History YMMV / JeevesAndWooster

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Many of the goofy musical-hall songs of which Bertie is an aficionado are real-life examples of the genre.

** By a similar token, Bertie's UpperClassTwit tendencies often seem to be little more than a front or self-deprecation. He's not nearly as stupid as he likes to pretend, just too afraid of confrontation or holding to 'the Code of the Woosters' to think things through or just say ''"No"'', and quite a lot of the scrapes he gets into are because he's perpetually in the company of those who are far more eccentric (and often downright stupid) than he is. He's certainly quick to recognise when various of his friends are being fools and point out the flaws in their daft plans, and he's by far the ''least'' idiotic of his social circle. He's also taking several hits to his confidence and self-esteem from constantly being told by his friends and family that he ''is'' stupid; even Aunt Dahlia, his good aunt, joins in on occasion. If he were really stupid, he'd fire Jeeves for constantly defying his every last whim, whereas the overall dramatic arc of every Jeeves & Wooster story consists of Bertie at first forgetting and then remembering that Jeeves is better at defending Bertie's best interests than Bertie himself is.

** By a similar token, Bertie's UpperClassTwit tendencies often seem to be little more than a front or self-deprecation. He's not nearly as stupid as he likes to pretend, just too afraid of confrontation or holding to 'the Code of the Woosters' to think things through or just say ''"No"'', and quite a lot of the scrapes he gets into are because he's perpetually in the company of those who are far more eccentric (and often downright stupid) than he is. He's certainly quick to recognise when various of his friends are being fools and point out the flaws in their daft plans, and he's by far the ''least'' idiotic of his social circle. If he were really stupid, he'd fire Jeeves for constantly defying his every last whim, whereas the overall dramatic arc of every Jeeves & Wooster story consists of Bertie at first forgetting and then remembering that Jeeves is better at defending Bertie's best interests than Bertie himself is.

** The two greatest HoYay Jeeves stories are considered to be in "The Aunt and the Sluggard" and "Bertie Changes His Mind" (both from the book "Carry On, Jeeves"). In the former, Bertie is forced out of his own apartment and has to stay alone at a hotel, prompting several pages of him angsting about how miserable his life is without Jeeves. The latter is the only story in the canon narrated by Jeeves. Many a troper's suspicions were confirmed when Jeeves refers to his and Bertie's situation as "our cozy bachelor establishment."
** Personally, this troper finds the most HoYay instance in the Jeeves & Wooster stories to be the end of 'Jeeves and the Tie That Binds', where [[spoiler:Jeeves destroys all the pages in the Junior Ganymede's book he's written about Bertie because he intends to stay with Bertie 'indefinitely', and when Bertie asks what keeps Jeeves with him despite all their arguments, Jeeves tells him there is a 'Tie That Binds' that keeps them together.]] Also, there is a scene at the end of 'The Inimitable Jeeves' where Bertie is fully prepared to fire Jeeves for what he's done, but he comes in and sees his perfect apartment and perfect valet and is utterly pacified.

** By a similar token, Bertie's UpperClassTwit tendencies often seem to be little more than a front or self-deprecation. He's not nearly as stupid as he likes to pretend, just too afraid of confrontation or holding to 'the Code of the Woosters' to think things through, and quite a lot of the scrapes he gets into are because he's perpetually in the company of those who are far more eccentric (and often downright stupid) than he is. He's certainly quick to recognise when various of his friends are being fools and point out the flaws in their daft plans, and he's by far the ''least'' idiotic of his social circle. If he were really stupid, he'd fire Jeeves for constantly defying his every last whim, whereas the overall dramatic arc of every Jeeves & Wooster story consists of Bertie at first forgetting and then remembering that Jeeves is better at defending Bertie's best interests than Bertie himself is.

** By a similar token, Bertie's UpperClassTwit tendencies often seem to be little more than a front or self-deprecation. He's not nearly as stupid as he likes to pretend, just too lazy or afraid of confrontation to think things through, and quite a lot of the scrapes he gets into are because he's perpetually in the company of those who are far more eccentric (and sometimes downright stupid) than he is. He's certainly quick to recognise when various of his friends are being fools and point out the flaws in their daft plans, and he's by far the ''least'' idiotic of his social circle. If he were really stupid, he'd fire Jeeves for constantly defying his every last whim, whereas the overall dramatic arc of every Jeeves & Wooster story consists of Bertie at first forgetting and then remembering that Jeeves is better at defending Bertie's best interests than Bertie himself is.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Gertrude Winkworth from "Bertie Takes Gussie's Place at Deverill Hill (or, Right Ho! Jeeves)" is played by Creator/ChloeAnnett, who would later be best known for playing the second Kochanski in ''Series/RedDwarf''.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: One of the characters, Roderick Spode, was a satirical NoCelebritiesWereHarmed take on the pre-World War II British fascist leader Oswald Mosley who first appeared in ''The Code of the Woosters'' (1938). Wodehouse could not have imagined the way another fascist government would affect his life a couple of years later -- caught up in the German invasion of France (where he'd moved), Wodehouse was captured and coerced into participating in several German propaganda broadcasts. As a result of the scandal that followed, Wodehouse would never again set foot in the country of his birth to the day he died.

* FandomEnragingMisconception: '''Jeeves is not a butler'''. He is a ''valet'' (or a gentleman's gentleman). There is a difference. Woe betide you if a fan hears you refer to him as such...or, worse, as a ''chauffeur''. And in British English, the t in valet is not silent - so VA-llut, not valéy. However as Bertie Wooster remarks in the novels, if the need for a butler ''does'' arise, Jeeves can "buttle with the best of them."

* HilariousInHindsight: It's now even funnier to see so much slapstick nonsense happening at ''Series/DowntonAbbey''.

* IdiotPlot: Ordinarily, that would be a put-down. But here, the fact that most of the cast are idiots is essentially the ''premise'' of the series, so there's no harm done in calling these plots what they are.

** In the TV series the ValuesDissonance of the minstrel show is {{Lampshaded}}: Jeeves comments on the supposed origins of blackface minstrels, saying that its being based on plantation slaves [[HappinessInSlavery singing songs about their happy lives]] to be "[[PoliticallyCorrectHistory an unlikely contingency, one surmises, bearing in mind their situation.]]" Jeeves also has a very subtle expression of disgust on his face in this scene.
** No one raises an eyebrow at [[spoiler:Roderick Spode proposing to Madeline Basset, even though he's not only several years older then her (Wodehouse never mentions Spode's age, but he's a close friend of her father so he might well be a generation older) but has known and loved her since she was a child, or at least a teenager. It gets even worse in the TV series, as John Turner was 58 when he started playing Spode and Stiffy Byng, Madeline's cousin, calls him 'Uncle Roderick' a lot of the time.]]

* TearJerker: "Well, then... ''Leave,'' dash it!" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-4r0-CrfbI "...Very good, sir."]] Jeeves is [[NotSoStoic blinking an awful lot]] as he turns away.

** Note closely above the name of Jeeves's club in London, for valets ... the Junior ... (ahem) ... ''Ganymede'' Club.

** By a similar token, Bertie's UpperClassTwit tendencies often seem to be little more than a front or self-deprecation; he's not nearly as stupid as he likes to pretend, just too lazy or afraid of confrontation to think things through, and quite a lot of the scrapes he gets into are because he's perpetually in the company of those who are far more eccentric (and sometimes downright stupid) than he is. He's certainly quick to recognise when various of his friends are being fools and point out the flaws in their daft plans, and he's by far the ''least'' idiotic of his social circle. If he were really stupid, he'd fire Jeeves for constantly defying his every last whim, whereas the overall dramatic arc of every Jeeves & Wooster story consists of Bertie at first forgetting and then remembering that Jeeves is better at defending Bertie's best interests than Bertie himself is.

** By a similar token, Bertie's UpperClassTwit tendencies often seem to be little more than a front; he's not nearly as stupid as he likes to pretend, just too lazy or afraid of confrontation to think things through, and quite a lot of the scrapes he gets into are because he's perpetually in the company of those who are far more eccentric (and sometimes downright stupid) than he is. He's certainly quick to recognise when various of his friends are being fools and point out the flaws in their daft plans, and he's by far the ''least'' idiotic of his social circle. If he were really stupid, he'd fire Jeeves for constantly defying his every last whim, whereas the overall dramatic arc of every Jeeves & Wooster story consists of Bertie at first forgetting and then remembering that Jeeves is better at defending Bertie's best interests than Bertie himself is.

** No one raises an eyebrow at [[spoiler:Roderick Spode proposing to Madeline Basset, even though he's not only several years older then her (he's a close friend of her father so he might well be a generation older) but has known and loved her since she was a child, or at least a teenager. It gets even worse in the TV series, as John Turner was 58 when he started playing Spode and Stiffy Byng, Madeline's cousin, calls him 'Uncle Roderick' a lot of the time.]]