History YMMV / DrakeAndJosh

* CreatorsPet: Megan is a massive {{Jerkass}} who makes her brothers miserable for no reason, yet [[KarmaHoudini gets away with everything]], infuriating the fandom to the point they legitimately wanted her killed off. For some reason, showrunner Creator/DanSchneider was completely unaware of this.

** Megan is generally despised by fans for being a CreatorsPet by constantly tormenting Drake and Josh for no reason and always ending up a KarmaHoudini regardless of what she does. Doesn't help that her misdeeds are generally PlayedForLaughs.
** On that note, Audrey and Walter can be this at times too, for never realizing what Megan does to her brothers, and punishing Drake and Josh instead of her. Not to mention all the other times where their parenting is questionable at best that ''don't'' involve their daughter.

* OvershadowedByControversy: These days, the show is often overshadowed by the sex scandal involving Drake Bell and a 15 year old girl, and the lengths Josh has gone to to distance himself from this show. This isn't even including it being made by ''Creator/DanSchneider'', who has also been embroiled in multiple scandals of his own since the show ended.

** Creator/JenniferHolland, better known as Emilia Harcourt in the ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' played a girl in "Drew & Jerry".

** Drake dates the future [[Series/ChicagoMed Dr. Natalie Manning]] in "Playing the Field."

--->'''Hades''': I do not control the die.\\

--->'''Hades''': I do not control the die.
'''Thanatos''': I do control the die.
'''Thanatos again''': I control the speed at which lobsters die.
'''Poseidon''': I control the lobsters.
'''Zeus''': I do not control the D.
'''Hermes''': I do the speed.
'''Dionysus''': I do speed.
'''Hermes''': I control the post.

* OvershadowedByControversy: These days, the show is often overshadowed by the sex scandal involving Drake Bell and a 15 year old girl, and the lengths Josh has gone to to distance himself from this show. This isn't even including it being made by ''Creator/DanSchneider'', who is also embroiled in multiple scandal's of his own since the show ended.

** Trevor, Drake's dim-witted friend, who appeared in one early episode before becoming TheGhost for the rest of the series.

* InformedWrongness: In "Two Idiots and a Baby", Drake is painted as being in the wrong for abandoning Josh to babysit Walter's boss's infant son so he can play a gig with his band. The thing is, Drake never actually volunteered for the job in the first place. Josh told Walter he and Drake would do it without even asking Drake first and Drake's band had the gig booked for a long time beforehand. If anything, Josh was wrong for volunteering Drake for the task without his consent.
* Both Drake and Josh are portrayed as in the wrong for accidentally ruining Walters chance at a new Weatherman Job by Walter due to how they treated Walter's new boss by pouring spaghetti on her. Thing is, they only did that because they assumed she was trying to commit adultery with him, which was made to seem even more likely given how Walter, in an attempt to surprise his family with the new job, did so in ways that made it seem like he was up to no good. Such examples included: Sneaking into the house quietly late at night, ending a phone call when Drake entered the room, making up contradictory excuses for arriving home late, and secretly meeting his potential new boss in a park. To top it off, the boss spoke in an ambiguous way that sounded like she was happy to steal away a married man with no concern for his family. If anything, it's Walter who should be held responsible for giving suspicious signals.

*** "The Gary Grill" has Drake and Josh getting arrested for purchasing stolen Gary Coleman grills. This scene was commonly circulated around the time of Bell's arrest.

*** "Paging Dr. Drake" has Drake, a high school student, pretending to be a doctor so that he can flirt with nurses that Josh himself says are in their twenties. Later in the episode, one of the nurses even states that she made out with Drake.
*** "Josh Is Done," in which Josh gets sick of Drake's behavior and stops being his friend, leading to a string of misfortune for Drake, spiritually reflects how Josh Peck had been doing quite well after the show finished, while Drake Bell has gotten in multiple controversies.
*** The Dune Buggy episode, where most of the humor comes from Drake injuring himself in a bad wreck, becomes this after Drake Bell was severely injured in a car accident during production of the series.
*** In the episode "The Demonator," Josh's crazy WWII vet of a grandpa mistakes Craig and Eric for Germans and repeatedly attacks them. The gag becomes considerably less funny a few episodes later when a one-off line by Drake informs us that Craig and Eric are [[AmbiguouslyJewish Jewish]].
** The episode "Josh Is Done", where Drake and Josh become estranged for a time, can hit differently after the knowledge that Drake Bell and Josh Peck have been rather distant toward each other in recent years.

* IdiotPlot: The cops in "The Gary Grill" accuse two 16-year-old high schoolers who live in San Diego, California of stealing a truckload of grills in New Jersey last month. They've never heard of checking alibis. Though to be fair, [[PoliceAreUseless the police in the Schneider-verse were never portrayed as smart, to begin with]].

