Line #20 WesternAnimation/LifesAZoo


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lifesazoocast.jpg]]
2
3	->Hello, and welcome aboard ''Life's a Zoo.tv'', the reality show that dares to ask the question, how real is too real?
4	-->-- '''Claude, host of Season 1'''
5
6	'''''Life's a Zoo.tv''''' is an award-winning [[CanadianSeries Canadian]], StopMotion animated, [[RealityTV fake reality TV series]] created by Andrew Home and produced by Creator/CuppaCoffeeStudios for Creator/{{Teletoon}}.
7
8	Seven anthropomorphic animals are put up in an [[RealityTVShowMansion elaborate mansion]] to compete in challenges from their host, being "extincted" (eliminated) one by one, [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne until only one remains]], and wins the mansion. For thirteen weeks, these seven houseguests have to avoid being extincted in whatever sick and twisted challenges their host throws at them, and more importantly, try not to kill each other... Oh, and OncePerEpisode, there's a music video.
9
10	Getting to know each other a lot more than they want to are...
11	* '''Chi Chi''' (Stephanie Jung): A Chinese panda bear and 5th grade teacher who is by far the nicest person on the show... but not for long.
12	* '''Doctor D''' (Creator/JosephMotiki): A rapping penguin who's ready to ice any mofos who cross him.
13	* '''Jake''' (Kurt Firla): A perverted Canadian pig with delusions of grandeur.
14	* '''Minou''' (Bridget Ogundipe): A Jamaican panther and former supermodel; she's willing to work the camera, and the man behind it to win.
15	* '''Morreski''' (Stephen Kishewitsch): A [[TheAlcoholic drunken]] Russian bear who's lived a full and complex life, if only he can remember any of it.
16	* '''Ray''' (Mike Rowland): An orangutan and a total party animal.
17	* '''Rico''' (Francisco Trujillo): A Colombian crocodile who fits every [[CampGay gay stereotype]] in the book.
18
19	And running this menagerie are...
20	* '''Claude''' (Michael Lamport): Our first host, a smarmy and immoral vulture who could not care less for his job, the contestants, and pretty much everything else about the show.
21	* '''Bobbie''' (Creator/StaceyDePass): A seal who replaces Claude in Season 2; don't let her friendly persona fool you, she's even more eager than Claude to see the contestants tear each other apart for ratings.
22
23	If the descriptions of the characters didn't tip you off, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids this show is not for the kiddies]].
24
25	The series originally aired on Teletoon's [[Creator/TeletoonAtNight Detour block]] (the Canadian answer to Creator/AdultSwim) in 2008, where it ran for 2 seasons and a total of 20 episodes. However, many might also recognize this show from when it became part of WebVideo/{{Smosh}}'s WebAnimation/ShutUpCartoons roster in 2013.
26
27	Compare to its fellow animated reality TV parodies, ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' and ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''.
28
29	----
30	!!This series provides examples of:
31
32	* AbortedArc: Initially, Chi Chi was described as very sickly, and threw up a lot; after the first episode and the plane challenge, this was never brought up again.
33	* AccidentalPervert: While Jake and Ray watching Minou shower was very intentional, Morreski was tricked into walking through a door leading into her bathroom.
34	* AddictionDisplacement: When the houseguests have their respective addictions taken away, Jake partakes in everyone else's addictions.
35	* AffablyEvil: The hosts, especially Bobbie; Claude acts nice, but he clearly doesn't like his job.
36	* TheAlcoholic: Morreski is almost never seen without a bottle of vodka.
37	* AlienAbduction: When Claude trapped everyone in the "Amazing Maze", Ray believes he's been abducted by aliens; at first he thought it was awesome, until he figured that: Alien Abduction = [[AnalProbing Anal Probe]].
38	* AmusingInjuries: Pretty much everyone gets injured during the course of the show, especially Ray. [[spoiler:Subverted with Minou, who ends up in a [[BandageMummy body cast]], and remains in it for the rest of the show.]]
39	* AllStereotypeCast: The houseguests either represent caricatures of their species, their nationality/ethnicity, [[TakeAThirdOption both, or in Rico's case, their sexuality.]]
40	* AnalProbing: (See AlienAbduction Above)
41	* AnimalsLackAttributes: Lampshaded in "2D or Not 2D", when the budget is cut, forcing the show to be produced in a [[StylisticSuck low-budget 2D animation style]], Jake is the first to notice that he lacks any genitals of any sort.
