Basic Trope: Having too many people working on a project at once means it won't go as smoothly.
- Straight: Mary is preparing a stew for dinner. Each of her five friends winds up adding their own ingredients to it, without taking in each other's contributions. In the end, the stew tastes really gross.
- Exaggerated: Mary is a Supreme Chef who can make delicious stew. But when a hundred of her friends stop by and add their own ingredients, most of which aren't even edible, the resulting "stew" is more "radioactive waste" than dinner.
- Downplayed: Two friends help Mary make her stew, putting in cheese and salt. Mary isn't partial to either of these, but her friends are, so she cuts her losses and accepts it.
- Justified: Truth in Television. Having a large team of people can make it harder to stay organized and limits how much you can communicate.
- Inverted:
- Mary is a Lethal Chef and she's preparing stew. Her friends come in to help her salvage the stew and make it taste better.
- As Mary continuously fires people from her kitchen, the food and service quality get worse because there's less manpower.
- Subverted: Everyone's going to taste the stew. Mary looks a bit unsure and says, "Guys, I'm not sure it was a good idea..." (Beat) "to not let you all help me earlier!" She enthusiastically eats some of it.
- Double Subverted: Then she promptly spits it out, having realized just how bad it is now that she's had a taste.
- Parodied: All of Mary's friends march in, in a single file line, and silently drop their random items into her stew.
- Zig-Zagged: Some of Mary's friends like the new stew, but others don't.
- Averted:
- Mary lets her friends help her cook. It goes fine.
- Nobody comes to help Mary cook.
- Enforced: "Let's do a moral on how teamwork doesn't always help."
- Lampshaded: "Now that everyone's here, it's a total mess!"
- Invoked: Mary lets her friends in, despite being aware of the consequences.
- Exploited: Mary's preparing the stew for someone she doesn't like, and it's a perfect time for revenge. She lets her friends in because she knows they'll ruin it.
- Defied:
- Mary gives all her friends clear instructions on what they're allowed to do, so things can go smoothly.
- Mary doesn't let her friends in while she's cooking, only when dinner is ready.
- Discussed: "I heard that too many cooks spoil the soup. Wonder where that came from."
- Conversed: "These old shows are so silly! Hasn't Mary ever heard that old phrase about more people not always being a good thing?"
- Played for Laughs: The ingredients that everyone adds are really silly and lead to some crazy results.
- Played for Drama:
- Mary was making the stew to win over her Love Interest, Grant. And now her chance at that is ruined.
- Mary's inability to prevent her friends from ruining her stew shows her as an Extreme Doormat. It's too hard for her to say no to them.
- Played for Horror:
- The resulting stew is so bad that it comes to life and attacks Mary and her friends.
- One of Mary's friends starts threatening her if she dares prevent him from adding his particular ingredients.
- "Great work, team! Now we need a finisher!"
"Ooh, good idea! Could we use a link back?"
"More links coming up!"
"Wait, I already did that—!"
Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup
