*** The assembly of the boxes is not even completed at that particular factory, instead, they are shipped off to Flint, MI.

* ''Series/ThePeterSerafinowiczShow'' had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGxqXzbE5jM 1940s parody]] of "Series/WhoWantstoBeaMillionaire", titled "Who Would like to Win 100 [British] Pounds?", where the setting was in what could be considered a parlor, the clapping and speaking were about as polite as that of a golf match, the only music was provided by a harp, "Silly Town" was as best of a parody answer as could be, and the audience was dressed in their Sunday best, with stilted, polite laughter for the "jokes" provided by the host.

-->'''NPR Broadcaster #1:''' Oh, absolutely, I always do. I like to leave Santa some tap water, and rice.

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series, the Vulcans appear to wear this hat, as their culture is based around logic, emotional control, spartanism, mentally-challenging-but-boring activities, and vegetarianism. Their voices also do not change emotionally. On the other hand, there are a [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier few Vulcans]] [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS01E17Fusion that resisted these ideas]]. Although for the normal individual, it is a VERY bad idea to let one's emotions go unchecked, as Vulcan emotions are very strong and can easily get out of hand. Plus, when a Vulcan loses emotional control or shows a hint of emotion, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it is often a bad sign that something is wrong, either with them, with the situation, or that they are dead-serious about something.]]

--->'''Scotty:''' "Good lord man, where have you put me?"
--->'''Ensign:''' "These are standard guest quarters sir, I can try and find something bigger if you want."
--->'''Scotty:''' "Bigger? In my day, even an admiral would notta had such quarters aboard a starship!"
*** Design documents from when the show was still in the planning stages show this even worse, with a decentralized bridge that more-or-less resembles a retro-futuristic shopping mall.
** Most music selections are from composers like Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach. (Although Riker likes jazz, Worf likes Klingon opera.)

** Games are mostly board-based in the strategy category, or simplistic.
** Particularly egregious, in the first season, children as young as 8-10 are shown to be taught CALCULUS (a normally middle-to-high-school subject!)

** On the other hand, this is semi-averted with Data. He was built that way. He does not need to consume food. His off-duty activities include reading poems, studying schematics, painting, being company for his pet cat Spot, and playing music whether on violin or just listening to it. Despite this, his exploration of humanity, his desire to be more human, and his superhuman abilities make him interesting. Also averted in that he does find acting in certain stories, such as Sherlock Holmes or The Tempest, appealing.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS5E21SomeoneToWatchOverMe Someone to Watch Over Me]]", the one-time alien race that Voyager encounters, known as the Kadi, have this as their all-encompassing hat, even more so compared to the Vulcans. They are actually '''offended''' by anything that does not match their bland way of life. The ambassador the ship takes on in exchange for mineral negotiation averts this, as he wants to take the chance to sample [[AssInAmbassador ''EVERYTHING'' that he can]]. (Including hitting on Seven of Nine, who doesn't take well to it.)

--->(From the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E2Flashback Flashback]]") '''Sulu:''' "Mr. Tuvok, if you're going to remain on my ship, you're going to have learn how to appreciate a joke. And don't tell me Vulcans don't have a sense of humor; because I know better."

--->(From the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E13AlterEgo Alter Ego]]") '''Marayna:''' [[ArmorPiercingQuestion "But what about you, Tuvok? Will you always be alone?"]]

