The
sitcom rule of
dancing states that in any long-running
situation comedy there will be at least one
episode involving dancing.
It will be established that one of the
male characters of the sit-com (or less frequently, a
female, the notable exception being
full house which had several such episides) will be required to dance for some purpose, possibly an
event such as a
prom or
funeral.
It will be established that the aforementioned male has no
knowledge of dance, and will additionally have the misconception that dancing is effeminate, often using terms such as "cissy", "
ninny", "
girly" and "
fruity". There may be implied homophobia.
It will be established that a secondary character is some expert/professional/
champion dancer, and will offer to teach the primary character how to dance, after some persuasion that dancing is neither cissy,
ninny,
girly or
fruity.
If the secondary character is female then either:
If both characters are unnattached, they will embrace each other and kiss, the audience will say that "wooo" sound effect
If one or both of the characters have significant others, one of these will discover the couple dancing, and make assumptions on their fidelity.
If the secondary character is also male then:
Someone will discover them dancing together.
This person will assume that they are gay.
Through some mechanism, everyone will assume they are gay.
If the primary character's reason to dance is for a specific female, the female will be angered that the primary character is gay, however, the episode will resolve with the truth being discovered by all.
The audience will be left with a secret hint that the primary and secondary male characters are actually homosexual (eg, a wink to camera).
Corollory - if the primary character is a football player, they will end up in an all female ballet class at some point, and it will impact immediately positively on their football playing skills.