History Comicstrip / Foxtrot

* AnnoyinglyRepetitiveChild: Paige is hired to babysit young Meghan while her parents are out. Meghan has discovered the children's show ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'', and her whole vocabulary seems to be the show's name repeated ''ad nauseum''. At one point, it seems that Meghan is tiring of saying it, but Paige notices that Meghan is turning pale. "[[BreathHoldingBrat Breathe]], Meghan," Paige instructs. Meghan gulps down a hearty inhale, then resumes her fixated prattle. Paige acts as though this is nothing new.

* JustHereForGodzilla:
** InUniverse. Paige's reason for seeing ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]'' is to sigh adoringly every time Orlando Bloom is on screen.

** In an early Sunday strip, Paige is disgusted that Peter rented ''Film/RaisingArizona'' from the video store despite the fact that he's seen the movie four zillion times but rented it again just because Creator/HollyHunter is in it. "Oh, THAT'S a reason," she says. It turns out the video store rented Peter ''Film/DirtyDancing'' by mistake, and when Peter starts grousing about it, Paige tells him to shut up so she can watch. After all, even though Paige has seen the movie eight billion times, Creator/PatrickSwayze is in it.
--->'''Peter:''' [[IronicEcho Oh, THAT'S a reason.]]

* DisabledLoveInterest: Denise, who is blind, is a longer-term girlfriend than most of these, although she has disappeared without explanation.

* AnimatedAdaptation: [[http://www.foxtrot.com/2012/12/not-ready-for-prime-time-foxtrot/ This post]] on the strip's website has drafts for two episodes of one that never got off the ground.

* EmbarrassingRingtone: One strip had Jason swapping out the ringtone on Peter's phone for "Loser" by {{Music/Beck}}.

** Occurs in an early story where Jason becomes interested in trading commodities, then asks Roger for advice:

-->'''iFruit:''' Welcome, Paige_Fox88. You have 21,752 new messages. ''[lists messages]'' "Purchase Jasonsoft's Spam-Block Software!" "Purchase Jasonsoft's Spam-Block Software!" "Purchase Jasonsoft's Spam-Block Software!"...\\

'''Jason:''' E-mail's fine! Really!

* SidetrackedByTheAnalogy: In one strip, Paige has a math problem in the vein of ''"Lisa has X dollars and the store is selling a red sweater for Y dollars, a blue sweater for Z dollars, etc. How many different combinations of sweaters can she buy?"'' She calls the the problem ''"absurd"'' because it doesn't give enough information — ''"It doesn't say what color her hair is, it doesn't say what color her eyes are...!"'' Jason, standing nearby, responds "[[StealthInsutl This IS absurd]]."

** Peter punches a guy in the nose for making a tasteless joke about Denise ([[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and gets in trouble for it, naturally]]).

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Peter gets in trouble for punching a student who insulted Denise's blindness.
** Peter denies being addicted to chewing tobacco, and says he could quit that moment without any aftereffects. Andy calls his bluff, and he loses a whole night's sleep (and probably several more) as a result of withdrawal.
** Some side characters such as Eileen snarkily remark that Jason, for all his smarts, can be so dumb. We see it; many of his {{Get Rich Quick Scheme}}s fail because he fails to apply common sense to them.
*** The comic book megastore he wanted to build would be skyscraper high. When he calls the FAA, they tell him it's illegal to operate a building of that size from his backyard.
*** Jason considers investing in commodities. Even though he's saved a few dollars, an official broker wants an upfront fee of $10,000. Andy laughs her head off when Jason requests the money, so he decides to invest in candy that Paige would like and charge her for them.
** In one storyline, Denise finds out that Peter has been lusting after a girl in his gym class. He comes clean and admits that yes, he has been lusting after her because he feels like a loser who no other girl would possibly like. Denise replies that that is stupid, that she knows other girls like him. The fact is that Peter, for all his childishness and stupidity, is DEVOTED to Denise and would never THINK of cheating on her. Other girls tend to notice this, which is probably why they like him so much.
** Roger and Andy make no secret about the fact that, while they love and adore all their children, Jason is blatantly the favorite. The fact is, for all his obnoxiousness and immaturity, he is still just a ten year old boy who no doubt helps his parents feel young again, two people that have complained about feeling old. He also gets straight A’s, had helped his father with presentations at work, and has been the one that both Peter and Paige have turned to when they need help with schoolwork. It also helps that he has helped both Peter and Paige have turned to him for help when the other have gotten out of line, and Vice versa.

** Said in those exact words by Roger Fox when, while telling Andy off for having Jason play Video Games all week so he would miss specials about the Super Bowl before Super Bowl Sunday, basically calls football his one true love of his life.
** And again when he said that he was only using a plastic surgery software on a picture of her for fun: "I don't want some drop-dead gorgeous, hot-bodied wife!... (''beat'') ...I'm not helping myself, am I?"
** In one strip, Peter is complaining about being stuck on the bench for all of baseball season. Andy, trying to console him, says "Peter, Nothing is ever a sure thing. Sometimes life throws us curveballs." His response? "This isn't helping, Mom."
* ThatOneBoss: In-universe example. One story arc has Jason stuck on a boss in a video game he's been trying to get past for a month. Paige ends up getting past the boss by [[SheatheYourSword simply walking past it]].

** In one time, Andy grounds Peter for a week after finding out that he saw the R-rated ''Film/KillBill Volume 2''. Peter protests that she didn't get upset when he saw the first ''Film/KillBill'' movie. Andy responds that she hadn't known that he saw the first movie and that he is now grounded for ''two'' weeks.

* TaughtByTelevision: After Andy grounds Peter for two weeks for seeing the ''[[Film/KillBill]]'' films behind her back, Peter watches an episode of ''Court TV'' and then smugly tells Andy his grounding is null and void because she didn't read him his Miranda rights. She asks him if he's angling to be grounded for ''three'' weeks.

* ThermostatTamperTantrum: It's a RunningGag that Andy, the mother of the Fox family, keeps the thermostat lower than her children would like it and refuses to turn it up.

** The 20th anniversary strip from 2008 combined medium awareness with a lampshading of ComicBookTime. Roger spends most of the strip trying to convince Andy that a 20th anniversary means they're still young, especially compared to other cartoon families like the [[ComicStrip/{{Blondie}} Bumsteads]] and [[ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse Pattersons]] who've been around a lot longer. In the last panel, a balding Jason comes in complaining that Paige stole his hairpiece.

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: PlayedForLaughs with Jason and his constant desire for superpowers, such as standing out under a full moon after being nipped on the finger by a chihuahua in case it was a baby werewolf. Or asking the dentist to aim the X-ray machine at him so he can gain Blendo Man's powers. Or standing in the hot summer sun hoping to turn into [[Franchise/FantasticFour The Human Torch]].

* IntercontinuityCrossover: InUniverse example: One strip had a TV Christmas special playing called "[[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer Rudolph's]] Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Christmas" where, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin just as the title implied]], has Hermie, Rudolph, and Clarence being dispatched by the Elf enforcer to Rivendell to meet up with Elrond for a council (presumably the same one Elrond held regarding the One Ring). When it cut to a commercial break, Peter shouted "Hey Jason, they used your idea!"

--->'''Jason:''' Okay, fine, it bothers me! I mean, gee, stupid me, I thought we kind of liked each other! What's it to you?

--->'''Roger''': I'm telling you, Andy, buying an expensive golf club like this can actually '''save''' us money!\\

'''Roger''': The titanium construction gives it an extra-large sweet spot that will help correct my slice.\\
'''Andy''': And how will that save money?\\
'''Roger''': Remember that lawyer I almost beaned the last time we played?\\

'''Roger''': Then there are the cases of balls I lose each time...\\