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Sheldon Cooper has some of this, although it's more of a case of his AmbiguousDisorder keeping his mind in line with a routine. Eventually, he learns to move outside his boundaries gradually, step-by-step.
** Although, in the case of the main characters' interests, stigma against "nerdy" activities, such as computer programming, comic book reading, sci-fi television and movies, and action figure collecting, had fallen out of favor starting around the time the show premiered.
** Amy Farrah Fowler, who was originally [[DistaffCounterpart a female Sheldon]], started out this way: on their first date, she ordered a glass of tepid water; when she was invited to her first-ever "girl's night," she had to buy a set of genuinely comfortable clothes (since she didn't own any) and printed out a list of activities to follow; and her favorite TV show is the decidedly old-fashioned ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie.'' Over time, though, CharacterDevelopment kicked in, and she gradually started exploring other activities and becoming more social. Tellingly, in the penultimate season, she gets legitimately angry when Penny and Bernadette arrange a quilting bee for her bachelorette party. They acquiesce and go to a bar instead...where Amy [[CantHoldHisLiquor promptly passes out after one shot of liquor.]]
*** ''Series/YoungSheldon'': The prequel seems to expand certain aspects of Sheldon's characterization, possibly to the point of Flanderization. Then again, in this series, he is a child, again, with an AmbiguousDisorder, working off what others might expect of him, and learning to, again, expand his routines and ideas gradually.
* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'': Exploited by Colin Robinson, a day walking energy vampire who feeds off of the energy and life force of those around him. He's very generic-looking (bald white man who dresses mainly in beige and other boring colors -- his ancestry report even just says "100% White"), lurks around his StandardOfficeSetting workplace, has a monotonous way of speaking, and is prone to tangents about boring things, and has IncrediblyLameFun interests, because he knows that this causes frustration and misery that he can feed on.

* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy'' seems to paint this as one of the Vogons' hats, with VastBureaucracy and ObstructiveBureaucrat built-in. Their poetry is so uninteresting and terrible that it's used as a method of torture. It's even more egregious with the [[Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy 2005 Movie]] where every Vogon's lifestyle seems to revolve around conformity, bureaucracy, and inhibition of creativity. (all of their buildings are dull, almost-featureless block-like skyscrapers on the outside AND inside, the majority of them dress in ill-fitting suits, their lives are governed by filing and transfer of proper signed paperwork, and they work according to a constant schedule) The reason is [[spoiler:that on Vogsphere, the planet of the Vogons, there is a species of subterranean plant that slaps upside-the-face anyone who has a coherent thought or idea.]]

* Parodied in Music/WeirdAlYankovic's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw ''White'n'Nerdy'']], where the eponymous nerd's interests (some of them), and taste in food, music, and games fit this trope. However, like the Spongebob and Big Bang Theory examples, with the advent of nerd culture becoming mainstream, much stigma against the knowledge of sci-fi TV, comics, and computer programming has fallen out of favor. On the other hand, the nerds has other mundane and odd interests, plus his idea of a good gift is a surge protector plug strip. His basic personality is summed up in the lyric:
--->'''Weird Al:''' "I'm nerdy in the extreme / and whiter than sour cream..."

* In the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' audio drama "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho014TheHolyTerror The Holy Terror]]", Court Scribe Eugene Tacitus seems extremely comfortable being the most boring and powerless man in the royal court: he lives alone, drinks nothing but water (lukewarm or tepid), wields no authority, and has no interests outside of chronicling the lives of the Emperors - an especially dull task, given that it mainly consists of recording literally every task a given Emperor performs, no matter how mundane. Plus, nobody in the Castle ever reads the Royal Bibles except for him. ConditionedToAcceptHorror, he barely reacts to mass-murder, torture, or threats against his life, but grows so confused around events that don't fit in with the usual routines of the Castle that he can sometimes be reduced to blind panic. [[spoiler: The twist is that Eugene is actually the all-powerful RealityWarper that created [[PocketDimension the Castle]] and all its people, along with the [[EternalRecurrence recurring cycles]] that govern its history; he's using these patterns to keep his life orderly, comfortable ritualized so he can forget [[PaterFamilicide the crime]] that had him imprisoned in this dimension in the first place.]]

--->'''Dad:''' "Ahh, what could be better than a Saturday 6-mile run at dawn in 20-degree weather,..."
--->'''Dad:''' "...followed by a big bowl of gummy oatmeal and some dry toast!"
--->'''Calvin:''' ''[still groggy]'' "How about dried-up prunes and a root canal?"
--->'''Dad:''' "Dried-up prunes! Do we have some??"

--->'''Hobbes:''' "Are your parents going out for New Year's Eve?"
--->'''Calvin:''' "Are you kidding?"
--->'''Calvin:''' "My parents' idea of a wild night is to mix a scoop of real coffee in with the decaf."

