Line #180 WesternAnimation/TimeSquad


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Time_Squad_Logo_4454.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:[[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong Setting right what once went wrong]] [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble ...or will have gone wrong.]]]]
3
4	->'''Larry 3000:''' Hello, we're the Time Squad. Our mission is simple:
5	-> to enforce the past to protect our future.\
6	'''Buck:''' And making history fun!\
7	'''Otto:''' You mean making fun of history! ''(Larry smacks him)'' OOW!
8	->'''Larry 3000:''' Quiet, Otto!
9	-->-- A Creator/CartoonNetwork promo for the show
10
11	Imagine that as time continues into the future, the past starts to unravel, with various points in history coming out all wrong: UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln leaves his presidency to pull pranks, Eli Whitney invents flesh-eating robots instead of the cotton gin, UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill becomes a nudist, Music/LudwigVanBeethoven becomes a professional wrestler, Creator/EdgarAllanPoe writes cheerful children's stories, UsefulNotes/AmeliaEarhart is too afraid of germs to become the first female pilot, UsefulNotes/AlCapone uses circus clowns to run his crime syndicate, and so on.
12
13	Enter the Time Squad, [[TimePolice who travel through time making sure that the past stays right on track]]. The show follows one section of Time Squad: Buck Tuddrussel (Creator/RobPaulsen), who likes to shoot first and forget the questions, Larry 3000 (Creator/MarkHamill), an uppity, effeminate, snarky robot who originally worked with kings, senators, and diplomats, and Otto (Creator/PamelaAdlon), an orphaned history buff from the 21st century picked up along the way who assists with his knowledge of the past. "Enforcing the past to protect our future."
14
15	Unless you count Otto's exposition, this show doesn't even try to be historically accurate, In fact, the basic premise revolves around the inaccuracies. [[FridgeLogic And yet, most of their "successes" often leave behind many more inaccuracies...]]
16
17	A [[SpiritualSuccessor sort-of modernised take]] on the ''Peabody's Improbable History'' segments from ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'', the show was created by Creator/DaveWasson and [[Creator/CartoonCartoons premiered]] on Creator/CartoonNetwork in June 2001 and was canceled in November 2003, being the first show produced by Cartoon Network Studios after its former parent Creator/HannaBarbera was dissolved. It reran for a time between November 2003 and August 2005 in the US, but since then, the show has all but disappeared from the airwaves. Creator/CartoonNetwork did air clips of select episodes on their website as part of the channel's 20th birthday in October 2012, but that was a "limited time only" deal. Cartoon Network had added the first episode to their app and website in April 2020 to promote the Creator/HBOMax service but it was never confirmed to be included on the service and Cartoon Network removed the episode only a couple weeks later. Fans are waiting to see if Creator/WarnerMedia will add the entire show to the service.
18
19	In March 2022, a new trademark for ''Time Squad'' was registered on Trademarkia. Whether this means a reboot is in development or it is for something else is currently unknown.
20	----
21	!!Contains examples of:
22
23	* AbhorrentAdmirer: UsefulNotes/AmeliaEarhart toward Tuddrussel in "Love at First Flight." This is a somewhat unusual example--Tuddrussel and Amelia Earhart get along well ''until'' she declares her desire to marry him.
24	* AbsurdBrandName: One episode has the team visit the Earl of Sandwich as he invents his namesake dish, only he wants to call it Stinky Pile of Poo; it was his mother's maiden name.
25	* TheAce: Implied to be the case with J.T. Lazer and Lance 9 Trillion. Tuddrussell and Larry fanboy over each of them hysterically when they show up, and they are used in Time Squad's advertising spots. Lazer is said to have graduated at the top of Tuddrussell's class at the academy, and Lance supposedly has a more powerful computing system than the one that runs our heroes' entire satellite.
26	* ActorAllusion: Yes, that's [[Creator/MarkHamill Luke Skywalker/The Joker]] voicing [[Franchise/StarWars an effeminate robot]] not unlike an exaggerated take on C-3PO.
27	* AdaptationalVillainy: The Man with No Name in "Billy the Baby", who after the Time Squad and Billy turn themselves in states they're going to hang for their crimes. Implied in the ''Dollars'' movies but in the tie-in novel "A Coffin Full of Dollars" he states that he doesn't kill children or idiots, and the Time Squad are a mixture of both.
28	* AdventuresInTheBible: Mentioned in passing in an early episode is that Tuddrussel had stolen King David's sling-shot in a previous mission, and Otto wonders how David could've ended up defeating Goliath as described in the bible if he didn't have it after all.
29	** Also, a script for an early episode involving [[https://thecarlosramos.tumblr.com/post/181960714855/time-squads-adam-eve-ep the Time Squad going back to the Garden of Eden to get Adam and Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit from The Tree of Knowledge was written, but never made]] But can be viewed on Carlos Ramos' Tumblr blog.
30	* AIIsACrapshoot: The AxCrazy Virtual UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington from the "Houdini Whodunit?" cold opening.
31	* AllPsychologyIsFreudian: Literally. UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud is the only psychologist who appears in canon. Freud himself psychoanalyzes the trio near the end of his episode.
32	* AmbiguousCloneEnding: The end of "Day of the Larrys." The last remaining Larry subtly implies that he's not the original, but this is completely ignored by both the plot and the main cast, and nothing changes.
33	* AmbiguouslyGay:
34	** Larry has shown off tons of effeminate mannerisms that make him look a lot like a CampGay as well as show a a lot of questionable subtext towards Tuddrussel and several other men. At the same time he doesn't seem to show attraction to any women as he only admired Cleopatra for her fashion sense. Despite all of this, Larry has never been outright stated to be gay.
35	** Also Lewis and Clark in the shows interpretation of them as their friendship was played off a lot like a romantic relationship.
36	* AmbiguouslyJewish: UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun. Obviously he isn't, given his actual historical background, but Jess Harnell plays him with a Woody Allen-inspired voice and stereotypical Jewish hypochondria.
37	* AnachronismStew: Tons and tons of it, operating solely on the basis of RuleOfCool and RuleOfFunny.
38	** "Betsy Ross Flies Her Freak Flag" has UsefulNotes/BetsyRoss leading a NewAgeRetroHippie commune, a good 200 years before there was any such thing as a hippie.
39	** In one episode ("Kubla Khan't") Otto [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this. "I didn't know comic books even existed back then." Not to mention how Khan managed to [[spoiler:find the materials to construct the laser rifle from the schematics in the magazine that Tuddrussel had on him]].
40	** Cleopatra attempts to convert the pyramids into a modern shopping mall, complete with escalators, movie theaters, and fashions that are centuries too early. Then, of course, is the fact that she has any concept of what a shopping mall is.
