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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kingofqueens01.jpg]]
2
3-> "''My eyes are gettin' weary\
4My back is gettin' tight\
5I'm sittin' here in traffic on the Queensboro Bridge tonight\
6But I don't care 'cause all I wanna do...\
7Is cash my check and drive right home to you\
8'Cause baby, all my life I will be drivin' home to you!''"
9-->-- The theme song, sung by Billy Vera & the Beaters
10
11''The King of Queens'' is a well-known Creator/{{CBS}} sitcom that ran from 1998 to 2007. It focuses on the life of Doug Heffernan (Creator/KevinJames), a fat but jovial IPS driver, and his wife, Carrie Heffernan (Creator/LeahRemini), nee Spooner. Most of the time, Doug tries to live a hard-working but relaxed and diet-free life, which is complicated by the zany schemes of Arthur Spooner (Creator/JerryStiller), Carrie's father, who lives in their basement.
12
13Doug has quite the circle of friends. His best friend is the black family man, Deacon Palmer (Creator/VictorWilliams). Others include Richie Ianucchi (Larry Romano), a [[ChickMagnet ladies' man]] who nicknames Doug as "Moose", Doug's awkward cousin Danny (who is played by Gary Valentine, James' brother in real life), and Spence Olchin (Creator/PattonOswalt), a nerd of sorts who isn't the ButtMonkey of the group so much as the omega wolf. While not part of the circle, another friend is the local dog-walker Holly, who, in spite of her drinking and trouble finding a date, does a good job of putting up with Arthur's weirdness.
14
15Most viewers point out ''The King of Queens'' for its prominent case of [[BigBeautifulMan Big Guy]] [[UglyGuyHotWife Hot Wife.]] What makes the show unique, though, is that Doug and Carrie share other attributes that show opposites attracting. For example, Doug is a nice and friendly guy and is quite content with his job as an IPS driver, whereas Carrie sometimes fantasizes about the directions her life could have taken and has a somewhat [[BlackAndGrayMorality grayer moral compass]]. Another example is that Doug is a hard worker, but he likes to play hard as well, whereas Carrie is a card-carrying workaholic. Had a SpiritualSuccessor of sorts in the second and final season of ''Series/KevinCanWait'' with Kevin James and Leah Remini at the starring roles.
16----
17!!'''This show provides examples of:'''
18
19* AdoptTheFood: After stumbling across a chicken that escaped from a butcher, Doug spends the afternoon bonding with him while looking for a safe sanctuary.
20* AllTakeAndNoGive: When Deacon moves into Spence's apartment after being kicked out by his wife, Spence eagerly waits on Deacon hand and foot without requesting rent.
21* AloneAmongTheCouples: Near the end of "Bed Spread", Carrie and Doug are depicted this way to show them growing tired of being apart from each other.
22* AnimalChickMagnet: In the flashback to the night Carrie and Doug met, Ritchie borrows a neighbor's doberman in order to seduce the girls.
23* AntiMentor: The unnamed coffee shop waitress uses Arthur this way; everything he tells her to do, she does the opposite. Backfires when Arthur catches on and tells her to do the opposite of the opposite.
24* ArrangedFriendship: Arthur and Holly, the latter of whom Doug and Carrie pay for her time.
25* AsiansEatPets: When Doug rents an apartment above a Chinese restaurant, his landlord cooks his pet turtle, remind him that [[NoAnimalsAllowed no pets are allowed.]]
26* AuthoritativeInPublicDocileInPrivate: The aggressive, militant man from "Paint Misbehavin'" during the credits scene, wherein he's bullied by his wife for getting the wrong kind of ice cream.
27* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Doug and Arthur have these moments more frequently in the earlier episodes, such as Doug chasing Arthur down the street to apologize after yelling at him.
28* BabiesEverAfter: The final scene of the series is of Doug and Carrie overwhelmed by their two new children.
29* BadHumorTruck: After buying an ice cream truck, Doug is threatened and stalked by a rival ice cream truck driver.
30* BalconyWooingScene: Though not actually attempting to woo her, Doug plays a romantic song for his ex-girlfriend Margy under her balcony in order to prove that he wrote her a song in high school (which he didn't.)
31* BarBrawl: Doug images an elaborate one in "Fight Schlub", which he loses rather badly.
32* BeautifulAllAlong: Doug refers to this trope as being evidence that nobody likes buns.
33-->Doug: "Why, Miss Fryhoffer, you're beautiful!"
34* BlamingTheVictim: In "Mammary Lane", after being mistaken for a creep by an overly paranoid women himself, Doug blames Carrie's difficulties with her boss's handsy four-year-old on her own attitude.
35* AbortedArc:
36** The series never really seemed sure what they wanted to do vis a vis Doug and Carrie having children. It was explored in the Season 1 finale, then not mentioned again until the end of Season 3 when an unexpected pregnancy ends in a miscarriage. This leads into a story arc in the first half of Season 4 where Doug and Carrie attempt to get pregnant again. We then learn that Carrie has a bad ovary which would make it difficult for them to conceive. After this episode, the child arc is completely forgotten about until the series finale. It is possible that the writers were vacillating on whether to bring a child into the show and then made the decision not to.
37** The Season 6 premiere "Doug Less" sees Doug lose a substantial amount of weight, and the episode explored the impact it had on his ego and his relationship with Carrie. The writing leads one to believe that this new chapter in Doug's life is going to play a significant part in the story moving forward. However, Kevin James quickly gained the weight back, and Doug's weight loss was never mentioned again after "Doug Less."
38* AbuseOfReturnPolicy: Carrie takes advantage of several upscale clothing stores' return policies to essentially "rent" clothes by buying them and then refunding them.
39* {{Acrofatic}}:
40** Doug's poledance. Especially when compared to Carrie.
41** His racquetball performance against Deacon is also an example and it's implied that he really had no prior experience playing and that it was solely inspired by Doug's desire to get his friend away from his "archnemesis" pushing him into almost {{Determinator}} territory.
42** In "Kirbed Enthusiasm", Doug takes on an entire team of kids in football and dominates.
43* AdamWesting:
44** Done in "Shear Torture" by the actual Adam West, whom Spence meets and wants to take to Comic Book Convention.
45** Creator/LouFerrigno's recurring appearances as a neighbor contains many references to his time spent playing Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk on ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977''.
46** Donny Osmond appears as himself in "Sold-Y Locks".
47* TheAlcoholic: Doug's boss, Patrick O'Boyle. He mentions he's recovering and hasn't had a drink for eight years, but [[OffTheWagon tells Doug to leave the bottle of Johnnie Walker Black he jokingly told him to bring]].
