Our Miss Brooks / Tropes A to I

Tropes A to I | Tropes J to Z

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Our Miss Brooks provides examples of the following:

• 0% Approval Rating: Mr. Conklin is frequently seen scraping 0% in his popularity amongst the students and faculty of Madison High School. This is mostly due to his strictness, his pompous nature, as well as his occasional unprincipled actions. For example, without authorization, he forces students to go to "School on Saturday" in the episode of the same name. Or pay arbitrary fines, proceeds going to a bust of Mr. Conklin's head to be placed on the pedestal in the library ("Carelessness Code"). Another low moment for Mr. Conklin was his attempt to raise money to renorvate his office from the student body and the faculty. Not only did nobody donate money in the collection box, Walter Denton stole a dime out of the half dollar Mr. Conklin put in to get the ball rolling! There is, however, one student who loves Mr. Conklin. His daughter Harriet!
• Abandoned Warehouse: Miss Brooks and Walter Denton visit the now-abandoned warehouse of the "Jackpot Amusement Company" at the end of "Student Government Day". Miss Brooks pulls the arm of a rigged one-arm bandit machines that had been left behind by the racketeers, winning the jackpot.
• Abandon Ship: In "An American Tragedy", Mr. Conklin, Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton are stranded on a sinking rowboat. Subverted as they are unable to abandon ship, as none of them are wearing lifejackets and only Mr. Boynton can swim.
• Aborted Declaration of Love:
  • In "Stretch the Basketball Star", Mr. Boynton nearly declares his love for Miss Brooks when visiting her classroom. However, he's interrupted by Walter Denton, Mr. Conklin and Stretch Snodgrass.
  • "Tears for Mr. Boynton" sees Miss Brooks follow Mrs. Davis' advice and try to use crying to induce Mr. Boynton to propose. It almost works, but Mrs. Davis returns home with her cat Minerva at just the wrong moment. Miss Brooks finally marries Mr. Boynton at the end of The Movie Grand Finale
• Absurdly Divided School:
  • In "Non-fraternization Policy" (a radio episode), Mr. Conklin is upset that his wife is away from home. So he demands that all male and female faculty members and students at Madison High refrain from talking to one another, except on matters that are strictly due to school business. The order extends to forcing male and female students to eat separately in the school cafeteria.
  • In the television-exclusive season set at Mrs. Nestor's Private Elementary School, a lonely Mrs. Nestor makes the same order. Mr. Conklin, in spite of being hired as principal, is forced to pay a fine for talking to his wife on school property.
• Absurd Phobia: Miss Brooks is generally portrayed as a strong character. However, she has a few fears:
  • Miss Brooks is afriad of snakes. In "Cure That Habit", Miss Brooks is less than pleased by Stretch Snodgrass' milk snake, Clarence. Miss Brooks briefly climbs onto a chair when she thinks Clarence is loose in Mr. Conklin's office.
  • In "A Demonstration of Male Superiority", Miss Brooks and Mrs. Davis are terrified by a mouse. Walter Denton chases it away, and is much amused. Walter also laughs about how Mrs. Conklin and Harriet were scared by a praying mantis. Miss Brooks is shown to be much braver than Walter, Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton. When the four are accidentally locked in a freezer, Miss Brooks is the only one not to panic.
• Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Averted. Harriet Conklin is Student Council president, and she seems to have no power whatsoever. Her father, Mr. Conklin, runs Madison with an iron fist. Similarly, Walter Denton is on the student council, editor of the school paper, and manager of half the school's varsity teams. He has, if possible, even less power. In "Trying to Pick a Fight", Walter calls an extra skull practice. Mr. Boynton chews him out for exceeding his authority.
• Absurdly Youthful Mother: In "The Wrong Mrs. Boynton", Miss Brooks unwittingly offers to masquerade as Mr. Boynton's mother. This is in spite of the fact she is actually a couple of years younger than her Love Interest. It Makes Sense in Context.
• Accidental Bargaining Skills: In "Mr. LeBlanc needs $50", when Mr. Conklin offers Miss Brooks $25 to discourage Mr. LeBlanc from buying his Stutz - Miss Brooks demurs. Mr. Conklin immediately raises his offer to $50.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism: In "Mr. Boynton's Mustache", Miss Brooks encourages Mr. Boynton to grow a mustache. She compliments him on his new appearance, and arranges for other female teachers to do the same. Lo, and behold, Miss Brooks finds she provoked a case of Acquired Situational Narcissism in her Love Interest.
• Adaptational Location Change: The radio series, first three seasons of the concurrent television series and The Movie Grand Finale take place in the Everytown, America setting of Madison. The retooled fourth season of the television series, in a bit of Canon Discontinuity, is set in Los Angeles, specifically the San Fernando Valley area. Surprisingly, Mrs. Davis' old house (and thus Madison High School as well) was said to be in Hollywood. This development was retconned out of existence by the Grand Finale, and never even recognized by the concurrently-running radio program.
• Adaptational Villainy: Mr. Conklin was nothing more than a nuisance and a blowhard during the radio show and first three seasons of the TV show. However, when the show was retooled for the fourth season he was turned into a full-on villain who vowed to make Miss Brooks' life miserable and would even try to get her fired. The two went from being frenemies to just plain enemies.
• Adopt the Food: In "Thanksgiving Turkey", Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton save money by buying a live turkey. Miss Brooks quickly grows fond of the turkey, and refuses to help Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton kill her.
• Adults Dressed as Children:
  • In "Mr. Boynton's Return", Miss Brooks dresses as a small child to get on an airplane free. Given how tall Eve Arden is, it needs to be seen to be believed . . . .
  • Or maybe not. "Borrowing Money to Fly", a radio episode, has Miss Brooks try the same trick, and her dialogue and "little girl voice" are funny in and of itself.
  • "Turnabout Day" sees the Madison High School faculty dress as children. Miss Brooks dresses in the then-current style for teenage girls, while Mr. Conklin wears a propeller beanie and a Mickey Mouse shirt.
• Adventurer Outfit: In "Safari O'Toole", the titular character wears a safari outfit (complete with pith helmet) to Mrs. Davis' birthday party.
• Aerith and Bob: Everybody has fairly standard names, with the exception of Mr. Osgood Conklin. Not to mention Fabian Snodgrass.
• A Fool for a Client: In "Trial By Jury" (a remake of the radio episode "Traffic Court Reckless Driving"), Miss Brooks' defends herself in court after being given a ticket for "speeding, going through a red light, reckless driving, driving on the sidewalk, and hitting a fruit stand. Miss Brooks' expertise as an English teacher instead of a lawyer is evident here, at one point she recites Portia's speech from The Merchant of Venice. Unfortunately, Miss Brooks' defense is doomed from the start as Madison High School's principal Mr. Conklin is on the jury. And he's furious at having to abandon plans for a fishing trip "just because some stubborn female insists on a jury trial for a traffic ticket!" Still Mr. Conklin is at least partially impressed by Miss Brooks' recitation:
  Mr. Conklin: Bravo. Bravo. AND GUILTY AS CHARGED!
• After-School Cleaning Duty: Alluded to occasionally on Our Miss Brooks. In "Spare That Rod!", while cleaning Mr. Conklin's office, Walter Denton and Stretch Snodgrass find an old letter to Mr. Darwell, Mr. Conklin's predecessor as principal. They type Mr. Conklin's name on the ten-year-old envelope . . . Hilarity Ensues.
• Age-Appropriate Angst: The dating concerns of teenagers Walter Denton, Harriet Conklin and Stretch Snodgrass are usually played for laughs. Miss Brooks' problems in her pursuit of Mr. Boynton are often played for laughs, but she elicits considerably more sympathy as well.
• Ageless Birthday Episode: "The Birthday Bag" on television, "The Surprise Party" on the radio.
• Ahem: Sometimes done by Mr. Conklin. For example, when Miss Brooks accidentally telephones him in "Wake Up Plan".
• Alcohol Hic:
  • In "The Loaded Custodians", Miss Brooks sniffs an empty bottle left-behind by the long dismissed Mr. Jensen, the previous custodian. It causes her to hiccup once.
  • "Cure That Habit" has Mr. Conklin mistaken for drunk, in part because he has the hiccups.
• The Alcoholic: Two examples, one real, one fake.
  • "The Loaded Custodians": the former custodian Mr. Jensen was said to have been dismissed for drunkenness. Curiously, in his few radio appearances (i.e. "Key to the School", "School Safety Adviser"), Mr. Jensen isn't a drunk. His main idiosyncrasy is that he's extremely Literal-Minded.
  • "Cure That Habit": Walter Denton plays a prank, sending a postcard in Mr. Conklin's name to the titular agency. The Head of the Board of Education, Mr. Stone, hears of it and comes to see his supposedly drunken principal. Hilarity Ensues as Mr. Conklin is suffering from an unfortunate case of the hiccups, having pets mistakenly placed in his office, and being spun around in a chair.
• A Lesson Learned Too Well: It happens a couple of times when Miss Brooks tries to make Mr. Boynton less Oblivious to Love:
  • In "Poetry Mix-up", Miss Brooks encourages Mr. Boynton to read Cyrano de Bergerac to make him more romantically-inclined. It backfires when Mr. Boynton postpones a date so he could finish reading the book.
  • In "Mr. Boynton's Mustache'' Miss Brooks encourages Mr. Boynton to grow a mustache; she also encourages her female colleagues to compliment his appearance. This was an effort to make Mr. Boynton less shy. It works too well. Mr. Boynton starts dating three other women.
• Alien Invasion: In "Space, Who Needs It?", Walter Denton tricks Mr. Conklin into believing he's being attacked by aliens from a planet he thinks he's just discovered with his new telescope.
• All Cloth Unravels: In "Friday the Thirteenth", Miss Brooks ends up tearing off a lapel on Mr. Conklin's new suit by merely pulling on a loose thread.
• Alleged Car:
  • Miss Brooks' car, when she has one. It's almost always in the shop. In fact, the number of episodes (on either radio and television) where she gets to drive her car can be counted on one hand; namely "Game At Clay City", "Who's Going Where", "Four Leaf Clover", "Brooks' New Car" and "Head of the State Board of Education".
  • Walter Denton's junky jalopy also definitely qualifies;, although it, at least, is usually in working order. However, Walter often drives it sans top or even sides.
  • A one-time offender was Mr. Conklin's second automobile, mostly a Stutz. He tries to unload the lemon on the unsuspecting Mr. LeBlanc in "Mr. LeBlanc Needs $50".
• The Alleged Steed: In "Geraldine", Benny Romero talks Miss Brooks into buying a sixteen-year-old swayback mare for the Miss Nestor's school's riding academy. "Geraldine" does prove to be a horse of unique value: it turns out she's expecting and by episode's end gives birth to triplets. In Real Life, the chances of a mare giving birth to live triplets is 1 in 300,000.
• Alliterative Name: Student athlete "Stretch" Snodgrass. Ironically, in "Madison Mascot", it turns out that not only does he not know what alliterative means, he can't even pronounce the word.
• Alliterative Title:
  • Radio episodes:
    • Arguments, Arguments
    • Conklin's Carelessness Code
    • Pensacola Popovers
    • Pen Pal Project
    • Marriage Madness
  • Television episodes:
    • The Birthday Bag
    • Public Property on Parade
    • Clay City Chaperone
    • Madison Mascot
    • Who's Who
    • Mad Man Munsey
• All Just a Dream: "The Dream", "Magic Christmas Tree" and "Trying to Forget Mr. Boynton".
• All Love Is Unrequited:
  • Averted with Miss Brooks and her Love Interest Mr. Boynton. There, her main problem is that Mr. Boynton is too shy or awkward to make a move; or sometimes just wary of a relationship that would end in marriage. For example, in "The Wrong Mrs. Boynton", Mr. Boynton all but tells Dean Faraday of State University that he would like to someday propose marriage to Connie Brooks. Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks marry at the end of The Movie Grand Finale
  • Played straight with Dumb Jock Stretch Snodgrass and his unrequited love for Harriet Conklin. Harriet just happens to be the girlfriend of his Walter Denton, his best friend. His resultant depression is a problem in "Stretch Has A Problem". Stretch's sitting with Harriet at the movie theater helps set off a fight with a jealous Walter in "Stretch v. Walter Grudge Match". Finally, Stretch's attempt to "worship [Harriet] from afar" by sending her anonymous love letters, sets off the events of "Poetry Mixup".
  • "Poetry Mixup" was remade for television as "Bones, Son of Cyrano". Only instead of Stretch falling for Harriet, it was his brother Bones.
• All-Loving Hero: Connie Brooks is a kind and caring person, who frequently goes out of her way to help her friends, pupils and even perfect strangers. An example of the latter occurs in "The Burglar". Here, Connie catches a man breaking into the house and raiding the refridgerator. Instead of turning him in, Connie and Mrs. Davis share breakfast with the man and get him a job filling in for the school custodian.
• All That Glitters: In the episode "Indian Burial Ground", Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton believe broken toys buried in Mr. Conklin's vacant lot to be valuable Indian artifacts.
• All Witches Have Cats: In "Halloween Party", Mr. Boynton observes that the two figures most associated with Halloween are witches and black cats. Miss Brooks is offended when Mr. Boynton, Stretch Snodgrass and Walter Denton all think that she'd be perfect dressed as a witch for the party. Miss Brooks eventually gives in . . . .
  Miss Brooks: Connie Brooks rides tonight!
• Alma Mater Song: The radio episodes "Clay City English Teacher" and "Mr. Laythrop returns to School" feature the Madison anthem, "O Madison". Miss Brooks adds her own lyrics in parody:
  O Madison!
  Thou Madison!
  (As old as Thomas Addison!)
  O hallowed halls!
  (O basketballs!)
  How short the day!
  (how short the pay!)
  When we gray hair at Madison!
  We'll still be there at Madison!
  (Hello, Clay City!)
• Almost Kiss: In "Magic Christmas Tree", Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton almost kiss under the mistletoe. Unfortunately, Mr. Boynton sneezes as he's allergic to mistletoe. Later, Mr. Boynton kisses Miss Brooks under the influence of the magic christmas tree. However, it turns out both the Almost Kiss and the kiss were All Just a Dream. The actual The Big Damn Kiss doesn't take place under midway through The Movie Grand Finale, although Miss Brooks would steal a few minor kisses over the course of the series.
• Always Identical Twins: Subverted in "Connie and Bonnie" when Miss Brooks impersonates her nonexistent twin. Played straight in "Orphan Twins" with Mike and Danny.
• Always in Class One: As Miss Brooks is the protagonist, and her actual teaching is rarely in focus, it should be largely irrelevant who's in what class. Nevertheless, student characters Walter Denton, Harriet Conklin and Stretch Snodgrass are almost always stated to be in the same class of Miss Brooks'. This, in a school, with multiple English teachers. Notably subverted in the episode "Faculty Cheerleader", when Mr. Conklin assigns the three to different classes to punish Walter.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Harriet Conklin's father Osgood is the unpopular principal of Madison High School. While Harriet loves her father, he does on occasion do things that she finds extremely embarrassing:
  • "Lulu The Pinup Boat" sees Mr. Conklin force Harriet to wear an old dress of her mother to school, in "solemn observance of Education Week". Harriet states all the other students are laughing at her.
  • In "Parlour Game", Mr. Conklin wants to show the family photos to the company (including not only Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton, but Harriet's boyfriend Walter Denton). Harriet states she'll die of embarrassment if anyone sees her baby photo - naked on a bearskin rug.
  • "Cat Burglars", a radio episode, sees Mr. Conklin force Harriet to have a babysitter. Harriet states if the other kids find out, she'll be laughed out of Madison. Mr. Conklin retorts that if that happens, he'll "giggle her back in".
  • In "Home Cooked Meal", Harriet is again embarrassed at Mr. Conklin abusing his privileges as principal to store his family's frozen meat in the school cafeteria.
• Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: In "Blue Goldfish", the titular fish in the aquarium in Mr. Boynton's lab. Miss Brooks initially mistakes it for a tropical fish. The reason it's blue? The fish is cold, because Principal Conklin won't heat the school to a proper temperature.
• Ambulance Chaser: In the episode "Hospital Capers". A lawyer (a literal ambulance chaser) gets Mr. Boynton to sign a contract hiring him a counsel; the contract features a hefty penalty if Mr. Boynton chooses to terminate his representation. When Miss Brooks visits the lawyer, he hands her ever larger magnifying glasses to read the contract's fine print. Lampshaded when the lawyer admits to Miss Brooks that he's been disbarred in several states.
• Amusing Injuries: Sometimes Miss Brooks suffers from klutziness around Osgood Conklin, leaving the choleric Mr. Conklin the victim of a variety of slapstick indignities. "Living Statues" involves her opening the door of the Principal's office and slamming it into his face. A variation occurred in "Here Is Your Past" where Miss Brooks accidentally gets Mr. Conklin to sneeze so badly he dislocates his shoulders and cracks his ribs! In The Movie Grand Finale, Miss Brooks does one better, dropping a barbell on his foot!
  Mr. Conklin: It's alright Miss Brooks. I have another one!
• Angrish: Mr. Conklin, on occasion. The following except is from the episode "Clay City English Teacher":
  Mr. Conklin: Now, see here Brill. I won't have it. You can't do this. I'll have you...
  Mr. Brill: Oh, stop puffing Osgood. You've come to a station.
• An Aesop: In some episodes. Notable amongst them is "Mr. Whipple", which teaches the value of charity and caring for others. Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Mr. Conklin and Walter Denton each give up something to buy food for Mr. Whipple, who they hear has not eaten in a week. In fact, Mr. Whipple is a miserly mult-millionaire, a corporate titan, and government advisor . . . on a diet. He had just talked the school board into not providing Madison High School with a new proper-sized gymnasium. On hearing of their self-sacrifice, Mr. Whipple has modest Heel–Face Turn (he was never an outright villain) and decides to buy them their new clothes, pay for a proper band for the dance, and advise the school board to pay for a new gymnasium after all.
• Amplified Animal Aptitude: Sometimes, the animals on Our Miss Brooks understand perfectly what is going on in the human world. This usually happens on the radio (i.e. "The Frog" (where a tomcat calls for Mrs. Davis' pet cat Minerva via telephone), "Selling the House Next Door" (Miss Brooks babysits a dog, a cat, a frog and an actual baby), and "Minerva's Kittens" ("Minerva's husband" faints when he's told he's a father). It occasionally happens on television too, such as in "Blue Goldfish" where Mr. Boynton greets his pet frog Macdougall and the amphibian gives his typical "glug" in return. Or in "The Magic Christmas Tree" and "Citizen's League" where Minerva reacts to talk of fish or mice.
• And That's Terrible: In "The Egg", Mr. Conklin is the Designated Villain for wanting to take a photograph of a hatching chick. Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks are worried the chick will be harmed by the flashbulbs.
• Animal Reaction Shot: Mrs. Davis' pet cat Minerva and Mr. Boynton's pet frog Mcdougall occasionally take an interest in people's conversations. For example, in "The Magic Tree", Mrs. Davis' cat Minerva reacts furiously to Miss Brooks' recital of "A Visit From St. Nicholas"
  Miss Brooks: T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse . . . .
  Minerva: MEOW!
  Miss Brooks: Oops. Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, Minerva.
• Animal Testing: Part of Mr. Boynton's job as a Biology Teacher is to experiment on animals. For Science! of course. Miss Brooks seems slightly squeamish about the whole thing. It's played for laughs, if anything. One episode, "New Girl In Town", has Miss Brooks assist Mr. Boynton bury mice killed for the cause in the school athletic field. Harriet Conklin, jealous of and attempting to scare off said new girl, implies to the girl's mother that Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks are burying human victims.
• Animated Credits Opening: In the program's original primetime run, the last (1955-1956) season featured the animated opening seen here
• Annoying Laugh:
  • Mrs. Davis' sister Angela has a high pitched laugh, like a schoolgirl. The annoyance comes from the fact that she's a short, middle-aged woman. It's especially notable in the episode "Angela's Wedding".
  • Walter Denton has a high, discordant laugh to go along with his squeaky teenage voice. In "Mr. Leblanc Needs $50" his girlfriend Harriet Conklin walks up to him while he's laughing:
    Harriet: How long have you been standing there, cackling to yourself?
• Anti-Climactic Parent:
  • In "Former Student Visits", Miss Brooks is worried that a visiting former student (who's now a doctor) will reveal her true age (her early thirties) to Mr. Boynton's mother. Mr. Boynton's mother was advising her son to marry a young woman. The cat gets out of the bag; fortunately Miss Brooks' former student's father was a student of Mr. Boynton's mother in elementary school. The elder Mrs. Boynton then suggests her son marry a woman his age.