41	** In "Nobel Peace Surprise", Alfred Nobel forms a LegionOfDoom consisting of UsefulNotes/LizzieBorden, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, Black Bart the pirate, Rasputin, and Mrs. O'Leary's cow. While most of them did actually live in the same time, Black Bart lived in the 17th century, well before any of the others were born. And no, Alfred Nobel did not travel through time or anything of the sort in the episode, nor did any of the other members.
42	* AnachronisticOrphanage: Otto lived in an OrphanageOfFear until he was adopted. It looks more like something out of a Dickens novel than anything you might see today.
43	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Self-described as a "C- Student's guide to history" -- which is frankly being generous -- the show often doesn't even try for historical accuracy, opting for RuleOfFunny instead. It also treats CommonKnowledge myths about history as accurate. The actual list of historical inaccuracies would be '''''way''''' too long to list, even on its own page.
44	* AwkwardFatherSonBondingActivity: A slight variation seeing that it's paired with HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood, and that Tuddrussel acts more like an uncle or a brother and rarely shows any sort of "paternal" emotions for Otto (outside of saying "That's my boy!" during the birthday party sequence in "Love at First Flight"). At the beginning of the episode "Father Figure of Our Country", Tuddrussel tries to bond with Otto by teaching him how to play baseball, ride a bike, and fish. This goes about as well as you'd expect: disastrous. At the end of the scene Otto is completely battered and bandaged up because of Tuddrussel's blind negligence.
45	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Buck and Larry's hug after their fight in "Hate and Let Hate" which can be inferred as VitriolicBestBuds or a [[HoYay romantic relationship]].
46	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Edward Teach may have become a nature loving activist, but he's still UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}, the most brutal pirate to ever grace the seven seas. Do NOT push him over the edge -- especially when it comes to animals and/or the environment. Also, Tuddrussel ripping up meek comic book collector Kublai Khan's mint condition first issue of the Feng Shui Twins results in him launching his conquest across Eurasia, just to find a replacement, as well as putting Tuddrussel on death row.
47	* BigDamnHeroes: John Hancock and Samuel Adams in the episode "Betsy Ross Flies Her Freak Flag", when they arrive just in time to pump UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington s hippie-fied army full of coffee and ready to take on the British just when Time Squad themselves had given up on the mission.
48	* BigThinShortTrio: Tuddrussel, Larry, and Otto, respectively. In "The Clownfather," they are mistaken for a trio of gangsters who have similar builds.
49	* BlackComedy:
50	** On "The Clownfather," Larry and Tuddrussell fight each other over who gets to entertain kids at a party. Tuddrussell wows the kids by balancing a piano on his nose. Larry throws down a banana peel and Tuddrussell slips on it. The two almost get into a pie fight until a panicked mom finds her son [[BrickJoke crushed by a piano]] and the mobsters (including the Time Squad, who joined UsefulNotes/AlCapone's gang because Capone mistook them for three gangsters who look like them) bail before the cops can come.
51	** The many times Otto has been beaten up or abandoned -- both when he lived in the orphanage and when Larry and Tuddrussell "adopt" him.
52	** From ''Napoleon The Conquered'' [[spoiler:its implied that Josephines general incompetence is what led to Napoleons crushing defeat at Waterloo, despite showing prowess at fighting minutes before]].
53	* BookEnds: The series premiere "Eli Whitney's Flesh-Eating Mistake" began with Tuddrussell and Larry appearing in Otto's bedroom and taking him away from the orphanage. The series finale "Orphan Substitute" ended with Otto reuniting with Tuddrussell and Larry after Otto gets taken back to the orphanage.
54	* BrainBleach: Referenced in this line from "The Prime Minister Has No Clothes":
55	--> '''Tuddrussel''': A 300-pound man skinny-dipping with a robot. [[ThisIsWrongOnSoManyLevels That is just not right]].
56	--> '''Otto''': I gotta wash my eyes!
57	* BrattyFoodDemand: Buck Tuddrussel often refuses to eat food Larry makes for him that he deems too "fu-fu", demanding nachos or burgers instead.
58	* BrickJoke: "Killing Time," where after the Time Squad guide Nicolaus Copernicus to be an astronomer instead of a farmer, the trio spends the rest of the episode waiting around for Larry to restart his time travel software so they can go home. Just as the Time Squad zap back to the satellite, [[spoiler:Copernicus runs back and yells, "Wait! I forgot to ask! What is the sun?"]].
59	* BrokenPedestal: Tuddrussel is devastated to find out that his hero, his ancestor Jeremiah who fought at the Alamo, is a wimpy party planner who wants to roll over for the Mexican army because he's afraid of fighting the massive odds. He doesn't get redeemed either: Larry just inadvertently ruins the party with his crappy ideas and gets the Texans killed.
60	* BuffySpeak: Eli Whitney's first name for his famous invention that separates the cotton seeds from the fibers? The ''"[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin COTTON-SEED-SEPARATOR THINGY]]!"''
61	* ButterflyOfDoom: "Planet of the Flies" was about this trope; the human-sized flies ruling the world in the year 3000 was due to a butterfly effect caused by Tuddrussel squashing an actual-sized fly in the Stone Age.
62	* TheCameo: While Tuddrussel and Larry are trying to find another ChildProdigy orphan on the series finale "Orphan Substitute," one of them is...[[WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory Dexter]] ([[TheOtherDarrin voiced by Candi Milo, not Christine Cavanaugh]]), who points out he's not an orphan.
63	* CannotStandThemCannotLiveWithoutThem[=/=]LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Tuddrussell and Larry
64	* CantTakeAnythingWithYou: Larry often lectures Tuddrussel in the dangers of taking artifacts from the past, but this doesn't stop him from stealing things such as the U.S. Constitution.
65	** And once he left the schematics to a military grade laser cannon for Kubla Khan to read and have made for his own campaign for a new comic book.
66	* TheCape: George Washington is the only historical figure whose depiction hasn't been warped (though he came close on "Father Figure of Our Country, when he wanted to quit being the first U.S. President and be an actual father).
67	** He did appear as a crazed lunatic in "Houdini Whodunit?," but he was part of a training simulation.
68	* CardCarryingVillain: UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln grows tired of living the Honest Abe life and job as president, and becomes "Dishonest Abe" in order to have fun. The Time Squad eventually give him a taste of his own medicine in mischief as a lesson in sticking to his responsibilities.
69	%%* CastOfSnowflakes
70	* ChangedMyJumper: Ordinary people throughout history almost never question the guys bizarre fashion or take notice that Larry is a robot. But Sheila and Lance however, being fellow Time Squad officers are quick to point out that Otto sticks out like a sore thumb because of his clothes.
71	* ChildrenRaiseYou: Otto often resorts to being the parent to Tuddrussel and Larry, who can act like bickering siblings (or, in a lot of cases, husband and wife). Even Dr. Freud makes a comment on the dysfunctional relationship, saying that the poor kid is slowly being robbed of his childhood and will be traumatized by this in his adult life (this, by the way, is all PlayedForLaughs).
72	** But while Larry and Tuddrussell have a lot of problems, they still manage to give Otto a better life than he would have had in the twenty-first century (when he was in the orphanage and kept getting harassed by the other kids and forced to do chores by Sister Thornly).
73	* TheChosenMany: For many of the early episodes, it seems that Buck, Larry and Otto are the only Time Squad unit, until we are introduced to at least two featuring the same "Officer-Robot" dynamic (one with Tuddrussell's ex-wife and Larry's rival, the XJ-5 and another with J.T. Laser and The Lance 9 Trillion, whom Buck and Larry idolize). Lampshaded when Otto asks in "Kubla Khan't"-
74	-->'''Otto''':"You mean we're not the only Time Squad?"
75	-->'''Larry''' "You don't think one Time Squad could handle all of history, do you?"
76	* CityWithNoName: Despite the fact that five minutes of the first episode is set Otto's time period, the show never specifies what city Otto came from before joining Time Squad.
77	* CloseEnoughTimeline: This happens frequently in the show.
78	** Like in the episode featuring the Trojan horse, the Greek army had tried sending a wooden horse filled with candy, a wooden giraffe filled with chocolate soldiers, and finally in an effort to please the Time Squad's wishes for real soldiers to be sent to the King of Troy, the Greek army sends in a wooden solder filled with ''wild horses''. The wild horses end up murdering people and effectively destroy the city of Troy. Otto comments that this outcome isn't exactly what's supposed to happen in the history books, with Tuddrussel to retort with, "ah, close enough."
79	** And once in an effort to get Paul Revere to make his historic ride to warn the colonists that the British were coming, they had UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud hypnotize him into thinking he was a horse and forced the Austrian shrink to ride Paul like a horse and warn the Americans himself.
80	* ComedicSociopathy: With AmusingInjuries, Tuddrussel and Otto enjoy playing games like "Super Extreme Spy Tag" where the object of the game seems to be to try to murder the opponent player. Tuddrussel has attempted to club Otto to death and smash him with a washing machine, only to be disappointed that he crushed Larry with said object. He did succeed in getting Otto with hit with a bookcase though. And Otto in turn enjoys spraying shaving cream into Tuddrussel's eyes and laughs at his misery.
81	** This type of violent pranking is also done while working on missions, and unsurprisingly some historical figures get into it. Such as the time when Tuddrussel teaches Abraham Lincoln about atomic wedgies and the President proceeds to give one to an old lady who then blindly goes onto a busy street and gets trampled by a horse. Abe and Tuddrussel look on, proceed to laugh, and then high five each other.
82	* CompanyCrossReferences: In one episode, Buck and Larry try to find an orphan to replace Otto after a fight. One of them is [[WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory Dexter]], who complains that he's not an orphan.
83	* CompressedVice: Larry being a MoralGuardian in "Child's Play", which seems particularly bizarre given how much violence and sexuality the show had put in, far beyond the things Larry objects to.
84	** Larry's obsession with "minimal interference" in "Planet of the Flies", even though the whole plot of the show is about a kid who he and Tuddrussel took out of his time period to help them on their missions.
85	* ConspiracyTheorist: Creator/BuffaloBill of all people, who is too busy writing his own conspiracy newsletter to found the Pony Express. He's eventually talked into it by Otto who points out that he can circulate the newsletter along with everyone elses mail if he starts the postal system.
86	* ConvenientlyTimedDistraction: In "Nutorious", when Tuddrussel tries to stop George Washington Carver's evil younger brother, Todd, with his new laser gun that has [[BillionsOfButtons a lot of buttons]] on it with different features, he accidentally activates the smoke screen which blinds him, allowing Todd to try to grab Tuddrussel's laser.
87	* CriminalDoppelganger: Three of Al Capone's henchmen- Tuddrussio, Lenny, and Blotto- bear a striking resemblance to Tuddrussel, Larry, and Otto. Both Tuddrussel and Larry share voice actors with their respective doppelgangers, albeit with diferent regional accents. Even Capone cannot tell the duos apart, resulting in the Time Squad reluctantly joining his birthday clown gang. And as for the real mobsters... Guess who gets the blame when Tuddrussel and Larry's clown antics get out of hand at a birthday party?
88	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Many of the historical figures that Time Squad comes into contact with are often like this; Eli Whitney builds robots with the specific purpose to eat flesh because according to him it will "Help man-kind", but when confronted about how exactly is that helpful, Whitney admits that he didn't think about it much.
89	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: There's all sorts of HoYay and AmbiguouslyGay behavior. Examples:
90	** In "Larry Upgrade," Tuddrussell and Larry argue like a married couple (but not before sending Otto out to play).
91	** Then, there's the "break-up" between Lewis and Clark on "Lewis and Clark and Larry," along with Clark getting jealous that Lewis "went exploring" with Larry.
92	** "Ex Marks the Spot," from Larry's unusual behavior that's reminiscent to a stereotypically devoted housewife who has an ''amazing sex life'' with Tuddrussel to Larry declaring that Tuddrussel is sleeping on the sofa ([[GuiltByAssociationGag even though Tuddrussel did nothing to deserve it]]).
93	** A rare example that has nothing to do with the homosexual undertone of the show occurs in "Child's Play," where Shakespeare gets into creative differences between his agent (who wants him to do kids' plays for merchandise) and Larry (who acts as a MoralGuardian and keeps objecting to the plays' content).
94	** Another non-homosexual example: the two times Larry has acted drunk (in "Eli Whitney's Flesh-Eating Mistake," where his NonSequiturThud after being beaten by angry townspeople is "I'm okay to drive. Just help me to the car." and in "Pasteur Packs O'Punch where Larry experiences wild mood swings after being electrocuted, where he drunkenly tells Tuddrussell that he loves him, offers to drive despite being in no condition to operate anything, telling off Otto with a slurred, "Hey, don't tell me what to do!", and embarrassing himself at a party by standing on a table and declaring himself, "The Queen of France").
95	** In a similar vein, on the first episode "Eli Whitney's Flesh-Eating Mistake," there was FantasticRacism in the form of the townspeople who were attacked by Eli Whitney's flesh-eating robots attacking Larry because he may be a flesh-eating robot and Tuddrussell taking offense to being called a "robot lover" (though the rampant, mostly one-sided HoYay begs to differ). However, the whole scenario could be taken another way, because Tuddrussel only takes offense ("Hey! You watch who you're calling 'robot lover'!") when a townsperson labels ''Otto'' as a 'robot lover' ("This must be some kind of flesh eating robot lover trick!") right after Otto explains that Larry doesn't have any teeth. Tuddrussel having taken offence to someone other than himself being labeled as such can vaguely be interpreted as pure [[HoYay jealousy]].
96	** "Daddio [=DaVinci=]" (season one, episode three) had Otto opening Larry's gear box on his chest and Larry covering himself in the same way a woman would if her breasts were exposed.
97	* DramaPreservingHandicap: Tuddrussell has an arsenal of powerful laser guns that he often brandishes but rarely uses. It's heavily implied that Time Squad officers are not actually supposed to use them except as an absolute last resort, and Tuddrussell simply keeps them for show because he has a [[GunNut borderline erotic fixation on guns]]. The few times he does use them, he's either about to die or gets told off by Larry. When he gifts one to Otto, he predictably fails to impart this restriction, and havoc ensues.
98	* DysfunctionalFamily: Despite that none of them are related to each other, the writers have made them out like a family (albeit one with a lot of problems). Freud even said that the trio were like this in "The Island of Dr. Freud."
99	* DrillSergeantNasty: Unsurprisingly, George Patton, who in this timeline is running a small flower shop that he's running like a boot camp and treats his employees like new recruits.
100	* EmbarrassingOldPhoto: Tuddrussel and Otto both have albums (an academy year book and orphanage scrapbook) that contain embarrassing photos that tell us a little about their pasts.
101	* EroticEating: In the opening of "Ex Marks the Spot," Larry gives a gravy-drowned turkey to Tuddrussel, who eats it on the couch. The camera cuts away from Tuddrussel, but we hear him devour the turkey voraciously, suggestively splattering gravy on the wall and on Larry, who giggles and has the biggest smile he's ever had on the show when the gravy lands on him.
102	* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Tuddrussel's reaction to J.T. Laser is groupie-like and borderline orgasmic (as is Larry's to the Lance Nine Trillion, but [[CampGay that goes without saying]]).
103	* EvolvingCredits: The first season's main title sequence had clips from some episodes, while the second season's main title sequence had entirely original animation, starting with the History Instability Alarm going off.
104	* ExiledToTheCouch: Larry told Tuddrussel that "Tonight, [he was] sleeping on the sofa!" when he thought that Tuddrussel and his ex-Sheila were getting back together even though Tuddrussel did nothing wrong to deserve being sent to the couch. ItMakesSenseInContext. [[NegativeContinuity No prior episode]] -- unless you count the part on "Old Timers' Squad" where Larry's, Tuddrussel's, and Otto's older selves are shown in the same bed -- [[NegativeContinuity ever established that Buck and Larry shared a bed]]. In fact, previous episodes showed that Tuddrussel and Larry had their own separate rooms and beds on the ship, so the line indicated that their relationship had become, er, closer (see the FridgeBrilliance tab on this page for an alternate interpretation of this scene).
105	* FaceHeelTurn: Alfred Nobel decided to give out a price for biggest evil instead of a Peace Price, and formed a LegionOfDoom consisting of Black Bart, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, UsefulNotes/LizzieBorden, UsefulNotes/{{RasputinTheMadMonk}} and Mrs O'Leary's Cow.
106	* FagHag: UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII is implied to be one, considering that the Larry 3000 only likes her for her fashion sense and her plans to turn the pyramids into a mall.
107	* FamilyOfChoice: The three main characters all come from different backgrounds, are forced to stay together in a satellite in space and have to work together as a team; which provides situations to give way for them to act as a real family.
108	* FeudEpisode: "Hate And Let Hate" featured Tuddrussel and Larry getting into a fight after Larry cleans Tuddrussel's phaser guns in the dishwasher, which results in an ungrateful and infuriated Tuddrussel shoving Larry into the dishwasher and setting the water temperature to high heat. Larry and Tuddrussel then go on to pull numerous pranks at each other such as replacing deodorant with spray paint and tying shoelaces together and during their feud, they accidentally maroon Otto in the 16th century after a mission involving Hernando De Soto but they are both too blinded by their feuding to realize their mistake and it goes to the point where Tuddrussel uses white paint to divide up the ship and he and Larry end up on the wrong sides. After getting comfortable with doing each others hobbies, Tuddrussel and Larry make up and realize their mistake in abandoning Otto.
109	* FourFingeredHands: All the characters on the show have three fingers instead of four.
110	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In "Larry Upgrade," when Buck and Larry are about to start an argument, they tell Otto to go play outside, too angry to remember they live in a space station. While the two are arguing, you can see Otto drifting in space outside a window and having the time of his life.
111	* FootPopping: Larry (who else?) does this when hugging Tuddrussel in "Hate and Let Hate."
112	* [[ForgotICouldFly Forgot I Had A Phaser]]: Tuddrussell's exact words in the pilot episode, after recovering from a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to blow all the enemy robots away.
113	* TheGhost: Senator Fiskmeyer, the last government official the Larry 3000 worked with before being assigned to the Time Squad. Outside of being mentioned by Larry in "Dishonest Abe," "Robin and Stealing With Mr. Hood," and "Feud For Thought," Fiskmeyer hasn't actually been seen.
114	* GoingNative: Both Tuddrussel and Larry are EXTREMELY prone to this, as soon as they identify with a historical inaccuracy in the slightest, they'll happily abandon their mission and join up with the madness, and leave Otto to straighten things out. Sheila refers to this trope as “Committing a code 646” in the Nobel episode.
115	* GodivaHair: Subverted with the legend herself on "If It's Wright, It's Wrong." Larry shows Otto some past videos of Buck trying to arrest historical figures, one of which is Lady Godiva riding naked on her horse. Rather than use her impossibly long hair to cover her nudity (as it was depicted as being a realistic shoulder-length), Godiva's nudity was covered with [[CensorBox black censor bars]].
116	* GoneHorriblyRight: When the Time Squad successfully (and inadvertently) return Creator/EdgarAllanPoe to his original manic-depressive (emphasis on "depressive") self, they feel bad about it and leave without saying a word.
117	** This actually happens quite a few times, while most of the people Time Squad helps have simply gotten sidetracked or are missing some inspiration of idea that will put them on the right path, several historical characters don't WANT to take on the tasks that history dictates for them and are actively trying to avoid it, and its up to the Time Squad to force them to do it to prevent history from getting screwed up. Most noteable with Poe, but also with Plato, who has become a health nut and has to be physically threatened to become a philosopher instead, Blackbeard, who prefers saving the environment over piracy, and Montezuma, who wants to be a stand up comedian. Some are visibly disheartened by being forced into a role they don't want.
118	* GunPorn: Parodied. Tuddrussel's magazine in "Kubla Khan't" appears to be literal pornography with guns instead of nude pictures.
119	* HartmanHips: Due to Dave Wasson's art style[[note]]which looks similar to Creator/ButchHartman's[[/note]], most of the women including Officer Sheila Sternwell and Betsy Ross have this.
120	* HateSink: There are 2 examples.
121	** Sister Thornly, for running an abusive orphange and treating all the orphans there like slaves, including Otto.
122	** The show’s version of Louis Pasteur. He is portrayed as a full blown arrogant jerk who rubs his success of powdered drinks in Otto’s face and constantly insulted the time squad.
123	* HenpeckedHusband: UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte in "Napoleon the Conquered." Lampshaded by Tuddrussell, who, after hearing Napoleon get yelled at by his wife, snickers, "Man, that guy is whipped!" (just before Josephine pokes her head out the door and Tuddrussell ScreamsLikeALittleGirl)
124	* HereWeGoAgain: In the episode "Planet of the Flies", the squad prevent a future ruled by flies when Tuddrussel stops his past self from smashing a fly in the Stone Age. But, while Tuddrussel is celebrating, a bee flies up to him, and he squashes it in shock. This causes both Larrys to receive an alarm from the future, starting the whole thing again. Both squads, including the other Tuddrussel, are annoyed by Tuddrussel's actions.
125	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Lewis and Clark. [[HoYay Probably]]
126	** Same thing with Larry and Tuddrussell (right down to the dubious-sounding "[[HoYay probably]]").
127	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: There's one in every episode.
128	%%* HistoricalDomainCrossover: An episode featured a team of historical bad guys, including Black Bart and Lizzie Borden.
129	* HistoricalInJoke: The basic premise of the series. The fact that the history is so remarkably off-base is part of the joke.
130	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Many examples, but perhaps the most obvious would be Rasputin, Lizzie Borden, and Mrs. O'Leary's cow in the episode "Nobel Peace Surprise". Grigori Rasputin never actually did anything evil historically, which is simply a common misconception. Lizzie Borden was declared innocent, and even if one were to assume she actually was guilty like many people did, she would have only murdered her abusive father and stepmother as opposed to killing innocent people or being a CardCarryingVillain like she is erroneously depicted here and in many other media. Mrs. O'Leary's cow, assuming she did start the fire which is highly debated, was just an animal that could have had no comprehension of what it had done, whereas this episode depicts the cow as being outright evil and having intentionally caused the Chicago fire.
131	* HollywoodBoardGames: Sometimes, there's not much to do on the satellite base in-between emergencies. As shown in [[Recap/TimeSquadS01Ep29KeepinItRealWithSittingBull "Keepin' it Real with Sitting Bull"]], Tuddrussel and Otto engage in countless games of Tic-Tac-Toe to stave off boredom.
132	* HollywoodHistory: When they say it's "The C-Student's guide to history", they mean it. You're about likely to get about as much historical facts as a typical Hollywood biopic.
133	* HypnoFool: Alternate-history UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud enjoys making his patients act like barnyard animals.
134	* HypocriticalHumor: Tuddrussell to his ex-wife and her robot in "Nobel Peace Surprise".
135	-->"Aw, come on. Does the solution to every problem have to involve violence with you two?" ''(everyone stares at him)'' "What?"
136	** Another one from Tuddrussel in "Planet of the Flies" after Larry scolds him for smearing barbecue sauce all over the Declaration of Independence.
137	--->"(''Obnoxious Burp'') Well ''pardon me'' for having good hygiene!"
138	** In "Blackbeard, Warm Heart," Otto, Tuddrussell, and UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}'s crew lament over being called "lily-livers," "buttercups," and the dreaded S-word ("sissies"). The Larry 3000 comments that he's been called a "sissy" his whole life and the slights against the crew's masculinity shouldn't get to them. There are three things that don't exactly inspire confidence in that little pep talk: 1) Larry slightly lisps when he says, "sissy," 2) Larry is saying this while sleeping in an all-pink and lace bottom bunk, and 3) It's Larry saying this. The same Larry who wore a pink bandanna as a scarf earlier in the episode that featured this part.
139	** Speaking of Larry and HypocriticalHumor, there's most of the episode, "Child's Play," in which Larry acts like a MoralGuardian (and [[BreakingTheFourthWall shatters the fourth wall]] by pointing out that Tuddrussell's catchphrases "Go time!" and "Get some!" are inappropriate for children and making two speeches about how people have lost their sense of morality) and even gets involved in censoring Shakespeare's plays -- and also reveals that he reads novels by Creator/JackieCollins, which aren't exactly what you would call "child-friendly."
140	* IdiotBall: Samuel Morse, despite having already created the telegraph, is using it to send "funny sounds" to his girlfriend across town, and instead introduces yelling at the top of his lungs out the window as his "revolutionary new communcations system". Time Squad is visibly frustrated at the sheer idiocy of the man.
141	* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: In "Orphan Substitute", the first substitute says he can't help the squad because he's "a math genius, not a history whiz".
142	* InsufferableImbecile: Tuddrussel at his worst, though most of the time, he's just a LeeroyJenkins.
143	* InventorOfTheMundane: ''Time Squad'' had plenty of these. Whether the inventors actually got around to inventing their mundane inventions was completely subject to plot convenience.
144	* ItRunsOnNonsensoleum: When it doesn't run on HoYay, DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything and HypocriticalHumor.
145	* {{Jerkass}}: Louis Pasteur is portrayed as this, showing no redeemable features whatsoever and generally acts like a stuck up asshole. Even Otto, historical fanboy extraordinaire, can't stand the guy.
146	* JobTitle: The show's called Time Squad and that's what our heroes do. Technically, only Tuddrussell and Larry are official Time Squad officers; Otto is just the TagalongKid.
147	* KarmaHoudini:
148	** Sister Thornly, the [[DudeNotFunny vividly abusive]] owner of the OrphanageOfFear where Otto used to live, is never punished for her crimes.
149	** In the most literal sense, Harry Houdini himself. Everyone's so amazed at his tricks they don't care he's robbing them, and even after going straight, he still gets to keep all the stuff he stole.
150	* SorryILeftTheBGMOn: Larry in "Floundering Fathers". When Otto voices the first verses of the Declaration of Independence, patriotic music plays in the background, which is later revealed to be Larry using his chest as a radio.
151	* LimitedWardrobe: Granted, Larry doesn't wear clothes (but if he does they're always different and it's usually a costume -- and even then, it's often {{Stripperiffic}} drag) and Otto will sometimes be seen in [=PJs=] or occasionally in period costume, but Buck is never seen without his uniform. ''Ever''. He'll wear things over it but the uniform can always be distinctly seen -- even in the ''shower'', as seen in "Larry Upgrade."
152	* LittleBrotherIsWatching: Larry sometimes points out to Tuddrussel that his ill-behavior has consequences in the form of Otto growing up to be just like him. Tuddrussel does take these warnings to heart and will try to adjust for the kid.
153	* ManChild: Tuddrussel as he often slept with a night light and a teddy bear and even cried like a baby over getting a small cut. Larry even lampshades on this in a couple of episodes and has even directly called Tuddrussel a man child more than once.
154	* ManHug: Averted in "Hate and Let Hate"--Tuddrussel and Larry reunite with a perfectly ordinary, tender hug.
155	* MissingStepsPlan: When pressed by Otto for an explanation on how exactly flesh-eating robots were supposed to help mankind, Eli Whitney admits [[DidntThinkThisThrough he didn't think that through too well]].
156	* MonaLisaSmile: On the show, the coy, mysterious smile was because [[spoiler:Mona Lisa had bad teeth when she gave a big smile]].
157	* [[MonsterClown Mobster Clown]]: In "The Clownfather," Al Capone forces a group of clowns to take over his criminal empire while he and his gang take over the clown entertainment business.
158	* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Larry speaking French while trying to reason with Napoleon in "Napoleon the Conquered" apparently didn't work, as the three are then sentenced to die by guillotine. In "Out with the In Crowd," Henry Morton Stanley (the explorer known for the memetic quote, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?") tries to get the jungle natives to stop attacking him, but whatever he said translates to "My name is Silly Suzy and I am wearing rubber underpants."
159	* MundaneObjectAmazement: Otto is forever excited by things ether Larry and Tuddrussel find mundane (like seeing Earth from space for the first time) or by things that people in his own contemporary time period would find meh (like the U.S. Mint building). Granted, he is an eight-year-old with no previous experience of the outside world before joining Time Squad.
160	* MyLittlePhony: An episode has a cute looking pony with hearts for a Cutie Mark attacking Buck.
161	* MusclesAreMeaningless: Despite Tuddrussel's size and strength, he's gotten his ass kicked several times, ranging from experienced Soldiers like General Patton and UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc, to ''Florence Nightingale''!
162	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The entire plot for "The Prime Minister Has No Clothes". Although Otto and Tudrussell certainly don't think so.
163	* NegativeContinuity: Averted in the case of some episodes as some of the episodes do make references to past ones as well as reintroduce past characters which were the case of episodes featuring Julius Caesar, Sigmund Freud, George Washington, Blackbeard, and the Boston Tea Party.
164	* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Otto is smart and cheerful, Larry is snarky and narcissistic, and Tuddrussel is a massive LeeroyJenkins, but his heart can be in the right place. Sometimes, Tuddrussel and Larry interchange, as Tuddrussel frequently acts like a LazyHusband, and, while Larry is selfish, he is emotionally closer to Otto and more sensitive than Tuddrussel.
165	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Napoleon's wife Josephine beats the crap out of him, Tuddrussel, Otto, Larry and ''the entire French army''.
166	* NoodleIncident: There are often moments where the show's humor relies on the characters bringing up past events for one reason or another:
167	** Sheila and Buck have an entire conversation in "Ex Marks the Spot" about their past missions and the fights that Buck got involved with various historical figures. It's never established WHY Buck threw Pablo Picasso down a flight of stairs or HOW he got into a brawl with Florence Nightingale, they just happily remember that it happened.
168	** Before "Cabin Fever" occurs, the guys are looking like they were savagely beaten up while watching Jazz musician Louis Armstrong and his band play. They proceed to discuss how Armstrong "sure gave them a run for their money" and were relieved that Armstrong gave up what was apparently a plot to "drill into the center of the Earth".
169	** While trying to get Montezuma to abandon stand up comedy, Tuddrussel and Larry finally snap and throw insults at each other, with Larry to snidely ask Tuddrussel, "What about that time you went to get a drink and got your head stuck in the toilet?"
170	* OneWorldOrder: By the year 100 million AD, all of Earth's countries have combined into one big "super nation."
171	* OnlyOneFindsItFun: At one point, Edgar Allan Poe makes the squad listen to his stories, which aren't the horror stories he's famous for writing, but rather romances and kids' books. Tuddrussel and Larry find them extremely boring and saccharine, but Otto takes a strong liking to them and claps excitedly when Poe finishes his story.
172	* OrphanageOfFear: Where Otto lived before Larry and Tuddrussell "adopted" him.
173	* OurTimeTravelIsDifferent: Unusual version of time travel. Alternate timelines don't exist, and time actively decays as it moves along through space and has to be maintained.
174	* ParentalBonus: Everything mentioned in HoYay, DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything, and GeniusBonus, along with a significant number of [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]].
175	* ParentalObliviousness: Even if they aren't really Otto's parents, they certainly act like it as the series goes on. This leads to situations where Tuddrussel and Larry forget they have Otto to take care of because they were often too busy fighting to notice that Otto could be in danger.
176	* ParodyEpisode: The season one episode "Larry Upgrade" seems to be a parody of ''Film/TheStepfordWives'', but with a [[spoiler:happier resolution]] than in the book or movie.
177	** "White House Weirdness" is a full-episode parody of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo''.
178	** "Houdini Whodunnit?!" is an affectionate parody of the 1960's Batman television series.
179	* PecFlex: Tuddrussell. With those muscles, who wouldn't?
180	* PersonalitySwap: Buck and Larry enter one by accidentally switching their usual areas of habitation and going native in "Hate and Let Hate." Worth noting because this wasn't done as the usual ''Freaky Friday'' switch in which some magical or scientific third party switches Larry's and Tuddrussell's personalities into each other's bodies, they just happen to be stuck on each others side of the sattelite and try the other's hobbies out of boredom.
181	* PlatonicLifePartners: Played straight with Sheila and her robot the [[=XJ5=]], even if fans tend to think that's more than platonic from [[=XJ5=]]'s side. Also played with Larry and Tuddrussel, it's also played [[IncrediblyLamePun straight]], though with the heavy aura of HoYay around the friendship, this is debatable.
182	* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: All over the place, fitting with the AnachronismStew of the setting.
183	** In the pilot (which deals with Eli Whitney), "Dishonest Abe" (which shows Abraham Lincoln giving the Emancipation Proclamation), and "Father Figure of our Country" (which has Otto spending a great deal of time on George Washington's estate), there's not a slave in sight, and slavery isn't given even a passing mention. The century's worth of segregation is never mentioned either.
184	** Episodes that take place during any modern war won't even reference the war in question. Even World War II is only barely mentioned in an episode centered around Winston Churchill, and another centered around Patton. [[note]]A [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler certain someone]] is never a subject of the episode, as putting him on the proper historical track would be an ''extremely'' uncomfortable subject to broach in a children's show. That said, they did manage to show Joseph Stalin.[[/note]]
185	** Black and female American historical figures are noticeably rare, likely to gloss over America's difficult history with race and gender. One exception is TheThemeParkVersion of George Washington Carver, who was regarded as a super-popular celebrity In-Universe. In the early 1900s. Yeah...
186	** "Keeping it Real With Sitting Bull" makes reference to the Battle of Little Bighorn (which, as it tends to be, is PlayedForLaughs), but the actual context of Indian Removal is not present.
187	* PostTreatmentLollipop: Larry often acts as the team doctor for the unit, at one point giving Tuddrussel a big pink lollypop as a reward after taking a thorn out of his foot.
188	* ProchronicProduct: A few inventors that the Time Squad comes across fall into this, such as Louis Pasteur inventing powdered fruit drink mix instead of the method of pasteurizing milk in 1862.
189	* PursueTheDreamJob: Many episodes involve a historical figure changing to another field of work - such as Beethoven becoming a pro-wrestler or Albert Einstein a used car salesman - and it's up to the Squad to get them back in track and keep the timeline stable.
190	* PyrrhicVictory: "Day of the Larry's" has all the the Larry clones thrown out the airlock and likely the real Larry as well, as the last remaining Larry a clone. He laughs maniacally for taking the real Larry's position... and burdens, as Tuddrussel forces him to clean up the mess whilst he and Otto resume their destructive games. The clone Larry mops the floor as he cries pathetically.
191	* ProWrestlingIsReal: Apparently, in the alternate 18th century, Beethoven briefly becomes a pro wrestler and popularizes the sport a century early.
192	* QuirkyHousehold: Especially in season two episodes, we see that the unit is a makeshift family where not single day is dull while on the satellite.
193	* TheRashomon: Otto, Buck and Larry all have very different ideas when it comes to what happened with the Mongol army. Over a series of flashbacks we see were their stories converge and diverge only to find that Otto was the only correct and non-biased one... [[spoiler:but wasn't used for the mission report because Otto technically isn't an official Time Squad member]].
194	* RealMenWearPink: If the show wasn't doing jokes about how AmbiguouslyGay the Larry 3000 is, then it's doing jokes about how seemingly macho men have unmanly hobbies and interests. To wit:
195	** "Tea Time for Time Squad" had the Sons of Liberty having an actual tea party instead of throwing the taxed tea into the harbor (which they ended up doing after [[spoiler:Otto offers coffee to everyone]]).
196	** "Every Poe Has A Silver Lining" had Creator/EdgarAllanPoe as a cheerful children's writer who decorated everything in pastels (and even wore a pastel purple suit that looked more like something teenaged boys from the '70s and '80s would wear to senior prom).
197	** "Floral Patton": General Patton running a florist shop, though his DrillSergeantNasty personality didn't change.
198	** "Forget The Alamo": Tuddrussel is shocked to find that his ancestor, Jeremiah Tuddrussel, is a party planner instead of one of the fighters of the Alamo.
199	** "Hate and Let Hate": Tuddrussel teaches himself how to cook with Larry's books after accidentally sequestering himself on Larry's side of the satellite.
200	** "Blackbeard Warm Heart" and "Repeat Offender": Bloodthirsty pirate Blackbeard (real name: Edward Teach) is an environmentalist and animal lover.
201	** Beethoven is shown to be a muscular and macho guy with an Austrian accent who loves wrestling but also loves and excels at doing classical musing
202	* RefugeInAudacity: As mentioned in the KarmaHoudini entry, Sister Thornly regularly abuses and uses her orphans as cheap labor (doing everything from harvesting sugar canes to mining coal to cleaning the windows of the Empire State Building) and even had them pack government cheese on a bus during a trip to Washington, D.C. (which is densely packed with all manner of security officers) without getting caught. In fact, she's never punished for what she's done. Whether it's because PoliceAreUseless or her status as a nun lets her get away with such atrocities is up for debate.
203	* RegularCaller: The History Instability Alarm. "Cabin Fever" explored what would happen if their RegularCaller was decommissioned.
204	* RecklessGunUsage: Loads and loads of this, mainly coming from Tuddrussel. A notable example is when Otto, dressed in a time squad uniform and following Tuddrussel's terrible example for the day, gets handed a phaser by Tuddrussel and shoots up Amelia Earhart's apartment.
205	* RichBitch: Cleopatra.
206	* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Historical figures are often shown with different jobs. Fittingly, one of them happens to be a used car salesman - UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein.
207	* RunningGag: If it's a story taking place in the American Revolution, expect people doped-up on coffee to make an appearance, after the Boston Tea Party was resolved by feeding it to the partiers.
208	* SarcasticConfession: Tuddrussel denying that he brought home Ivan the Terrible to keep as a pet in "Ivan the Untrainable."
209	* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Larry and Tuddrussel. In season one, it was played straight; in season two, it was exaggerated.
210	* SmallReferencePools: The bulk of episodes take place either in what will become the US or dealing with historical figures that the average American will be familiar with. Also, despite taking place in the year 1,000,000, no historical figure after the 20th Century is shown. The latter is justified in universe as this being about the time at which history starts to unravel.
211	* SpiritualSuccessor: The whole show is a 21st century spin on ''Peabody's Improbable History'', which featured a similar plot, with things in the past being twisted, and the characters going back in time to set things right, or close to it. Also Otto looks and acts a bit like Sherman, and interestingly enough have a similar backstory- both were orphans living in abusive homes before being "adopted."
212	** Also, the idea of an orphan boy and a member (in this case members) of a group dedicated to traveling through history and keeping it on track, with the boy’s knowledge of history proving invaluable, makes this out to be a comedy-flavored spin on the early 80’s sci-fi series ''{{Series/Voyagers}}''.
213	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: In "Orphan Substitute", Otto and Tuddrussell have an argument and Tuddrussell decides to get another orphan under the expressed belief that "one orphan genius is as good as another". At the end of the episode, Larry and Tuddrussell take Otto back and leave the last applicant in his place. Upon seeing the new orphan, Sister Thornly just shrugs and says "one orphan genius is as good as another".