* HarsherInHindsight: In 2021, Drake Bell was charged with and pleaded guilty to attempted child endangerment and disseminating material harmful to children following an incident with a 15-year-old girl in Cleveland, Ohio. This has made a few episodes a bit uncomfortable to rewatch.
** The cold opening of "Number 1 Fan" has Drake and Josh talking about what they love about little kids.
** There's also the plot of "Number 1 Fan": Wendy, a girl scout of Megan's age, falls in love with Drake and becomes obsessed with him. In the end, to apologize for yelling at Wendy when her obsession went too far, Drake makes a serenade to her. [[{{Squick}} Yeah...]]
** "The Gary Grill" has Drake and Josh getting arrested for purchasing stolen Gary Coleman grills. This scene was commonly circulated around the time of Bell's arrest.
** "Megan's New Teacher" has a single line from Josh to Drake; "Do you get pleasure from poisoning the minds of children?"
** "Paging Dr. Drake" has Drake, a high school student, pretending to be a doctor so that he can flirt with nurses that Josh himself says are in their twenties. Later in the episode, one of the nurses even states that she made out with Drake.
** "Josh Is Done," in which Josh gets sick of Drake's behavior and stops being his friend, leading to a string of misfortune for Drake, spiritually reflects how Josh Peck had been doing quite well after the show finished, while Drake Bell has gotten in multiple controversies.
** The Dune Buggy episode, where most of the humor comes from Drake injuring himself in a bad wreck, becomes this after Drake Bell was severely injured in a car accident during production of the series.
** In the episode "The Demonator," Josh's crazy WWII vet of a grandpa mistakes Craig and Eric for Germans and repeatedly attacks them. The gag becomes considerably less funny a few episodes later when a one-off line by Drake informs us that Craig and Eric are [[AmbiguouslyJewish Jewish]].

* HypeBacklash: Even after 13 years, the show is still remembered by many and it's praised as Creator/DanSchneider 's best work. If you look deep into the internet, you will find a vocal minority who, although they did enjoy it, doesn't consider it that great, especially considering [[SadistShow the amount of trauma the boys go through]] and of course, [[CreatorsPet Megan]].

** Josh's, and later Drake's, breakdown in "[[Recap/DrakeAndJoshEpisode48JoshIsDone Josh Is Done]]". Particularly, when Drake Bell was convicted of attempted child endangerment in 2021, permanently souring the relationship between them and cancelling the proposed revival of the show. This made the whole episode HarsherInHindsight.

* BrokenBase: "Josh Is Done" is one of the most well-known episodes due to the mature subject matter involving [[UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode Drake and Josh becoming estranged from one another]]. With that said, some people feel that the show tackled the issue very well in one episode, while others believe a multi-episode arc would have been more poignant Additionally, Drake's HumiliationConga within the episode has been the subject of debate. Many fans side with Josh's decisions in the episode and feel that they were LaserGuidedKarma towards Drake for how often he would take Josh for granted, while some do feel that Drake's treatment veered towards KarmicOverkill.

** Josh's, and later Drake's, breakdown in "[[Recap/DrakeAndJoshEpisode48JoshIsDone Josh Is Done]]". Particularly, when Drake Bell was convicted of attempted child endangerment in 2021, making the whole episode HarsherInHindsight.

** Walter. You can't help but feel sorry for '''everything''' that happens to him: Megan constantly disrespects him, his ''own'' son and step-son treat him as inferior, and the world seems to just ''hate him''. The only one that seems to like him is Audrey, but even ''she treats him like crap at times''. He's constantly compared to Bruce Winchell, who's considered a better weatherman than he is (and is made fun of repeatedly by his children because of his vain attempts to be better than Bruce) and even Audrey shows more interest in Bruce as well. It doesn't also help that Dan Schneider has later on [[FollowTheLeader started including]] [[Series/{{iCarly}} other]] [[Series/{{Victorious}} characters]] that serve no purpose other than to be laughed at ''for existing''.

* AwardSnub: Drake Bell fared better at the Kid's Choice Awards than Josh Peck, even though the latter is seen as the favorite of the two nowadays (especially after...certain events).

* SignatureScene: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9VWi-SaIbc Stuck in a treehouse]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQM9Sv-xAos Running over Oprah]], and Drake's breakdown in the climax of "Josh Is Done" are tied for the show's most memorable scene.

* BrokenBase: "Josh Is Done" is one of the most well-known episodes due to the mature subject matter involving [[UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode Drake and Josh becoming estranged from one another]]. With that said, some people feel that the show tackled the issue very well in one episode, while others believe a multi-episode arc would have been more poignant Additionally, Drake's HumiliationConga within the episode has been the subject of debate. Many fans side with Josh's decisions in the episode and feel that they were LaserGuidedKarma towards Drake for how often he would take Josh for granted, while some do feel that Drake's treatment veered towards DisproportionateRetribution.