--->'''Jon:''' Hey, Garfield! It's hot and humid today! The conditions are perfect! Let's go!''
--->'''Jon:''' ''[pushing an armchair across the room]'' "I'm getting a front-row seat"
--->'''Garfield:''' ''[[sarcastically, to the reader]]'' "Silence, please, we're watching the linoleum curl"

* ''Film/DemolitionMan'' takes this to its logical extreme, where the population of San Angeles is as meek and nonviolent as monks. No junk food, sex (in the traditional sense), tobacco, violence (in the form of contact sports), or weapons are allowed, radio and TV commercials are considered the height of fun music, everyone outside of the police force wears something that would look better as your house's curtains, Taco Bell (or Pizza Hut, in international versions) is considered haute cuisine, everyone is polite even when rude, [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad freedom of thought and emotional coarseness]] [[BreadEggsMilkSquick is restricted and fined]], and the police force has lost all defensive value because of all of these. Sylvester Stallone's character, John Spartan, is unfrozen from suspended animation [[note]]because he never grew up in the culture that the population did, and is more gung-ho and freer with his emotions and approaches to stopping crime[[/note]], to defend the city against his arch-enemy, Simon Phoenix. One man, Edgar Friendly, seeks to rebel against the modern idea of meek and dull peacefulness, wanting to be able to do what he wants, eat what he wants, and say what he wants, with reasonable restriction. [[spoiler:Dr. Raymond Cocteau, the leader of San Angeles, wants to [[TheEvilsofFreeWill control it]] with absolute power.]] Even Phoenix, his personally-programmed assassin, thinks there's [[EvenEvilHasStandards something wrong about it.]]

--->'''Edgar Friendly:''' "I'm the kind of guy who wants to sit in a [[GreasySpoon greasy spoon]] and think, "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?" I want high cholesterol. I want to eat bacon, butter, and buckets of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in a non-smoking section. I wanna run through the streets naked with green Jello all over my body reading a Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to. Okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing "I'm an Oscar Mayer Wiener."

--->'''Simon Phoenix:''' "Look, you can't take away people's right to be assholes."
--->[[spoiler:'''Dr. Cocteau:''']] "Hmm?"
--->'''Simon Phoenix:''' "That's what you remind me of, an evil Mr. Rogers."

--->'''Simon Phoenix:''' "Will you please kill him? He's pissing me off."

* ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'' plays with this, with a bit of CrapsaccharineWorld to boot. Everything in the world of television is done according to 1950's standards. At first, there is no sex, no books, no fire (the firefighters only rescue cats from trees), no painting, (because it doesn't exist within the show). Eventually, and slowly-but-surely, the story starts to become Anvillicious, with a bit of SomeAnvilsNeedtoBeDropped thrown in for good measure.
* ''Film/TheTrumanShow'' is this, plus StepfordSuburbia. Truman's life never changes, any one in his life does so or allows him to do so, and despite the movie taking place in the mid-1990s, almost every aspect seems stuck in an obsolete world. The buses, the local drugstore, his wife's advertising style, as well as the yards of his neighborhood are from the 1950s. The building he works in seems to be stuck in the 1980s.

