Line #32 Series/ParkerLewisCantLose


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/parker_lewis.png]]
2	''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' was a sitcom on Creator/{{Fox}}, running from [[TheNineties 1990 to 1993]]. It centered around a good-hearted (but low-scrupled) HighSchool wheeler-dealer and his two associates, and the scams, cons and manipulations that they got away with (mostly) day to day. It starred Creator/CorinNemec, now known for playing Jonas Quinn, the former TropeNamer for SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute on ''Series/StargateSG1''.
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4	It was clearly influenced by the classic teen movie ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'' -- much more so than the movie's TV adaptation; many consider ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' to be the SpiritualSuccessor to the ''Ferris Bueller'' film. Initially, ''Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' actually had ''lower'' ratings than ''Ferris Bueller'', but the Fox network was still in its early years and thus had lower expectations, allowing ''Lewis'' to outlast ''Bueller'' by two seasons.
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6	In later seasons, the show's title was truncated to simply ''Parker Lewis''. In one episode the title character has such unusually bad luck that the main title credit was changed to ''Parker Lewis Can't Win''.
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9	!!This show provides examples of:
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11	%%* AchillesInHisTent
12	* ActorAllusion: Shelley goes undercover using the name "Shelley Nemec".
13	* ActuallyNotAVampire: In one episode, Frank Lemmer is shown avoiding sunlight and other things, prompting Shelly to think he's a vampire. This culminates with her splashing him with a bucket full of holy water.
14	%%* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Shelly Lewis
15	* BadVibrations: Kubiak was often heralded by thunderous footsteps.
16	%%* BagOfHolding: Jerry's trenchcoat.
17	* BerserkButton: Kubiak and his lunch, don't ever touch it. UrbanLegend states he once punched out (and possibly killed) a ''nun'' for sitting on his lunch bag.
18	%%* TheBGrade: Jerry Steiner
19	%%* CatchPhrase: "Coolness!", "Not a problem," "Synchronise Swatches!" "Food/Eat now!" "Mooomm!"
20	* ClipShow : This trope was used in the series finale, framed as people reminiscing good times to the music of the Atlas diner's jukebox as the diner is awaiting closure.
21	%%* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Lemmer, after season 2.
22	%%* DeanBitterman: Miss Musso and Dr Pankow, which the latter is fitting as he is played by the actor who played the ObstructiveBureaucrat foster father Phil Simpson from ''Film/ChildsPlay2''.
23	%%* TheDragon: Frank Lemmer.
24	%%* EmbarrassingMiddleName: "''...Lloyd?!''"
25	* {{Expy}}: Parker Lewis is clearly based on Ferris Bueller, to the point of making the series a Spiritual Adaptation.
26	* ExtremeOmnivore: Kube. At one point he's seen eating leaves off a tree.
27	* EndOfSeriesAwareness: This trope is played out in the series finale where Kohler lost the lease to Atlas diner and is about to be pulled down to be replaced by a strip mall.
28	* {{Flanderization}}: In the early episodes, it was made clear that Kube's {{Hulkspeak}} and general attitude were an [[ObfuscatingStupidity act]], and that he was in fact both intelligent, capable of proper speech and highly sensitive.
29	* GrandFinale : The series finale in the third season has a ClipShow with a EndOfSeriesAwareness and a SavingTheOrphanage trope on the atlas diner plot except [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding our heroes failed]]]].
30	* GreatWhiteHunter: In "Future Shock", Principal Russo hires Great White Hunter Rex Huston to track down and retrieve Kube who is hiding in the ventilation system to avoid a vaccination.
31	* HammerSpace: Jerry's velcro-lined coat contains various impossible stuff, including at some point a guard dog.
32	* HeightAngst: A running gag for an episode was Kubiak having random growth spurts that grew him out of his clothes and him seeking treatment from a hormone clinic. They managed to stop it with the side effect of giving him a ZZ Top beard.
33	* HighSchoolHustler: Parker Lewis is an iconic example. Parker was also a rather sympathetic example. Many of his schemes are designed to help ''others'' (like getting Kubiak into college, or helping Mikey talk to a girl he likes). That fact that he often benefits himself is just a bonus. He also has lines he won't cross, like altering grades.
34	* HulkSpeak: Kubiak zigzags between this, ThirdPersonPerson and talking normally.
35	* IHaveThisFriend: Inverted in "Close But No Guitar": Parker decides to talk to his parents about Mikey deciding to drop out of school, but since he uses the trope phrase, his parents think ''he'' wants to drop out and want him to talk to a psychiatrist.
36	* ImGoingToDisneyWorld: Parodied. When Larry Kubiak finds out he has actually met his weight loss goals and can stay on the football team Parker asks:
37	--> '''Parker:''' So, Kube, what are you going to do now?
38	--> '''Kubiak:''' I'm going to ''eat'' Disneyland.
39	%%* LamarckWasRight: The Reunion episode.
40	* LandmarkDeclarationGambit: In the final, Jerry attempts to save the Atlas diner this way, but only receives "NOPE." in response.
41	* LoveFloats: One episode shows this happening to Jerry every time Shelly says something nice to him.
42	* MaleGaze: The camera often tilts down to give focus to female figures, reflecting where the eyes of hormonal male teenagers wander.
43	* MeanCharacterNiceActor: The Kube is this in-universe, as the atypical bully act he initially has is just to play up how people view him but he's actually a pretty decent guy at heart.
44	* MrsRobinson: Miss Musso tends to stare at virile young men...just long enough to make it awkward.
45	%%* NoFourthWall : The characters in the show break the fourth wall a lot
46	%%* OperationBlank
47	* PowerTrio: Ego = Parker, Id = Mikey, Superego = Jerry.
48	** Sometimes drifts into a FiveManBand dynamic: TheHero = Parker, TheLancer = Mikey, TheSmartGuy = Jerry, TheBigGuy = Kube, and with an empty TheHeart spot (filled occasionally by Shelly, occasionally by the [[TemporaryLoveInterest temporary love interest]] ).
49	%%* RebusBubble
50	* ShoutOut: Parker describes his [[TheRival rival]] Matt Styles:
51	--> '''Parker:''' Who does this Matt guy think he is, Ferris Bueller?
52	** In the same episode when Matt uses Parker's excuse Rolodex:
53	--> '''Parker:''' "[[Franchise/StarWars I sense a disturbance in the force.]]"
54	** When Parker is shipped off to detention, one of the people he meets there is [[Series/MarriedWithChildren David Faustino wearing a "Polk High" shirt saying]] "I don't even go to this school!"
55	%%* SittingOnTheRoof: In later seasons.
56	* SittingSexyOnAPiano: An ImagineSpot shows principal Grace Musso singing and lounging on the piano.
57	%%* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off.''
58	%%* SubordinateExcuse: Frank Lemmer and Miss Musso.
59	* TakeThat:
60	** Soon after the ''Ferris Bueller'' series was cancelled, the season finale "Parker Lewis Can't Win" ended with the camera pulling back to reveal [[BreakingTheFourthWall the film crew and the set layout]], along with rows of chairs. Two boys sit near the back in shadow:
61	--->'''Boy #1''': So ''that's'' how they do it!
62	--->'''Boy #2''': [[TheReveal C'mon, Ferris, let's get outta here.]]
63	** In another episode the school marching band can be seen holding up a banner that says "Thank you for not watching ''Series/EerieIndiana''", which aired on rival network Creator/{{NBC}}. Amusingly, Creator/FoxKids later ended up airing reruns for ''Series/EerieIndiana'' after NBC cancelled it, which ultimately ended up giving the show a second chance in popularity and recognition.
64	* TyrantTakesTheHelm: When Dr Pankow manages to usurp Grace Musso's seat, he proves to be even worse than her, and soon the whole school conspires to have him removed.
65	* UnskilledButStrong: In one episode, Kubiak reveals that he actually doesn't know how to fight, and simply relied on his size for intimidation, leaving him rattled when a rival bully showed up who was unfazed by him.
66	* UnusualEuphemism: In the episode "Home Alone with Annie", Parker and his girlfriend keep dancing around the prospect of a... RelationshipUpgrade by referring to it as "watching cable (TV)."
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Context Series / ParkerLewisCantLose