* BrokenBase: "Josh Is Done" is one of the most well-known episodes due to the mature subject matter involving [[UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode Drake and Josh becoming estranged from one another]]. With that said, some people feel that the show tackled the issue very well in one episode, while others believe a multi-episode arc would have been more poignant.

* UncannyValley: In the episode "Drew and Jerry," the boys decide to make new friends, and the one each of them picks is a clone of their brother. Instead of taking the usual comedic route of having the actors play dual roles, they found 2 new actors who strongly resemble Drake Bell and Josh Peck and can imitate their mannerisms and speech patterns with a disturbing degree of accuracy! Even the boys' parents are weirded out by the resemblance.

--->'''Megan:''' You guys better get out of here or else you're both gonna wake up tomorrow morning '''''underwater.'''''

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Drake. Fans either consider him a lovable {{Narcissist}} with his JerkWithAHeartOfGold moments in between, or an unsympathetic {{Jerkass}} who uses [[ButtMonkey Josh]] for his self-benefit. A bit like [[Series/KenanAndKel Kel Kimble]], him [[TookALevelInDumbass losing several levels in intelligence]] and becoming TheMillstone towards Josh in later seasons certainly did not help matters.

** Crazy Steve was meant as a one-time gag, with the seemingly stoned (and mulleted) Gavin being the recurring weird buddy. Jerry Trainor hit that role so well that he was kept on and was brought on to ''Series/{{iCarly}}'' as a main character.

** There's also the plot of "Number 1 Fan": Wendy, a girl scout of Megan's age, falls in love with Drake and becomes obsessed with him. In the ending, to apologize for yelling at Wendy when her obsession went too far, Drake makes a serenade to her. [[{{Squick}} Yeah...]]

** If you're cynophobic, ''Vicious Tiberius'' (Season 4, Episode 2) is definitely not for you. Even though it is largely PlayedForLaughs, [[HellHound Tiberius]] is quite, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin like the title suggests]], ''vicious'', often shown snarling at the duo.

** Mrs. Hayfer isn't very loved despite having her star in some of the best episodes of the series ("Mean Teacher", "Honor Council", "Little Sibling", and "Vicious Tiberius") due to her reasoning of hating Drake. Namely, that it is ''never explained at all''. Again, her hatred of Drake is played for laughs.

** Somewhat In-Universe in the episode "Helicopter". Josh asks Audrey what she's doing in the kitchen and she says she's boiling underwear that Walter bought second-hand because she thinks buying second-hand underwear is gross. A few minutes later turns into full-squick when they both leave and Walter comes in, thinking it's something Audrey's cooking and ''tastes it''.

** Another small win: Megan finds that one of Drake's friends was wearing one of her shirts, since the friend insisted on wearing one that had a puppy. Megan was so grossed out at this; she did not bother going through revenge. Instead, she just lets him have the shirt, but tell him to burn the shirt after they are done.

* UnpopularPopularCharacter: While [[NoRespectGuy Josh]] is regularly mistreated by almost everyone, he is nevertheless the funniest and sympathetic character in the show. His dad Walter also counts for the same reason; Walter is an even ''bigger'' ButtMonkey than Josh is.

** Crazy Steve was meant as a one-time gag, with the seemingly stoned (and mulleted) Gavin being the recurring weird buddy. Jerry Trainor hit that role so well that he was kept on and was brought on to ''Series/{{iCarly}}'' as the main character.

* BrokenBase: "Josh Is Done" is one of the most well-known episodes due to the mature subject matter involving [[UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode Drake and Josh becoming estranged from one another]]. With that said, some people feel that the show tackled the issue very well in one episode, and those who believe a multi-episode arc would have been more poignant.

** The cold open of "Number 1 Fan" has Drake and Josh talking about what they love about little kids.

* LoveToHate: For some [[TheScrappy who don't just hate her]], Megan can be seen in this light.

** Music/Vanessa Hudgens has a small role as Drake's love interest Becca in "Little Sibling". While it aired after her StarMakingRole in ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'', it was shot before the film.
** The date that Drake famously found for the movies in less than two minutes is Lucy Hale of ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' fame.

** [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1660_1.PNG Josh's foot in "Paging Dr. Drake"]].
** If you're [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynophobia cynophobic]], ''Vicious Tiberius'' (Season 4, Episode 2) is definitely not for you (even though it is largely PlayedForLaughs, [[HellHound Tiberius]] is quite, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin like the title suggests]], ''vicious'').