History WesternAnimation / DoUg

* AnAesop: Most (if not all) of the episodes had one. The writers were even expected to write the intended moral of the episode at the top of each outline. The show got E/I branding ("Illuminating Television", as ABC called it) during the Disney run. Doug himself usually voices the moral via voiceover as he writes in his journal at the end of each episode, although it was still usually done in a non-{{Anvilicious}} way, especially in earlier episodes when Doug struggled to come up with the right words to voice the moral, adding additional humor. Examples include:
** "Doug Flies a Kite" is about the importance of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle KISS principle]], which not only helps Doug win the kite-flying competition, but has immense applicability in the arts and sciences.
--->'''Phil''': [[ArcWords A simple design flies just fine!]]
** "Doug Tips The Scale" has the message that everyone is a little self-conscious about their bodies, and worrying about it too much keeps you from enjoying simple pleasures like swimming in public.
** "Doug's On First" has two messages: youth sports is for the enjoyment of the players, not the egos of their parents, and parents shouldn't try to make their children be something they clearly aren't.
** "Doug's Chubby Buddy" also makes a point about body image self-consciousness, but by way of showing how bad eating disorders can be.
** "Doug's In The Money" points out that doing the right thing won't always be paved with lavish rewards and praise, and ultimately it should come down to you wanting to make the honest decision.

** One episode has 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.[[note]]It should be noted that not only did Doug take the punch, he wasn't even very hurt by it, showing that Larry was pretty weak to begin with. While Doug did hit back in retaliation, it's easy to make him come off as the bad guy because he actually ''is'' bigger and stronger than Larry.[[/note]] Then, near the end of the (Nick) series, [[TheBully Roger]] hits [[HollywoodPudgy Connie's]] BerserkButton by laughing after exposing her [[TraumaticHairCut bad haircut]] 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 DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale.

* BestedAtBowling: GenderInverted in [[Recap/DougS4E7DougRunsDougClobbersPatti "Doug Clobbers Patti"]]. Competent and usually level-headed Patti is beaten at bowling by casual bowler Doug; she loses a lot of self-confidence as a result. At the end of the episode, she challenges Doug to a rematch, giving him time to deliver AnAesop about self-acceptance which she takes to heart. However, it doesn't prevent her from going wild with excitement when she defeats him.

* TrialBalloonQuestion: See "IHaveThisFriend"

* {{Catchphrase}}:

* CatsAreMean: Stinky is, at least.
* CatsAreSuperior: In Judy's opinion at least, as she states it in "Doug's Fat Cat." Porkchop is not amused. She even goes goo-goo over Stinky (she's never been shown to do the same with Porkchop) and tells Doug about how the ancient Egyptians worshipped cats. But when she finds a [[labelnote:sick]]pregnant[[/labelnote]] Stinky in her costume chest getting fur all over, she wants the "beast" out of the house.
* CelebrityParadox: Doug's favorite comic Man-O-Steel Man is a Franchise/{{Superman}} {{Expy}}. In ''WesternAnimation/Dougs1stMovie'', a couple of the police officers are having a debate over Franchise/{{Batman}} and Franchise/{{Superman}}.
* ChairReveal: In "Doug Graduates", Doug finds himself in [[TheGhost Principal Buttsavich]]'s office, with the back of the office chair facing him. Doug nervously asks for Mr. Buttsavich a few times, and the chair spins around to reveal... [[TheUnreveal Roger]].

** Many of the characters are reminiscent of ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} characters. Doug is similar to Charlie Brown in personality and character design, Porkchop is Snoopy, Patti Mayonnaise is a cross between Peppermint Patty and the Little Red Haired Girl, Skeeter is a quirkier 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, "[[CatchPhrase Good grief!]]"

* UnclePennybags: Mr Dink. [[{{Catchphrase}} Very expensive!]] WordOfGod says Dink stands for [[MeaningfulName Dual Income No Kids]].

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: InUniverse, Porkchop (the dog) leaves footprints all over Doug's canvas, and it's hailed as an artistic masterpiece.

* ShockinglyExpensiveBill: Doug's free candy and soda bill in one of his fantasies from the episode "Doug Runs".

The Nickelodeon ''Doug'' series is currently available to stream on Creator/ParamountPlus (as well as being relased on [[http://www.amazon.com/Doug-The-Complete-Nickelodeon-Series/dp/B00LBHOCHS/ref=pd_sim_mov_13?ie=UTF8&refRID=0BJYQVTW532717KFEXH8 on DVD]]), with the Disney series currently streaming on Creator/DisneyPlus. According to creator Jim Jinkins, Disney still holds the rights to the series and has not expressed any interest in reviving the franchise. Nevertheless, Jinkins says he has more stories to tell if a revival is ever green-lighted, complete with bombshells for longtime fans.

* BigSisterInstinct: Judy expresses this towards Doug on some occasions. In one episode under the Nickelodeon run, she rallied her friends to support Doug when his cartoon was censored by the schoolboard. In one of the Disney episodes, Judy volunteered to be her actress idol Gwen Gauntlet's personal assistant in hopes of giving her a college recommendation. Unfortunately, Gwen turned out to be a [[ThePrimaDonna self absorbed and entitled diva]] who treated her as a servant and mercilessly overworked her. Judy begrudgingly put up with her mistreatment throughout most of the episode, and was only pushed to the breaking point when Gwen berated Doug for accidentally dropping one of her dresses.

* BigSisterInstinct: Judy expresses this towards Doug on some occasions. In one episode under the Nickelodeon run, she rallied her friends to support Doug when his cartoon was censored by the schoolboard. In one of the Disney episodes, Judy volunteered to be her actress idol Gwen Gauntlet's personal assistant in hopes of giving her a college recommendation. Unfortunately, Gwen turned out to be a [[ThePrimaDonna self absorbed and entitled diva]] who treated her as a servant and mercilessly overworked her. Judy begrudgingly put up with her mistreatment throughout most of the episode, and was only pushed to the boiling point when Gwen berated Doug for accidentally dropping one of her dresses.

* BigSisterInstinct: Judy expresses this towards Doug on some occasions. In one episode under the Nickelodeon run, she rallied her friends to support Doug when his cartoon was censored by the schoolboard. In one of the Disney episodes, Judy volunteered to be her actress idol Gwen Gauntlet's personal assistant in hopes of giving her a college recommendation. Unfortunately, Gwen turned out to be a [[ThePrimaDonna self absorbed and entitled diva]] who treated her as a servant and mercilessly overworked her. Judy begrudgingly put up with her treatment throughout most of the episode, and was only pushed to the boiling point when Gwen berated Doug for accidentally dropping one of her dresses.

* BigSisterInstinct: Judy expresses this towards Doug on some occasions. In one episode under the Nickelodeon run, she rallied her friends to support Doug when his cartoon was censored by the schoolboard. In one of the Disney episodes, Judy volunteered to be her actress idol Gwen Gauntlet's personal assistant in hopes of giving her a college recommendation. Unfortunately, Gwen turned out to be a [[ThePrimaDonna a snotty and entitled diva]] who treated her as a servant and mercilessly overworked her. Judy begrudgingly put up with her treatment throughout most of the episode, and was only pushed to the boiling point when Gwen berated Doug for accidentally dropping one of her dresses.

* OffModel: The Nickelodeon series at least had its fair share of animation errors. For example, in "Doug's Comic Collaboration," there's a scene in which Doug's left arm appears to be in front of Skeeter and around Skeeter's shoulder at the same time. In "Doug's Nightmare on Jumbo Street," Tippi Dink is colored turquoise-blue like Skeeter, instead of purple as she normally is. And in the pilot episode, her hair color goes from blonde to green repeatedly in one scene.
** The Disney run is not much better in this regard, with several episodes featuring things like characters not being fully drawn into shots, bizarre propotions, and crowd scenes that look like children's doodles.

* AmbiguousDisorder: As outlined by [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20090_6-creepy-things-you-never-noticed-about-famous-kids-cartoons.html this article]] on Cracked, there is a strong possibility that Doug has schizophrenia.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: In 2015, Disney briefly released "Doug's Secret Christmas", along with the Christmas specials of their other '90s cartoons, on On-Demand services. With that, they cut part of the scene where Doug and his father finally have TheTalk, in which Doug outright utters the word ''sex''. The episode is uncut on Disney+. On the other hand, the ClumsyCopyrightCensorship on "Doug's Chubby Buddy" (see VerySpecialEpisode below) remains,

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* PoorCommunicationKills: The main problem in "Doug Rocks the House". Doug had no idea that the house he knocked down was Patty's old one from before her mom died. Nobody would tell him why she was mad and treated him like he already knew the history behind it, forgetting that he'd moved to town long after Patty and her dad had moved to their current house.

** "Doug's In The Money" has Doug find a discarded wad of cash, and despite multiple people telling him he is within the right to keep it, when he discovers the person who dropped it, he hands it back. His reward for doing so is...a stick of gum, while all the {{Fair Weathered Friend}}s who swarmed around him when he was rich heckle him for being a chump. Doug however, accepts it happily. Sometimes you must do something simply for kindness sake rather than for (or even in spite of) any reward or respect.

* HardTruthAesop: In "Doug Tips the Scales" Doug comes home from a month with his grandma who fed him a lot of junk food and he is much heftier. He learns of a pool party Beebe is hosting in three weeks and [[WeightWoe becomes self-conscious over being seen in a bathing suit in this state]]. He works really hard and gets back to his old weight, only to realize he was kind of pudgy to begin with. When he gets to the pool party he sees almost all his friends were also self-conscious over their bodies and refused to be seen in their swimwear, with even Skeeter and Patty worried about being too skinny or having bony shoulders. Ultimately no one was satisfied with their bodies and too obsessed with how they look rather than having fun, and Doug broke the ice by being the first to remove his shirt and jump in.

* PepperSneeze: This kickstarts the plot of "Doug on the Trail." Doug is carrying both the Bluff Scouts' navigational computer and a pepper mill while standing precariously in a canoe, when the pepper makes him sneeze and he [[SneezeOfDoom falls out of the canoe, drops the computer and breaks it.]] This forces Mr. Dink to leave camp to get the spare computer.

* ReadtheFinePrint: This is how Roger's family originally got rich in the Disney version. After the original Middle School that Doug and his classmates were going to was torn down, Mr. Bluff decides to buy a mobile home park and build a new Middle School for his daughter and classmates. However, during construction Mr. Bluff finds out from Roger's mother that while she hadn't lived in the mobile home park for years, she still owned a small section of land and was building the new school right over her property. Mr. Bluff, fearing a court case and delay in construction, paid a huge sum of money for the land, causing Roger to be rich overnight.