* [[ThePollyanna Kenneth]] of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' plays with this trope. He is decidedly old-fashioned, never swears (his idea of the "a-word" is "angry"), and refused to listen to more than two notes of rock and roll for fear of the Devil corrupting his soul. However, it's heavily implied that this is because he is [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld impossibly ancient]] and [[TheAgeless ageless]], and thus never adapts to the spirit of the twenty-first century because he's lived through many before it.
** Main character Liz Lemon is a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] version of this trope--she's often considered an old, lonely spinster by other characters (despite being in her mid-30s) because of her dowdy clothing and boring hobbies, but she also dates frequently and enjoys the finer things in life, especially [[BigEater food.]]
* ''Series/HomeImprovement'': Al Borland has shades of this. His idea of a night out is going to bingo with his mother. And once when Tim stayed over at his place, Al's idea of a movie night is watching home movies of him as a baby.
* ''Series/MADtv'': The skit [[https://youtu.be/ExNvVnWLSWc "How To Telephone A Girl"]] parodies the depiction of the early 1950s as this, as well as parodying as a blatant advertisement for Bell Telephone and as social propaganda from The Daughters of the Confederacy. Two school students, Eddie, a "normal" person, and Bud, a jock-like individual, are notified about a hayride on a Friday. Both of them intend to call someone for a date. Eddie later telephones his date, Janet, a seemingly prim, proper girl on a Bell Telephone. Unfortunately, Janet's mother tells Eddie that Janet is in the bathtub, bathing, which arouses Eddie, showing the bulge in his jeans. For Eddie, though, [[FelonyMisdemeanor he treats this as if he had sinned, and goes to his bedroom to pray.]] Bud, on the other hand, calls using an inferior "oriental" telephone and is seemingly destined for a bad date on the hayride. However, Bud seems to be having the rowdiest romantic time of his life there, and Eddie and Janet are both dressed in clean spick-and-span clothing, treating even touching each other as if it were blasphemous.
---> '''Eddie:''' "Say, can I touch your collarbone?"
---> '''Janet:''' "Oh, hang on there, Romeo. You have a lot more telephoning to do before you go that far."

-->'''NPR Broadcaster #2:''' "Are you, Margaret-Jo, going to leave any treats out for Santa this year?"
-->'''NPR Broadcaster #1:''' "Oh, absolutely, I always do. I like to leave Santa some tap water, and rice."

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series, the Vulcans appear to wear this hat, as their culture is based around logic, emotional control, spartanism, mentally-challenging-but-boring activities, and vegetarianism. Their voices also do not change emotionally. On the other hand, there are a [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier few Vulcans]] [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS01E17Fusion that resisted these ideas]]. Although, for the normal individual, it is a VERY bad idea to let one's emotions go unchecked, as Vulcan emotions are very strong and can easily get out of hand. Plus, when a Vulcan loses emotional control or shows a hint of emotion, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness it is often a bad sign that either something is wrong, either with them, with the situation, or that they are dead-serious about something.]]

* [[ThePollyanna Kenneth]] of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' plays with this trope. He is decidedly old-fashioned, never swears (his idea of the "a-word" is "angry"), and refused to listen to more than two notes of rock and roll for fear of the Devil corrupting his soul. However, it's heavily implied that this is because he is [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld impossibly ancient]] and [[TheAgeless ageless]], and thus never adapted to the spirit of the twenty-first century because he'd lived through many before it.

* On ''Series/SesameStreet'', this is one of Bert's defining qualities. His list of hobbies and interests include pigeons, collecting bottle caps and paper clips, playing checkers, and oatmeal. Some of the spin-off books explore this further: his favorite color is apparently beige and, when he met a genuine genie, he wished for things like new shoelaces and a birdcage for his pet pigeon Berniece (the genie even remarked that Bert was making the oddest wishes he'd ever seen). Bert's hobbies are meant to teach AnAesop to kids about not having the same interests as your friends, since Ernie, Bert's roommate, is far more social and likes typical kid activities like playing sports, inventing loud games, and going outside. This has led some to label Bert UnintentionallySympathetic, though--even though he's ostensibly "the boring one" to Ernie's more fun, energetic, kid-friendly character, he also genuinely likes doing the things he does and has fun in his own way. Furthermore, Ernie often forces Bert to abandon his own activities just to go with what ''he'' wants to do while never trying Bert's choices for himself.

* [[ThePolyanna Kenneth]] of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' plays with this trope. He is decidedly old-fashioned, never swears (his idea of the "a-word" is "angry"), and refused to listen to more than two notes of rock and roll for fear of the Devil corrupting his soul. However, it's heavily implied that this is because he is [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld impossibly ancient]] and [[TheAgeless ageless]], and thus never adapted to the spirit of the twenty-first century because he'd lived through many before it.
** Main character Liz Lemon is a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] version of this trope--she's often considered an old, lonely spinster by other characters (despite being in her mid-30s) because of her dowdy clothing and boring hobbies, but she also dates frequently and enjoys the finer things in life--especially [[BigEater food.]]

