History WesternAnimation / DoUg

* AirventEscape: Attempted by Roger in "Doug's Secret of Success" to escape detention. Turns out all the airvents lead directly to Mr. Bone's office for this exact reason.

* 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 a lesson about self-acceptance which she takes to heart. However, it doesn't prevent her from going wild with excitement when she defeats him.

* BlandNameProduct: Several in the Nickelodeon series, including the [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Pretendo]], "White Foul" cigars (never smoked, only appears on a cash box), and "[[CocaPepsiInc Poopsi]]" cola.

** The Beets' name and Liverpool accents are obviously based on Music/TheBeatles (although singer Monroe Yoder looks more like [[Music/TheWho Roger Daltrey]]). Sonically, their music bears more resemblance to Music/TheWho (particularly "I Need Mo' Allowance") or even punk rock acts like Music/TheRamones than the Beatles.
** 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, "[[CharacterCatchphrase hrase Good grief!]]"

** "Doug Battles The Rulemeister" – While spending a Saturday in detention, Doug draws a Quailman comic in which Quailman defeats an enemy known as "The Rulemeister" (modeled after Principal Bone) by finding a loophole in one of his rules. [[spoiler: When Bone seizes the comics, Doug asks him if he's immune to the same rules. When Bone states that everyone must follow his rules without exceptions, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Doug accuses him of breaking the rule against grabbing other people's comics, the punishment of which is a Saturday detention]].]] While Bone still enforces the rules, he knows he can be overruled by anyone either the same position as him, or higher like Buttsavitch, who's the principal.

* GangOfBullies: Roger is often seen with fellow delinquents Willie, Ned and Boomer. However, they don't blindly follow Roger's lead in ''everything''; see NoHonorAmongThieves.

* 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 (but not all) preteens are pretty nervous when it comes to dealing with matters of the heart for the first time.

* 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 Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger parody (Ronald Weisenheimer). Mr. Bone is clearly based on Creator/DonKnotts. Mayor Bob White was a parody of then-president UsefulNotes/BillClinton. Also see ShoutOut.

* StockSoundEffect: One of Fred Newman's most used sound effects has been described by fans as the "beeyou". It is often used whenever something or someone slowly falls or sags. The most noticeable use is in "Doug's No Dummy", when a tall plant dies after Porkchop pours a bucket of Doug's sweat in its pot.

* SuperficialSuggestionBox: In "Doug And The Bluffington Five", when S.P.U.D. ([[FunWithAcronyms Students Protesting the Uniform Decision]]) hand Mr. Bone a stack of papers regarding their opinion on the decision to have the students of Beebe Bluff Middle School wear school uniforms, he gladly accepts them and pops them into "the ol' suggestionb box", which is a paper shredder with "Suggestion Box" written on it.

** Patti finds out that her dad was secretly seeing a woman with the initials "E.K." and becomes concerned. Her big fear is that it's Roger's mother (Edwina Klotz), who is single. Doug thinks it's not a big deal while helping her figure out who the mystery woman is, hoping that the answer will assuage her worries. [[spoiler:Patti actually reacts worse when learning it's their English teacher, Ms. Emily Krystal, and having an ImagineSpot of Ms. Krystal replacing her mother. She freaks out, yells at her dad and Ms. Krystal, and runs off in tears. As her dad acknowledges, breaking the news would have hurt regardless of the timing]].

--->'''Dr. Klotzenstein:''' Today, Professor Ogie's Science Class... ...Tomorrow, THE WORLD!

* TrashyTouristTrap: "Doug's Bad Trip" has the Funnies go on a long car trip to a targeted destination, but Doug and Judy keep seeing billboards that advertise tourist traps. They all turn out to be disappointments. The first advertised as having a mysterious creepy thing turn out to be just a misshapen potato, the second stating to be a bug ranch was just a bunch of bugs in miniature barns, the third was claimed to be a poetic field but was just a desert with a sign.

-->'''Doug:''' ''My'' fault?! [[NeverMyFault You don't even know what you're talking about!]] Ah, shut up!

After its initial run, the show's production company - Jumbo Pictures - was bought by Creator/{{Disney}}, which {{retool}}ed the series into ''[[TheNewAdventures Brand Spanking New Doug]]'' (or ''Disney's Doug'' as it was retitled for later episodes and reruns) for Creator/{{ABC}} (which Disney had also just bought out); starting in 1997, it became one of the focal points of the new ''Creator/OneSaturdayMorning'' block. It wound up changing a few things from the Nickelodeon run (the first episode even addresses 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 GrandFinale (something ''very'' few Disney cartoons have managed).