When I was a kid I noticed an oddly specific plot being recycled on sitcoms and thought it was really weird. I believe I saw it used on three different shows. It goes as follows:

Male protagonist has an old friend coming to visit. Old friend is getting married again and is bringing the new fiance to dinner. When they arrive, male protagonist looks surprised and behaves awkwardly. His wife pulls him to the side and asks him what his problem is. He explains that he's seen this woman before at a bachelor party. She was a stripper that jumped out of a cake. Wife is skeptical. Male protagonist says he can prove it because that stripper had a unique laugh. He proceeds to tell awful jokes in an attempt to make the fiance laugh, but fails. Someone else casually says something funny and the fiance does her weird laugh. Male protagonist and wife look at each other knowingly.

From there the plot diverges, but usually involves the two friends having a big argument and later reconciling.

Do sitcom writers shop their scripts around and resell them? I've never seen a reused story besides this one. How many other shows have used this horse laugh stripper plot? Are they still doing it? I don't watch them anymore.

Druff, you seem to be a big fan of 70s and 80s sitcoms. Does any of this sound familiar to you?