http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StatusQuoIsGod

Marge Simpson, The Simpsons "Looks like everything's back the way it was! Which is the only way it should ever be."

Within a work, particularly long-running series and franchises, almost nothing changes. If something does change, it's generally reset back to the way it was before very quickly.

This usually happens in a series with no overarching conflict or plot, although it is also the final stage of Exponential Plot Delay, the phenomenon in which the plot of a serial story has totally ground to a halt. In either case, each installment of the series will open under virtually identical circumstances to the installment that came before.

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Why create a static situation? The creators want the audience to be familiar with the characters and situation, without having to bother with such things as "what happened last episode".

This trope is especially true for cartoons, where networks want to be free to broadcast reruns in any convenient order or lack thereof. It's also very common in sitcoms, and as a result, there is a lot of Aesop Amnesia created. Although characters have learned their lessons or attempted to improve their predicaments, nothing ever really changes.

While this trope can be used to help avoid Continuity Lockout, it also can be very difficult to juggle an unchanging status quo without gradually turning off your audience; characters and situations which never change tend to get stale after a while, and audiences can get a bit tired of seeing the Reset Button being pushed every time it looks like something might happen to change things.

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Status Quo Is God can easily collide with Happily Ever After. Sometimes, a story simply can't have an ending that is both happy and maintains the status quo—thus, these two powerful tropes are in conflict with each other. When this conflict occurs, it's likely that the status quo will be maintained, and the ending will be less happy than it might have been if not for Status Quo Is God. For example, if a main character gains a boyfriend/girlfriend at the beginning of the episode, it is almost certain that they will break up by the end, for one reason or another. (On the other hand, if the entire series is due to end and the creators feel confident that they'll never do a sequel, they may decided to break this trope with a Grand Finale that permanently fixes everything.)

Status Quo Is God is usually the justification for a Yo Yo Plot Point or an Ageless Birthday Episode. It has nothing to do with the divinity of a certain rock band, however.

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Negative Continuity is what happens when this trope is taken Up to Eleven—not only does nothing ever change, it doesn't even require an explanation In-Universe, the world just resets at the end of every episode. See also, Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome, in which characters get a glimpse of an alternative universe where things have, in fact, changed.

Related to Just Eat Gilligan and Un-Confession. For the opposite, in which a work changes dramatically over the course of its run, see Nothing Is the Same Anymore.

Sub-tropes:

Not quite a sub-trope but often overlaps with it:

Butt-Monkey: Sometimes, when a character's unchanging status quo makes them unlucky, however, this is not the only reason for a character to be unlucky.

Convenient Miscarriage: If the reason it's convenient is because the baby would change the status quo, but not an example if it's convenient to the characters.

Death Is Cheap: When mortality can easily be reversed. This is not always because of this rule, however, and may be played for other reasons.

Disney Death: Fake deaths are used in place of real deaths. Not always a sub-trope because this is only one of many reasons for a fake death.

"Shaggy Dog" Story: When the character's actions are rendered moot at the end. Sometimes done to maintain the status quo, but other times it's just played for drama or as a joke.

They Killed Kenny Again: A comedic sub-trope of "Death is Cheap" and "Negative Continuity". Sometimes done to maintain the status quo but other times it's played purely for Black Comedy.

Unsuccessful Pet Adoption: Someone adopts a pet, but it runs away or has to go. Maintaining the status quo is one of the reasons to play this trope, but not the only one.

Yank the Dog's Chain: Sometimes, the reason for an unlucky character's luck disappearing is because having it stick around would shake up the status quo, but not always.

Examples: