Childrens Hospital - Television Tropes & Idioms

Healing... with laughter.

Childrens Hospital is an [adult swim] program that parodies aspects of various medical TV dramas. It began as a series of ten webisodes for theWB.com in the summer of 2008. The series was picked up by Adult Swim a year later. The webisodes were packaged together and aired during the summer of 2010, padded out with fake commercials for NTSF:SD:SUV:: and mock interviews with creator Rob Corddry. New episodes aired that August, with a third season airing Summer of 2011. A fourth season was picked up soon after that.

Childrens Hospital centers around the arrogant, slutty, and incompetent doctors working at a children's hospital in Brazil called Childrens Hospital (note the lack of an apostrophe). Using a broad range of fast-paced humor, the show is gaining a lot of good publicity.

National Terrorism Strike Force:San Diego:Sports Utility Vehicle:: has been greenlit, and began airing in the Summer of 2011. Another spinoff, Newsreaders, was picked up in 2011, as was a movie that admittedly has nothing to do with the plot of the show, but still contains all the same actors.

This show provides examples of:

Adam Westing: Hey, it's Insult Comic Jeffery Ross!
Anti-Humor: More prominent in the show than one might think.
As You Know: Parodied in the second episode when Blake goes on a rant explaining that the hospital is in Brazil "as we all know."
Avengers Assemble: The season 3 premiere when they're forced to call in the staff on a weekend.
Affectionate Parody: Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs, ER, St. Elsewhere, and more.
- Grey's Anatomy has been parodied to the extent that WordofGod says they have to be careful not to directly copy plots from the show.
- Incidentally, it uses the same hospital set that Scrubs did.
- The season 3 premiere is one of Run Lola Run.
- The third season episode that parodies old timey stage plays. It was awesome.
Ascended Extra: Dr Brian, who's been in almost every episode of Season 3. He appeared briefly in a clip from the in-universe 70's incarnation of the show in Season 2.
Bi the Way: Cat and Lolla dated for all of one episode.
- Valarie Flame starts randomly kissing a nurse at the beginning of "Give a Painted Brother a Break".
  - And Val was getting kinda pervy on Cat in "Black Doctor".
  - Glenn and Owen made out more than once...
  - And then there is Brian, who constantly repeats that he's bi.
Captain Ersatz: The Chief is a blatant parody of Kerry Weaver from ER.
- And Cat is obviously Meredith Grey from Grey's Anatomy.
  - Valerie is similar, her not-so-deep metaphor monologues at the beginning of each episode are eerily similar to Meredith's.
- Blake Downs is clearly Patch Adams
Celebrity Paradox: In the 70's episode, during the montage of blatant references to the time period, Blake emulates the "'eeeeeey!" of The Fonz on Happy Days. Henry Winkler, a recurring cast member on Children's Hospital, played The Fonz.
Chess with Death: Valerie Flame plays a game of chess against death in one episode. Played for laughs, as she beats him with the four move checkmate. Death goes on to say that he had played a game of chess with everybody who has ever died, and has never seen it before.
Contemplate Our Navels: Done frequently by Dr. Cat Black.
Dead Baby Comedy: Considering it's a children's hospital, they probably have one lying around somewhere...
Death Is Cheap: Both Cat and Lola have been said to have died (one was faking, the other never really got explained). Both were back by the end of the season.
Dropped a Bridget on Him: With Valerie turning out to be Derrick Childrens, played by Jon Hamm.
The Danza: Ed Helms as Dr. Ed Helms, forming half of Those Two Guys
Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Rabbi Jewy McJewjew.
- Maybe not as Jewish as everybody thought though- he had a pork shoulder delivered.
- The In-Universe TV Show Black Doctor was about the show's only black doctor.
Faking the Dead: "Is it really so crazy that I faked my own death because I had too many emails?" - Lola Sprat
Informed Judaism / Informed Ability: Averted with Dr. Richie- the guy wears a yarlmuke at all times, it's regularly brought up that he's Jewish and he'll occasionally mention the Sabbath or other Jewish customs.
- In a case of playing the trope straight, Chief is 100% Chocktaw Indian- that's why they call her Chief. Also, the hospital's in Brazil. It was averted in one episode where Glen and Owen walked through Rio to get a churro but is usually played straight.
- Blake Downs constantly reminds us that he can cure anything with laughter, though he has yet to make any patient laugh. At all.
Blake: I once cured a case of Lou Gherig by pretending to be trapped inside a box.
Inner Monologue
- Lampshaded on one episode where Chief makes it clear that she can hear the inner monologue making fun of her.
Lack of Empathy: Everyone...
Live Episode: "The Sultan's Finger" was an over-the-top parody of one loaded with "goofs," up to and including one cast member bailing on the episode during filming, forcing a cameraman to replace him.
Matzo Fever: Lampshaded
Mega Corp: Apparently, Big Pharma is behind everything in the world, from paving roads and delivering mail to killing Kennedy, inventing Ben Franklin, polluting the ocean with high-fructose corn syrup, and even your heart medication.
Ms. Fanservice: Cat Black, Lola Spratt, and Valerie Flame.
Network to the Rescue: [adult swim] liked the show so much they financed and aired seasons 2-3 (and counting). It's now one of their top rated programs.
Parody Commercial: For the crime drama parody National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sports Utility Vehicle::. It got its own spin-off.
Previously On: Parodied at the beginning of each episode (including the first one) where they mix old material in with new material that has nothing to do with what previously happened on the show (and often has nothing to do with anything going on in that episode, either).
Put on a Bus: Dr. Blake Downs. To star in the spin-off "Dr. Blake Downs M.D." This is immediately subverted when he comes back the next episode.
Rapid-Fire Comedy: Critics highlight this as one of the show's biggest strengths.
Reset Button: The creators weren't expecting a second season given the online distribution, so the last episode really goes for broke. In the second season, some things get explanations for being fixed (Blake Downs getting his spinoff cancelled), some just happen (Chief going from Eva Longoria to only slightly less crippled Megan Mullally).
Shota Con: Dr.Cat Black has sex with a six year old, but it's okay; he's got an accelerated aging disorder.
Shout Out: Michael Cera's unseen intercom announcer is named Sal Viscuso, after the actor who fulfilled the same function on M*A*S*H.
- In the episode Children's Hospital: A Play in Three Acts, Owen drinks a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
Show Within a Show: Inverted; Childrens Hospital is the show within the show. Behind the scenes episodes reveal Rob Corddry isn't playing Dr. Blake Downs, he's playing an actor named Cutter Spindell who's playing Dr. Blake Downs.
So Unfunny It's Funny: Blake Downs of course.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Valerie Flame for Cat Black. This was lampshaded, with Cat Black being regarded as irreplaceable, followed immediately by Valerie Flame walking in and announcing herself as Cat Black's replacement.
Those Two Guys: Dr. Ed Helms, and Jason Mantzoukas. Though they only appeared in the first season. Ed Helms is a Danza, while Jason Mantzoukas does appear on the show, but does not play Jason Mantzoukas.