History WesternAnimation / DoUg

* EurekaMoment: In "Doug's Brainy Buddy", Doug just couldn't believe Skeeter is a genius, and gotten to the point where it nearly broke their friendship. When Judy asked what happened...

** And another in "Doug's Disappearing Doug" when he realize why Porkchop ran away, because he "treated him like a dog".

* {{Expy}}: The Beets' name and Liverpool accents are obviously based on Music/TheBeatles (although singer Monroe Yoder looks more like [[Music/TheWho Roger Daltrey]].
** Many of the characters are reminiscent of ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} characters. Doug is kind of like Charlie Brown in personality and character design, Porkchop is Snoopy, Patty Mayonnaise is the Little Red Haired Girl, Skeeter is Linus, amongst many others.
*** This is Lampshaded in the series premiere of the Disney series when Doug sees a computer simulation of possible haircuts and one is that of Charlie Brown. He even says good grief.

* FakeNationality: [[invoked]] A girl claiming to be from Yakistonia is called out on this by {{F|unnyForeigner}}entruck because [[TheWoobie she wants to be liked.]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Doug's Bad Trip". The episode is actually about Doug and his family going on a road trip, but the title suggests...[[MushroomSamba other things]].

* GiveGeeksAChance: [[ShortTank Patti]] with [[{{Adorkable}} Doug]].

* HerCodeNameWasMarySue: Many of Doug's {{Imagine Spot}}s fill this role. There's also the episode where Doug and Skeeter collaborate on a comic, with both of them as superheroes.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Principal Buttsavitch is occasionally referred to, but Doug realized in the Nickelodeon Finale that he (and we) never actually met the guy.
** Except Doug DID go to see the principal in an early episode. Even though the audience doesn't see him Doug CLEARLY does. NegativeContinuity?
*** It's possible the school got a new principal between the beginning of the series and the finale. The end of one of the early episodes ends with a party celebrating Doug's first anniversary of moving to Bluffington.
*** But WE never see the principal, so it's not actually clear. Additionally, early on in "Doug Graduates," a reference is made to Principal Buttsavitch rescuing a kid from a fire in the chemistry lab, which may, in fact, be the writers implying that the reason Doug never actually saw the principal in "Doug Gets Busted" (perhaps a secretary or someone else handed him his 2nd place ribbon instead) is, ironically, a REAL fire broke out in the science lab and Buttsavitch was off rescuing Skunky amidst the flames.

** EpisodeTitleCard: Doug will walk through a door, offer up the title, and happily declare, "That's me!" before Pork Chop shows up, screws him into the ground, and turns the lights off. All of this is accompanied by a ThemeTuneCameo.
* IdiotBall: The Nickelodeon-era Christmas episode has Pork Chop bite and injure Beebe to keep her away from thin ice/hole in the ice and is then taken away because he is believed to be dangerous. Out of context the logic can at least be followed if one didn't know of the thin ice, however; the thin ice was marked as such then a hole formed in the ice that she was heading straight for, he had never shown any signs of aggression at any point and during his "trial" Bebe was instructed to recreate the incident i.e. walk on ice towards a hole in but now in a cast with crutches and Pork Chop seems to be the only one who notices she is about to die and has to break free to save her again.
** Granted, ''everyone'' that wasn't Doug and his inner circle was holding the IdiotBall that episode. Bill Bluff, Beebe's father and owner of Bluffington, had went to great lengths to paint Pork Chop as a monster and everyone believed him over Doug, no one gave a care about the dog come Christmas and it forced Doug to call everyone out at Pork Chop's trial.
* IHaveThisFriend: Practically Doug's catchphrase.
** He often follows it up with [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial "It's not me,"]] as well.

* KarmaHoudini: Slightly in TheMovie, how was Mr. Bluff '''''not''''' arrested at the end? Yes, he did get comeuppance but he broke so many U.S. laws it's ridiculous. He polluted a lake he didn't even own, he bribes the police, he bribes the media. He bribes everyone! That's just the beginning.

* LighterAndSofter: Not that you could ever really call the show dark to begin with, but the Disney episodes have a noticeably more lighthearted feel than the Nickelodeon ones did.
** The show was deceptively dark, I'd say. We see Roger's sad home life (FreudianExcuse), learn about the family tragedy Patti experienced (See MissingMom), and a lot of the season 4 episodes feature some sad undertones dealing with the harsh realities of life.

* MasterOfTheMixedMessage: Patti Mayonnaise. One episode she actually asks him out on a date, which ends kind of awkwardly. This back-and-forth behavior continues throughout the rest of the series.
** This is {{justified|Trope}} due to their ages. After all, most preteens are pretty nervous when it comes to dealing with matters of the heart for the first time.
* MeaningfulName: The name Dink comes from the acronym for "Double Income, No Kids."

* MissingMom: Patti's mother died in a car accident.
** To a lesser extent, Chalky Studebaker and the Sleech brothers have fathers, but not moms. And unlike with Patti, what happened to them is never mentioned.
*** No, Chalky's mom is with him and his father during a family sports event in one episode, and she has had other small cameos also. The Sleech brothers are another story.

* PunnyName: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DINKY DINK (or DINKY)]] is slang for an affluent couple with no children.

* QuietlyPerformingSisterShow: In its original run, Doug was sort of this to [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren & Stimpy]] and WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}. Doug didn't become the pop-culture smash and merchandising bonanza that its fellow Nicktoons did, but was popular enough to remain on Nick's schedule in reruns years after its cancellation.

* RunningGag: Beets.

** FridgeBrilliance [[spoiler: Doug writes in cursive, and Roger is a bad student. So he couldn't read cursive so he said Doug's handwriting was bad! Also keep in mind that Doug is [[TheSouthpaw left-handed]] which means he drags his hand across everything he writes, and he favors pens for writing so it's possibly his writing appears smudged.]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The show often uses SuspiciouslySimilarSong versions of movie themes.
** Not just movie themes. The amusement park Funkytown is usually accompanied by an appropriate SuspiciouslySimilarSong version of the famous Lipps Inc. song, and in one episode Skeeter plays a dangerously close soundalike of "U Can't Touch This."

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: InUniverse Porkchop (the dog) leaves footprints all over Doug's canvas, and it's hailed as an artistic masterpiece.
** Anything that comes out of Judy's mouth.

* VerbalTic: Skeeter's little honking noises he makes.

*** And not surprisingly his son Willie White also has a verbal tic considering he starts most of his sentences with "Duhhhh".

* VerySpecialEpisode: In the Disney version, there was an episode where Patti thinks she's fat after overhearing Doug comment on her weight (when he was referring to a homemade vehicle he was making to catch the Lucky Duck Lake monster), prompting Patti to become anorexic. (Also, at the end of that episode, there was Patti's spoken PublicServiceAnnouncement [[http://www.tv.com/shows/doug/dougs-chubby-buddy-74019/trivia/ on how to help out on eating disorders]] by locating or contacting institutes or places or medical centers, right before ToonDisney and the Disney Channel overdubbed her voice through ClumsyCopyrightCensorship.)

* WhamEpisode: ''Doug's Christmas Story'', [[SarcasmMode Just in time for the holidays]].

* HollywoodToneDeaf: Patti, in the Disney version's episode about the town anthem contest.
** She WAS a good singer in one episode of the Nickelodeon series.
*** That's true - in "Doug's No Dummy"
** It's not unheard of for a girl's voice to crack during puberty (though it's not as dramatic a change as it is with boys).

* InformedAttractiveness: Patti is apparently beautiful, but we have to be told that.
** YMMV on that- this troper always thought Patti was attractive.

* UnclePennybags: Mr Dink. [[{{Catchphrase}} Very expensive!]]
** Subverted in that he's middle-class, but apparently good with money.
** Never underestimate how much income is left disposable by not having children.
*** WordOfGod says Dink stands for [[MeaningfulName Dual Income No Kids]]

* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: White, blue, purple, green? (WordOfGod says it's been Jim Jenkins's art style ever since he liked to color in his coloring books as a kid.)

One of the first three original Nicktoons, featuring eleven-year-old Doug Funnie and his experiences with his friends, family and community. Creator Jim Jinkins developed the concept and drew inspiration from his own experiences growing up. Beginning with Doug's arrival in Bluffington, he dutifully writes about his every adventure in his journal, which frames almost every episode. Very early on, he gained a best friend in Mosquito "Skeeter" Valentine, a nemesis in school bully Roger Klotz, and a love interest in the [[ShortTank tomboyish]] Patti Mayonnaise. His dog Porkchop frequently steals the show with his antics, not unlike [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]]. Many other colourful characters (both literally and figuratively) were featured.

After its initial run, the show was bought and {{Retool}}ed by Disney into ''[[TheNewAdventures Brand Spanking New Doug]]'' (Or ''Disney's Doug'' as it was later branded). It wound up changing a few things from the Nickelodeon version (the first episode even address this with the new changes of Doug's life) with many characters getting new looks and various supporting characters changing jobs and roles. Despite the changes, it was still a continuation of the original series, and ended up with a longer run than the original. Like the Nickelodeon version, it also concluded with a {{grand finale}} (something ''very'' few Disney cartoons have managed).

Not to be confused with the YouTube series WebVideo/DougDerky.

* AlliterativeName: Several characters, like Bebe Bluff.

* AnythingButThat: When faced with liver and onions in one of his fantasies in "Doug's Dinner Date."
* ArcNumber: 47. It's on many street signs, it's Doug's locker number, etc.
* ArtEvolution: Relatively minor in mostly the animation style, in later episodes the characters are less rubbery.

** There is a quite noticeable evolution in the art between the first and second episodes, though. The pilot features a very wobbly style where the characters' outlines are constantly moving, making the show's world look more surreal and scribble-like. This effect was toned down severely by the second episode, and is gone entirely by the end of season one.

* BalloonBelly: Doug gets one in "Doug Tips the Scale".

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Mr. Bluff.

** Mrs. Wingo also has plenty of moments.

* {{Fanservice}}: At the beginning of the episode ''Doug On His Own'', Judy wears a dress that shows her [[http://usera.ImageCave.com/KaBlammer4Life/judy%20back.jpg back]] and [[http://usera.imagecave.com/KaBlammer4Life/judy%20drss.jpg cleavage.]]

** While dressing Doug up for his date with Patti, Judy says he should wear a handkerchief, "but not on the left." In the hanky code once used by the gay community, a handkerchief in the left pocket signaled that one was a "top."

** Mr. Dink jumps out of bushes more than once, including in "Doug Bags a Neematoad," where he's holding a camera. He says it's just because he thought Porkchop was a Neematoad, but we know the possible alternative pedophillic explanation.

** A restaurant at the mall is named, "Baloney Hut," and its slogan is, "get your butt to the Baloney Hut."

* The Christmas episode actually first ran along with the rest of season 4, in December of 1993.

*** But WE never see the principal, so it's not actually clear. Additionally, early on in "Doug Graduates," a reference is made to Principal Buttsavitch rescuing a kid from a fire in the chemistry lab, which may, in fact, be the writers implying that the reason Doug never actually saw the principal in "Doug Gets Busted" (perhaps a secretary or someone else handed him his 2nd place ribbon instead) is, ironically, a REAL fire broke out in the science lab and Buttsavitch was off rescuing Skunky amidst the flames.

* InsanityDefense: In one episode, Roger is attempting to frame Doug for stealing Mr. Bone's trophy. Judy suggests attempting the Insanity Defense, only for Doug to say that the last person who tried it ''still'' got in trouble ''and'' had to go to the counselor.

* ItTastesLikeFeet: PlayedForLaughs in one episode, when Doug tried to sell chocolates door to door for charity, but couldn't make any sales because his neighbors complained that the chocolates "tasted like cement". In a bizarre twist, it turned out that there actually ''was'' cement in the chocolates because of an accident at the factory where they were made. Though how Doug's neighbors knew what cement tasted like is anyone's guess...

** The show was deceptively dark, I'd say. We see Roger's sad home life ({{Freudian Excuse}}), learn about the family tragedy Patti experienced (See MissingMom), and a lot of the season 4 episodes feature some sad undertones dealing with the harsh realities of life.

* LyricalDissonance: The song "Anybody Else at All" from the Disney World musical is a fun, bouncy tune...about Doug losing his self-confidence.

* MerchandiseDriven: ''Disney's Doug'' had as much merchandise as say, ''HighSchoolMusical'' or ''HannahMontana''.

* TheMusical: ''Doug Live!'', a live stage-show that was preformed about five times daily in Walt Disney World from 1999-2001. One of Doug's songs, "Someone Like Me", ended up in the movie's end credits. Most of the story was created exclusively for the musical, but included elements from the episodes "Doug Rocks" and "Doug & Patti Sitting in a Tree" (oddly enough, both episodes mentioned were from the Nickelodeon series)

* OneJudgeToRuleThemAll: Bill Bluff in the contest to name the new school in "Doug's New School". He names it the "Beebe Bluff Middle School" after his daughter, making the whole contest (and conflict of the episode) pointless.

* QuietlyPerformingSisterShow: In its original run, Doug was sort of this to [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren & Stimpy]] and WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}. Doug didn't become the pop-culture smash and merchandising bonanza that its fellow Nicktoons did, but was popular enough to remain on Nick's schedule in reruns years after its cancellation.

* RunningGag: Beets.

* SadistTeacher: Doug had Mr. Bone & Mrs. Wingo in Doug's own nightmarish imagination.

* SpoiledSweet: Beebe Bluff's father owns most of the town, but she goes to a public school and is an alright person. She also saves them in TheMovie.

* SternTeacher: Mrs. Wingo, "You're knocking on trouble's door"

* StoryBreakerTeamUp: Done inside the show itself when Doug and Skeeter teamed up their imaginary heroes: Comicbook/{{Superman}} {{Expy}} Quailman and SilverSurfer Expy The Silver Skeeter.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Patti and Beebe

* TyrantTakesTheHelm: Mr. Dink temporarily appoints Roger the scoutmaster of Doug's Bluff Scout troop while he is away, and his abuses are such that even [[GangOfBullies his own cronies]] turn against him.

* WhamEpisode: ''Doug's Christmas Story'', [[SarcasmMode Just in time for the holidays]].

** FridgeBrilliance [[spoiler: Doug writes in cursive, and Roger is a bad student. So he couldn't read cursive so he said Doug's handwriting was bad!]]

* TheSouthpaw: Doug is left-handed. It was a plot point in the episode where Doug is on Patti's baseball team (never having played baseball before) and she realizes that he is left handed and tells him to stand on the ''right'' side of home plate so he could have an easier time swinging at the ball. He manages a hit almost instantly.

* AesopAmnesia: One episode has [[SatelliteCharacter Larry]], due to a misunderstanding, starting a fight with Doug, which Doug surprisingly wins (after actually taking a punch). Doug's dad overhears Skeeter talking Doug up, then Dad scolds Doug and turns the episode into [[AnAesop "Physical Violence is for those who've run out of good ideas"]], even in self-defense. Then, near the end of the (Nick) series, [[HarmlessVillain Roger]] hits [[HollywoodPudgy Connie's]] BerserkButton ''verbally'' and gets [[MegatonPunch the wind knocked out of him]] with no repercussions, just everyone [[PayEvilUntoEvil having a good time.]] Yes, Roger's an undeniable {{Jerkass}}, but it also leads to the other issue of AbuseIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale.

* FanServicePack: Happened to formerly pudgy Connie Benge between the Nick and the Disney shows. Explained with her and her mother having been to a beauty farm.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Principal Buttsavage is occasionally referred to, but Doug realized in the Nickelodeon Finale that he (and we) never actually met the guy.

** The show was deceptively dark, I'd say. We see Roger's sad home life ({{Freudian Excuse}}), learn about the family tragedy Patti experienced ([[MissingMom]]), and a lot of the season 4 episodes feature some sad undertones dealing with the harsh realities of life.

* QuietlyPerformingSisterShow: In its original run, Doug was sort of this to [[TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren & Stimpy]] and WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}. Doug didn't become the pop-culture smash and merchandising bonanza that its fellow Nicktoons did, but was popular enough to remain on Nick's schedule in reruns years after its cancellation.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: An InUniverse example. The costume of a supposedly scary movie monster has a visible zipper.

* [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield Where The Hell Is Bluffington?]]: Or Bloatsburg (where the Funnies came to Bluffington from), for that matter.

* WriteWhoYouKnow: Doug writes and draws almost the whole cast of the show into his Quailman comics, sometimes multiple times.

* YouTubePoop: A few ''Doug''-centered poops have been made. Among them are those of ''Disney's Doug''.
* ZettaiRyouiki: Connie wears Grade C after her [[FanServicePack beauty farm visit]].