214	* {{Squee}}: Tuddrussell and Larry fawning over JT Laser and the Lance 9 Trillion on "Out With the In Crowd" -- and adding more points to ''Time Squad'''s HoYay Count.
215	* TeaIsClassy: In "Tea Time for Time Squad", the team go to 1776 for the Boston Tea Party, where the Colonists are supposed to toss shipments of tea into the harbor to protest unfair taxes. Only they find them having a literal tea party while wearing powdered wigs and acting all sophisticated, not willing to resort to violence. It's only when they switch to drinking coffee that the Colonists turn into Fratbros and begin the American Revolution as intended.
216	* ThatsWhatSheSaid: The phrase itself wasn't said on the show, but one line from "Nobel Peace Surprise" might as well as have that phrase tagged at the end of it. When the [=XJ5=] shows off his footprint detector, Larry scoffs, "It's not the size of the equipment. It's how you ''use'' it."
217	** Tuddrussel makes it into this trope too with his line in "Horse of Horrors". While reading a magazine "Burgers and You", he exclaims; "Man! Will you look at the size of those buns! Mm-mm!"
218	* TheThemeParkVersion: Backfires spectacularly in ''Forget the Alamo,'' when the Alamo's defenders enlist Larry to help plan their surrender to the Mexicans by throwing a "Mexican heritage fiesta". Larry, true to form, overindulges on party cliches with a thinly Tex-Mex veneer, and the arriving Mexican Army is so offended by the perceived mockery of their culture that they end up massacring everyone at the Alamo anyway, putting history back on the right track.
219	* ThisIsMySide: Used on the episode "Hate and Let Hate," only Tuddrussell and Larry end up on each other's sides (Tuddrussell is on the side with the kitchen and Larry is on the side where Tuddrussell's gun room/gym is), leading to a PersonalitySwap.
220	* ThreePlusTwo: When Sheila Sternwell and [=XJ5=] join the party as the ActionGirl and the [[SixthRanger Fifth Ranger]] in "Nobel Peace Surprise."
221	* ThreeShorts: Played straight with the seventh episode of season one, which included "If It's Wright, It's Wrong," a fake recruitment ad for the Time Squad, and another short called "Killing Time"; averted with the rest of the series, which only have two shorts.
222	* ThroughHisStomach The beginning of "Ex Marks the Spot," when Larry joyfully makes Tuddrussel's favorite meals with the express purpose of pleasing him.
223	* TimePolice: The time squad itself. Though they're a bit more like a paramilitary force in practice.
224	* TimeTravel: Practically OncePerEpisode.
225	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Tuddrussel is almost always asking for one thing of Larry, and that is for him to make just a simple cheeseburger. And Larry himself is fond of making souffles.
226	* TrailersAlwaysLie: Some commercials portray Otto as a [[{{Keet}} hyperactive curious kid]] who'll more likely screw the missions of Tuddrussel and Larry. In the actual show, Otto is the OnlySaneMan who had to deal with the wacky antics of his two friends-cum-"foster parents", who are a slovenly {{Manchild}} and a prissy ButtMonkey respectively.
227	* TrojanHorse: Full of candy, no less.
228	** And then a giraffe full of chocolate, and then a soldier full of horses ...
229	* TrueCompanions: The Time Squad are a sort of dysfunctional family, with Buck and Larry's spats coming off as being akin to marital bickering. They pretty much adopted Otto from the moment they met him.
230	* UnwinnableTrainingSimulation: [[spoiler:The beginning of "Houdini Whodunit" where The Time Squad are tied up and stuck in their flaming satellite with an evil George Washington.]]
231	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Most of the historical figures they visit take the idea of a TimePolice visiting them to make sure they behave according to history with surprising indifference. The main issue tends to lie in getting them to do what they' re supposed to be doing. The only ones who tend to be really shocked or scared of the trios appearance are civilian bystanders.
232	* UltimateJobSecurity: Despite their complete incompetence at their job before they enlisted the help of a 21st century 8-year old, Tuddrussel and Larry are never fired or even reprimanded. Presumably they make themselves look better in their reports, but you'd think theyd have a supervisor or something who'd notice the wildly inaccurate timeline errors they tend to leave behind, even with Otto to help them.
233	* {{Utopia}}: While the future Earth that Time Squad comes from is never visited, Tuddrussel describes it in the first episode as being a time where "there's no war, no pollution, and bacon is good for the heart."
234	* VitriolicBestBuds: This is one way to interpret Tuddrussel and Larry's friendship. Any fans who believe that there is actually nothing funny about Tuddrussel and Larry's relationship think of them as another pair of friends with gallons of vitriol filled up in both of them. They both banter like an old-married couple, and Tuddrussel would often berate Larry for his effeminate behavior and would sometimes do cruel things to him and Larry in turn shows disdain towards Tuddrussel for his selfish, childish, and condescending behavior but they both are committed to working together in attempting to fix the timeline and give Otto a better life.
235	* WaybackTrip: Lampshaded in a commercial for the show where the characters watch ''Peabody's Improbable History'' on a computer screen. The [[{{Expy}} resemblance]] between Otto and Sherman is pointed out, to which Larry responds, "Ugh, we did ''not'' copy their show!"
236	* WeWillAllBeHistoryBuffsInTheFuture: InUniverse, time itself has become so unstable, that the people of the far future have to worry about being suddenly without important technology to survive life on Earth. So modern society has come to depend on the Time Squad, a time-traveling government agency and police force that recruits primarily history buffs and educates them on how to enforce the past to protect the future.
237	* WeirdnessMagnet: The guys often have to deal with some pretty bizarre people and situations, from giant fly people to evil My Little Ponies, and having their satellite turned into a resort for robots, it's never a dull day while on the job apparently.
238	* WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame: "Day of the Larrys" had a robot disco -- which included a Larry clone suggestively dressed as a cowboy.
239	* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Otto, but at the same time he's just a normal kid in abnormal circumstances.
240	* WorkingWithTheEx: Occasionally other [[TimePolice Time Squad units]] join in to help the trio. [[TheChosenMany One of these squads]] consists of [[TheBigGuy Buck Tuddrussel's]] ex-wife Sheila Sternwell. While Buck is good-natured towards his ex, Sheila seems to hold nothing but enmity for him (then again, [[ManChild he]] ''is'' [[DumbMuscle an]] idiot).
241	* WritersCannotDoMath: The writers had the habit of constantly misplacing years with people from history.
242	* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Creator/WilliamShakespeare speaks in this dialect. His agent, by contrast, sounds like Phil Silvers.

Context WesternAnimation / TimeSquad