{{BBC1}} half-hour sitcom, which aired its first season over two weeks in 2007, and its second over seven weeks in 2008. It got a UsefulNotes/ComicRelief special and a Christmas special in 2009, followed by a third series in 2010 and a fourth in 2011.

It follows the Brockmans, a family of five, who live somewhere in South London:
* Pete (Hugh Dennis)- father, a teacher
* Sue (Claire Skinner)- mother, part time PA
* Jake (Tyger Drew-Honey)- older, more sensible son at 11
* Ben (Daniel Roche)- younger son at 7, pathological liar
* Karen (Ramona Marquez)- disturbingly inquisitive 5-year-old daughter

The show is semi-improvised, with the kids being given the basic outline and then going from there. Not to be confused with the ''VideoGame/SuperSolvers'' game of the same name.

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This show contains examples of:
* ActorAllusion: In Series 4, there's a scene where Pete is flicking through TV channels and is disappointed at finding nothing but [[MockTheWeek panel games]]. There's also a reference to FrankieBoyle and his standup, which is a reference to him and Hugh once being on the same show.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Jake's reaction to Ben's story about Ibrahim getting mugged.
* {{Adorkable}}: Jake, on occasion.
* AdultsAreUseless: large amounts of the show contain Pete & Sue getting everything spectacularly wrong, which also yields a large helping of CringeComedy.
* AffablyEvil: A representative from [[spoiler:Brick's]] attorneys is actually very polite and patient.
* AffectionateNickname: Sue calls Jake "Jakey" on occasion. It's interesting to note that while Jake often responds to his Dad giving him nicknames with insulting ones, he doesn't with his Mum.
* TheAllSolvingHammer: Referenced when trying to fix a washing machine.
-->'''Ben''': "Here's a ''bigger'' hammer!"
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: The annoyingly perfect neighbour to Sue, and her equally perfect (if a bit creepy) children.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Both Ben and Karen are this to Jake. Though you can't really blame him when they start discussing how to get him a girlfriend. Ben moreso then Karen, however.
* AwesomeMccoolname: Jake is played by ''Tyger'' Drew-Honey.
** Karen is played by Ramona Marquez.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: The kids may fight a lot, but they do care about each other deep down.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Archie the Dog does seem rather playful when the family look after him on behalf of some friends of theirs, if a bit reluctant to go to his bed. [[spoiler:Then Sue and Pete let him out the back garden; he goes into a garden next door and breaks into a guinea pig hutch, killing all the guinea pigs.]] Thankfully, this is offscreen.
* BlueOniRedOni: Jake and Ben.
* BigWhat: Karen, when Ben reveals that Pete kissed a woman who wasn't Sue.
* BottleEpisode: The airport in Spain.
* BrutalHonesty: Karen, who won't lie even during 'Cheat'.
* CainAndAbel: A female and relatively nonviolent version with Angela as Cain and Sue as Abel.
* CelebrityParadox: Of a type; in series 4, Ben uses a FrankieBoyle joke in his act for the school talent show.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Usually Ben or Karen.
* CreepyChild: Karen, frequently - especially when she outlines her plan to kill all the terrorists in the world, while looking completely adorable.
-->"Why don't they just put knives on them and put them all in a dark room, and they can walk around and then they'll all stab each other?"
** There's something a bit...off about Taylor-Jean.
--> '''Taylor-Jean''': ''*mechanically*'': I'm so much happier.
*** [[OohMeAccentsSlipping The accent doesn't help]].
* CringeComedy:
** For example, Pete's decision to start acting out "war movies" on the bridge of ''HMS Belfast''. A SecondWorldWar cruiser.
** An example that extends to InUniverse would be Ben's attempts at ventriloquism.
* ADayInHerApron
* DeadpanSnarker:
--> '''Jake:''' I can see why they call it the Dangerous Book for Boys, Karen's just brained Ben with it.
** In the parent's evening episode:
--> '''Pete:''' Oh, what do you know? A policeman. Cos you really need one here. Ready to kettle the threat to public order that is a parents' evening.
--> '''Sue:''' ''(hopeful)'' We could report Ben's mugging.
--> '''Pete:''' ''(hopeful)'' Yeah, OK. ''(looks closer, becomes despondent)'' Oh no, he's one of those toy policemen, well he'll only give us a leaflet.
* ElephantInTheLivingRoom: Semi-literal example in the second episode of the third series, only it's in the kitchen.
-->"What's that?" *indicating a paper-maché elephant head* "Oh that's the elephant in the room, we don't talk about that" "Why not?" "No, it's...never mind"
* EmbarrassingNickname: Don't call Jake "Jakester."
* EpicFail:
** Pete throws the Wiimote into the TV by accident and breaks it, after managing to get first place on Mario and Sonic at the Olympics for the first time (which he only did because the others were all in bed).
** Earlier in that episode, Pete is shown doing very badly at the game, and Ben lampshades this word for word.
* EscalatingPunchline
* {{Filler}}: Karen's stuffed-animal RealityShow parodies that have little, if anything to do with the episode they're in.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: (With two cholerics). Pete = Melancholic. Sue = Choleric. Jake = Phlegmatic. Ben = Sanguine. Karen = Choleric.
* TheFunInFuneral:
** In series 4 when the Brockmans attend the funeral of an uncle.
** Ben mentions the funeral when talking about acting as a comedian for the school talent contest, saying he farted in the church and caused a lot of people to laugh due to the echo. We don't see this onscreen, though.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Sue kicking Angela as Pete talks to a clergyman in ''The Wedding'' episode.
** The brawl that occurs during Ben's football game, while Pete is on the phone in "The Quiet Night In".
* GibberishOfLove: Jake has a hard time talking to Kelly.
* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Karen has quite the collection.
* GirlsNeedRoleModels: Sue seems to believe this InUniverse, explaining her dismay in series 4 when Karen suddenly develops an interest in shopping and fashion.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Sue's bosses. Veronica, in series 1, was replaced by Tyson for series 2.
** Karen's friend Maizie, although her friend Alexa is seen.
* HiddenDepths: Ben is actually quite good at chess.
* HotMom: Sue
* HypocriticalHumor: Frequently at the expense of Sue and Pete.
* TheInternetIsForPorn: Jake seems to think so, in Series 3.
* JailBait: Jake is briefly nicknamed this in Series 4, as he's dating a 19-year old lap dancer. [[spoiler: Turns out he was lying about his age. Then it turns out she was too. So he's not jailbait, but his girlfriend is lap dancing illegally. Pete and Sue are at a loss as to whether this is better or worse.]]
* JerkAss:
** Angela, Sue's sister. Has insulted the kids frequently and triggered many arguments. Also abandoned Grandad with pretty much no notice or regard for him.
** [[spoiler:Brick]] is retroactively revealed to be one in the fifth episode of season four.
** On a slightly less serious note, the headmaster of the school Pete used to teach at. Blames Pete for doctoring a prospectus to make the school look better and lets him take the fall for it (though to be fair he did doctor it ''but under the headmaster's orders'').
* KarmaHoudini: Don't expect the kids to be held accountable for their actions.
* KickTheDog: When Angela abandons her (and Sue's) father to return to America with virtually no notice. Or whenever she insults the kids.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Typical example:
-->"Daddy, you ever think we're just characters in someone's dream?"
-->"I want to be chased by a tiger." "I think that can be arranged" (enter Jake, played by Tyger Drew-Honey)
* LethalChef: Ben. It didn't help he was trying to copy Esther Ranson.
** And settled on Heston Blumenthal, an English "molecular gastronomist".
* LiteralMinded: Ben and Karen, quite often.
* MamaBear: Do ''not'' insult Sue's kids, as Angela finds out.
* MoodWhiplash: A few of the scenes about Granddad's dementia in the second series lead to this when they instantly cut back to the kids.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Ben. While his class is away on a trip, he causes a panic attack, makes his form tutor start smoking in an attempt to calm down, and leaves the rest of his group sleepless. That's just one episode.
* NoodleIncident: A lot of off-screen incidents.
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Averted. The characters have aged appropriately (Jake is now 16, and a archetypical teenager, Ben is now 12, and Karen is now 9). Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin both joked it had happened in an interview stating [[BlatantLies that everything was true]].
* OnlySaneMan: every character seems to think that this is them.
** The closest examples would probably be Pete and Jake, but they still both have their moments.
* PapaWolf: Pete meets the annoying anti-speedbump campaigner, after [[spoiler:Karen gets hit by a car (don't worry, she's fine)]]. Verbal asskicking ensues.#
* PetTheDog: While Ben is not exactly a dog kicker and more a crazy child, he is actually very respectful of Uncle Bob, and is very nice when talking about him during the first episode of series 4. He also stops using the word "gay" as an insult after learing Uncle Bob and Uncle Bernard were a gay couple.
* PrecisionFStrike: Karen does one when she sees Angela in the house and walks off muttering "Oh, Jesus". Not the strongest example of the trope, but from a nine year old girl it's not a bad example.
* PreviouslyOn: A surprisingly dramatic version opens the final episode of series 4.
* RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic: Wonderfully subverted because Karen and Ben talk just like children of their age would. Much of the children's dialogue (and thus the reaction dialogue of the adults) is improvised.
* RefugeInAudacity: It's only because Ben is saying it that you can get away with comparing an MTV stupid stunt show to the Battle of the Somme.
* RunningGag:
** The family hurting some random poor lady in the Airport episode.
** When Angela first shows up in the two parter ending to Season 4, she gets greeted with "Oh no" from both Jake and Ben. When Karen enters she has a double take and utters the phrase "Oh, Jesus."
** Ben wanting to watch Little Britain.
** Karen wandering off while Angela is talking to her, usually in mid-sentence.
* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack: It's hit-or-miss whether not the kids bother changing if they're just hanging around the house.
* SleepCute: The kids usually, particularly after an episode at the zoo. Only for Pete to suddenly realise Ben has smuggled a rabbit home.
* SiblingYinYang: Wild, outgoing Ben and quiet, snarky Jake.
* TakeOurWordForIt: Exactly how Ben managed to get both loads of washing into the machine at the same time is never shown.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Jake, now that he's a teenager.
* ToBeContinued: series 4 episode 5
* TookALevelInJerkass: Jake in season 3 goes from mild mannered to a rather moody JerkWithAHeartOfGold, as his teenage slouchiness and perversion kicks in.
* TotallyRadical: Pete to Jake.
* TwoGirlsToATeam: Sue and Karen.
* VerbedTitle
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Jake.
** Karen's friend Alexa answers Sue's assurance Jane will be there to pick he up soon with a deadpan, "I doubt it."
* TheWoobie: Jake in Season 1 when he suffers from [[spoiler: bullying at school]]. Falls into StoicWoobie when he refuses to tell anyone about it ''the whole time''. This is despite [[spoiler: having his phone stolen, being beaten up at the bus stop and given severe chinese burns]]. Sadly very much TruthInTelevision for bully victims.
** Arguably Jane. Although Pete finds her annoying, even ''he'' feels sorry for her when she shows him some of the abusive texts her ex-husband sends her.


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