  • In The Movie Grand Finale, the elder Mrs. Boynton appears near the end of the picture. Agreeing to board with Mrs. Davis, she frees Phillip Boynton to marry Connie Brooks and give Connie a much deserved and long desired Happily Ever After.
• Anti-School Uniforms Plot: A variation in the 1949 episode, "Dress Code Protest". Madison High's students proclaim a "Spirit Week". This festival is described by Miss Brooks as a "malevolent Mardi-Gras" where the kids wear outlandish clothes each day of the week. One such day was "Girls wear slacks, boys wear one shoe only. In response to the weeks' "festivities", Principal Conklin institutes a strict dress clothes - among other things, banning girls from wearing pants to school. Walter Denton decides to protest the dress code by wearing clothes banned to the distaff side of Madison High - so he shows up wearing a dress.
• April Fools' Plot:
  • The plot in the radio and tv episodes "Cure That Habit" result from Walter Denton sending a postcard to the titular organization in principal Osgood Conklin's name. "Cure That Habit" is a firm that provides treatment for alcoholism. Hilarity Ensues when the president of "Cure That Habit" informs the head of the board of education of Mr. Conklin's "drunkenness".
  • Again, the radio episode "Free TV From Sherry's", and its Sound-to-Screen Adaptation "Wild Goose" centers on another of Walter Denton's April Fool's Day jokes on Mr. Conklin. This time, Walter tricks Conklin into thinking he's won a free television set from Sherry's Department Store. Hilarity Ensues when Conklin sends Miss Brooks to pick up the television set.
• The Artifact:
  • Walter Denton driving Miss Brooks to school was an artifact from the first audition show with actress Shirley Booth. There, Mrs. Davis has a teenaged daughter whom Walter Denton was dating. Mrs. Davis' daughter dumped Walter, leaving him to reluctantly take Miss Brooks to school. Mrs. Davis' daughter was adapted out by the time Eve Arden auditioned for the role, leaving it unexplained how it came about that Walter drives Miss Brooks to school almost every morning. One supposes it's just because Walter's a Teacher's Pet.
  • "Stretch" Snograss' nickname was an artifact from the radio episode where he was first introduced, "Stretch the Basketball Star." His nickname is said to come about from the fact he's six foot five inches tall. When the program went to television, its readily apparent Leonard Smith, the actor who played Snodgrass, was nowhere near that height (and is, about the height of Eve Arden). Its never again explained how he became known as "Stretch." The fact is lampshaded in the episode "Baseball Slide."
    Miss Brooks (in greeting): Why, Stretch.
    Stretch Snodgrass: I don't know. That's what everybody calls me.
• Artistic Title: In syndication, Our Miss Brooks has the title and opening credits appearing on a blackboard. One of the openings used during the show's run had the opening credits also appearing on a blackboard, with Miss Brooks herself erasing them - only for the next set of credits to appear to the consternation of a confused Miss Brooks!
• Ash Face: In "Home Cooked Meal", Mr. Conklin ends up with a face full of soot after he lights a match in a kitchen filled with gas. Conklin also ends up covered in roast turkey.
• Aside Comment: Miss Brooks makes aside comments sometimes, under the guise of talking to herself. This is more prevalent on the radio than on television.
• Aside Glance: Miss Brooks does this a few times in the the theatrical series finale, i.e. her confused expression upon meeting Mrs. Davis. However, her expressions were very much testament of her feelings rather than an attempt to break the fourth wall.
• A Simple Plan: "The Birthday Bag" sees Miss Brooks' friends try to throw her a surprise birthday party and buy her an alligator skin purse as a gift. Hilarity Ensues.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: Miss Brooks sometimes resorts to giving a stupid answer in response.
• Asleep in Class:
  • In "Stretch Is In Love Again", star athlete Stretch Snodgrass' late nights "rumbering" cause him to fall asleep in school. In this case, it's not the dimwitted student's marks that are at stake, but Madison's winning the big football game with Clay City High.
  • Another episode has Walter Denton accidently blurt to Miss Brooks that he sometimes takes "forty winks" in his class, because his teacher would have to be a "cockeyed wonder" to see him napping in his seat behind Stretch. To Walter's horror, he realizes Miss Brooks is the "cockeyed wonder" to whom he was referring.
• Assembly Line Fast-Forward: In "Vitamin E-4", Mr. Conklin, Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton make a mess when manufacturing the eponymous "vitamin".
• Auction: In "The Auction", a radio episode remade for television, Madison High School holds an auction to raise funds for children's playground equipment. A local philanthropist even donates an entire house full of furniture. Hilarity Ensues when Dumb Jock Stretch Snodgrass mixes up addresses, and Miss Brooks inadvertently auctions off Mr. Conklin's furniture instead:
  Miss Brooks: Mr. Conklin . . . it was your house! . . . Well, there's only one way to settle this. Gather round, folks, gather round. What am I bid for me and Stretch Snodgrass?
• Audio Adaptation: Many television episodes were Sound To Screen Adaptations of the radio program. But a few episodes of the television program would also be remade for the radio. For example, "June Bride", the first season finale, was remade into "Marriage by Proxy".
• Authority in Name Only: Oliver Munsee, Vice Principal of Mrs. Nestor's Private Elementary School. He's the brother of Winona Nestor and (later) of Ruth Nestor. He has no authority, and, by his own admission, is the "most useless vice principal in the country".
• A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: In "Library Quiz", Miss Brooks dates an amorous butler pretending to be his wealthy employer.
• Axes at School: An unusual example from "Swap Week". The high school students are bartering a wide variety of odds and ends, encouraged by a new student named Larry Clayson. At one point, the principal, Mr. Conklin, traded for a shotgun and is practicing aiming it when Harriet (Mr. Conklin's daughter) walks into the room. She jokes "Oh, you got me!". Later, Mr. Conklin trades the shotgun to Walter Denton for a partial interest in his jalopy. Walter is seen carrying the gun across the Cafeteria. The episode first aired December 11, 1953, and is now a glaring example of Values Dissonance.
• Babysitting Episode: In "Babysitting for Three", Miss Brooks investigates to see why an honour student has been absent from school for the past several days. It turns out that his mother's in the hospital, and his father's a traveling salesman out-of-town. Miss Brooks' roped into babysitting his three small brothers (including a baby), while her teen student visits his mother. At the end, it turns out the teen has a(nother) baby brother.
• Backseat Driver: In "Game At Clay City", Mr. Conklin appoints himself navigator and gives a steady stream of orders to Miss Brooks.
• Back to School: The episode "Mr. Lathrop Returns to School". Mr. Lathrop (voiced by Jim Backus) is a successful entrepreneur and self-made man, choosing to return to school to complete his high school diploma. Unfortunately, Mr. Lathrop insists on rearranging school clubs and school management in the manner of a corporation, and being a friend of the Head of the Board, is able to do this unopposed. Miss Brooks resorts to a Zany Scheme; she invites her landlady Mrs. Davis and one of Mrs. Davis' elderly friends to go in a new class with Mr. Lathrop. Mr. Lathrop flees Madison High School when he finds himself in a combination sewing circle and day nursery for Mrs. Davis' friends' grandchild.
