Line #109 Series/EvenStevens


1	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Even_Stevens_5163.jpg]]
2
3	''Even Stevens'' is a Creator/DisneyChannel series that ran for three seasons from 2000 to 2003 and is best known now for [[StarMakingRole launching the career]] of Creator/ShiaLaBeouf, who starred in the series alongside Creator/ChristyCarlsonRomano.
4
5	The show focuses on the namesake Stevens family, who live in a suburb in Sacramento, California. Most of the show's plots center on middle child Ren (Romano), the family's resident [[TheSmartGuy smartie]], [[TeachersPet principal's pet]] and perfectionist, and youngest child Louis ([=LaBeouf=]), who has an affinity for {{Zany Scheme}}s, get-rich-quick stunts and practical jokes. The rest of the family consists of their big brother Donnie, a DumbJock who obsesses over his hair; Steve, their lawyer father; and Eileen, their state senator mother.
6
7	The show ended after reaching the 65-episode limit that was in place for Disney Channel shows at the time, with a feature-length movie titled ''[[TheMovie The Even Stevens Movie]]'' serving as its GrandFinale. This would be the last "old school" Disney Channel original series (as in, a show without a TeenIdol as the lead character) before the [[FollowTheLeader paradigm shifter]] ''Series/LizzieMcGuire'' premiered in 2001. It was also the only Disney Channel Original Series [[note]]''Series/LifeWithDerek'', though broadcast on Disney Channel, was not a Disney Channel original series, it was produced in Canada.[[/note]] without a HighConcept premise until ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'' premiered ''ten years'' later.
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10	[[foldercontrol]]
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12	[[folder:Tropes in the show]]
13	!!This series contains examples of:
14
15	* AcademicAlphaBitch: Ren Stevens at her worst.
16	* AccidentalAthlete: Twitty in "Head Games".
17	* TheAce: Donnie Stevens. Ren also qualifies, although she's also dangerously close to being a BrokenAce with how high-strung she is.
18	* AllCheeringAllTheTime: {{Invoked}} and PlayedForLaughs in an episode Ren joins the squad, only to be criticized for not being perky enough; she takes this to heart and begins cheering all the time. This takes a turn for the bizarre where she cheers while doing laundry and suddenly realizes/cheers that a sock is missing...and still manages to make it rhyme and keep the pace.
19	* AllJustADream: "Influenza: The Musical" ends with Ren waking up in bed and her fever broken.
20	* AlliterativeName: Steve Stevens.
21	* AlwaysSecondBest: Larry is constantly frustrated that Ren always manages to outdo him academically. Though not seen onscreen, we're told he was also consistently the silver to Donnie's gold at any sporting events they both competed in.
22	* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Steve and Eileen have their moments.
23	** "Gutter Queen": Eileen's repeated bowling fails (to the point of somehow getting a limb stuck in the ball return) make Ren mortified to be part of a mother/daughter bowling league.
24	** "Boy on a Rock": Lampshaded when Steve becomes a volunteer at school. When Louis asks if he's gonna embarrass him and Ren, Steve admits that's gonna be unavoidable. He ends up working in the cafeteria and puts on a show of holding a cowboy-esque barbecue.
25	* AmbiguouslyJewish: The Stevens family, until the Hanukkah episode makes it explicit by showing them celebrate Hanukkah.
26	** Ren's best friend, Ruby Mandel, can also qualify as this as having a Jewish-sounding last name and accent.
27	* AnimatedCreditsOpening: Done in {{claymation}}. It shows a, far more rather, outlandish and comical typical day in the life of Ren and Louis with slapstick sound effects. It culminates with a hilarious shout-out to Star Wars (Ren and Louis turn their remote controls turn to lightsabers), which results in the TV blowing up. First time viewers might get caught off-guard by the bizarre opening sequence. [[NightmareFuel The claymation figures of the characters look kind of creepy, especially when Louis's face gets flattened when Ren slams the door on his face]].
28	* AntiSneezeFinger: One episode uses this at the end, when Ren is getting a retake of her school photo. She is about to sneeze, but Louis puts his finger under her nose to stop it and save her from being photographed in mid-sneeze.
29	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: On Louis constantly being a ClassClown, Steve asks one in "The Big Splash" that really gets him thinking.
30	-->'''Steve:''' It may be fun now, but where are you gonna be ten years from now?
31	* ArtisticLicense: With politics -- In the episode "Leavin' Stevens," Eileen announces her intention to move with her entire family to Washington, D.C. after being elected to Congress. In reality, of course, every member of Congress maintains a constituency home, which typically also serves as the family residence. Later on, we find out that [[spoiler: Eileen has lost the Congressional seat by just 17 votes and immediately abandons her plans to move to Washington altogether. This, too, is highly unrealistic: such a close margin would be subject to a recount and possibly a months-long court battle initiated by the defeated candidate]].
32	* ArtisticLicenseSports: In the episode "Head Games," Alan Twitty enters a baseball game as a relief pitcher. Coming straight from the dugout, he immediately steps on the mound and the game instantly resumes. Regardless of level of play, baseball never works like this. Pitchers ''always'' warm up by throwing several practice pitches off to the side before entering the game (in college and professional leagues, this is the bullpen, but many little league and high school teams just use an open field that's out of the way), and are then allowed several more warmup pitches while on the mound. Throwing a baseball hard repeatedly is one of the riskiest and injurious things you can do to your body and should only be done once the arm muscles have been properly exercised and loosened. Not doing so can easily cause you to permanently damage your arm. Obviously, this is also an example of TheLawOfConservationOfDetail.
33	* BatmanGambit: When Louis takes up the drums, his teacher goes all out with the typical stage experience. Just as Steve denounces this as a waste of time and money, the teacher explains this is to give his students a taste of the fun before focusing on the hard work. As expected, Louis does the mundane lessons with more enthusiasm than he would've had otherwise.
34	* BetterAsFriends: Louis and Tawny after "The Kiss," [[spoiler: subverted with the series ending in "Leavin' Stevens"]].
35	* BigSisterInstinct: For all the headaches he gives her, mess with Louis, you deal with Ren.
36	-->'''Ren''': ''(to Larry)'' Don't, mess with my brother!
37	* BlackSheep: Louis Stevens. He's probably the only one out of his two older siblings that has not achieved anything academic, other than swimming and wrestling.
38	* BookDumb: Louis does poorly in school and gets detention regularly (to the point that he plans his after-school time around it). He's shown to be smarter than Donnie (although that's not really [[TooDumbToLive saying much]]) and his schemes require a little intelligence to plan and normally succeed.
39	* BrainyBrunette: Ren Stevens.
40	* BreakoutCharacter: The early episodes balanced Louis and Ren fairly evenly, perhaps even erring on the side of giving Ren more screen time. But somewhere along the line, the producers obviously came to realize that they had a star on their hands in the person of Creator/ShiaLaBeouf, and Louis increasingly stole the spotlight.
41	* BrilliantButLazy: Louis is always slacking off in school, but his schemes are frequently complex and often involve assorted gadgets that he himself builds.
42	* ButtMonkey: Louis, though he tends to bring it upon himself.
43	* UsefulNotes/{{California}}: The show is set in Sacramento, California.
44	* CalvinBall: Sweaty sock ball. Louis and Twitty like to change the rules on the fly and some rules depend on what day it is and what the person is doing.
45	* CallBack: A subtle one: In "Quest For Coolness", Twitty uses the alias "Lars Honeytoast" when meeting the shady shoe salesman. He uses it again in TheMovie when he and Tawny get caught by the ''Family Fakeout'' staff.
46	* CampStraight: Donnie loves to do very feminine things like shaving his legs. He also once turned the shower into a makeshift sauna. However, he also indulges in masculine activities like sports. See RealMenWearPink.
47	* CanisLatinicus: ''Hallus Patrollus, Hallus Passes, Protectus the Masses''
48	* ChainedToARailway: In "Louis in the Middle", Tawny pretends to be tied to a miniature railroad while Alan attempts to run her over with a train in an effort to shake Louis out of his 'hero syndrome' mindset.
49	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Louis and Tawny.
50	* ChildProdigy: Louis learned to walk at six months.
51	* ClassClown: Louis constantly, much to the family and school staff's irritation. He insists it's all in good fun, but Steve prodding him about it in "The Big Splash" after a swim meet prompts an ImagineSpot that deconstructs it. At a ten year reunion, Louis behaves the exact same way, but no one is laughing and all his old friends want nothing to do with him. Back in the real world, Louis is horrified by this possibility and resolves to try taking some things more seriously.
52	* CodeOfHonour: Louis and anyone else that gets sent to detention are opposed to squealing and look out for each other. When Ren doesn't rat on one of their shenanigans, Louis and another one of the kids agree to help her sneak into the school so she can finish a big project.
53	* CoolBigBro: Donnie, athletic, popular, kind, and has a good, supportive relationship with both Ren and Louis.
54	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: With the exception of Monique and Ruby, most of Ren's best friends have all disappeared from Season 1 without explanation. The most notable ones were Charlotte and Jewel, who only appeared in a couple of episodes in the first season, disappeared without a trace.
55	** Not to mention Carla and Marla, the two girls who idolize Ren, both disappeared mid-way through the second season, also.
56	* CriminalDoppelganger: In the episode ''Short Story'', Louis gets WrongfullyAccused for the acts of another student named "Loomis Freeman" from another school who looks exactly like him.
57	* CrossingTheBurntBridge: When it looks like Eileen won a Congressional seat, Steve takes the opportunity to tell off his boss and vents years of frustration. Then they learn Eileen didn't win, and Steve's attempts to smooth things over go poorly. He actually remains fired, and it's a thorny subject for him in TheMovie.
58	* DeadpanSnarker: Most of the cast, but Tawny seems to be the most prolific example.
59	* DownerEnding:
60	** The episode ''Sibling Rivalry''.
61	** The episode ''Short Story''.
62	* DrenchCelebration: An episode has Louis help the star pitcher of the baseball team of the school, Twitty, improve his game. When Twitty strikes out the last hitter of an inning, Louis dumps a bucket of Gatorade on the coach, who angrily points out it's only the top of the sixth.
63	* DumbMuscle: Donnie.
64	* DrillSergeantNasty: Coach Tugnut is the gym coach variant.
65	%% * DropInCharacter: Beans.
66	* DumbJock: Eldest brother Donnie. A prime example is the line, "When I look at the sun, I have to squint".
67	* EarWorm: ♫We went to the moon in 1969. Not 1970 but a year sooooooner!♫
68	* EmbarrassmentPlot: Ren's subplot in "The Thomas Gribalski Affair" is about agreeing to take part in a bicycle safety program, despite consistently failing to learn to ride one whenever she tried. Unable to get out of it or learn in time, she ultimately cops to using training wheels and [[AnAesop says it's far more important to be safe than to risk hurting oneself by worrying about appearances]]. Much to Larry's irritation, she ends up winning over the crowd this way.
69	* EvilTwin: Loomis Freeman in the episode "Short Story".
70	* {{Expy}}: The Roaring Dracon card that Louis sells out Ren for might be this of Yugi-Oh's Blue Eye's White Dragon or possibly Charizard from the Pokemon Trading Card Game's base set both were highly sought out in their day.
71	* ExtracurricularEnthusiast: Ren Stevens.
72	* FakeBand: The Twitty/Stevens Connection.
73	* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Louis is the foolish sibling to Ren's responsible.
74	* FreezeFrameBonus: A closer look at the many tabs open on Louis' laptop from "Raiders of the Lost Sausage" reveal tabs for "Pictures of Ren" and "Wexler Signature".
75	* GadgeteerGenius: One of Louis' more underappreciated traits. Over the course of the series and the movie, he has built a wire-fu harness, a motorized easy chair, a robot, and various other unlikely devices.
76	* GainaxEnding: The episode "Close Encounters of the Beans Kind", where Louis and Twitty suspect that Beans and his family are aliens, due to a series of unlikely coincidences. In the end of the episode, all of the evidence is explained away as being due to mundane events. Then we cut to Beans returning to his parents, who really are giant alien bugs, and speaking to them in an alien language.
77	* {{Goth}}: Tawny.
78	* GoToAlias: When buying shoes from a shady salesman Twitty uses Lars Honeytoast. He uses it again In TheMovie when he and Tawny are caught on the island.
79	* HateSink: Larry Beale, mean-spirited GreenEyedMonster rival of the Stevens, particularly Ren, who would like nothing better to outdo her, and goes to many lows to try.
80	* HanukkahEpisode: "Heck of a Hanukkah" involves an ItsAWonderfulPlot that takes place during Hanukkah, rather than Christmas.
81	* HappilyEverAfter: Louis and Tawny.
82	* IAlwaysWantedToSayThat: Louis says this before shouting ''Timber!'' as he cuts down a tree
83	* IncessantMusicMadness: In the episode "Secrets and Spies", Twitty is trying to come up with song names, so he repeatedly sings back whatever Louis says to him while playing his guitar, eventually driving Louis crazy.
84	* InstantlyProvenWrong: In one episode, Louis finds that a burst pipe has wrecked his locker. While trying to work around this, he insists something is now living in there. Principal Wexler scoffs at this claim, only to see the creature for himself and have to use a tennis racquet to keep it at bay.
85	** In another episode, Louis is walking around with his shoelaces untied, and says that people tripping on their untied shoelaces is [[TemptingFate just an urban myth that has never actually happened]]. Guess what happens next.
86	* InsultBackfire:
87	--> '''Louis:''' Well, Ms. Mason called me a "detriment to the learning process", so I thanked her, and for some reason she sent me to the office.
88	* ItCameFromTheFridge: Louis' sloppiness has resulted in old food coming into vicious, evil life in both his school locker and under his bed. Never in the fridge, though, probably because other family members use it too.
89	* ItsAWonderfulPlot: A Hanukkah special had Louis' great-great-great-grandmother show him what the Stevens household would be like if he were never born. Without him, Donnie and Ren developed inferiority complexes from having a completely InsufferableGenius for a younger brother instead, and the lack of comic relief created misery among the family.
90	** This is the only episode available on DVD, included on a compilation of various holiday specials starring Creator/DisneyChannel characters.
91	* IvyLeagueForEveryone
92	* KnownOnlyByTheirNickname: Subverted with Twitty as he is rarely referred to by his first name and never by Louis as he seems confused when someone calls him Alan.
93	--> '''Louis Stevens:''' Who's Alan?
94	--> '''Alan Twitty:''' Dude, I have a first name too, you know.
95	** Also, Beans, whose real name is Bernard.
96	* LastMinuteHookup: A Creator/DisneyChannel tradition. [[spoiler:[[OfficialCouple Louis and Tawny]].]]
97	** {{Subverted}}, as their feelings towards each other, were hinted at multiple times throughout seasons 2 and 3.
98	** [[ShipTease Not that anyone was surprised]].
99	* LikeASonToMe: Coach Tugnut regards Donnie, his football MVP, as such.
100	* LoveAtFirstSight: Louis fell for Tawny the moment he first saw her.
101	** It turns out, [[spoiler: she fell for him at that moment too]].
102	* LoveConfession: [[spoiler: Louis and Tawny in their tapes in "Leavin' Stevens", after [[AbortedDeclarationOfLove missing the chance to do so on what was supposed to be Louis's last day at school]].]]
103	* MakeoverTorment: Happens to Louis at the end of the episode "Secret World Of Girls", which is also the current image of this trope. After [[TheStoolPigeon Beans snitches on Louis and the other guys]] they run away but Louis gets captured by his sister Ren and the other girls and forced into a makeover.
104	* MrFanservice: Donnie had his fair share of shirtless scenes.
105	** Ren’s arrival on the Island reality show in a bikini top and cover-up wrap combo could be an (likely unintentional) example of MsFanservice in TheMovie but YMMV.
106	* MusicalEpisode: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly titled]] "Influenza: The Musical".
107	** Also a FeverDreamEpisode.
108	* MySisterIsOffLimits: Averted, the first episode's scheme revolves around Louis setting Ren up with the creepy Ernie, for a rare trading card. After Ren finds out, she believed she was participating in a "Big Brothers, Big Sisters" type program, til Ernie posted their "Date" all over the school, she furiously humiliates both Ernie and Louis. Louis realizes his wrongdoing to both Ren and Ernie.
109	* NoodleIncident: Louis's drum teacher recognizes Eileen as a woman who rushed the stage during a Barstow concert in 1981.
110	* ObsessedWithPerfectAttendance: The premise of "Influenza: The Musical" is that Ren has caught the flu and is told to stay in bed and rest for the day. Ren, being a perfectionist who is unwilling to give up her perfect attendance, [[spoiler:has a fever dream in which she]] sneaks out of bed and goes to school anyway.
111	* OfficialCouple:
112	** Louis and Tawny.
113	** Ren and Jason in TheMovie.
114	* ParentalFavoritism: Steve and Eileen both favor their older children, Donnie and Ren, more because of their respective athletic and academic success than Louis, but they still love him dearly.
115	* PainPoweredLeap: In the episode "Easy Crier", Ren is repeatedly zapped in the rear end by Louis' Dr. Zapenstein device during a televised debate, eventually leaping off her chair. [[LaserGuidedKarma Louis does not get off easy for it]].
116	* PowerTrio: Louis, Twitty, and Tawny. Also Ren, Ruby, and Monique.
117	* PrankCall: PlayedForLaughs twice. The B-Plot of "Thin Ice" has Louis and Twitty take up this prank, even nearly ruining Ren's date with her then-boyfriend at the time, Bobby. The prank soon goes too far when the boys prank Tawny and her father, saying they won $1 million and supposedly ruining their lives, only for the Deans to reveal to the boys they staged an elaborate ruse that ultimately makes them kick the habit. It didn't mean, however, Louis wouldn't stop pranking Ren, doing so as part of a Halloween prank at the start of "A Very Scary Story".
118	* PrankGoneTooFar:
119	** Enforced in the B-plot of "Thin Ice", where Louis and Twitty take up prank phone calling, and trick Tawny and her father into thinking they've won $1 million and they supposedly ruined their lives, but it turns out Tawny and her dad staged an elaborate ruse to teach them a lesson, which prompts the boys to kick the habit: they knew it was the boys the whole time, because they have caller ID.
120	** [[spoiler:What the Stevens family want the prank TV show to believe; That Ren has gone batshit crazy and tries to kill Louis causing the staff to try and stop the siblings all the while a rival show captures them making fools of themselves.]]
121	* PresentPeeking: Louis locates where his parents hid the Hanukkah presents and takes a peek. In doing so, he somehow manages to [[spoiler: destroy all the presents.]]
122	* ProgressiveInstrumentation: The one-episode FakeBand planned to play their debut concert on the school roof, but each member dropped out for various reasons and only Lewis (drummer) showed up. Refusing to let the band die, he proceeds to play the beat and sing his vocals until the other members join in one-by-one.
123	* PutOnABus: Virtually all of Ren's friends except for Ruby and Monique, but it's more likely that they've all gotten [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Brother Chucked]] out of the show. See Chuck Cunningham Syndrome above.
124	* RealMenWearPink: Donnie is quite masculine, but enjoys getting facials and shaves his legs. In one episode he turns off the safety valve of the hot water heater so he could use the scalding hot water from the shower in order to turn the bathroom into a sauna. HilarityEnsues when the candy bars that Louis has to sell melt after being too close to the heater.
125	* RemoteControlRuckus: Towards the end of the show's claymation intro, Ren and Louis are both fighting over the TV, both of them having a remote that they turn to their channel of choice. Then the two remotes grow a LaserBlade and this turns into a lightsaber duel, until both remotes are pointed at the TV, exploding it into the show's title.
126	* RepetitiveName: Steve Stevens.
127	* TheRival: Lawrence "Larry" Beale for Ren. Also Mandy Sanchez.
128	* RomanticFalseLead: Bobby Deaver for Ren.
129	* RooftopConcert: The Twitty/Stevens Connection in ''Even Stevens'' plays on the roof of their school in the end of "Band on the Roof".
130	* SadClown: Louis spends "Snow Job" goofing around because he's the only one in his algebra class that struggles with the material and worries about being perceived as stupid if he admits it.
131	* SadistTeacher: Coach Tugnut, especially in "Influenza: The Musical".
132	-->'''Tugnut:''' It has been pointed out that my obstacle course is dangerous, cruel and sadistic. It has also been pointed out that I myself am dangerous, cruel, and sadistic. So I have decided to cancel 6th period.\
133	'''Kids cheer'''\
134	'''Tugnut:''' Just Kidding. I'm also funny. I should add that.
135	* ShoutOut:
136	** To ''The Tell-Tale Heart'' by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe.
137	** The title of "Close Encounters of the Beans Kind" obviously alludes to ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'', while the car chase and flying bicycle scene alludes to another Creator/StevenSpielberg film, ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''.
138	** The show itself was heavily referenced (in a WritingAroundTrademarks way) in ''Film/HoneyBoy''.
139	* SlapStick: Louis with his many stunts and instances of falling down, yet apparently without sustaining serious injuries.
140	* SlipperySwimsuit: Louis was trying to show his dad that he could be serious in a swimming contest, only for it to backfire horribly when he still managed to be the brunt of jokes due to his trunks falling off and his not realizing it until ''after'' Twitty points it out.
141	* SpinningClockHands: Gag version is done in one episode where Steve Stevens remarks he has to fix the clock.
142	* SuccessfulSiblingSyndrome: With an intelligent straight-A-student sister and a star high school athlete for an older brother, Louis naturally feels overshadowed. Throw in the fact that his dad is a prominent lawyer and his mom a high-profile state senator and it's no wonder Louis feels inferior to them. The discovery of his talent for comedy can be seen as a result of this.
143	** Reversed in the Hanukkah episode, where, in an ItsAWonderfulPlot scenario, a MartyStu-like sibling is born instead of Louis, causing this in his older siblings.
144	* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute:
145	** Charlotte and Jewel, who [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome outright disappeared without a trace]], were replaced by Monique and Ruby in the second season as replacement best friends for Ren.
146	** Parodied in the last episode. Faced with moving away, Ren feels bad about leaving Monique and Ruby behind and puts them in contact with a girl named Denise, who looks and behaves very much like herself. It naturally proves awkward (especially when Ren ends up not leaving), so the solution is to introduce Denise to two girls very similar to Monique and Ruby.
147	* TeachersPet: Ren, but she's more of a "principal's pet".
148	* TeenGenius: Ren, and to a lesser degree Tom Gribalski.
149	* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Beans.
150	* TinySchoolboy: A boy that Ren dates at one point, and she's mocked by her classmates. She doesn't notice the difference until they go on their first date and she finds out that she's head ''and shoulders'' taller than him. She tries to avoid him for the rest of the episode, but she has no choice but to face him when the school dance is just around the corner.
151	* TwoLinesNoWaiting: Virtually every episode had a main plot and "B" story, with one revolving around Louis and the other involving Ren. The show alternated which character received the A plot and which received the B plot.
152	* VillainSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYwBkoZBy84 Coach Tugnut's "Master(s) of the Gym"]] from [[MusicalEpisode "Influenza: The Musical"]], and in true VillainSong tradition it's one of the best songs in the episode. [[spoiler:Although it's also a subversion, as it ends with [[TheDogBitesBack the dogs biting back]]]]. Larry also has one in the form of "Ren Got an F", a DarkReprise of "We Went to the Moon" where he mocks Ren for [[spoiler:failing the assignment]].
153	* WaterHoseRodeo: Happens to Louis in the claymation intro.
154	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In [[MusicalEpisode "Influenza: The Musical"]], Mr. and Mrs. Stevens appear during [[TheSongBeforeTheStorm the "Sixth Period" number]], discovering that Ren sneaked out and saying that they have to find her. They don't appear again until the end of the episode, at which point it was already revealed that the whole episode was just a fever dream.
155	* ZanyScheme: Louis lives and breathes this trope.
156
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:Tropes in the movie]]
160
161	!!TheMovie contains examples of:
162	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Tom is able to take Twitty and Tawny to Catalonia, a fictional island off the coast of California. It's unknown where exactly Catalonia is supposed to be, but even if it were just west of San Francisco (like the Farallon Island), this would have required navigating the Sacramento River over hundred miles out to the Bay.
163	* BatmanGambit: After the Stevens family learns the truth, with the help of ''Gotcha'' and Tawny and Twitty. When it seems that Ren had become so enraged at Louis that she pushed him off a cliff, it's revealed as a ''Gotcha'' and that in reality the rest of the Stevens family had already found Louis chased up a tree by an enraged Ren, revealed the truth and enlisted them to help prank Miles by faking Ren pushing Louis off a cliff.
164	* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: How the Stevens get back at Miles [=McDermott=], involving the help of another prank reality TV show.
165	* BerserkButton: Ren is aggravated that her dad doesn't even remember her ex-boyfriend Gil, who she's been dating for three months, despite the fact that she broke up with him at the start of the film. It's also PlayedForDrama towards the beginning when reminding her father the first time prompts her to break down into tears.
166	* BigBad: Miles [=McDermott=], the JerkAss host of ''[[ImmoralRealityShow Family Fakeout]]''. He attempts to drive the family apart through orchestrated conflict, all in the name of good television.
167	* TheCassandra: The reality TV show crew decides to screw with Donnie by having an old classmate of his show up on the island in front of him. Everyone else just writes it off as Donnie hallucinating and going crazy.
168	* ChekhovsGunman: Lance [=LeBow=], the host of the ''Gotcha'' prank show, whom Miles was the producer of and hired Lance before he had Miles fired. Lance helps the Stevens family turn the tables on Miles by making him think Ren has killed Louis.
169	* CoconutMeetsCranium: Moments after Tawny arrives on the island, a falling coconut knocks her out.
170	* DancePartyEnding: The film ends with the entire cast dancing to the song "Dream Vacation", sung by Creator/ChristyCarlsonRomano. It's intercut with some HilariousOuttakes.
171	* DeconReconSwitch: The Stevens family DysfunctionalFamily dynamics are deconstructed with Miles using it to his advantage to push them over the edge and split them apart against each other for his reality show. But it becomes reconstructed with them reconnecting then figuring out what Miles is up to, and working together to get some payback.
172	* DysfunctionalFamily: The Stevens being one of these is deconstructed here. They're unknowingly signed up to be filmed for a RealityTV show and things play out in a way that results in them bitterly breaking apart into two different factions, all for the entertainment of the masses. It's also reconstructed at the end, however, as it's shown that the Stevens do love one another more than anything when the chips are down and won't ever tolerate being screwed with.
173	* EveryoneHasStandards: Despite Principal Wexler's dislike of Louis, while watching Family Fakeout he shows no enjoyment in Miles' torment of the Stevens family, he is even disgusted by it. When it looks like Ren has pushed Louis off a cliff, Wexler is outright horrified, and when Louis is revealed to okay, he is quite relived.
174	* FauxtasticVoyage: The family thinks they've won an all-expenses-paid vacation to a tropical island, unaware they're part of a giant reality TV prank show. When Tawny and Twitty show up, the Stevens wonder how they got on the island. They're informed they're actually on the coast of California, less than a hundred miles away from their town and the plane simply flew in wide circles for hours during the night.
175	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
176	** The Mandelino tribe is entirely multiethnic, with Asian, black, and even white members present. It’s explained that their ancestors were a mix of native islanders and shipwrecked sailors, but in reality, they’re all American actors.
177	** Donnie runs into an islander who reminds him of a guy from high school, Patrick Green. The second act reveals that he ''is'' Patrick, and he’s an actor working for Miles.
178	* {{Gaslighting}}: Miles and his TV crew use sleazy tactics to completely drive the family insane. It's later revealed that the Stevenses had been gaslighting ''him'' into thinking he was succeeding.
179	* ImmoralRealityShow: ''Family Fakeout'' is this, taking an unsuspecting family out to what they're told is a tropical paradise vacation they won in a contest and then setting events up to where they are forced to survive off the land until help arrives, all the while they are being filmed without their knowledge or consent.
180	* KillerRabbit: Invoked with the "killer squirrel" that attacks Ren, Steve, and Beans; it's an animatronic that the crew uses to frighten them.
181	* LaserGuidedKarma: After spending the entire movie messing with and gaslighting the Stevens family with one big prank of a show, Miles gets his in the end when not only is he [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame he's gaslighted into thinking his show lead to Louis's "death"]], but his rival has claimed the show for his own.
182	* TheMovie: One that serves as the series' GrandFinale at that.
183	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
184	** Twitty signed the Stevens family up to be featured in a reality show but regrets it when he sees how humiliating and painful it is for them.
185	** Miles has a breakdown when he's made to think that his actions inadvertently led to a teenage boy dying terribly.
186	* SanitySlippage: Convinced that Louis is to blame for everything that's gone wrong, Ren ''loses it'' and becomes a bloodthirsty hunter bent on ''killing'' her brother. Thankfully, [[SubvertedTrope she's only faking it]].
187	* ThrowItIn: InUniverse example: In the opening, during Ren's valedictorian speech, Louis and Beans (after tricking Donny into letting them go backstage) have a beach ball-shaped device bounce around the podium, with Tugnut (who was asleep during the speech) being ordered by Wexler into grabbing the ball and restoring order. Louis intended for the ball, when exploding, to release confetti. However, Beans (who presumably was the one who actually created the ball) misheard his instructions and said that he thought Louis said "spaghetti", right after the ball detonates and sprays the coach with the brunt of spaghetti and meatballs. Louis tells Beans that his mishearing things made the prank even better.
188	* TooDumbToLive: Donnie, [[DumbMuscle naturally]]. When the family learns that the "tribe" has shunned them:
189	-->'''Miles:''' You're going to be shunned.\
190	'''Donnie:''' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments YES!]]\
191	'''Eileen:''' No, son. "Shunned" is bad.
192	* TrumanShowPlot: The Stevens (along with Beans) win a vacation to an exotic island in the middle of the Pacific and, due to a series of mishaps with the natives, must live off the land until a rescue boat arrives in a week. In truth, the island's only a few miles off the California coast, and the family are unknowingly being filmed for a RealityTV ShowWithinAShow called ''Family Fakeout'', a combination of ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' and ''Series/TheJoeSchmoShow''.
193	* VillainousBreakdown: Miles undergoes two of them. The first time, he loses his cool when Twitty cuts the show off the air, and furiously storms around the studio firing random crew members. The second time, he cries in agony when Ren pushes Louis to his doom, not knowing that it was all part of an elaborate prank.
194	[[/folder]]

Context Series / EvenStevens