** Lieutenant Tuvok, the Vulcan tactical officer of the bridge crew, manages to be just as bad, if not worse. (possibly because of the quality of the writing at the time) For him, he somehow manages to be a hardass to he rest of the crew by standing aloof from them, insulting their emotions and culture, and taking the fun out of their ideas by being literate, logical, and socially distant ALL THE TIME; and he gets seriously called out for it not once, but TWICE, with other smaller callouts peppered throughout the series.

*** In another episode, Homer encounters Flanders at a historic cider mill, where not only does he rattle off cider trivia, but even shows his cider mill '''sseason pass''', which happens to be number...00001.

* In the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' audio drama "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho014TheHolyTerror The Holy Terror]]", Court Scribe Eugene Tacitus seems extremely comfortable being the most boring and powerless man in the royal court: he lives alone, drinks nothing but water (lukewarm or tepid), wields no authority, and has no interests outside of chronicling the lives of the Emperors - an especially dull task, given that it mainly consists of recording literally every task a given Emperor performs, no matter how mundane. Plus, nobody in the Castle ever reads the Royal Bibles except for him. ConditionedToAcceptHorror, he barely reacts to mass-murder, torture or threats against his life, but grows so confused around events that don't fit in with the usual routines of the Castle that he can sometimes be reduced to a blind panic. [[spoiler: The twist is that Eugene is actually the all-powerful RealityWarper that created [[PocketDimension the Castle]] and all its people, along with the [[EternalRecurrence recurring cycles]] that govern its history; he's using these patterns to keep his life orderly, comfortable ritualized so he can forget [[PaterFamilicide the crime]] that had him imprisoned in this dimension in the first place.]]

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin's parents seems to be like this, from his point-of-view.

--->'''Jon:''' ''[pushing an armchair across the room]'' "I'm getting a front row seat"

* ''Film/DemolitionMan'' takes this to its logical extreme, where the population of San Angeles are as meek and nonviolent as monks. No junk food, sex (in the traditional sense), tobacco, violence (in the form of contact sports), or weapons are allowed, radio and TV commercials are considered the height of fun music, everyone outside of the police force wears something that would look better as your house's curtains, Taco Bell (or Pizza Hut, in international versions) is considered haute cuisine, everyone is polite even when rude, [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad freedom of thought and emotional coarseness]] [[BreadEggsMilkSquick is restricted and fined]], and the police force has lost all defensive value because of all of these. Sylvester Stallone's character, John Spartan, is unfrozen from suspended animation [[note]]because he never grew up in the culture that the population did, and is more gung-ho and freer with his emotions and approaches to stopping crime[[/note]], to defend the city against his arch-enemy, Simon Phoenix. One man, Edgar Friendly, seeks to rebel against the modern idea of meek and dull peacefulness, wanting to be able to do what he wants, eat what he wants, and say what he wants, with reasonable restriction. [[spoiler:Dr. Raymond Cocteau, the leader of San Angeles, wants to [[TheEvilsofFreeWill control it]] with absolute power.]] Even Phoenix, his personally-programmed assassin, thinks there's [[EvenEvilHasStandards something wrong about it.]]

--->'''Edgar Friendly:''' "I'm the kind of guy who wants to sit in a [[GreasySpoon greasy spoon]] and think, "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of gravy fries?" I want high cholesterol. I want to eat bacon, butter and buckets of cheese, okay? I want to smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in a non-smoking section. I wanna run through the streets naked with green Jello all over my body reading a Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly might feel the need to. Okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing "I'm an Oscar Mayer Wiener."

--->[[spoiler:'''Dr. Cocteau:''']] Yes, but this time, the're really intimidated. Now I'll have carte blanche to create the perfect society. My society. San Angeles will be a beacon of order with the purity of an ant colony, and the beauty of a flawless pearl.

* ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'' plays with this, with a bit of CrapsaccharineWorld to boot. Everything in the world of the television is done according to 1950's standards. At first, there is no sex, no books, no fire (the firefighters only rescue cats from trees), no painting, (because it doesn't exist within the show). Eventually, and slowly-but surely, the story starts to become Anvillicious, with a bit of SomeAnvilsNeedtoBeDropped thrown in for good measure.
* ''Film/TheTrumanShow'' is this, plus StepfordSuburbia. Truman's life never changes, no one in his life does so or allows him to do so, and despite the movie taking place in the mid-1990s, almost every aspect seems stuck in an obsolete world. The buses, the local drugstore, his wife's advertising style, as well as the yards of his neighborhood are from the 1950s. The building he works in seems to be stuck in the 1980s.

* ''Series/HomeImprovement'': Al Borland has shades of this. His idea of a night-out is going to bingo with his mother. And once when Tim stayed over at his place, Al's idea of a movie night is watching home movies of him as a baby.
* ''Series/MADtv'': The skit [[https://youtu.be/ExNvVnWLSWc "How To Telephone A Girl"]] parodies the depiction of the early 1950s as this, as well as parodying as a blatant advertisement for Bell Telephone and as social propaganda from The Daughters of the Confederacy. Two school students, Eddie, a "normal" person, and Bud, a jock-like individual, are notified about a hayride on a Friday. Both of them intend to call someone for a date. Eddie later telephones his date, Janet, a seemingly prim, proper girl on a Bell Telephone. Unfortunately, Janet's mother tells Eddie that Janet is in the bathtub, bathing, which arouses Eddie, showing the bulge in his jeans. For Eddie, though, [[FelonyMisdemeanor he treats this as if he had sinned, and goes to his bedroom to pray.]] Bud, on the other hand, calls using an inferior "oriental" telephone, and is seemingly destined for a bad date on the hayride. However, Bud seems to be having the most rowdy romantic time of his life there, and Eddie and Janet are both dressed in clean spick-and-span clothing, treating even touching each other as if it were blasphemous.

* ''Series/ThePeterSerafinowiczShow'' had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGxqXzbE5jM 1940s parody]] of "Series/WhoWantstoBeaMillionaire", titled "Who Would like to Win 100 [British] Pounds?", where the setting was in what could be considered a parlor, the clapping and speaking was about as polite as that of a golf match, the only music was provided by a harp, "Silly Town" was as best of a parody answer as could be, and the audience was dressed in their Sunday best, with stilted, polite laughter for the "jokes" provided by the host.

** Most music selections are from composers like Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach. (Although Riker likes jazz, but Worf likes Klingon opera.)
** Most selections of literature are based in vintage-looking books.

** On the other hand, this is semi-averted with Data. He was built that way. He does not need to consume food. His off-duty activities include reading poems, studying schematics, painting, being company for his pet cat Spot, and playing music whether on violin or just listening to it. Despite this, his exploration of humanity, his desire to be more human, and his superhuman abilities makes him interesting. Also averted in that he does find acting in certain stories, such as Sherlock Holmes or The Tempest, appealing.
*** Furthermore, in a cancelled spin-off called "Star Trek: Federation", the United Federation of Planets becomes this, losing a lot of member worlds in the process.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS5E21SomeoneToWatchOverMe Someone to Watch Over Me]]", the one-time alien race that Voyager encounters, known as the Kadi, have this as their all-encompassing hat, even moreso compared to the Vulcans. They are actually '''offended''' by anything that does not match their bland way of life. The ambassador the ship takes on in exchange for mineral negotiation averts this, as he wants to take the chance to sample [[AssInAmbassador ''EVERYTHING'' that he can]]. (Including hitting on Seven of Nine, who doesn't take well to it.)

* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'': Exploited by Colin Robinson, a daywalking energy vampire who feeds off of the energy and life force of those around him. He's very generic-looking (bald white man who dresses mainly in beige and other boring colors -- his ancestry report even just says "100% White"), lurks around his StandardOfficeSetting workplace, has a monotonous way of speaking, and is prone to tangents about boring things, and has IncrediblyLameFun interests, because he knows that this causes frustration and misery that he can feed on.

* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy'' seems to paint this as one of the Vogons' hats, with VastBureaucracy and ObstructiveBureaucrat built in. Their poetry is so uninteresting and terrible that it's used as a method of torture. It's even more egregious with the [[Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy 2005 Movie]] where every Vogon's lifestyle seems to revolve around conformity, bureaucacy, and inhibition of creativity. (all of their buildings are dull, almost-featureless block-like skyscrapers on the outside AND inside, the majority of them dress in ill-fitting suits, their lives are governed by filing and transfer of proper signed paperwork, and they work according to a constant schedule) The reason is [[spoiler:that on Vogsphere, the planet of the Vogons, there is a species of subterranean plant that slaps upside-the-face anyone who has a coherent thought or idea.]]

* Parodied in Music/WeirdAlYankovic's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw ''White'n'Nerdy'']], where the eponymous nerd's interests (some of them), and taste in food, music, and games fit this trope. However, like the Spongebob and Big Bang Theory examples, with the advent of nerd culture becoming mainstream, much stigma against knowledge of sci-fi TV, comics, and computer programming has fallen out of favor. On the other hand, the nerd's has other mundane and odd interests, plus his idea of a good gift is a surge protector plug strip. His basic personality is summed up in the lyric:

** Strong Sad, while originally a one-note depressed character, now seems to have developed into a more-rounded character. Yet, his brother, Strong Bad, thinks that his interests are lame and have no punch. Strong Sad likes to listen to public radio (Similar to NPR). His favorite pasttime is writing poetry and prose. On the other hand, ironically, he also hosts a fan club based on Strong Bad Email, called "The Deleteheads".

---->'''Bart:''' You've never snuck out of church to break into cars?
*** In another episode, Homer encounters Flanders at a historic cider mill, where not only does he rattle off cider trivia, but even shows his cider mill '''season pass''', which happens to be number...00001.

*** The chairman at the factory speaks as if giving a university lecture (not unlike Ben Stein's character in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"), and begins the tour of the factory with an implied-to-be long drawn-out spiel about how "[[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream two brothers]] [[SubvertedTrope and five other men]] parlayed a small business loan into a thriving paper goods concern... ...[beginning] with the filing of Form 367/A".
*** The assembly of the boxes are not even completed at that particular factory, instead being shipped off to Flint, MI.

** Squidward and his hobbies. The most extreme sport he's willing to do is ride a bicycle. The episode "Squidville" also takes this, again, to the logical extreme, where in the town that he moves to, EVERYONE is like him, with the exact same interests, and the most interesting food is canned bread. Eventually, he's driven to insanity from the lack of enthusiasm of the town, to try to liven up the place, and heads back to Bikini Bottom by the end of the episode.
** The two nerds from "No Weenies Allowed", although with the advent of nerd culture in the late 2000's to 2020, this appears to have become a subverted trope.

You ever see a character that never seems to move outside the boundaries of what society deems as mundane or boring? The air around themselves is so dry and uninteresting that it makes you want to drink a water-cooler-jug's worth of water. Their most extreme hobbies include Solitaire, knitting, reading the newspaper, and listening to chamber music, or similar things. Their favorite foods tend to be white bread, white rice, water, plain boiled macaroni, unflavored oatmeal, or any dull, tasteless fare. Their collections tend to involve paper cuttings or chotchkes that have no real subjective value (such as doilies or painted walnut shells). They love IncrediblyLameFun. They may dress in muted or prim-and-proper attire (barring tuxedos and evening gowns), even when the situation may not call for it. Their house is immaculate and clean, and their manners are polite, courteous, and non-threatening. They may even stick extremely closely to a planned-in-advance schedule. They sit up straight, follow the rules, and never make a fuss -- so much so, that their voice may never waver above an octave or 50db (the normal decibel range for conversation). Sometimes they are also meek and timid. Even if they do "lash out" and "curse", either what they say is cute at best, or has no verbal force at worst, and [[FelonyMisdemeanor people who have the same personality may over-react as if they actually HAD said something offensive.]] Furthermore, when they become "greedy" (Whether related to food or buying), their additional desire is only a slight step above what they normally have. (i.e. an extra spoonful of cereal, or asking for just a little bit more more-common or mundane items for Christmas.) Sometimes, the character may be overly-weak or not even be able to defend themselves or offer any offensive strength. If they are elderly, then GamesoftheElderly, such as checkers, chess, bingo, bridge, etc., are depicted as the most exciting event of the day. The rooms of elderly individuals may either be spartan, or with old-style decor and, again, chotchkes. [[note]]However, some of this may just be an outer appearance, as the elderly person may have some HiddenDepths to them.(e.g. They were a war veteran, and their room contains memorabilia related to the war that they served in, or their chotchkes are a heartfelt reminder of significant-others passed-on)[[/note]]