• Bad "Bad Acting": In "Acting Director", the school faculty tries to impress a visiting talent scout from Warner Bros.. Features over-the-top bad acting from Mr. Conklin, Mr. Munsee, Mr. Talbot. The episode ends when Miss Brooks herself tries to impress with an overemotional (and dressed) portrayal of Lady Godiva!
• Bad Boss: Mr. Conklin is a pompous, overbearing, Screw the Rules, I Make Them! Dean Bitterman. Amongst the staff and students at Madison High School he scores a 0% Approval Rating - with the exception of his daughter Harriet. Still, Conklin actualy does have the best interest of the high school in mind, and he's often shown to have a Hidden Heart of Gold. That said, his relationship to Miss Brooks is best described as that of a Friendly Enemy.
• Bad Date: Miss Brooks often suffered from variations on the trope in her relationship with Mr. Boynton. In part, this was mostly because Mr. Boynton was Adorkable and Oblivious to Love - his favorite place to take Miss Brooks was the zoo. they finally end up marrying at the end of The Movie Grand Finale. Some notable bad dates follow:
  • In the radio episode "The Frog", Miss Brooks tries to relocate her next date by getting a pet female frog . . . and going on a double-date with Mr. Boynton and his pet frog Macdougall. Hilarity Ensues when Mr. Boynton also brings over a tomcat to date landlady Mrs. Davis' cat Minerva.
  • Another radio episode, "Valentine's Day Date", sees Miss Brooks conspire to get Mr. Boynton to take her to a restaurant. "Turk's Turkey Heaven".
  • A television episode "Madame Brooks du Barry" has Brooks and Boynton initially having a good date at the country club. Mr. Boynton, borrowing Teacher's Pet Walter Denton's car, runs out of gas on a lonely country road (likely due to Denton's scheming). Mr. Boynton takes this as prompting to take a nap until morning. Brooks and Boynton finally get gasoline from the milkman in the morning.
• Bad Liar: Mr. Boynton is a terrible liar. In "Trial by Jury", it's revealed the very act of lying gives him a psychosomatic case of the hiccouphs.
• Bad Luck Charm: "Four Leaf Clover" has Miss Brooks find the unlucky charm. Lo and behold, all four tires of Miss Brooks' car blow, she's forced to pay a large fine for stepping on a lawn, she knocks over a table of trinkets in front of the store, is threatened with arrest by a policeman, and is finally quarantined in the same building as Mr. Conklin. Miss Brooks gives the unlucky clover to a dishonest car mechanic.
• Badly Battered Babysitter: Miss Brooks falls victim to this trope in "Babysitting for Three", "Babysitting New Year's Eve" and "Measles".
• Bad to the Last Drop: Mrs. Davis' coffee was usually fine (the time she made "Bulgarian Coffee" notwithstanding). However, being a Cordon Bleugh Chef, Mrs. Davis sometimes makes horrid liquid (albeit non-alcoholic) drinks that are truly Bad to the Last Drop.
• Barbershop Episode:
  • In the radio episode, "The Hair-Do", Miss Brooks goes to the beauty salon. Sitcom Arch-Nemesis Daisy Enright tells Antoine to give Miss Brooks an inappropriate hairdo.
  • To a lesser degree, "Fargo Whiskers". Harriet advises Miss Brooks that she can get more interest from Mr. Boynton by changing her hairstyle. Miss Brooks goes to the hairdresser and gets a hairstyle with three buns on the side and the back. Later, Miss Brooks tries a series of wigs. Unfortunately, some misinformation from Miss Brooks' landlady Mr. Davis makes Mr. Boynton think that Miss Brooks is only getting new hairstyles is because Brooks' suffering from overwork.
• Barely-There Swimwear: In the episode "Friday the Thirteenth"; while looking through a photo album with Mrs. Davis, Connie finds a photo of herself in a "French model bathing suit". The picture's described as unsuitable for the yearbook, although Walter Denton and Stretch Snodgrass are very impressed with the revealing photo nonetheless.
• The Bartender: In "Babysitting New Year's Eve", Mrs. Davis has a friend who's a bartender. She invites him over to prepare the punch for her New Year's party. Mrs. Davis' bartender friend is allowed New Year's off as a condition of his employment. The reason? The bartender hates drunks.
• Baths Are Fun: In "Stretch Has A Problem", Miss Brooks' "feet were ready to come off" participating in a snake dance. The rally was held in honor of the Madison High School basketball team's departure to the state tournament. The sore and tired Miss Brooks spends the rest of the episode trying to take a bath. Alas, she's continually interrupted by somebody coming to the door before she can get into the tub:
  Miss Brooks: (singing, while filling the bathtub with water) Singing in the bathtub, nothing can go wrong. Singing in the bathtub . . . .
  Doorbell rings
  Miss Brooks: (singing) Oh, I should live so long!
• Batman Gambit: Occasionally used by Miss Brooks to have Mr. Conklin or Mr. Stone go along with her ideas - or to help someone get out of trouble.
  • In "New School TV Set" (a radio episode), Miss Brooks has everyone talk like a cowboy to demonstrate the deleterious effect the television had on the students and faculties alike (in the 1950s, with certain exceptions, Westerns dominated television schedules). Mr. Stone, in exasperation, demands the television set be disposed of.
  • In "Turnabout Day" (a television episode), when students act as teachers and teachers as students, Miss Brooks protects Walter Denton from being expelled for forging a letter from Mr. Stone approving the event. Miss Brooks uses gossip she heard about Mr. Stone's recent absent-mindedness to convince him he forgot approving the letter and should go on vacation immediately. Miss Brooks also gets Mr. Stone to give her and Mr. Boynton a free trip to the (well-chaperoned) vacation lodge in Eagle Springs.
• Batman in My Basement: In "The Jockey", Miss Brooks and Mrs. Davis hide a jockey and his racehorse in their garage until he can win a big race and pay his debts.
• Batman Parody: In the episode "New School TV Set" (aired 1951), Miss Brooks and Mrs. David criticize the television set at school as scholastically and culturally useless. All the students were watching were westerns, murder mysteries and horror stories. Miss Brooks remarks that there was one semi-educational program on the day before, "The Batman Eat Up The Dean of Harvard" - suggesting Miss Brooks is joking, but doesn't realize who or what Batman is.
• Batty Lip Burbling: In "Hobby Show" (a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of "The Workhorse"), Miss Brooks' friends try to relax her by throwing her a hobby afternoon. Miss Brooks ends up attempting to finger-paint (Harriet Conklin), play with model trains (Walter Denton), knit (Mrs. Davis), play chess (Mr. Boynton), and fix toys to donate to needy children (Mr. and Mrs. Conklin) all at the same time. Miss Brooks ends the episode laughing hysterically and burbling her lips.
• Bavarian Fire Drill: Mr. Conklin places himself in charge practically everywhere he goes. This is in spite of the fact that his authority as principal is really only good at Madison High School. The "Thanksgiving Show" is a good example. Mr. Conklin arrives at Mrs. Davis' house and quickly puts himself in command, ordering about the others in the setup of the dining room table.
• Beautiful Dreamer: At the end of "Wake Up Plan", Mr. Boynton falls asleep on a chair in the hall. Miss Brooks doesn't wake him up, but sits beside him. Mr. Boynton whistles in his sleep!
• Beleaguered Assistant: In "The Dancer", Miss Brooks discusses with Mrs. Davis the fact that Mr. Conklin can never hold onto a secretary. Fed up with being yelled at by the hotheaded principal, they inevitably quit. The newest secretary quit before she started, she heard Mr. Conklin yelling at her predecessor. The result? Miss Brooks is forced to play the role of Mr. Conklin's beleaguered assistant when he finds himself without a secretary . . . Hilarity Ensues.
• Beleaguered Boss: Mr. Stone, the head of the board of education, is sometimes pulled into an embarrassing situation by the actions of the Madison High Gang. Other times he is merely annoyed. This is in spite of the fact that, although eccentric, principal Mr. Conklin and biology teacher Mr. Boynton are usually showed to quite intelligent. Miss Brooks is usually the Only Sane Woman, but is not herself immune from taking part in a Zany Scheme.
  • In "Living Statues", Walter Denton's miracle paint sticks Denton, Boynton, Brooks and Conklin to the furniture in MR. Conklin's office. Mr. Stone, after furiously denouncing them for lampooning his authority with a "grotesque tableau", gets his hand stuck to the telephone receiver.
  • "Vitamin E-12" sees Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin desperate for money. They are each deceived by a confidence man into taking jobs manufacturing the titular (and phony) vitamin. Mr. Stone arrives to raid the place along with a police detective, shocked that people of their mentality could be so fooled.
  • "Bobbsey Twins in Stir": Another confidence man fools Miss Brooks' landlady Mrs. Davis into peddling phony tickets to the policeman's ball, proceeds going to charity. Miss Brooks, not knowing the tickets are phony, peddles the tickets at school. With the help of Bones Snodgrass, she makes copies in the school print shop when she runs short so as to keep up demand.
    Mr. Stone: I am informed that not only are these tickets forgeries, but they are forgeries of the original forgeries.
  • In "Hawkin's Travel Agency" (radio and television), Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin all wear costumes to represent France, Mexico and Hawaii in order to convince Mr. Stone to join them on a (discount) trip to their preferred vacation destination. They also sing in costume!
• Beta Couple: The alpha couple was Miss Brooks' slow romance with Oblivious to Love Phillip Boynton. In the background, was the often goofy teenaged romance of beta couple Walter Denton and Harriet Conklin.
• Betty and Veronica: Miss Enright was another, more glamorous English teacher who competed with Miss Brooks for Boynton's affection.
• Beware of Vicious Dog: Mr. Whipple's guard dogs in the episode "Mr. Whipple".
• Big Brother Is Watching: The point of Mr. Conklin's "Project X" in the episode of the same name. Mr. Conklin's system allows him to listen in to what's going on in every room in the school, including the female faculty room, the boiler room, and the roof.
• The Big Damn Kiss: In The Movie Grand Finale, Mr. Boynton is jealous of Miss Brooks spending time with millionaire Lawrence Nolan. Wondering how he can compete with a millionaire, Miss Brooks suggests that "a good offense is the best defense." Mr. Boynton is initially clueless as per normal. Suddenly, he has a "Eureka!" Moment, his eyes lights up, goes back to the Mrs. Davis' door and passionately kisses Miss Brooks. Something he hadn't had nerve to do for the previous eight years of radio or eight years of television.
  Miss Brooks: Like, wow.
• The Big Easy: In one episode, Mr. Boynton falsely claims to have learnt some French serving in the army during the war. A skeptical Miss Brooks counters that Mr. Boynton was stationed in the United States, and he knew it. Mr. Boynton insists that he was stationed in New Orleans, and spent a lot of time in the French Quarter.
• Big Fancy House:
  • Mr. Whipple, in the episode of the same name, lives in mansion guarded by vicious dogs.
  • In the cinematic series finale the Nolans live in a large mansion, complete with a butler and additional servants.
• Big Friendly Dog: The eponymous dog in "Peanuts, The Great Dane".
• Big Secret:
  • In "Stolen Aerial," Miss Brooks is able to get a discount from a wolfish television repairman who wants to go out with her. Miss Brooks is advised to keep her discount a secret so as not to get many more freeloaders wanting the same deal. Too late, Mrs. Davis and Walter Denton had already let the cat out of the bag. Miss Brooks gets deluged with broken aerials and even television sets needing repair. However, Miss Brooks keeps her promise; she hides the real reason for her sudden television-equipment windfall from Mr. Conklin. Unfortunately, the television repairman had accidentally lent Miss Brooks Mr. Conklin's checkered television aerial. Mr. Conklin concludes Miss Brooks is a "female Fagin", using Mr. Boynton and several high school students to run a television-equipment theft ring.
  • The Big Secret trope again appears in "The Jewel Robbery." Mr. Conklin accidentally breaks a jewelry store window when carrying a bad a laundry to the cleaners. Conklin believes the police want him for the inadvertent vandalism. In reality, they're looking for a thief who had robbed the jewelry store a short time before.
• Big Storm Episode: In the episode "Radio Bombay", Miss Brooks and the Madison High gang are convinced that a fierce hurricane is on the way. The only problem is that the broadcast they're listening to originates from Bombay, India . . . .
• Big Word Shout: "Now GO!", Mr. Conklin's favored expression when ordering someone out of his office. He make extensive use of this trope on other occasions as well!
• Bindle Stick: In "Miss Brooks Writes About a Hobo", the "Earl of Peoria" is mentioned as carrying a bindle stick. Later, when Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Walter Denton, Mr. Conklin, and Mrs. Davis masquerade as hobos in order to apprehend the titular hobo, they also have bindle sticks in their gear.
• Birthday Episode / Birthday Party Goes Wrong: A mild example is the episode "The Birthday Bag" (a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of the radio episode "The Surprise Party"). The Conklins are throwing Miss Brooks a surprise birthday party at six o'clock, however, she visits the Conklins to try and buy a purse from Harriet at five o'clock. As a result, when Miss Brooks' friends arrive at the house to help setup the party, they each exclaim "MISS BROOKS!"
  Miss Brooks: If anyone says Miss Brooks once more, I'm going to change my name to Elsie Pumpernickel!
  • While the surprise was partially ruined, the party eventually goes off well with everyone giving Miss Brooks her present, and singing Happy Birthday!
• Black Comedy Burst: At the crisis point in the theatrical series finale, a depressed Miss Brooks jokes about playing Russian Roulette.
• Blackmail: In "Threat to Abolish Football", Miss Brooks, Walter Denton and Stretch Snodgrass derail Mr. Conklin's threat to abolish football through blackmail. Mr. Conklin had been using the school shop class to fix his roof, an act that could get him fired. Mr. Conklin relents and allows football to continue at Madison High School. However, Mr. Conklin gets the last laugh. He arm-twists Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton into shingling his roof.
• Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: In the episode "Mr. Boynton's Barbeque", Mr. Boynton prepares a "mild" hot sauce for his cookout as he believes his usual sauce would be too much for his guests. Miss Brooks and Walter Denton cook up a blazing mixture of tabasco and horseradish to spring on Miss Brooks' rival Miss Enright. However, a mix-up results in Miss Brooks receiving her own doctored dish. No matter, Miss Brooks can hold her hot sauce. She eats calmly and remains a Deadpan Snarker throughout. The same can't be said of Miss Enright and Mr. Conklin. They eat Mr. Boynton's supposedly minor sauce and run away practically screaming for water!
• Blinding Camera Flash: The obnoxious reporter in "The Model Teacher" subjects Miss Brooks to several.
• Blind Without 'Em: Mr. Conklin and Mrs. Davis. Mr. Conklin suffers this trope with a vengeance in "Living Statues" and "Cure That Habit".
• Blipvert: In "The Auction", Miss Brooks suggests a blipvert to cheaply advertize a charity auction at Madison High School:
  Mr. Conlin: Miss Brooks, do you have any idea how much a thirty second spot announcement costs?
  Miss Brooks: Well, we don't have to buy thirty seconds. We can buy about five, and say something quick, like "Today. Auction. Madison High School."
  Harriet Conklin: But Miss Brooks. That sounds like we're auctioning off the school.
  Miss Brooks: Is that bad?. I mean, if the object is just to lure people over . . . .
  Mr. Conklin: Any feasible suggestions?
• Bluff Worked Too Well: In "Do-It-Yourself". Miss Brooks wants to borrow Mr. Conklin's tools to build herself a night-table . . . unfortunately, Mr. Conklin won't lend his tools to amateurs. Walter Denton "helps" Miss Brooks by describing her as an expert carpenter, who even built her landlady, Mrs. Davis, a gazebo in the backyard. Mr. Conklin, instead of lending Miss Brooks his tools, decides to have Miss Brooks build him a new garage.
• Blunt Metaphors Trauma: Stretch Snodgrass is prone to this, along with his generally mangled grammar. For example, he once says "let's put all of our heads together". Another time ("Two Way Stretch Snodgrass") he mentions having a "king in his lingament".
• Book Smart: Harriet Conklin, usually scoring marks in the 90% range. In the episode "The English Test", a whole row of students tries to copy off her! In contrast, her Love Interest Walter Denton is a shrewd High-School Hustler but very much in the Book Dumb category.
• Bookworm: Mr. Boynton. In "Bones, Son of Cyrano", Mr. Boynton goes so far as to break a date with Miss Brooks so he can finish Cyrano de Bergerac.
• Born in the Saddle: Tex Barton, a teenaged cowboy who makes a few radio appearances.
• The Boxing Episode: "Walter vs. Stretch Grudge Match" concludes with a boxing match between Walter Denton and Stretch Snodgrass.. Miss Brooks is the ringside announcer, and Mr. Conklin is the referee.
• Brains and Brawn: Generally describes the friendship between High-School Hustler Walter Denton and his best friend, Dumb Jock Stretch Snodgrass. Sometimes applies to Stretch's brother Bones as well. In the two different radio episodes titled "The Moving Van", the two teenage pals go into the moving business. Walter outright states that he's the brains of the operation. In one version, "Stretch" is the brawn. In the other, "Bones.
• Brief Accent Imitation: In "The Miserable Cabelleros", Miss Brooks briefly imitates her eleven-year-old friend Benny Romero's accent. Once as a light joke, and the second time to test Mr. Conklin's resolve in sending the boy home to his uncle.
• British Stuffiness: The very British public school headmaster in "Hello, Mr. Chips." While quintessentially British, he's a youngish man who gets around fairly well with everyone at Madison. Mr. Conklin, interesting enough, was expecting a much stricter man and had even dictated that Miss Brooks (and the rest of the faculty) wear funereal black so as not to hurt his sensibilities.
• Broken Glass Penalty: Completely subverted in the episode "Two Way Stretch". Mr. Conklin begins to reprimand Stretch Snodgrass for kicking a football through the window of his inner office:
  Mr. Conklin: I thought I told you to confine your practicing to the other end of the field.
  Stretch Snodgrass: But I did Mr. Conklin. That's where I kicked it from.
  Mr. Conklin: Well, there's actually no excuse in the world for you to... nice kick boy!
• Buffy Speak: Teenage Walter Denton, although a great one for Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness, sometimes mixes advanced vocabulary, current slang and awkward phrasing. The following example is a petition he writes for the episode "Cafeteria Boycott". Note the oddball combination of 50's slang, extensive "borrowing" from the Declaration of Independence, and assorted legalese:
  Walter Denton: Whereas and to wit—
  Miss Brooks: That's pretty strong language, isn't it? A little on the pink side.
  Harriet Conklin: Listen, Miss Brooks.
  Walter Denton: When in the course of student's events, it becomes necessary to turn one's back on one's stomach, we the undersigned, exercising our constitutional right to peaceably assemble, and to form a committee to seek the redress of grievances, do hereby announce our firm intention of the Madison High School Cafeteria only to use the tables, chairs, water, napkins and toothpicks provided therein. Until such a time that the duly appointed party or parties, namely Mr. Osgood Conklin, principal, or the Board of Education, responsible for the operational bog-down that has befallen this installation, do take such action that will improve the food, lower the prices and better the service in said cafeteria. It is also recommended the person, or persons, in whom this authority is vested, immediately see that the present chef in charge of preparing the food, and without any further frippery or fanfare, chuck him the heck off the premises. Well, Miss Brooks, what do you think of it?
  Miss Brooks: How much do you want for the picture rights?
• Buried Treasure: The promise of a large reward sees Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton search for a lost Indian Burial Ground in the episode "Indian Burial Ground".
• Busman's Vocabulary: Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Mr. Conklin and Miss Enright are erudite on and off the job.
• Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: In "First Day", Miss Brooks is flustered trying to make a good impression on principal Osgood Conklin. Having awkwardly asked a question of her class, at first Miss Brooks receives no response.
  Miss Brooks: Hands please. No hands? You've all got them, you know, haha. Just look at the ends of your sleeves, ahaha. Oh, there's a hand! Winona. I can always depend on Winona. Who wrote those lines, Winona?
  Winona: I don't know. I just want to leave the room.
• Call of the Wild Blue Yonder: At the beginning of "Surprise Party", Miss Brooks dreams about literally flying away with Mr. Boynton:
  Mr. Boynton: Ah, my darling Constance! You're so lovely! So desirable! I feel I could fly on the wings of our love! Won't you join me Constance, on a flight to paradise?