42	--> '''Jake''': "So, it appears in 'Cartoon Land', you don't have to anatomically-correct. I'd do something about it right now, if I had the ''balls''!"
43	* AnimalStereotypes: Played straight with Chi Chi, Claude, [[spoiler:Dewey Dewson]], Jake, Minou, Morreski, and Ray; subverted with Bobbie, Doctor D. and Rico.
44	* AnnoyingPatient: Everybody except Chi Chi towards Chi Chi when they get food poisoning from her food; except it wasn't her fault, Ray added something [[SlippingAMickey a little extra]] to Chi Chi's cooking.
45	* BadLiar: When Chi Chi appears to be pregnant, Morreski and Ray admit that they might be the father; [[BlatantLies Jake also admits to it]], not because he might be, but because being the father of her child would mean they had sex, which they didn't. Also, while footage of Morreski and Ray making out with Chi Chi is played during their confessions, Jake [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it by saying they're probably showing a video of them right now, but there is no such video.
46	* BandageMummy: [[spoiler: Minou, after walking out of an airplane with no parachute.]]
47	* BawdySong: Jake's entry in the talent show.
48	* BearsAreBadNews: Subverted, Chi Chi is the nicest person on the show, and Morreski is awesomeness personified as a drunk Russian bear.
49	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Ray learns the hard way to not sneak up on Chi Chi.
50	* BigEater: Chi Chi
51	** Minou is the opposite, and is bulimic.
52	* BigNo: Morreski does it when he opens the fridge and doesn't find any vodka.
53	** Ray does it much better in the FakeOutOpening to episode 13 when Morreski dies after telling him that he (Ray) is his (Morreski's) father.
54	* BodyHorror: Jake shows why there is no such thing as Do-It-Yourself liposuction.
55	* BouquetToss: Used to determine who escaped extinction, and moved onto the final three. [[spoiler: Chi Chi caught it, [[AmusingInjuries flattening Rico in the process.]]]]
56	* {{Bowdlerization}}: When the series joined WebAnimation/ShutUpCartoons, a lot of the profanity, drug references, and sexual content were censored.
57	* BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood: Fed up with the houseguests, the producers have Bobbie do this.
58	* BreakTheCutie: Chi Chi, after she realizes how badly the show corrupted her.
59	* BreakingTheFourthWall: In one episode, Ray makes a mention of the DVD version of ''[[TitleDrop Life's a Zoo.tv]]'', and how he's doing voice over commentary on it; that very voice over comes on and tells Ray he's about to get totally screwed over by Jake in the next scene.
60	** Seriously, the final episode of the first season demolishes the wall.
61	* CampGay: Rico.
62	* CasanovaWannabe: Jake talks big, but evidence suggests he's never been with a real woman.
63	* CatsAreMean: Minou, though her treatment of Jake is very [[JustifiedTrope justified]]; she actually wins a niceness challenge, which says a lot about everyone else.
64	* CensorBox: In "Rayland", Jake gets a growing box, covering his erection, when he starts explaining about an erotic fantasy he wanted to enact, much to the disgust of Doctor D and Minou.
65	* CitizenshipMarriage: Or more specifically, a marriage to avoid being extincted: [[spoiler: Chi Chi, Jake, Ray and Rico were left, and two of them had to get married to avoid being extincted; Chi Chi held marriage as more sacred than that and refused to get married, and completely heterosexual Jake and Ray had no intention on marrying CampGay Rico, who they feared would abuse the scenario, [[HoYay so they married each other!]]]]
66	* ColdOpen: All episodes had an introduction, usually given by Claude or Bobbie.
67	* CompressedVice: Doctor D. and Rico were shown to be addicted to cigars and coffee respectively, though neither was shown as an explicit addiction until the GoingColdTurkey episode.
68	* ConfessionCam: In the form of an instant photo booth.
69	* CoolOldGuy: Morreski.
70	* CordonBleughChef: Chi Chi and Rico took part in a cook-off, where the ingredients were chosen by the other houseguests; since Chi Chi and Rico would have to eat it, the others chose the nastiest things they could think of: liverwurst, toothpaste, chili peppers, mystery liquid (see below), and some "[[DrugsAreBad fresh herbs]]".
71	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Doctor D., no really. [[spoiler: Subverted in that Doctor D. ''is'' the badass, but in reality he's a nerdy shoe salesman named Dewey Dewson, but wanted to become a gangster rap star, and became Doctor D. When the deception is revealed, he goes back to being Dewey, until someone hits his BerserkButton, playing the trope straight.]]
72	* CryingWolf: When Doctor D. discovers Bobbie's deeply hidden secrets, she outs him as a [[spoiler:nerdy, shoe selling, rap-star wannabe]] fraud, and [[InvokedTrope invokes this trope]] saying that nothing he says should be trusted.
73	* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon: When Jake goes crazy and pulls pranks on the others, Minou, Morreski and Rico make various declarations of how they'll torture and kill him.
74	* DeadpanSnarker: Minou, especially when Claude was pulling some stupid stunt on the houseguests.
75	* DeathByGenreSavviness: In the first episode, Claude has everyone jump out of a plane, but it turns out the plane is fake, as it would be too expensive, and they would get sued for having inexperienced sky-divers jumping out of a real plane. When Bobbie takes over, she repeats the plane stunt, [[spoiler:but Minou wants no part of it and walks off; right before Bobbie reveals it's a real plane.]]
76	* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: Doctor D. was a shoo-in for the talent show, but he was pegged to go last, and was worried that the others would turn off the audience before he could hit the stage; so he and Rico, as his manager, sabotage everyone else. Chi Chi was royally pissed at not getting to finish, so she rushes the stage during Doctor D's performance, gets into a rapping duel with him, and proceeds to lay a serious beat down on his ass.
77	* DoubleStandard: In "Random Acts of Niceness", the contestants are eliminated from the challenge when they are caught being rude to, or snapping at, someone else. Chi Chi, Rico, and Minou insult their housemates in private, and get away with it. On the other hand, Jake is eliminated after calling Minou a "dirty, filthy girl" while fantasizing about her, despite his comments not only being private ones, but also a product of "pleasant thoughts", as he puts it.
78	* DramaticThunder: Happens when Bobbie lays down the law. Parodied when she claims it's a gift she has, followed with more DramaticThunder; that one was a fluke.
79	* DrugsAreBad:
80	** Jake suffered an overdose on various minor substances like alcohol, caffeine and nicotine, which he was using as a [[AddictionDisplacement replacement]] for his addiction to sex.
81	** At least two times we see that sleeping pills should not be mixed with alcohol, the second time caused Chi Chi to [[EasyAmnesia lose her memory]].
82	** Minou was using anti-depressants to win a niceness contest, and it was definitely affecting her by the end of the episode.
83	* EasyAmnesia: Thanks to a combination of alcohol and sleeping pills, Chi Chi falls unconscious, and awakens the next day with no memories.
84	* EggSitting: Bobbie has the houseguests perform an egg sitting challenge for Mother's Day. Jake realizes that the point of the competition is not who takes better care of their egg, it's whose egg cracks first, and gets to work trying to sabotage everyone else.
85	* EmbarrassingCoverUp:
86	** Chi Chi walks in on Jake when he's trying to rig an Internet poll for the show by voting for himself, and Chi Chi thinks that he's "sexing computer".
87	** Another time Ray claims to be "downloading some internet porn" to cover the fact that he's selling Chi's belongings online.
88	* EvenEvilHasStandards: As cruel as Bobbie can be, even she's uncertain about [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood brainwashing the houseguests]], though that doesn't stop her from going through with it.
89	* EverybodyKnewAlready: The winner of ''Life's a Zoo.tv'' is chosen by a vote of the losers, who have to choose between [[spoiler:Chi Chi]] and [[spoiler:Jake]]. We see them making their votes, and the name of who they vote for is bleeped out to maintain the secret, but it's obvious who they are voting for.
90	** The only one who isn't bleeped out is [[spoiler:Minou, who is now TheUnintelligible due to her full body cast that also covers her mouth; but it's still obvious who she's voting for, even if Morreski doesn't.]]
91	* EverythingIsMessierWithPigs: Jake, let's leave it at that.
92	* EvilPowerVacuum: When Claude is overthrown by the houseguests, they try to make their own ending, but argue over who gets the mansion, who gets screwed, and [[DoubleEntendre who gets "screwed"]]; [[AffablyEvil and that's when Bobbie takes over]].
93	* ExpansionPackPast: Morreski was once a mechanical engineer, a doctor, a ship's captain, and is ordained to perform weddings. After leaving the show, he is shown being a postman, a sandwich artist, a door-to-door window salesman, and a referee for women's wrestling.
94	* ExplosionPropulsion: Morreski builds a still when his vodka is confiscated by Claude; at the end of the episode, it explodes, sending Jake flying though the roof.
95	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Claude and Bobbie's attempts at improving the houseguests.
96	* FakeOutOpening: Episode 12 had one which shows ''Life's a Zoo.tv'' as a much different show than the normal reality show it is. A [[LampshadeHanging lampshade gets hung]] on it when we switch to the houseguests watching the phony promo, and Ray comments on how cool that show looks.
97	** Episode 13 had a slightly subtler example, which was a normal intro by Claude, but had segments that were not actually in the show.
98	* FarEast: In one episode, Jake is trying to woo Chi Chi, and becomes a walking [[ThirtySecondsOverTokyo Japanese trope machine]]; too bad for him that Chi Chi is Chinese.
99	* FeatheredFiend: Claude is a vulture, and acts as you'd expect.
100	* {{Flanderization}}: Inverted, [[spoiler: due to the show being scripted, the characters start out as flanderizations; when Jake tears up the scripts and frees everyone, the houseguests become deflanderized.]]
101	* {{Foreshadowing}}: In a Halloween themed episode, Chi Chi screams and everyone comes running, Ray comments that it sounded like Chi Chi found [[LosingYourHead Minou's severed head]]; guess what Morreski pulls out of the fridge.
102	* ForgottenBirthday: Justified in that since none of the characters knew each other before hand, no one knew when Chi Chi's birthday was; although it still ends up being one of the worst days of her life, and all attempts to tell the others it's her big day go unnoticed or are interrupted.
103	* FunnyAnimal: Everyone on screen, though they live in a human world; the voice over guy is apparently human.
104	* FunnyForeigner: Much of Chi Chi and Morreski's humor come from her [[YouNoTakeCandle weak English]] and his stories from the [[GloriousMotherRussia homeland]].
105	** Minou and Rico are Jamaican and Columbian, but their humor comes from being the AlphaBitch and CampGay.
106	*** [[spoiler: Rico isn't really Latino at all; it's all part of the CampGay act the producers have him doing, but he's really growing into the part.]]
107	* GameMaster: Claude and Bobbie.
108	* GangstaStyle: Doctor D.
109	* GoingColdTurkey: Claude has a rehab challenge, where he takes away each of the houseguests' vices:
110	** Chi Chi - junk food
111	** Doctor D. - cigars
112	** Jake - his sex doll
113	** Minou - her makeup and wigs
114	** Morreski - vodka
115	** Ray - video games
116	** Rico - coffee
117	* GoodEyesEvilEyes: Everyone has the same kind of white eyes with black pupils, except for:
118	** Ray's eyes are permanently blood shot, a sign of his manic behaviour, and his marijuana addiction.
119	** Morreski, whose schlera are somewhat yellowish, a sign of his alcoholism.
120	** Doctor D. wears sunglasses that hides his eyes, which are like everyone else's; [[spoiler: a hint that he's not who he says he is.]]
121	** Claude has brown irises, making his eyes less cartoony than the others.
122	** Bobbie has seal eyes, [[BlackEyesOfEvil large black pupiless orbs]], and is the most evil character on the show. (Well, maybe second to Jake...)
123	* GoshDangItToHeck: In "2D or Not 2D", after a [[OutOfGenreExperience genre change]] to a [[AnimationAgeGhetto Saturday Morning cartoon show]], Doctor D finds he can't swear anymore.
124	* GrammarNazi: The houseguests don't face extinction, they face "extincted".
125	* GroinAttack: Ray gets it from Jake [[spoiler: when they find the secret control room, and Jake justifies it by saying it was in the script.]]
126	** Minou threatens Jake with this a couple of times, though she aims for "[[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon cutting his testicles out with a spoon]]" territory.
127	* HitMeDammit: When the houseguests are turned into cartoon characters, Ray tells the others to punch him, stab him and blow him up, demonstrating how cartoon characters are invincible; he regrets it when he's smashing his head with a frying pan as he changes back to normal.
128	* HoldUpYourScore: Rico holds up a "10" after he does a dance number, and catches Morreski in his arms.
129	* IdiotBall: If there was such a thing, Ray would have it Krazy Glued to his ass.
130	** Morreski really got this hard when the houseguests were trapped in the maze that was closing in on them, they figure out that the walls close in when they get angry or mistreat each other; Morreski says he realized the maze was responding to their negative emotions a long time ago, but he didn't tell them because they were too stupid. Oops!
131	* IfICantHaveYou: [[spoiler: When Chi Chi wins the mansion, sore loser Jake takes off and sets up a bomb to destroy the mansion; the joke's on him when Chi Chi forfeits the mansion, and Jake takes off in a mad dash to stop the bomb. He can't stop the fuse, so he rushes everyone else out before the mansion goes BOOM!]]
132	** A lesser example happens when Morrseki wins a PlotCoupon for a free picnic, while Claude locks the fridge, leaving everyone hungry. Minou goes to Morreski's room to steal the coupon, but Morreski catches her, so she throws a nearby bottle of (what else?) vodka at him, and it destroys the coupon.
133	* InAWorld: Episode 12 starts with this.
134	* IncrediblyLamePun: [[PunnyName The names of the two hosts are:]] [[Film/BonnieAndClyde Bobbie and Claude]].
135	* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Jake, the only reason anyone could possibly like him is because he's so pathetic. Considering almost everything he's done to Minou counts as sexual harassment or assault, from peeping on her in her shower, to sneaking into her bath with a camera[[note]]though he was completely crazy at the time[[/note]], to using a niceness challenge to pester her for sex and groping her without retaliation; it's pretty clear that if he [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil succeeds in his plans]], he'd catapult clear over the MoralEventHorizon.
136	** [[spoiler: The revelation that the show was scripted, and Jake wasn't in full control of his actions only mitigates it, as it was only exaggerating his negative traits; after the [[{{Flanderization}} Deflanderization]], he is still clearly a perverted loser.]]
137	* IntoxicationEnsues[=/=]MushroomSamba: To win a niceness challenge, Minou takes anti-depressants, and eventually eats the whole bottle. First she starts hallucinating, thinking a plant is Chi Chi, and starts licking wallpaper; then she talks to people with a sunny polite disposition whether she's insulting or complimenting them.
138	** Jake had a MushroomSamba when he suffered from extreme sleep deprivation, believing a papaya was a living being that was in love with him, and everyone else was conspiring to take her away from him.
139	* IronicHell: When Jake wakes up in Claude's maze, he notices the all-white walls and believes he's in Heaven; but noting the lack of certain things like "topless angels", he believes that he is actually in Hell.
140	* {{Irony}}: Some of the contestants were extincted in competitions where they should have had the advantage.
141	** Chi Chi won the right to choose who gets extincted, but she chooses herself.
142	** Minou lost a weight loss challenge.
143	*** Extra irony because Jake was planting chocolate around the house to sabotage everyone else, and it worked on the one opponent he didn't want extincted.
144	** Doctor D. lost a musical talent competition.
145	** Chi Chi lost a niceness challenge; the truly ironic part is that she loses her temper because she gets fed up with everyone else's (especially Minou's) faking.
146	** Rico lost an interior design challenge.
147	*** Ray won it by [[YouWereTryingTooHard not competing]], instead he went nuts and redecorated a room in his own insane way as a TakeThat to the whole contest.
148	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ray, more of a juvenile goof-off than a jerk, but has put himself on the line to help the others, such as leaping into action to stop Jake from jumping to his death; [[spoiler:although, in that case he was trying to push a bed with Doctor D. lying on it to break Jake's fall, and missed]].
149	* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Jake convinced the others to make a sit-com, saying it would benefit all of them; but he makes himself the main character, and may have done it for the sole purpose of getting Minou to give him a back rub and say "you're my daddy".
150	* {{Jerkass}}: Almost everybody, but dishonorable mention goes to Jake and the hosts.
151	* JokerImmunity: Letting any of the characters go would ruin the dynamic, so none of the eliminations done during Claude's run stuck; and there were no long term consequences, like jail time, for any of the blatantly illegal things going on. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] as the reason why Minou was allowed back: they'd lose their [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom male demographic]].
152	* KarmaHoudini: Bobbie gets almost no retribution for the crap she put the houseguests through, except for [[LaxativePrank a bottle of champagne full of laxatives]]; [[spoiler:unless she got blown up in the finale]].
153	* LatexPerfection: When everyone disguises themselves to look like Morreski, they all look and sound very convincing.
154	* LoveTriangle:
155	** Although Doctor D. and Jake have imagined having a threesome with Chi Chi and Minou, only [[CoolOldGuy Morreski]] actually does the deed, though in that case, [[LesYay Chi Chi was in the middle of the triangle]].
156	** When the show was down to [[spoiler:Chi Chi, Jake and Ray; Chi Chi had immunity, so Bobbie let her decide who gets extincted, by way of a three-way date]].
157	* ManipulativeEditing: Jake edits together scenes from the ConfessionCam to make it look like everyone else likes him, but it's done comically bad.
158	* MisplacedWildlife: Deliberately done.
159	* MobileMaze: Used as a challenge.
160	* MommasBoy: Doctor D. [[spoiler: it becomes more pronounced when he reverts to Dewey Dewson.]].
161	* MoodSwinger: The point of the niceness challenge wasn't who's the nicest, it's who can keep from totally losing their temper, leading to most of the houseguests getting angry, stopping before they go too far, and acting overly nice to make up for their outburst.
162	* TheMourningAfter: Jake [[spoiler: was completely heartbroken when he thought Minou was dead, until he laid eyes on [[MagicalGirlfriend Bobbie]]. Subverted as this is Jake we're talking about here; he really only mourned Minou because she was the only ''hot'' female on the show, once Bobbie showed up, Minou was nothing special, as well as (presumed) dead.]]
163	* MsFanservice: Minou has not done anything about the cameras in her bathroom.
164	* MustHaveCaffeine: Rico, but unlike Chi Chi and Morreski who are shown as addicts through the whole show, [[CompressedVice this only comes into play]] in the GoingColdTurkey episode.
165	* MustHaveNicotine: Doctor D. loves his stogies, but like Rico, this only shows up as an outright addiction [[CompressedVice in one episode]].
166	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Happens to Chi Chi, twice: one [[spoiler:when she sees how the show has corrupted her, she throws away her immunity and extincted herself;]] and two [[spoiler:when she won the mansion, she forfeits it.]]
167	* NailedToTheWagon: Happens to the entire cast in "Self Helpless" when all the housemates are forcibly deprived of their addictive vices.
168	* NeverSayDie: {{Averted\|trope}} and {{Inverted\|trope}}.
169	** Averted in the second episode when Jake goes crazy and annoys the others to the point that Minou, Morreski and Rico want to kill him.
170	** Inverted in that the show uses the term "extincted" (death of a species) to refer to (non-lethal) elimination from the show.
171	* NonMammalMammaries: Subverted in that the three main females are mammals, but have no visible mammaries due to the art style, and the only one with visible breasts (and nipples) is--horrifyingly--Jake.
172	** Played straight with Doctor D.'s mother, complete with bouncing.
173	* NonMammalianHair: Most of the characters are mammals, but any hair is very human like, not just extra long fur.
174	** Subverted and played straight with Minou; she has hair but it's actually a series of wigs, but there are traces that she used to have hair, possibly losing it due to her bulimia.
175	** Occasionally Chi Chi wears a wig, but otherwise has no hair.
176	** Bobbie has a full head of hair.
177	** Chi Chi's father has black hair, while Ray's father has a long beard, but in his case it could pass as extra long fur.
178	** The straightest example is Doctor D.'s mother, she's a penguin with curly brown hair.
179	* NotQuiteDead: The last episode has a segment called "Not Dead Yet", which showed what each of the extincted houseguests were doing in the intervening weeks; [[spoiler:significant for Minou and Rico who were badly injured when they were extincted]].
180	** Ironically, [[spoiler: the one character who may be KilledOffForReal, is Bobbie]].
181	* [[NotWhatItLooksLike Not What it Sounds Like]]: Doctor D. once passed Minou's room hearing Morreski telling her to hold the shaft firmly and make a tight seal with her lips; he was actually giving her flute playing lessons.
182	** [[FridgeLogic Which is actually bad advice for playing a flute, you blow over the hole, not into it]].
183	*** [[FridgeBrilliance Unless it relates to how Minou was going to pay for the flute lessons]].
184	* ObfuscatingStupidity: In the very first challenge, Morreski pulls this on Jake.
185	--> '''Morreski''': I am not sharpest knife in cupboard, but I not born tomorrow.
186	* OhCrap: Jake, [[spoiler: when he realizes that the losers are going to vote on who wins the mansion, [[RightBehindMe right after he badmouths them]]]].
187	* OlderThanTheyLook: Bobbie hides it well, but she is over 50 years old.
188	* OnlyOneName: Almost everyone is known only by their first names; Jake reveals his last name is Oswald or Oswalt (the closed captioning says "Oswald". Website/TheOtherWiki says "Oswalt").
189	** Bobbie's real name is [[spoiler:Cassandra Zimmerman]].
190	** Doctor D.'s real name is [[spoiler:Dewey Dewson]].
191	* OutOfGenreExperience: When Claude blows the budget on a big advertising campaign, the show needs to cut back, and changes to a 2D animated cartoon; and when a new sponsor is found, it changes to a home and garden show.
192	* ParentalIncest: When the houseguests take over the show, Jake comes up with the idea of making a sit-com, with himself as the father, and Minou as his "hot adopted teenage daughter"; while Minou agrees with the characterization, she is disgusted by the suggestive dialog.
193	* {{Pixellation}}: Ugh, Jake again.
194	* ThePollyanna: Chi Chi comes close, but even she has succumbed to temptation.
195	* PoorPredictableRock: Subverted when Jake beats Ray at Rock Paper Scissors; being a pig, Jake has hooves and can only make "rock", so he has to psych out Ray to make him [[TooDumbToLive keep choosing scissors]].
196	* PottyEmergency: Happens to Bobbie thanks to a [[LaxativePrank laxative-laced bottle of champagne]].
197	* {{Pride}}: When Minou wins a challenge, the prize is her weight in gold, she refuses on the grounds she doesn't want to get weighed on national television, again.
198	* PutOnABus: Claude
199	* RealityTVShowMansion: The houseguests are trying to win said elaborate mansion, which has a main hallway with two twisting staircases; several bedrooms, some with their own bathroom; a stocked bar in the TV room; a swiming pool; a billiard room; a spa and casino, which the houseguests were not told about until the very end; hidden rooms and passageways with a hidden treasure; A TV studio; a complicated maze in the basement; and an elevator with a death trap in it.
200	* ReallyGetsAround: While it's suggested that Minou is the type to sleep her way to the top, she is only shown using her feminine wiles twice; once on Morreski, and once, which led to actual sex, on [[LesYay Chi Chi]]. When she achieved celebrity status, Chi Chi became this, until her MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.
201	* RefugeInAudacity: This whole show probably counts, as most of you probably wouldn't believe half of anything on this page unless you saw it yourself; otherwise, Jake.
202	* ReleasedToElsewhere: When asked what happened to Claude, Bobbie says he took another job offer; while she might be hinting that he was fired, Claude didn't like the job, and with the houseguests revolting, he might have quit.
203	* RichBitch: When Minou first arrived, despite getting the best room (possibly in all of Saskatchewan), she rants how it is still beneath her.
204	** In the "Not Dead Yet" segment, the announcer [[InvokedTrope explicitly stated]] that Minou was on the show because every show needs a "glamorous bitch", and she didn't disappoint.
205	** Rico can fill the role when Minou isn't around.
206	* RunningGag: Several mentions of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
207	* SadistShow: If it wasn't for Chi Chi, this would fit perfectly.
208	* SeriesContinuityError: A sub plot for the musical competition episode is that Minou has no musical talent, and spends the episode trying to learn anything so she can perform, and settles on playing the flute; a previous episode shows that she already knew how to play the flute.
209	* ShoutOut: The fake opening for episode 12 contains several movie parodies.
210	** ''Rocky Horror Picture Show'': Ray bursts out of the kitchen cupboards on his motorcycle.
211	** ''Soldier'': Morreski tells Minou he is going to "kill them all!"
212	** Campbell's Chunky Soup: Ray can't decide between a fork and a spoon.
213	** ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'': Rico runs from an enormous Chi Chi who is rolling down the hallway.
214	** ''Basic Instinct'': Being interrogated by Jake and Ray, Minou crosses and uncrosses her legs.
215	* SketchComedy: Episode 14 devolves into this, at least until Bobbie comes in to get the show back on track.
216	* {{Snapback}}: During Claude's run, none of the eliminations stuck.
217	* SoundEffectBleep: When everyone (except Chi Chi) is trapped in the maze, they let out a "What The F..." before being cut off by Chi Chi's oven timer.
218	** Similarly, Jake's BawdySong in "Dr. D Plays House" has its more explicit lyrics conveniently censored by microphone feedback.
219	* SpotTheImposter: ''Morreski or No Morreski'', a game show where each of the contestants is trying to convince Claude that they are Morreski.
220	** Jake wins, beating the real Morreski, convincing even Morreski's own mother that he is "Morreski".
221	* StraightGay: Rico, [[spoiler: the producers asked him to "[[CampGay gay it up a bit]]", and he likes it so much he doesn't stop.]]
222	* StuffyOldSongsAboutTheButtocks: "Shakin' That Ass" by Doctor D., with a music video featuring Chi Chi, Minou and himself in a threesome; due to her legs, Minou did the ass shaking.
223	** A remixed version starred Morreski, with Doctor D. relegated to "[[IncrediblyLamePun back up]]", and added Bobbie to the mix.
224	* SubvertedKidsShow: Make that DoubleSubverted, Bobbie tries to take the raunchy houseguests and make ''Life's a Zoo.tv'' into [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption family friendly viewing]]. Naturally, it falls on Ray to drop kick that idea into the toilet.
225	-->'''Jake''': "Kids are watching this s***?"
226	* ThatCameOutWrong: Minou, when Doctor D. interrupts her beauty treatment.
227	--> '''Minou''': You've never seen a girl get a facial before? Oh, that didn't come out right.
228	* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: Initially subverted when characters extincted during Claude's run always came back; played straight when Bobbie took over.
229	** And the winner is... [[spoiler:Minou, or at least she was supposed to win when Claude had rigged the show.]]
230	** And the real winner is... [[spoiler: Chi Chi, but she decides she doesn't want the house and forfeits it.]]
231	** And so the winner is... [[spoiler: Jake, [[IfICantHaveYou who was so frustrated over losing that he planted a bomb in the house]], and blew it up.]]
232	** [[OverlyLongGag And so the house goes to...]] [[spoiler: Ray, who bet $100 on a 48,000:1 long shot that Jake would win, and used his money to rebuild the mansion and host his own TV show.]]
233	* TimePassesMontage: When Chi Chi extincts herself, Ray goes into shock over losing his girlfriend and lies on the couch in the fetal position, while the camera shows Rico cleaning, a New Year's Eve party, Doctor D. and Jake playing basketball, and Jake, Minou and Rico playing music. Afterwards, Ray grows [[BeardOfSorrow a long beard]]. Morreski then reveals it's only been 10 minutes, and Ray is wearing a fake beard.
234	* TitleDrop: Being a fake reality show, the hosts do it all the time.
235	* TokenGoodTeammate: Chi-Chi, especially as the episodes go on, seems to be the most morally sound of the whole cast, Jake being the prime example
236	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Morreski is almost never without a bottle of vodka.
237	* {{Tsundere}}: If you're on her good side, Bobbie is warm and pleasant; otherwise she's cold and heartless.
238	* TwistEnding: [[spoiler: during Claude's run of the show, the entire thing was scripted, EVERYTHING, right down to the exact lines the houseguests were saying. Ray discovered the secret control room, and when Jake tears up the script, he frees everyone from the control, and they take over the show; Claude is kicked out as host, and the houseguests try to write a new ending. Eventually, a new host takes over, Bobbie, and tries to run Life's a Zoo.tv, correctly.]]
239	* {{Uncancelled}}: On Teletoon, the show was on hiatus in between episodes 13 and 14, which also divides when Claude and Bobbie hosted the show; as a result, some consider it as two separate seasons, with Claude hosting the first season (episodes 1-13) and Bobbie hosting season 2 (14-20).
240	** It also doesn't help that the iTunes store lists the first 13 episodes as Season 1.
241	* UrineTrouble: Mystery liquid!
242	* VodkaDrunkenski: Go on, take a wild guess!
243	* WhatDidIDoLastNight: In “Big Brother, Where Art Thou”, everyone, with the exception of Chi Chi, wakes up in an empty white room, and all of them respond with a PrecisionFStrike. The episode ends with the other houseguests [[spoiler: trapping her in the same maze they were stuck in after she insulted them. Chi Chi wakes up confused, and has no idea where she is and how she got there]].
244	* WhosYourDaddy: One episode centered on Chi Chi being pregnant and wondering who the father was: Ray, Morreski or Jake. Turns out it was neither, Chi Chi just had [[{{Gasshole}} gas]].
245	* WoundedGazelleGambit: When everyone else gets sick from eating Chi Chi's soup, Jake makes the greediest demands on an overworked Chi Chi; but when she leaves his room, it's clear that he [[PlayingSick isn't sick at all]].
246	* {{Yiff}}: If you haven't figured it out by now...

Context WesternAnimation / LifesAZoo