* ChannelHop: Started out on Nickelodeon. Then moved to ABC. Then finally to the Disney Channel before disappearing off the radar completely. [[hottip:Details: It's all very complicated company politics. Jumbo Pictures first managed to sell some of their ideas to Viacom and become a partner, subsequently getting on Viacom's payroll. Shortly after the wrapping up of Season 4, Viacom backstabbed them. They cut off all ties with Viacom and then managed to partner up with Disney instead, getting on Disney's payroll. Which after 4 seasons and a movie, backstabs them too by using Doug and PBAndJOtter characters in a multi-network music video project that Jim Jenkins does not want the characters to be participating in due to his own beliefs. They then broke up their ties with Disney, changed the company name to Cartoon Pizza, and learned the hard way that partnering up with a network is never a good idea.]]

** He often follows it up with "It's not me," as well.

* AnimalThemedSuperbeing: Parodied, of course, with Quailman.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Mr. Dink is middle-class, just like Doug's family, but he has enough money to buy pretty much whatever he wants. So, of course, his favorite things are "very expensive".

* EngineeredPublicConfession: Played with in "Doug Didn't Do It", in which Roger tells Doug he stole Mr. Bone's trophy while sitting with his legs across Mr. Bone's desk-- with his foot on the PA system button, and the "on-air" light flashing. It's played with, in that Doug was more than happy to accept the punishment for something he didn't do, had no intention of tattling on Roger, and had even tried to ''warn'' Roger about what he was doing. He's just that nice a guy. Of course, the entire school heard it, including Mr. Bone, and Roger will be polishing trophies 'til they put him in the grave.

* FirstKiss: The subject of an entire episode. It ends up being Doug and [[spoiler:Beebe.]]

* KarmaHoudini: Slightly in TheMovie, how was Mr. Bluff '''''not''''' arrested at the end? Yes, he did get comeuppance but he broke so many U.S. laws it's ridiculous. He polluted a lake he didn't even own, he bribes the police, he bribes the media. Hell, he bribes everyone! And that's just the beginning.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Doug literally does this to Patti's old house which is falling apart.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Doug's favorite rock band was named The Beets in homage to The Beatles, who even split up much later in the shows run. They also had an Arnold Schwarzenegger parody. Not to mention Mr. Bone is clearly based on Don Knotts.

** Nickelodeon did promote the hell out of the show when it was still running, if for no other reason than the fact that they show ''was'' popular with kids and ''especially'' parents, who thought Ren and Stimpy and other shows like it were too obnoxious.

** FridgeBrilliance [[spoiler: Doug writes in cursive, and Roger is a bad student. So of course he couldn't read cursive so he said Doug's handwriting was bad!]]

** "Silver Skeeter" (see SuperpowerLottery below) is, of course, a tribute to the ''SilverSurfer''.

* TakeTheWheel: A fantasy in which Doug and Skeeter are truck drivers. Skeeter's request to take the wheel ends up with Doug literally [[VisualPun giving it to him]].

* UmpteenthCustomer: Doug enters what looks like a video game store and looks around, only to discover that he's the one millionth customer and has won a [[BlandNameProduct Pretendo]]. Of course, this was the setup for the episode's Aesop.

** The Nic-Nacs episode could count too, aside from the whole GRatedDrug business. Though it's very different from typical anti-drug/anti-smoking episodes, and just as much about being skeptical of marketing messages as it is about avoiding dangerous substances -- not to mention openly hostile toward the company behind the product in ways that a program that relies on sponsorship from [[MegaCorp Philip Morris subsidiaries]] (they owned Kraft at the time) could never get away with had they not substituted a made-up product for cigarettes.

* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Subverted. Quailman's main superpower is the hypnotic "Quail-Eye," but he rarely encounters a situation that he could fix through sheer force, forcing him to take a third option.
** Keep in mind this is a superhero whose main attributes are a belt on his forehead and wearing his underwear over his pants.
** He's Doug. [[NiceGuy Of course he'll never purposely hurt anyone]].

** Mr. Dink jumps out of bushes more than once, including in "Doug Bags a Neematoad," where he's holding a camera. He says it's just because he thought Porkchop was a Neematoad, but we know the possible alternate explanation.

* NotSoDifferent: In "Doug Rocks the House", after Doug finds out he knocked down Patti's old house, he didn't understand why she was upset about it until he remembered how he felt when he first moved to Bluffington.

* YouTubePoop: Many have been made. More of them are of ''Disney's Doug''.