You ever see a character that never seems to move outside the boundaries of what society deems as mundane or boring? The air around themselves is so dry and uninteresting that it makes you want to drink a water-cooler-jug's worth of water. Their most extreme hobbies include Solitaire, knitting, reading the newspaper, and listening to chamber music, or similar things. Their favorite foods tend to be white bread, white rice, water, plain boiled macaroni, unflavored oatmeal, or any dull, tasteless fare. Their collections tend to involve paper cuttings or chotchkes that have no real subjective value (such as doilies or painted walnut shells). They love IncrediblyLameFun. They may dress in muted or prim-and-proper attire (barring tuxedos and evening gowns), even when the situation may not call for it. Their house is immaculate and clean, and their manners are polite, courteous, and non-threatening. They may even stick extremely closely to a planned-in-advance schedule. They sit up straight, follow the rules, and never make a fuss -- so much so, that their voice never wavers above an octave or 50db (the normal decibel range for conversation). Sometimes they are also meek and timid. Even if they do "lash out" and "curse", either what they say is cute at best, or has no verbal force at worst, and [[FelonyMisdemeanor people who have the same personality may over-react as if they actually HAD said something offensive.]] Furthermore, when they become "greedy" (Whether related to food or buying), their additional desire is only a slight step above what they normally have. (i.e. an extra spoonful of cereal, or asking for just a little bit more more-common or mundane items for Christmas.) Sometimes, the character may be overly-weak or not even be able to defend themselves or offer any offensive strength. If they are elderly, then GamesoftheElderly, such as checkers, chess, bingo, bridge, etc., are depicted as the most exciting event of the day. The rooms of elderly individuals may either be spartan, or with old-style decor and, again, chotchkes. [[note]]However, some of this may just be an outer appearance, as the elderly person may have some HiddenDepths to them.(e.g. They were a war veteran, and their room contains memorabilia related to the war that they served in, or their chotchkes are a heartfelt reminder of significant-others passed-on)[[/note]]

* ''Film/DemolitionMan'' takes this to its logical extreme, where the population of San Angeles are as meek and nonviolent as monks. No junk food, sex (in the traditional sense), tobacco, violence (in the form of contact sports), or weapons are allowed, radio and TV commercials are considered the height of fun music, Taco Bell (or Pizza Hut, in international versions) is considered haute cuisine, everyone is polite even when rude, [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad freedom of thought and emotional coarseness]] [[BreadEggsMilkSquick is restricted and fined]], and the police force has lost all defensive value because of all of these. Sylvester Stallone's character, John Spartan, is unfrozen from suspended animation [[note]]because he never grew up in the culture that the population did, and is more gung-ho and freer with his emotions and approaches to stopping crime[[/note]], to defend the city against his arch-enemy, Simon Phoenix. One man, Edgar Friendly, seeks to rebel against the modern idea of meek and dull peacefulness, wanting to be able to do what he wants, eat what he wants, and say what he wants, with reasonable restriction. [[spoiler:Dr. Raymond Cocteau, the leader of San Angeles, wants to [[TheEvilsofFreeWill control it]] with absolute power.]] Even Phoenix, his personally-programmed assassin, thinks there's [[EvenEvilHasStandards something wrong about it.]]

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' seems to have two characters with this personality: