Hi Sitcom Advice Crew. I have to admit that I’m out of ideas. I’ve had the same job, same friend group and lived in the same place for seven years. Nothing is new or surprising at this point. I’ve talked to my friends, and we agree that it’s time for a shakeup. What should our next thing be?
—Oliver and Company
Jay: This is the classic problem in later seasons of sitcoms that characters like us know too well. It’s time to figure out how to meet some new people. Life is about the interesting things that happen when new characters are introduced and the complications those people bring to everyone’s lives! Do you have a nephew who could come live with you? A friend from college who could move to town? Maybe even try getting a new boss just to spice things up.
Eliza: You just need a change of scenery. Don’t do something cliché like changing apartments or even neighborhoods. Go big, like maybe move to Ohio. If you were on a sitcom, then you could try to move to a space station or the afterlife. Since you’re limited by reality and physics, maybe you could open a bed-and-breakfast? The new setting will allow new problems to arise.
Gene: Double down on the things you’re already doing. Are you the angry one in the group? Get angrier. Do you really like playing board games? Play more of them. Do you like having a better lawn than everyone else’s? Start sabotaging your neighbors’ lawns. Whatever tropes appear in your friend group, the right answer is to triple down! See, I’m the extreme one in my group.
Kenny: Stop this! Don’t tempt the universe. Your life is routine, and that’s the problem? Do you know how many would kill for routine? Life isn’t messing with you right now. Enjoy it. Life is cooking up something for you and your friends. You just don’t know it yet. That’s what life does. You can’t stop it from happening. Don’t try to make it happen sooner, unless you can win the lottery!