48* ArtisticLicenseCars:
49** When Doug's car starts breaking down, Arthur buys them a "Douchenburger", apparently quite popular in Luxembourg. The actual car is a right hand drive 1970 Mini 850 Mk. III. Luxembourg has no local automakers (their cars come from the rest of Europe) and is left hand drive. About the only thing done to hide the fact that it's a Mini is the emblem on the hood has been removed. This confuses British viewers, who wonder why an instantly recognizable Mini - with its steering wheel in the intuitively "correct" place - isn't ''called'' a Mini. Some viewers are clued up enough to realize a Mini is a sort of classic car in the USA and would be worth good money for its comparative rarity value. Besides, ''Film/TheItalianJob'' should be well-known enough in the USA for many people to recognize the car?
50** When Doug rear-ends Deacon's car while he, Carrie, Deacon and Kelly are on their way to a dinner (Doug and Deacon are in Doug's Jeep), the taillights are smashed. Except, Doug's Jeep's bumper is level with Deacon's car's bumper and the lights look like they've been smashed with a hammer.
51* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: The plot of "Art House" involves Arthur leaving Doug and Carrie's house and renting a luxurious apartment in a Manhattan high-rise. After a few days, it is revealed that he can't afford the rent which leads to him losing the apartment. Most apartments (and certainly one as nice as Arthur's) require a deposit of a few months' rent before taking residence to prevent situations such as these. Not to mention that the apartment was fully furnished, which would've cost thousands of dollars as well. There is simply no way Arthur could've gotten established in that apartment with no money and no credit.
52* ArtisticLicenceGeography: In "Doug Less", Doug and Carrie Heffernan go on a holiday to a cabin Doug mistakenly believes he took Carrie early in their relationship. They are next seen driving along Highway 28, which runs through Oregon in the Pacific North-West. A scene or two later, Doug is seen conferring with a local as to the best route: to stay on 28 or to take the intersection to Highway 414. the problem is... Highway 414 runs ''several hundred miles'' to the East of 28, in the Mid-west state of Wyoming. It does not ever directly connect to Highway 28.
53* AsHimself: Lou Ferrigno is indeed Creator/LouFerrigno. And good friends with Creator/AdamWest.
54* AwesomeButImpractical: The first house Doug and Carrie bought together turned out to be more impractical than awesome as Doug initially thought. The house itself was uncomfortably close to a school, the easy chair that looked like a hand wasn't as comfortable as it looked, [[MalevolentArchitecture the sunken living room was a booby trap]], and the dumbwaiter was, well, [[StealthPun dumb]].
55--> '''Doug''': ''(examining the mess left by the faulty dumbwaiter)'' We're going to need a tiny cleaning lady.
56* BabiesEverAfter: Doug and Carrie end the show with two children, a daughter adopted from China and a biological son.
57* TheBadGuyWins:
58** Parodied in "Icky Shuffle" where Doug and Arthur go up against a stuck-up old man and his son-in-law in a shuffle board tournament. Doug and Arthur lose and Arthur chews Doug out even though before that Arthur said that since Doug decided to play with him that means he already won.
59** Played straight and for laughs in "Fight Schlub" where members of a rival delivery company Priority Plus deceive Doug, bind him, and take over their booth at Coopers the local sports bar. Doug, Deacon, Danny, and some others from IPS try to take it back but are defeated by the Priority Plus Employees and must take the booth that is right next to the bathroom.
60* BigApplesauce: The show takes place in Queens, and Carrie works in Manhattan.
61* BigFun: Doug is this to a tee.
62* Bittersweet Ending: The episode "Pregnant Pause".
63* TheBore: In "Roamin' Holiday", Carrie's high school friend's husband persistantly attempts to discuss downer politics with Doug, much to his dismay.
64* {{Bouncer}}: It is revealed that Doug Heffernan's main job when he first met Carrie Spooner was that of nightclub bouncer. Doug was pretty much of the non-violent fast-talking kind who would try to defuse trouble rather than invite it, but it cannot be denied that he could let the power of running the door, and deciding who got in, go to his head.
65* BrattyFoodDemand:
66** In "Taste Buds", Doug manipulates Arthur into rudely demanding food so that Carrie will take them to whatever restaurant he (Doug) wants to go. For example, when Doug wants pizza, he gets Arthur to reminisce about the time he was in the Army in Italy, causing Arthur to say, "I want pizza!"
67** The Palmer boys loudly chant in order to proposition the Heffernans for coffee.
68* BlackComedyRape: Arthur reminisces about a time he was "compromised" by a biker named Road Dog in "Queasy Rider".
69* BreakfastInBed: Doug brings an unsavory combination of dinner/breakfast in bed to Carrie in attempt to convince her to stay home from work.
70* BrooklynRage: Carrie. Arthur has his moments, too.
71* ButICantBePregnant: Doug says as much regarding Carrie in the final episode; she reminds him that the doctor merely said it was highly unlikely that they'd be able to concieve, not impossible.
72* CallingTheOldManOut: See Carrie's TheReasonYouSuck speech to Arthur.
73* CatchYourDeathOfCold: Doug catches a cold that leaves him bedridden after playing mudball in the rain.
74* {{Chikan}}: Carrie frequently gets her ass touched on the subway.
75* CityPeopleEatSushi: Wannabe-Manhattenite Carrie often wants sushi, contrasting with the more suburban tastes of Doug.
76-->Doug: Raw fish not as good as cooked cow.
77* TheCameo:
78** Ben Stiller has a cameo as Arthur's abusive father in the episode "Shrink Wrap".
79** Creator/AdamSandler appears in another episode.
80* CarpetOfVirility: Doug and Danny, type II.
81* CatchPhrase:
82** "Shutty".
83** Shaminy!
84** Ass, in many variations. "I am ASS." "CARRIE IS ASS." "I'll buy you a boat! The Dumb-as-ass!" "Mother of ASS!" "Ass!"
85** YUSPA!!!
86** All of Doug's exaggerated "T-I-O-N"words: Dona-TION, Sanita-TION, Fornica-TION, etc.
87* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
88** Carrie's sister Sara. The script writers admitted they ran out of ideas with what to do with her. As a matter of fact, Sara was ''so'' written out of the show that [[RetCon Carrie was turned into an only child]].
89** Stanley, the beagle they have in season one and early season two.
90** Richie suddenly disappears and is replaced by Danny to keep the four friend group intact.
91*** [[WildMassGuessing Richie was a NYC firefighter who disappeared in the fall of 2001...]]
92* CloserToEarth: Traded off [[DependingOnTheWriter depending on the episode]] between Doug and Carrie. Doug is foolish and impulsive, but Carrie is somewhat immoral (or at least self serving) and brash, and each have episodes showcasing their flaws - for whichever one is in the wrong in the episode, the other will be CloserToEarth.
93* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Spencer and his new girlfriend Denise have dinner with his mom. To break the ice, she tells a story about how Spencer slipped on ice and how red his butt was afterwards. His mom completely missed the point and asks him why she's seen him naked, telling him he was supposed to "save himself." Denise then says she didn't actually see it, but Spencer told her on the phone while she was in church. His mom then exclaims "You were on the phone in church?!"
94* CommonalityConnection: The rival driver from "Fight Schlub" uses a feigned interest in Neil Diamond and a story about being bullied for his weight as a child to ameliorate himself to Doug.
95* ConstructionCatcalls: In "Deconstructing Carrie", with her 35th birthday coming up, Carrie feels unattractive after failing to catch the attention of a group of construction workers. Doug bribes them to loudly catcall her.
96* ConvenientMiscarriage: After a two-parter dealing with Doug and Carrie coming to terms with Carrie's pregnancy and the major changes parenthood will instill in their lives, Carrie quietly miscarries immediately before the credits. Only one passing mention is made of the event for the remainder of the series.
97* CosmeticCatastrophe: In "Switch Sitters", after the Heffernans leave gender-noncomforming Kirby alone with Carrie's makeup, the Palmer's offscreen reaction makes it clear that this is the result.
98-->Deacon: Oh my God, he looks like Liza Manelli!
99* TheCourier: Doug and Carrie both have referred to Doug as such when attempting to elevate his job title.
100* {{Crossover}}: From time to time, the Heffernans have interacted with the cast of ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond''.
101** Doug's first appearance was as a member of the Nemo's basketball team playing alongside Ray and Robert Barone in ''ELR''. Their first meeting was later retconned to a chance meeting whilst both were sitting the written part of their drivers' licences.
102* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Arthur takes part in a test screening for a buddy comedy, but finds the entire plot could have been avoided if the characters had made a single phone call and gets hung up on for the rest of the episode.
103* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment:
104-->That's our wedding cake. From our wedding. You know, when we got married.
105* DependingOnTheWriter: Whether or not Doug, Carrie, or Arthur are being giant [[JerkAss assholes]] or not.
106* DepravedDentist: The dentist from "Two Thirty" is usually nice, but subconsciously takes out his jealousy and aggression on Doug's teeth.
107* DiabolusExMachina: In her last appearance on the show as a regular, Holly met a nice, normal rich guy who planned to marry her and take her out of the city. When she reappears in the series finale, she's now pregnant and has been dumped by said husband, with nowhere to live.
108* DiningInTheBuff: In "Where's Poppa", Doug eats pizza while jumping on the couch in the nude.
109* DistractedByTheSexy: In the pilot, Doug is attempting to shave when Carrie's sister bursts into the bathroom to shower. Doug tries to continue shaving. Cut to the next scene, where his face is badly cut in multiple places.
110* DiscreetDrinkDisposal: In "Window Pain", Doug sneaks into the kitchen to pour out a glass of gross scotch, but is seen through the interior window.
111* DisproportionateRetribution:
112** A waitress is constantly seeking advice from Arthur. He gets fulfillment from this, until finding out from a dimwitted co-worker that she only does so to follow [[AntiAdvice the opposite of what he suggests]]. Following this he deliberately tells her the opposite of what he would otherwise, causing her to ignore good advice, specifically telling her it's a bad idea to demand a raise, causing her to be fired. Whether or not he intended for this to get her fired and potentially bankrupt, he seems to find her outcome perfectly just in his gloating.
113--->'''Former Waitress:''' You cost me my job! How am I going to pay my bills?!
114--->'''Arthur:''' And you hurt my feelings, so now we're even!
115** In one episode, Doug has a regular customer who always comes to the door wearing nothing but a towel, which disgusts him. He wants to be removed from that route, but can't convince O'Boyle avoiding a guy in a towel is a good excuse, so he says the guy's dog (who was a little terrier like [[Series/{{Frasier}} Eddie)]] is vicious. When Doug comes by again, he finds animal control about to take away and exterminate the dog. It actually gets [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] when Doug rescinds the complaint and reveals he made because the guy always wears a towel, causing him to say "For that, you kill my dog?!"
116* DivorceIsTemporary: Deacon and Kelly separate twice and reconcile twice.
117* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Carrie is a pretty major version of this and it was implied that Deacon's wife can be pretty abusive as well. Also one episode had Carrie teach a girlfriend of Spence to be verbally abusive to him.
118** The subplot in "Van, Go" definitely comes to mind with this trope. In the episode, Doug has to deal with a very rude waitress who not only does not serve him at the same time as his friend, but refuses to get his ready chicken wings that remain sitting on the counter. When Doug goes up and gets the chicken wings himself, the waitress rudely tells him that she'll bring them to him. Later, the manager questions why they didn't get refills on their drinks, a Doug says he thinks the waitress was on the phone, resulting in the manager reprimanding her (since personal calls at work are against the rules) and comps their meal. The waitress then declares she's going to "gut you like a deer," when he leaves and spends the remainder of the episode stalking around the front of the restaurant, waiting for Doug to leave. Not only is this PlayedForLaughs, but nobody calls the cops about this obvious harassment. And it's still PlayedForLaughs when the waitress beats him up off-screen!
119* DudeNotIronic: In "Female Troubles", Doug calls something ironic and Arthur insists that that's not what irony is. At the end of the episode, Arthur wakes Doug up in the middle of the night claiming he looked up ironic in the dictionary, and admits he was wrong: he thought "ironic" meant "made entirely of iron".
120* EarWorm: In-universe (and possibly out of it,) Doug's "Doug and Carrie" song from "Class Struggle".
121* EatThat: One of the season two cold opens has Doug trying to pay Carrie to eat cheese that fell on the floor, and upon being rebuked, offering to eat it for payment instead.
122* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the first season, Carrie is gentler, softer, more feminine, and an awful lot sweeter. The hard-bitten bitchy edge she develops later is completely absent. Doug is also more serious, mature, hard-working and competent than the Flanderised man-child who emerges later: a stereotypical sitcom couple. Carrie also has a sister who abruptly disappears without a trace (or explanation) within the next few episodes.
123* EnthusiasticNewbieTeacher: In "Strike Too", Doug takes on a job as a substitute teacher. He begins the job with naïve enthusiasm, but quickly begins trying to expel problem students.
124* Ephebophile: In "Time Share", Tim Sacksky makes a number of disturbing comments about teenage girls.
125* EccentricExterminator: The exterminator from "Buggy Nights" wears Carrie's bra.
126* ExperienceEntitlement: Doug is short and haughty with Danny while training him in "Driving Reign".
127* EyeScream: When Spencer explains how laser eye surgery worked, Deacon was experiencing this.
128--> '''Deacon:''' I don't want to hear about an... eye flap, damn!
129* FamilyVersusCareer: Carrie struggles with this decision in "Baby Maybe": when she thinks her job is going poorly, she wants to start trying for a baby. When she thinks she may be up for a promotion, she changes her mind.
130* FanDisservice: Carrie's pole dancing. It's so bad that Doug tried to stay at work until he's forced to leave, and when he later finally snaps and turns Carrie's music off, the following exchange occurs, implying that watching Carrie's dancing for a prolonged period is apparently AFateWorseThanDeath:
131-->'''Carrie:''' Why'd you turn it off?
132-->'''Doug:''' It was either that or jump out the window.
133* FatCamp: In "Veiled Threat", Doug discovers that the camp he went to as a child wasn't "football camp", but a fat camp.
134* FatSlob: The flip side of BigFun. Doug teeters dangerously on the brink and steps over it several times, usually pulled back to acceptability by Carrie delivering an ultimatum or otherwise intervening.
135* FeedByExample: In "Fresh Brood", Doug eats some baby food to convince Mookie to try it. He instantly gags.
136* FictionalCounterpart: IPS is simply UPS with one letter changed.
137* {{Flanderization}}: Carrie's unsophisticated speech in some episodes.
138* FleetingPassionateHobbies: A psychologist advocates Carrie and Doug giving Arthur what he wants as a sort of aversion therapy, in the hope that the continual demanding will burn itself out. Arthur then ploughs through a dozen or so expensive hobbies in the space of a month, beginning each in a state of high enthusiasm that inevitably burns itself out when the novelty is gone.
139* FlowersOfRomance:
140** Arthur attempts to woo Doug's aunt with these in "Paternal Affairs."
141** In "Flower Power", after mistaking a coworker's bouquet for a gift from Doug, Carrie complains about Doug's lack of romance. In response, he unloads a veritable flower bomb on her desk.
142* FormallyNamedPet: Mr. Belvidere, the jack russell belonging to Towel Guy.
143* FourthDateMarriage: In the three-part finale, Arthur becomes engaged to a woman after only knowing her for a few days.
144* FriendsRentControl: Doug is a delivery driver, Carrie is a secretary, and the two are frequently shown to have major issues with their finances. Despite this, from early on in their marriage the two were able to afford a large, two-story house in Queens with a basement, a decently sized yard, and a garage.
145* FunnyFlashbackHaircut: In the episode where we see how Doug and Carrie first met, Doug has a mullet and Ritchie a ponytail.
146* GameNightFight: Doug and Arthur play a game of Monopoly, with Arthur rolling a six and buying Park Place. Doug calls him out on his turn because Doug already owns Park Place, he's not the thimble, and he rolled a five. Arthur responds by throwing the board off the bed (and different game boards are seen on the floor implying other games were played with similar results).
147* GameShowAppearance: Doug once dreamed he was on ''Series/WheelOfFortune'', and another time Arthur ended up [[{{Blackmail}} blackmailing]] Creator/DickClark over not getting his Rice-A-Roni when he appeared on ''[[Series/{{Pyramid}} The $10,000 Pyramid]]'' [[note]]This was actually surviving footage of Jerry Stiller's appearance on the show in 1976; most of the episodes from that period were wiped per ABC's policy[[/note]](of course, Dick Clark wouldn't have controlled that part; it was under Creator/BobStewart's control then; like this show and ''Wheel'', it's currently a Creator/SonyPicturesTelevision property).
148* GentleGiant: Creator/LouFerrigno (yes, ''the'' Lou Ferrigno), Doug and Carrie's neighbor
149* GiftedlyBad: Carrie at pole dancing.
150* GoneHorriblyWrong: When the local bowling alley hires a homely female attendant, Doug decides to flirt with her in an attempt to make her feel welcome. This ends up creeping the woman out, and things go from bad to worse when Doug spends the rest of the episode [[DiggingYourselfDeeper digging himself deeper]].
151* GoodCopBadCop: When buying a new car, Doug plays Good Cop while Carrie plays Bad Cop to get a better deal. Doug gushes over the car while Carrie says "I wanna take a sledgehammer to this piece of crap!"
152-->'''Doug:''' You're supposed to be Bad Cop, not...''Gestapo!''
153* GoshdangItToHeck: Doug often says "Son of a mother!"
154* GracefullyDemoted: After being promoted in "White Collar", Doug gives up the job to Deacon. Both are back in their original positions by the next episode.
155* HairTodayGoneTomorrow: In flashbacks, Doug is shown to have a mullet and/or a mustache.
156* HairTriggerTemper: Carrie. Whenever she explodes, Doug is invariably at Ground Zero.
157* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Holly. Who frequently ends up in bad places the next day.
158* HeterosexualLifePartners: Despite the fact that they sleep with their beds pushed together, have tried to buy a house together, have a shared checking account, speak of themselves as a couple, argue and break up like they're married (and have in fact gotten married), and have all but given up on finding dates other than each other, Spence and Danny are straight.
159* HiccupHijinks: The beginning of "The Dugan Groupie" has Doug get hiccups while he's eating a tuna sandwich. Arthur tries scaring him, but it doesn't work. He then pretends to walk away in shame so that he can scare Doug's hiccups away with an air horn. At the end of the episode, Arthur also gets hiccups, and he once again scares them away with an air horn.
160* HollywoodLaw:
161** The plot of "Clothes Encounter," where Carrie was returning expensive clothing articles after wearing them for a while, was [[PlayedForLaughs played entirely for laughs]] and was seen in-universe as morally grey but ultimately harmless. In real life this is called "wardrobing," and it is legally considered a type of shoplifting. At the very least this kind of scheme would probably destroy your credit score, and at worse may land you in prison for fraud.
162** It is quite unlikely that the water leak in the Heffernans' home that caused the toxic mold would have been brushed aside with a fleeting comment and then buried in the fine print of the paperwork. Something like that would be a pretty major deal, and would probably require both Doug and Carrie to sign a waiver that they were buying the house "as is" and thereby absolving the realtor of any responsibility. As it happened in the show, Carrie would have a pretty good case against the realtor that she was never informed of this severe defect and signed off on the house under false pretenses.
163** Later in the same story arc, Mr. Kaplan's explanation to Doug and Carrie that there was nothing they could do about the mold company's poor business practices was fairly specious as well. If the company accepted payment for the job up front and signed a contract that they would complete it, they can absolutely be held to those terms and they can certainly be sued or possibly even arrested for absconding with the Heffernans' money.
164* HonestJohnsDealership: One episode has Doug buying an ice cream truck from an old man. While trying to sell ice cream, he is repeatedly attacked by another ice cream truck, supposedly driven by a rival. Doug ends up paying the old man to take back the truck because he wants out of it. No sooner does The man complete the transaction does he try to sell it to another person, and it's revealed that he has been selling his truck to people and than using another truck to pose as a rival ice cream man and terrorize them so they will pay him to take the truck back to be safe from the "rival".
165* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Almost all of the episode titles are a two or three word pun that has something to do with the episode.
166* InformedAttractiveness: While Doug's weight loss in "Doug Less" was noticeable, the way everybody in-universe was acting about it and talking about how much more handsome it made him is definitely this.
167* InsurrectionistInheritor: In "Moxie Moron", after repeating a rant delivered in private by Carrie in which she tells Kaplan to sit on a candle, Dawn is immediately promoted.
168* JealousPet: When Holly is charmed by a new client named Peewee, Arthur acts the part, even trying to outdo him at fetch.
169* {{Jerkass}}[=/=]JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Carrie, DependingOnTheWriter.
170** A case of "like father, like daughter," since this also applies to Arthur.
171* JerkassHasAPoint: When Doug wants $100 from the family funds to bet on a boxing match in "Eddie Money", he tells Carrie he's entitled to it since he earns more than half the money that comes into the house. This prompts her to twist his nipples and order him to put the money back in the can. Given that Carrie is known to spend thousands of dollars per year on unnecessary clothing and accessories, it's a bit hypocritical for her to begrudge Doug over a hundred bucks.
172* JerkassToOne: While Doug, Deacon, Richie, and Danny were usually quite lovable, their treatment of Spence could often get quite bad; they make fun of Spence for being geeky and often act like he's TheFriendNobodyLikes.
173* JuryDuty: The B-plot of one episode shows Arthur's overzealous attitude toward his role as an alternate.
174%% * KafkaKomedy
175* KarmaHoudini:
176** In "Fight Schlub", the members of the Priority Plus delivery company get no comeuppance for assaulting Doug and binding him in Bubble wrap or taking the booth reserved for Doug and his friends at Coopers. When Doug and his friends try to take back the booth they are defeated and are exiled to a booth by the bathroom.
177** In "Icky Shuffle" Carrie is not called to account or receives any sort of comeuppance for pretending to be ill. She started out sick but continued to be sick long after she got better. This was because Holly agreed to cook dinner for her for the duration of her illness. Carrie's deceit continues even when Carrie's orders get more elaborate and Holly comes down with a very bad cold.
178** In "Lost Vegas", Arthur successfully cheats a church out of its money using a card counting scheme during their charity casino night.
179** In "Mama Cast", an old man gets away with scamming Doug by selling an ice cream truck to him and than posing as a rival ice cream man who terrorizes Doug until he pays the owner to take the truck back. He proceeds to pull the trick on another man.
180* KavorkaMan: The other Doug Heffernan, who turns out to be deliberately exploiting his women by giving them ''our'' Doug Heffernan's phone number. When Doug tracks him down, he turns out to be a small, bald, weak-looking man.
181* KidsAreCruel:
182** The high schoolers Doug tries to teach in "Strike Too" mock and bully him.
183** Upon finding out that Spence is deathly allergic to peanuts, Kirby's response is to pelt him with peanuts.
184* TheKindnapper: Doug does this to a co-worker in "Like Hell".
185* LaserGuidedKarma:
186** Anytime Doug or Carrie (or both) set up a scheme, it would always be foiled by some circumstance. "Patrons Ain't" and "Buy Curious" are good examples for both of them. Several of Doug's schemes to alter Carrie without her consent (such as in "Lush Life", "Gym Neighbors", and "Deconstructing Carrie") always came back to bite him in the ass.
187** A clever example occurs in "Shear Torture" when Spence asks Creator/LouFerrigno to go to a Fantasy convention with him, but ditches him at the last minute so he can take Creator/AdamWest instead. [[spoiler: On the way to the convention, Adam West tells Spence that he spoke with Lou Ferrigno and found out that he broke his commitment to him. He then forces Spence out of the car, necessitating him to run across four lanes of traffic. Spence misses out on the Fantasy Convention and Adam West also keeps his gas money.]]
188* LadyDrunk: The single-episode depiction of Spence's mom in "S'aint Valentine's", before being recast and rewritten as Creator/AnneMeara.
189* LawOfInverseFertility: After several arcs throughout the series' run dealing with the Heffernan's inability to conceive, they're surprised to find Carrie pregnant immediately after committing to adoption.
190* LettingHerHairDown: Carrie plays with this trope in the "Bun Dummy" episode.
191* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Holly and Carrie.
192* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Spence and Danny.
193* LingerieScene: In ''Strike Out'', Carrie moves from bathroom to bedroom in her underwear, only to find her father lying on the bed. She screams at him to get out, but he shrugs and remarks there's nothing there he hasn't seen before.
194* TheLoad: Arthur contributes nothing to the household and in fact has cost the Heffernans significant amounts of money (he's started fires, sold their furniture when they are away, etc.,) and stress (he goes through personal belongings, keeps them awake at night when moved across the hall, constantly yells and tries to force his rules on them, etc.). Whenever he comes across some money like bingo winnings, he doesn't even think to offer Doug and Carrie any of it for something such as new appliances they all use and has to be more or less told to give it to them. Doug wants him out of the house for these reasons but Carrie defends Arthur, claiming he isn't that bad (which is odd, as it has been firmly established that Arthur was a terrible father. He even lost her name in a bet.)
195* LocalHangout: Cooper's.
196* LysistrataGambit: In "Restaurant Row", after maliciously banning one another from multiple establishments, the episode ends with Carrie banning Doug from sex.
197* Magic8Ball: The Mentalo toy from Doug's childhood (as well as its knockoff, Mental-Man) is a variant.
198* ManChild: Spence is the most obvious example but Doug, Danny, and Arthur fit as well. Deacon could also be described as this on certain occasions. For example, in the episode "Mentallo Case", when Doug wants to buy a toy that he always wanted as a child, Deacon goes behind Doug's back and purchases it for himself.
199* ManipulativeBastard: Doug is frequently forced to be this in order to get what he wants from the domineering Carrie. Examples include Doug talking Arthur into wanting whatever Doug wants to eat and forming fake work calls to guilt the wife into letting the husband get his way.
200* MenLikeDogsWomenLikeCats: One of the precepts Carrie attempts to enforce early in their marriage is that they'll have a cat rather than a dog, as Doug would prefer.
201* MenUseViolenceWomenUseCommunication: Averted; Carrie gets her way through yelling, threats, and violence, while Doug uses underhanded manipulation.
202* MistakenForGay: Danny and Spence, repeatedly.
203** {{Lampshaded}} when Spence and Danny actually get married in order to receive a free television from a timeshare company, then are comically outraged when they won't give the timeshare to a same-sex couple.
204** In one episode, Spence and Danny go to their high school reunion and try to pick up women to take home. Spence thinks he has succeeded in picking up a woman, until Danny informs him that that woman is a lesbian and thinks he's a woman too. Danny also succeeds in getting a date, that is, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint the captain of the football team.]]
205---> At least ''my'' rainbow ends with a vagina!
206** In the episode "Mammary Lane", Spence's Tivo thinks he's gay.
207* MistakenForRacist: In "Buy Curious," Doug and Carrie attempt to sell a crappy house by covering up the flaws and sell it off to a black couple like it's fine. When Doug and Carrie find out that the couple is having a baby, they try to talk them out of buying it and the couple think they're just trying to keep them from buying it because they're black.
208* MundaneMadeAwesome: In "Strike Out," Doug, Deacon, and Arthur play the See & Say that Deacon's son brought with him in the style of roulette.
209* MyBelovedSmother: Spence's mom, who fails to see her beloved son is nearer to thirty than twenty and ceased to be a teenager a long time ago.
210* [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality Narrative Causality]]: Doug's mom had absolutely no reason to be at the wedding in "Flash Photography" between Doug's softball buddy and Carrie's friend.
211* NewNeighborsAsThePlotDemands: With the exception of Creator/LouFerrigno and the Sacksys (who only appeared in three episodes) the other side neighbours changed frequently.
212* NewYorkIsOnlyManhattan: Averted here. Which, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as it says on the label]], is set in and around Queens.
213* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: The Palmers in the episode "Present Tense".
214* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: In "Ice Cubed" when a cashier mistakenly forgets to ring up an iPod, in effect giving it to Carrie for free, she tries to return it and pay the cashier. Her trying to do the right thing sets off a chain reaction of unfortunate events.
215* NotReallyABirthScene: Happens to Doug when doctors have to remove a [[GroinAttack large staple from one of his testicles]]. We even get to see poor Doug's legs up in stirrups and his wife holding his hand while he screams.
216* NippleAndDimed: While the silhouette of Carrie's sister's naked body is clearly seen through the shower door in the pilot, she's noticably devoid of nipples.
217* NotaryNonsense: Arthur's plot in "Educating Doug" sees him training to become a notary, doing rather poorly despite his regarding it as SeriousBusiness.
218* ObnoxiousInLaws:. Doug's mom, briefly, when she and her husband stay over while Carrie's out of town. Doug's father, when insisting Carrie and Doug - and especially Carrie - reform their profligate spending habits.
219* OneSteveLimit:
220** Arthur's aversion of this trope is one of Lou Ferrigno's criticisms of his screen play in "Better Camera".
221** Also averted by Doug Heffernan and Doug Pruzan, Carrie's boss.
222* OnlySaneMan: Deacon; he is the only main or recurring character that doesn't have many major personality flaws, is often exasperated by his friends idiotic schemes, is the first one to point out when someone goes too far in any given situation and is generally the most well-adjusted person on the show.
223* PointyHairedBoss:
224** Doug's boss, Patrick O'Boyle, is revealed to be a weirdo at times.
225** As is Carrie's boss, Doug Pruzan.
226* PrimAndProperBun: The episode "Bun Dummy" plays with this trope at length.
227* PullingYourChildAway: Played for laughs in "Buggie Nights", where an English grandmama pulls her grandson away from Carrie, who's become a pariah after Doug spread the news that she's infested with bedbugs.
228* PutOnABus:
229** Kelly for a few seasons, supposedly due to an edict from ABC, who didn't want Creator/MerrinDungey appearing on other shows while she was on ''Series/{{Alias}}''.[[note]]Her leaving ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' as Stevie's mom is supposedly also due to this[[/note]] After her character in ''Alias'' [[spoiler: or rather, her character's doppelganger]] was killed off, she returned to the show for the rest of its run.
230** Holly leaves to get married early in season eight, returning only for a cameo during the finale.
231* PygmalionPlot: Spence helping Carrie to improve her pronunciation. When she succeeds, he says "You are so beautiful..."
232* PygmalionSnapBack: The episode "Jung Frankenstein".
233* RelationshipSabotage: When Doug likes the man in one couple, but Carrie hates the woman, and Carrie likes the woman in one relationship, but Doug hates the man, they sabotage both relationships in order to build a "Frankencouple" ideal for double dates.
234* ReplacementGoldfish: Doug feels this way about Deacon's new friend, who's a heavyset deliveryman who hates jazz and participates in wing eating contests. He refers to him as "a black Doug."
235* RightThroughTheWall: In "Get Away", Doug and Carrie feel inadequate while sharing a hotel wall with the Palmers while on vacation, after hearing them having sex four times in one night.
236* RupturedAppendix: Doug's appendix bursts, leading to a plot about Carrie attempting to control his masturbatory fantasies. ItMakesSenseInContext.
237* SellingOnesOwnHair: In the episode "Sold-Y-locks", Carrie Heffernan sells her hair to a wig-maker to turn a quick buck. (In a case of RealLifeWritesTheHairstyle, actress Creator/LeahRemini chose to go to a shorter bobbed hairstyle in real life; the episode was quickly written to explain her new hairstyle InUniverse.)
238* SensualSlavs: Spence's Albanian penpal. He and Danny vie for her attention while she visits at their apartment in "Move Doubt".
239* SerenadeYourLover: Doug serenades his high school ex, Margy. He also writes Carrie a somewhat less romantic song in "Class Struggle".
240-->Doug and Carrie, Doug and Carrie, Doug and Carrie, Doug and Carrie, ARTHUR ARTHUR ARTHUR ARTHUR
241* {{Retcon}}:
242** When Pruzan first appeared, he was just a pathetic co-worker of Carrie's. Later, he was made into her boss (indeed, several episodes, including "Cello Goodbye", showed her with different bosses).
243** In the episode where Arthur temporarily moves out into an apartment he can't afford, Doug compliments his piano playing abilities. In a later episode he tries getting some fast money by "teaching" children how to do just that but is completely incapable of doing so. Interestingly, among the main characters there doesn't appear to be a single person who can actually play the piano, yet there it is smack dab in the middle of the Heffernan's living room.
244** Doug and Carrie's story of how they met, Carrie's childhood, and several other plotlines.
245* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
246** Kevin James lost 40 pounds in 2003, and this was written into the Season 6 two-part premiere. He quickly gained the weight back, however, making these episodes something of a CanonDiscontinuity compared to the rest of the series.
247** Leah Remini's body shape and general appearance changed noticably over the run of the show. This was explained InUniverse as the Spooner women having a tendency to become more comfortably shaped (fatter) as they grew older.
248* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Carrie finally loses patience and gives Arthur an epic one in "Foe: Pa":
249---> '''Carrie''': News flash, OK? You were never there for me, Dad. You never-you never are, you never were. And you know what, when I was sitting there trying to hold that interview together and I was looking through that glass, do you know what I saw? What I've been seeing my whole life: a lousy father. A selfish, overbearing, lousy father!
250* ReTool: The title, now solely a pun based off of where the characters live, used to have a bit of a double-meaning, since Carrie's sister Sara was initially a big part of the cast, making plural "Queens."
251* RightBehindMe: On the episode titled "Eggsit Strategy", this trope is satirized. Carrie is talking to her coworkers about her boss, Mr. Kaplan, in an unflattering way. When her coworkers have blank looks on their faces, she is worried that her boss is standing right behind her, but he isn't.
252* RunawayBride: Denise runs away with another suitor before the end of her wedding in "Altar Ego".
253* ScaryShinyGlasses: Danny wears these while trying to win a poker party with the guys.
254* SeriesFauxnale: The Season 8 finale "Acting Out" was written to be the series finale, but the cast and crew later decided to come back to do a ninth and final season.
255* SexyStewardess: Deacon nearly manages to bed a gorgeous British stewardess in "Nocturnal Omission". One look at her leaves Carrie dumbfounded.
256* SexAtWork: Carrie and Doug attempt this in the back of Doug's truck in "Train Wreck", but ultimately decide the thrill isn't worth the discomfort. Later, in "Santa Claustrophobia", they manage to make it work.
257* ShakingHerHairLoose: Discussed extensively in "Bun Dummy", before Carrie finally performs one at the very end.
258* ShoutOut: In ''Offtrack - Bedding'', Carrie is in the kitchen preparing food when Doug walks in and says "Hi, Sticky Buns!" Carrie is flattered and says [[Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond it's nice to have a husband who can make up funny nicknames for her when he walks in]]. Doug looks baffled, and goes to the plate of cakes on the counter that he was ''really'' speaking to.
259* ShooOutTheNewGuy: Sara. At the beginning of the series, Carrie was meant to be the serious character of the two, while Sara was meant to be nothing more than a mooching bimbo. According to the creators, having Carrie's sister in the house never fit the down-to-Earth atmosphere they were aiming for, so eventually they [[Main/RetroactiveContinuity wrote her entire existence out of the show]].
260* TheShrink: Three! ("Shrink Wrap", "Jung Frankenstein", and "Vocal Discord".)
261** Richie was a part of the quartet of friends as well as a major character for the first three seasons. Suddenly, though, the character was just dropped.
262* SleazyPhotoshoot: Doug is tricked into one in "Work Related".
263* SleepsWithEveryoneButYou: Holly is this to Spence, and to a lesser extent Danny.
264* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: The show often jumped between both ends of the scale, sometimes in the same episode: case in point, "Foe: Pa." Sure, it wasn't officially a VerySpecialEpisode, but it certainly ''felt'' like one.
265* SlippingAMickey: After Doug slips Arthur his medication, Arthur gets revenge by slipping Doug a heavy sedative in "Papa Pill".
266* SmellsSexy: Used at length in "Cologne Ranger", where Doug's new cologne makes him irresistable to both men and women--though not to Carrie.
267* SnowedIn: The episode "Ice Cubed".
268* SorryImGay: Arthur once tried to get away from a woman who was interested in him by claiming that Deacon was his secret homosexual lover. This backfired when the woman responded with what amounted to "just don't do it while I'm around."
269* SoulCrushingDeskJob: Doug feels this way about his promotion from driving in the season one episode "White Collar". (This makes the three-parter finale, where he gives up driving for a higher paying desk job in order to support their newly adopted daughter, all the more meaningful a sacrifice.)
270* SoupIsMedicine: Doug's mom brings him soup while he's playing sick in "Screwed Driver", and Holly brings a sick Carrie soup in "Icky Shuffle".
271* SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace: Spence tries to protest Denise's wedding at this point in the ceremony, but is beaten to the punch by another (much hunkier) man.
272* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/TheHoneymooners''.
273* SpitefulSpoiler: In "Consummate Professional", Doug purposefully spoils the ending to an episode of Melrose Place to Spence for no particular reason.
274* SpyCam: "Life Sentence" features something like this. Arthur is recovering from health problems, but he refuses to leave the basement and move into the guest room. Doug and Carrie rig up a babycam without him knowing and connect it into a TV feed so they can periodically check in on him. Later on, Deacon, Spence, and Danny come over to watch football, channel surf when they get bored, and discover the babycam feed. They quickly become engrossed in the mundane things Arthur does and secretly come over to watch numerous hours of ''Arthur TV''.
275* StoryArc: "Strike One", "Strike Too", and "Strike Out".
276* SultryBangs: The wig Carrie wears to cover up her GagHaircut features these.
277* TauntingTheUnconscious: In "Lyin' Hearted", Carrie taunts a sleeping Arthur by throwing away his flowers.
278* TeaIsClassy: Carrie lists chamomile tea as one of her top ten favorite things. To contrast, Doug's item is "porno".
279* ThisLoserIsYou: Doug is shown to be dumb, has extreme aversion to reading, and watches way too much TV. He also avoids places like art museums and artistic movies in favor of summer blockbuster movies and sports events. At the same time, he is shown to be very good-natured, kind-hearted, and caring, making the audience connect with his character.
280* ThrowingOffTheDisability: Doug invokes this trope in "Knee Jerk" so that he can use a fake injury to skip Carrie's cousin's wedding, but go to a trampoline park a few days later.
281* ThrowTheDogABone: Holly Schumpert's character could be seen as a Butt Monkey. She comes from a difficult household and is often used by her boyfriends and occasionally the Heffernans (see the episodes "Icky Shuffle" and "Awful Bigamy"). However, once in a while she does come out on top: In "Secret Garden" she becomes a client of Dr Crawford a skilled gynecologist who is sought after by nearly every woman for his expertise. In "Mentallo Case" She ends up getting the best gift when all of the participants are up in arms over the gifts they got.
282** Spence could also be seen as a butt monkey at times and is often the victim of his friends' or family's stupidity or just fate. Nevertheless he occasionally comes out on top. In "G'Night Stalker", he manages to pull of an elaborate prank on Doug after being the victim of many pranks. In "Emotional Rollercoaster" He ends up getting the girl, although we never see what she (if she is indeed a "she") is like under her giant mascot costume.
283* TookALevelInCynic: Doug and Carrie's characters go from sarcastic but loving in Season 1 to downright hateful in Seasons 8-9.
284* TookALevelInJerkass:
285** Both Doug and Carrie. Doug has some selfish moments in early seasons, but is generally a NiceGuy. He becomes a lot more self-centered and prone to {{Jerkass}}ery in later seasons. Carrie actually started out as probably one of the most well-adjusted and nicest characters you'll see in an American Sitcom, but in later seasons she's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold at best.
286** In early seasons, Arthur is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} but is generally kindhearted. In later seasons he becomes a total asshole who isn't above going screwing over family and friends for personal gain.
287* TooMuchInformation:
288** Arthur gives unnecessary detail on Carrie's conception while talking to Doug.
289** The strange woman from "Connect Four" tells Carrie details of her sex life and personal anatomy immediately after meeting her.
290* ToughLove: Regarding Arthur, from "Ticker Treat":
291-->Carrie: He taught me to swim the same way; it's called "tough love", you idiot.
292* TribalFacePaint: In "Doug Less", Doug paints his face this way with mud after a few hours alone in the woods.
293* UglyGuyHotWife: Though Doug isn't ugly, he's undeniably obese, while Carrie is beautiful.
294* TheTroubleWithTickets: This is the overall plot to "Court Date", where Carrie pretends to be single and dates a traffic cop to get out of a ticket.
295* TroublesomePet: Stanley, the beagle originally belonging to the Sackskys, originally came to the Heffernan's attention due to his all-night barking in "Dog Days".
296* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: To say nothing of Jerry Stiller and Leah Remini, Arthur certainly isn't regarded as much of a looker InUniverse, while Carrie remains beautiful even as she crosses into middle age.
297* UnsettlingGenderReveal: In the final scene of "Emotional Rollercoaster", Danny finds that the Ice Cream mascot he'd been flirting with was a dude.
298* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Arthur's aggressive gloating while playing board games with Carrie as a child gave her a complex that followed her into her thirties.
299* UnsuccessfulPetAdoption: After being guilted into adopting a bloodhound named Sparky, Doug and Carrie spend the latter half of the episode trying to get rid of him, and are ultimately successful.
300* UnwantedGiftPlot: Doug and Carrie receive a hideous painting of them for their anniversary from Deacon and Kelly. They pretend to love it but secretly try to get rid of it. It turns out Deacon and Kelly intentionally gave them a horrible present so they would be allowed to get rid of an unwanted gift Doug and Carrie had given them.
301* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Catrrie's plot in Ice Cubed, where returning an accidentally shoplifted iPod leads to the destruction of a mother of two young daughter's life. Also Patrons Ain't, where Doug and Carrie's attempt to donate to a school library leads to the firing of the beloved librarian.
302* ViewersAreMorons: Were we really not supposed to notice that Mr. Kaplan and Mr. Kaufman were played by the same actor?
303* WestminsterChimes: The doorbell of Doug and Carrie's annoying neighbors, the Sackskys.
304* VirginShaming: The guys make a number of disparaging comments on Spence's virginity in the first season. In "Fixer Upper", Doug pressures Spence to have sex with his new girlfriend immediately despite hie trepidation. Later, he's retconned to having lost his virginity in high school.
305* VegetarianForADay: "Offensive Fowl"
306* VirtuousVegetarianism: In "Offensive Fowl", once Doug gives up eating meat, he begins wearing glasses, reading, buying only fair-trade goods, and lecturing everyone around him on morals.
307* WakeupMakeup: Carrie goes to bed and wakes up with carefully contoured eye shadow and lipstick. According to the commentary on the pilot, this is a compromise between the natural look the creators would prefer and Leah Remini's more glamourous preferences.
308* WhamLine:
309** "Oh, I'm sorry, are you related to the deceased?" [[note]] "White Collar" [[/note]]
310** "Well, after the first jerk I married, I decided from now on, only gay men!" [[note]] "China Syndrome" [[/note]]
311** "Have you checked your apartment in Manhattan?" [[note]] "Single Spaced" [[/note]]
312** " I, um I, uh-- I lost it." [[note]] "Pregnant Pause" [[/note]]
313* WhiteGuilt: Arthur does some research on his ancestry and discovers some of his ancestors were once slave traders. He apologizes to Deacon (the only black person he knows, apparently), who tells him there is no need. Later though he discovers he's wrong, and his ancestors were actually Irish travelers. He's now free of guilt and then unabashedly tries to get Deacon doing unpaid chores as a means of [[WorkOffTheDebt paying off a debt]] he owes Arthur, outraging him with this about-face.
314--> You want me to become your ''slave''?!?
315* WantsToBeHated: In "Tank Heaven", in order to avoid having repeat hang-outs with Carrie's fancy new work friends, Doug behaves in a puposefully disturbing and off-putting matter so as to be hated.
316* WeddingDeadline: Invoked at length in "Altar Ego".
317* WhyWasteAWedding: Arthur and Veronica Olchin do this in the finale, after Arthur discovers the wedding he was about to have with an aging starlet was based on the presumption that he was gay.
318* WimpFight: Danny and Spence have an oddly official wrestling match in order to decide who gets to pick their next vacation. A few seconds in, they put one another in a mutual hold that lasts the rest of the night.
319* YouGetWhatYouPayFor: Doug decides to give Carrie eye surgery for her birthday so that she no longer needs glasses. However, she ends up going through a much longer than usual adjusting period almost completely blind. Turns out that Doug decided to not go to the surgeon Carrie's boss recommended but another one because the latter had coupons. Carrie is understandably upset and forces Doug to take her to the other one.
320* YouSayTomato: Doug once got into an argument with Arthur when he asked for the "catsup" (which is an acceptable variation of "ketchup", just not to Doug). Of course, Doug is one to talk, considering the way he talks: "Sanitasheeown." "I'm the 'onioniown' guy!"

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