Line #84 Series/Blossom


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blossom.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: Creator/JennaVonOy; as Six [=LeMeure=], Michael Stoyanov as Anthony Russo, Creator/MayimBialik as Blossom Russo, Ted Wass as Nick Russo and Creator/JoeyLawrence as Joey Russo.]]
3
4	->''"Don't know about the future, that's anybody's guess,\
5	Ain't no good reason for getting all depressed.\
6	Buy up your pad and pencil, I'll give you a piece of my mind,\
7	In my opinionation, the sun is gonna surely shine.\
8	Stop all your fussin',\
9	Slap on a smile,\
10	Come out and walk in the sun for awhile.\
11	Don't fight the feeling, you know you want to have a good time.\
12	And in my opinionation, the sun is gonna surely shine."''
13	-->-- Opening theme song
14
15	''Blossom'' was a sitcom that aired on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1990 (when it premiered as a midseason replacement series) to 1995. The show centers on Blossom Russo (Creator/MayimBialik), a teenage girl living in Los Angeles with her musician father Nick (Creator/TedWass), [[MissingMom whose wife left him]], and older brothers Tony (Creator/MichaelStoyanov), a recovering drug addict, and Joey (Creator/JoeyLawrence), a [[TooDumbtoLive dumb jock]]. Often [[DropInCharacter dropping by]] is her gabby best friend [[YouAreNumberSix Six LeMeure]] (Jenna von Oÿ).
16
17	Creator/BillBixby served as director for 30 episodes, finishing out his career before his untimely death due to cancer.
18
19	Midway through the show's run, the writers put more emphasis on the Joey character (played by pop music ''sensation'' Joey Lawrence).
20
21	Is somewhat infamous for its frequent use of {{very special episode}}s and {{dream sequence}}s.
22
23	After being off the air for several years, reruns finally resurfaced on The Hub in July 2014... only to leave in October 2014 when The Hub was rebranded as Creator/DiscoveryFamily. Currently on {{Creator/Tubi}}.
24
25	----
26	!!This show contains examples of:
27
28	* ActorAllusion: At least one episode references Mayim Bialik's role on ''Series/MacGyver1985''.
29	* AllElectionsAreSeriousBusiness: An episode plays up the absurdity by even having one of the students involved in a Clinton-esque sex scandal and Ross Perot gathering a percentage of the vote.
30	* AndYouWereThere: When Nick wakes her up from the dream where she's a singer, Blossom says that he was there, as were Joey, Anthony and Toto. Nick asks if she means [[Film/TheWizardOfOz the dog]], but she actually meant the band.
31	* AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering: In an episode which reenacts a World War II-era scenario, Blossom's two elder brothers portray a buffoonish detective and a bartender with a massive Hitler-stache who calles everyone "Herr" and "Fraulein". The detective eventually concluded that they have a spy in their midst — a ''Japanese'' spy.
32	* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: Himalayas does not translate as "giant boobs", as is stated in the setup for a joke in one episode. The real translation is "home of snow". The mistranslation was a pretty common snicker-inducing urban legend among American kids around the time the episode aired.
33	* BaitAndSwitchCredits: Blossom wears a hat in the credits. In actuality, she almost never wore a hat in the series.
34	* BeenThereShapedHistory: An episode spoofed the [[Film/ForrestGump former Trope Namer]] in a dream sequence. Blossom had this role and was responsible for inadvertently giving Music/MichaelJackson the inspiration for the moonwalk. The parody is spoiled because the writers didn't do their research — they meet after the Pepsi commercial shoot which left him injured, which was in 1984. He first performed the moonwalk the previous year.
35	* BigBrotherInstinct: Both Anthony and Joey have their moments where they're protective over Blossom.
36	* BlandNameProduct: The Russos can be seen at several points with a can of "Shasa" cola (a knock-off of Shasta Cola; a minor, value-brand soft drink brand currently popular mainly on the West Coast).
37	%% * ButtMonkey: Joey. Full stop.
38	%%ZCE * BreakoutCharacter: Joey
39	* BookEnds: At the beginning of the pilot Blossom attempts to make a video diary about her life and in the series finale she makes a last one about her experience throughout five years before moving out to college.
40	* BoyfriendBlockingDad: Nick, though not as much as other sitcom dads. He does however declare, "I'm going to kill him," regarding a date of Blossom's who hits her when she refuses to sleep with him, in the [[TranquilFury same tone as if he were going to invite him over for dinner.]]
41	* CallingTheOldManOut: Late in the series, Joey confronts his mom about all the times she let him down and for being a crappy mother in general. Also, the last time that Nick's ex-wife comes to visit the family, he tells her not to come back.
42	* ButLiquorIsQuicker: It's implied that Six was the result of her parents being overserved one night. According to her father, she was named for how many beers they each had.
43	* TheCameo:
44	** Mark-Paul Gosselaar plays Six's boyfriend in one episode; he's better known as Zack Morris on ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' (another NBC show).
45	** Creator/EstelleGetty appears in character as Sophia from ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' in a dream sequence. (Both series were aired on NBC and were produced by Witt-Thomas Productions).
46	** Then NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield appears AsHimself in the episode where Blossom dreams she's a singer.
47	* CatchPhrase: Joey frequently exclaims, "Whoa!"
48	* CastingGag: In the episode "Losing Your Religion," Blossom has to do a Social Studies project on Judaism -- Mayim Bialik actually is Jewish.
49	%% * {{CloudCuckoolander}}: Joey of course.
50	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Joey (who else?)
51	-->'''Joey:''' Dad, have you ever gotten a girl pregnant?\
52	'''Nick:''' Joey, I'm your father.\
53	'''Joey:''' Oh. So you can't tell me.
54	* ComplimentBackfire: One character recently introduced to another says "I don't care what they say, you keep wearing that shirt."
55	* CompressedVice: Joey hates a gay guy in one episode, revealing a prejudice that hadn't previously been mentioned in the show. Later in that episode, his black sister-in-law tells him a story about how she faced discrimination as a child, causing him to renounce his prejudice as quickly as he developed it.
56	* CousinOliver: Kennedy, the daughter of the woman Nick marries in the show's later seasons, becomes the much younger step-sister of Nick's kids.
57	* DancingTheme: The opening theme consisted of each of the characters' actors dancing, in succession.
58	* DateRapeAverted: During the final season, Blossom goes on a date with a [[JerkJock popular athlete]]. She resists when he wants to do more than make out. He hits her in anger, but she manages to get away after hitting back.
59	%%ZCE * DeadpanSnarker: Primarily Nick and Blossom.
60	* DivineRaceLift: One episode featured God as Father Guido Sarducci.
61	* DreamSequence: Used almost OncePerEpisode. There has been an appearance by Phylicia Rashad from ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' as Blossom's "ideal mother" in the pilot, an episode where Blossom dreams she becomes a singer, and one which doubles as the vehicle for Joey Lawrence's "Nothin' My Love Can't Fix" video.
62	* DropInCharacter: Six [=LeMeure=] is a rare female DropInCharacter. It is implied that one of the reasons she is round at the Russos so much is that her own home life is bad.
63	* FakeGuestStar: Unusual case involving Jenna von Oy. In addition to being cast as Six [=LeMure=] on this series, von Oy was also part of the cast of the CBS sitcom ''Lenny'' (which was also created by Don Reo and shared a production company and most of the production staff as ''Blossom''); resulting in her going from the opening credits in the pilot to a Special Guest Star credit in the closing credits. Ultimately, ''Lenny'' was canceled in 1991 and by the 1991-92 season[[note]]the first full season for Blossom [[/note]], von Oy had [[PromotionToOpeningTitles returned to the opening credits]].
64	* FeverDreamEpisode: The "{{Rockumentary}}" episode has Blossom falling asleep while watching the Madonna concert video of the "Truth or Dare" tour.
65	* FirstPeriodPanic: Blossom starts menstruating in the first episode. She knows about it and what it means, but her panic comes in when she has to go to the store and buy feminine hygiene products. At first she's not sure what to get - so she ends up putting everything in her cart. Then she sees that the person at the cash register is a cute boy from school. She feels so embarrassed about buying all that stuff from him that she doesn't get any of it.
66	* {{Flanderization}}: Joey. Like Chrissy Snow before him and Joey Tribbiani after him, Blossom's brother started out as slightly airheaded but by the second season he'd be flanderized into a complete idiot who says things that would be too dumb even for a toddler.
67	* TheGhost: Six's father, although Six frequently quotes him.
68	* GlamorousWartimeSinger: In one episode, [[ObnoxiousInLaws Buzz]] [[DirtyOldMan Richman]] is reminiscing about having met Blossom's grandmother (played in the flashback scenes by title character's actress Mayim Bialik) who is depicted as this... and also as part of the Women's Army Corps.
69	* GlassesPull: In "The Date", Blossom is assaulted by her date when she refuses to have sex with him. When she confides in her father, he takes off his glasses while declaring in a [[TranquilFury chillingly calm]] voice, "I'm going to kill him."
70	* IHaveThisFriend: Inverted. Worried about Six, Blossom confides in a counselor, who of course, laughs and says,, "Why is it always "a friend"?", before Blossom reassures him that it ''is'' a friend she's concerned about.
71	* ImagineTheAudienceNaked: Blossom is panicking over having to debate the captain of another school's debate team, until she takes this advice. She loses the debate on a technicality due to [[ItMakesSenseInContext breaking an unspoken taboo about mentioning vomit]], but is extremely pleased with her newfound confidence, nonetheless. The situation is subverted when Blossom's older brother is struck mute meeting a dozen Playboy Bunnies. When Blossom's eldest brother tells him to "picture them naked," the boy predictably faints from the overpoweringly sexy visual image.
72	* ItsBeenDone: An episode features Blossom trying desperately to write a song, only to be repeatedly informed by other characters that she is unconsciously plagiarizing various existing songs.
73	* KingOfAllCosmos: In one episode, Joey plays pool with a very nonchalant God.
74	* MarriageBeforeRomance: Tony and Shelly. Tony—after a night of heavy drinking and gambling in Las Vegas—marries a complete stranger while in his drunken state. Eventually, Tony realizes what's happened and he and his new bride decide to make a go out of the marriage, even having a son together.
75	* MatureYoungerSibling: Blossom is the youngest of three, with older brothers Tony and Joey. However, as their father put it in one episode, "Tony has a head full of problems, and Joey... has a head full of hair." Joey is sweet but incredibly dumb, while Tony is more intelligent but also a recovering alcoholic. Blossom, with her interest in social causes and excellent academic record, is easily the most level-headed of the three.
76	* MissingMom: In this case, by way of divorce, when Maddy runs off. Unlike many series, Maddy is heard from several times, and actually shows up more than once at the Russos. (When Maddy is featured, she is played by singer Melissa Manchester.) The trope figures heavily in the Season 4 episode "Kiss and Tell," when Maddy shows up wanting to reconcile with her family. Joey is very upset and refuses to allow his mother to explain why she was never there for the important moments of his life.
77	* MotorMouth: Six speaks extremely rapidly; she apparently has inherited this tendency from her mom Sharon, and sometimes they even motormouth simultaneously over each other.
78	* NearRapeExperience: A date of Blossom's tries to force himself on her, actually hitting her when she resists him. She hits back and manages to get away.
79	* NewscasterCameo: The episode "The Making of the President" features a class election between Blossom and Eddie Warwick covered by Keith Morrison, who was then chief anchor for KNBC, NBC's Los Angeles station.
80	* NoPeriodsPeriod: Subverted, as the first episode concentrated on Blossom getting hers.
81	* NotWhatItLooksLike: Subverted in an episode after being played straight multiple times within ''one'' scene: Blossom's father walks in on her and her date making out on the couch, to which she hastily babbles this, her father's date comes downstairs, making ''him'' blurt this out, then the closet door opens and Joey and Six fall out, leading Six to declare:
82	--> "This is ''exactly'' what it looks like!"
83	** (of course, this isn't true either, Six was throwing herself at Joey, who was trying to fend her off, resulting in them taking a fall)
84	* ObnoxiousInLaws: Nick isn't very fond of Buzz Richman, his ex-wife's father and Blossom's maternal grandfather. In an unusual twist, though, Buzz doesn't seem to have anything against Nick. His obnoxiousness comes more from the way he sometimes sponges off the Russo family and the fact that his daughter ditched Nick and their children.
85	* OneDialogueTwoConversations: This happened in an episode in which Joey's dad has a (very indirect) talk with him about some drugs he found in his room. Joey knows nothing about the drugs and thinks his dad found condoms in his room.
86	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Occasionally happened with Kennedy (''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Daily Mail]]'' quipped "(There) is never any explanation as to why the precocious Kennedy, who is meant to be English, sounds Chinese"). Later in the show's final season, the writers threw in the towel and ditched the accent altogether.
87	* OpinionFlipFlop: There is an episode in which Joey's girlfriend idolizes him so much that she agrees with everything he says, and has no will of her own other than to please him.
88	* OutOfFocus: During the second half of the show's run, Joey was more focused on.
89	* OutWithABang: Blossom, [[ParentWithNewParamour displeased that her father Nick plans to remarry]], has a FantasySequence where Nick's much-younger new wife has killed him in this way.
90	* ParentalSexualitySquick: Blossom's parents meet after the divorce, and sleep together again. Blossom and Tony discuss it later. In another episode, Blossom is uncomfortable about walking in on the clearly post-coital Nick and Carol in the kitchen (given that they're wearing robes and the early morning hour, it's obvious that she spent the night).
91	* PastelChalkedFreezeFrame: Used for scene transitions.
92	* PizzaBoySpecialDelivery: There is an episode about a [[MrsRobinson "mature"]] woman who would arrange for a new pizza boy's schedule to be filled with phony deliveries, so they could have some "private time." Who, incidentally, is named [[CaptainErsatz "Mrs. Robertson"]].
93	* PowderGag: Blossom and Six use this trick (blowing powder under the bottom of a window) to blind what they think is a homicidial maniac attempting to break into the house on Halloween. It actually turns out to be one of Blossom's brothers.
94	* PromotionToOpeningTitles: To a certain extent. The intros for the first two seasons simply had Blossom dancing by herself, but the intro for the third and fourth seasons featured Joey, Anthony, Six and Nick each appearing with Blossom as their actors were credited.
95	* RaisedByDudes: Blossom herself is an interesting [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] in that while she's the only female in the Russo house after her parents' divorce, unlike most examples she has typically feminine interests.
96	* SawItInAMovieOnce: Blossom blinds an intruder (who turns out to actually be her brother) by blowing talcum powder in his face. When Six asks her where she learned that trick, Blossom replies "[[Series/MacGyver1985 [=MacGyver=]]]." Also an ActorAllusion.
97	* SeinfeldianConversation: Done a few times. One specific example that comes to mind is a conversation between Blossom and Six about how people on TV never seem to need to use the bathroom. This discussion ends when Six announces that she has to go to the bathroom.
98	* SextraCredit: In an episode featuring the class president elections, Blossom's opponent turns out to have one of these deals going with a teacher. When called out for this, the teacher claims not to be aware that he's one of her students, but when reminded that she gave him an A in her class, replies "He earned it."
99	* SheIsAllGrownUp: The second episode is called..."Blossom Blossoms". Three guesses as to what it's about.
100	* SittingSexyOnAPiano: A family-friendly version occurred in the intro for the third and fourth seasons. Nick played the piano while Blossom tap-danced on top of it in a top hat and tails.
101	* SpecialGuest: Phylicia Rashad in aforementioned pilot, ''Series/{{ALF}},'' Mary Hart from ''Series/EntertainmentTonight,'' John Ratzenberger from ''Series/{{Cheers}}''... to name a few. (This was toned down in later seasons, in contrast to other sitcoms.)
102	* StarstruckSpeechless: One episode has Blossom and Six going to visit Creator/{{NBC}}'s offices. They run into Creator/RobertStack and just stare at him slack-jawed while he asks them questions, the last one being "Are you alive?" before he walks off. They run into John Ratzenberger immediately afterward and are determined not to let it happen again. This time, he makes fun of Blossom's hat and walks off before they can speak.
103	* TakeAThirdOption: On one episode, we find out that Joey recently cheated on a test because failing would have meant getting kicked off a sports team. Unfortunately, he does too well and gets promoted to a more advanced class. His options are to either try the course, fail, get sent back to his original class, and get kicked off the team; or admit he cheated, get sent back to his original class, [[MortonsFork and get kicked off the team]]. While discussing his problem with Anthony, they discover that the next test has a grade that has to be achieved to stay in the class which is slightly higher than passing. So, Joey decides to do well enough on the test to pass, but badly enough to get sent back to his original class. This proves to be harder than he thought.
104	* TamponRun: Blossom did it to herself when she had to go buy tampons for the first time. She chickened out when she saw that a cute boy from school was the clerk.
105	* ThematicThemeTune: "My Opinionation", performed by Dr. John.
106	* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Blossom is a dead ringer for her grandmother, as revealed in the episode "Ruby".
107	* VacationEpisode: In the aptly-titled "Blossom in Paris," Blossom goes to Paris to visit her mom.
108	* VerySpecialEpisode: Notorious enough to get the show mocked due to the frequent ''very special Blossoms'' (such as on ''Series/{{Friends}}'').
109	* WhatDidIDoLastNight: What happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas, as Tony--after a night of heavy drinking and gambling--marries a complete stranger while in his drunken state. Eventually, Tony realizes what's happened and he and his new bride decide to make a go out of the marriage, even having a son together.
110	* WhoNamesTheirKidDude:
111	** Six, Blossom's best friend.
112	--->'''Blossom:''' You have to admit your parents gave you a pretty weird name.
113	--->'''Six:''' My Dad says that's how many beers it took.
114	** Tony and Shelly's son, Nash Metropolitan. Nash is a relatively common boy's first name, of course, but "Metropolitan" comes from the fact that Shelly went into labor (and eventually gave birth) in a late 1950s model of the famous compact car marketed by American Motors Corporation.
115	* YouAreNumberSix: Blossom's best friend is called Six. Allegedly because "that's how many beers it took".

Context Series / Blossom