  Miss Brooks: Contact!
• Calvinball: In the episode "Parlor Game", Miss Brooks invents a convoluted parlor game in order to annoy Mr. Conklin and, in so doing, convince him to allow his family to go out for the evening.
• The Cameo: Desi Arnaz makes a brief appearance in "King and Brooks".
• Captive Audience: Anytime there's a school event or assembly, Mr. Conklin makes it mandatory for students and teachers to attend. The fact the event is happening outside school hours is rarely an excuse, especially for Miss Brooks.
• Cannot Tell a Joke: Mr. Boynton is rarely if ever able to tell a joke in a way that would be funny. The humor comes from the lameness of his attempt, and Miss Brooks' response - although, Miss Brooks once mentions she loves this corniness.
• Canon Discontinuity: Due to Executive Meddling, the final season of the TV series had Madison High torn down for a freeway, and Miss Brooks sent off to teach at a L.A. private elementary school. The radio series ignored this development, and continued at Madison High as per usual. When the cinematic grand finale was released the following winter, it also ignored the final TV season. At the end of the movie, Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton marry and live Happily Ever After.
• Canon Foreigner: Lonely Rich Kid Gary Nolan and his neglectful father, Lawrence Nolan, only appear in The Movie Grand Finale. The resentful and neglected Gary provides Miss Brooks with a student to tutor to show just how good a teacher she is. Lawrence Nolan becomes a Disposable Love Interest, he provides a good dose of jealousy that shakes Miss Brooks' longtime Love Interest Mr. Boynton into action. He finally gives Miss Brooks a Big Damn Kiss, they move onto First-Name Basis, and (through some last minute scheming by Miss Brooks' landlady Mrs. Davis) Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks at last get married.
• Career Versus Man:
  • In a few episodes, Miss Brooks' intention is said to be to retire from teaching and raise a family after she's married (i.e. "The Wrong Mrs. Boynton"). This is in spite of the fact she is a good teacher, dreamed of being one since childhood (i.e "Here is Your Past") and (mostly) enjoys it. It's just that being a full-time wife and mother seems to be part of Miss Brooks' Series Goal after marrying Mr. Boynton.
  • It's unclear if Miss Brooks would even be able to continue on at Madison High School after her marriage, should she want to. The program ran from 1948-1956 at a time of different societal expectations. In an early radio episode, "Head of the English Department", the departing woman in the position retires when she's going to have a baby. On the other hand, in "Aunt Mattie Boynton", Mr. Boynton talks with reverence about his aunt who taught several subjects at school and took care of her husband and nine children. So it may be a matter of preference.
  • In "The Wrong Mrs. Boynton and "June Bride" Mr. Conklin is afraid that Miss Brooks will immediately quit her job upon marrying. This would cause him the trouble of having to promptly look for a replacement teacher. Miss Brooks' retirement from teaching is assumed by Mr. Boynton when he's finally ready to propose in the The Movie Grand Finale. Boynton is saving his money so he'll be able to support the a wife. Although Connie Brooks and Phillip Boynton marry at the end of The Movie. However, it's never mentioned if Miss Brooks retires from teaching immediately, or waits until their first child to be housewife full-time.
• Caretaker Reversal: A Caretaker Reversal revolving door, in "Old Age Plan."
  • The story begins with Mrs. Davis having cared for her sister Angela, and falling ill from Angela's complaining. By the end of the episode, Mrs. Davis has recovered and Angela has again become ill from Mrs. Davis' complaining.
  • Meanwhile, Miss Brooks had spent the episode shilling Mrs. Davis and Angela's club's old age plan to Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin. The two men end up suffering psychosomatic symptoms of old age.
  • Miss Brooks decides to invite them over to Mrs. Davis' house, and fake the symptoms of old age to distract Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin from their symptoms. The climax of the episode has Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin rapidly experiencing illness and being placed on the sofa with a blanket and ice pack in turn.
• Carrying a Cake: Several episodes see Miss Brooks accidentally collide with Mr. Conklin, lunch in hand.
• Catchphrase: Walter's "Hiya, Miss Brooks!", Conklin's "...now GO" when trying to get rid of someone.
• Catch Your Death of Cold: The trope appears in any episode where Mr. Conklin is being particularly stingy in maintaining the school's heat; most notably "Blue Goldfish".
• Cats Are Lazy: Minerva, Mrs. Davis' pet cat, has her moments:
  • In "The Frog", Minerva spends all day sleeping inside the piano.
  • In "The Magic Tree", Minerva gets drunk sipping on pine needles. She then spends hours sleeping in Miss Brooks' lap as they rock in a chair:
    Miss Brooks: Jingle Bells!
    Jingle Bells!
    Merry stuff like that!
    Oh what fun it is to rock!
    With a big fat drunken cat!
• Cats Have Nine Lives: In The Movie Grand Finale, Mr. Boynton wishes to tell Mrs. Davis something in "the strictest confidence. He finally wants to propose to Miss Brooks. Thus prompted, Mrs. Davis sends her cat Minerva out of the back door. The conversation over, Mrs. Davis allows Minerva back inside. Mrs. Davis remarks to Boynton that she bets Minerva would "give eight of her nine lives to know what it was all about."
• Chain of Deals: In "Bartering With Chief Thundercloud", Miss Brooks sets up a chain of deals to get a new coat. Unfortunately, Chief Thundercloud cuts in and ruins her scheme . . . that is, until it turns out the patient and longsuffering Mrs. Thundercloud demands the chief get her a housecoat from Miss Brooks.
  Chief Thundercloud: Squaw, be quiet!
• Chaos Architecture: In the theatrical series finale, most of the Warner Brother's sets are similar to those previously used on the Desilu produced television episodes. The sets are, however, more elaborate as befitting the concluding film's theatrical release. The one major difference is Mr. Boynton's biology lab. Shown previously as essentially a small office with some cages and posters, it is seen as an enormous darkened classroom with many cages and aquariums.
• Chaos While They're Not Looking: Typically the case with Miss Brooks and Miss Enright. They are both in love with Mr. Boynton. Although they engage in Snark-to-Snark Combat when alone together, they tend to hold the insults while Mr. Boynton is around. Examples include "Second-hand First Aid", "The Big Game" and "Four Fiancees".
• Character Narrator: After a brief introduction by the announcer, Miss Brooks provides her own brief introduction and a few lines of narration after sponsor breaks or sets up the scene for the episode. This is mostly confined to the radio, however Miss Brooks occasionally provides narration on television as well. Most notably "Who's Who" in the fourth season.
• Character Title: The show's named for Constance (Connie) Brooks of course!
• Chatty Hairdresser: Antoine, who runs a beauty saloon in the episode The Hair-do. He admits to Miss Brooks that he doesn't like Miss Enright, though she sends him many customers. Later, Miss Enright leans on him to give Miss Brooks a funny hair treatment. The character is played by character actor Frank Nelson, in much the same way as Frank Nelson played opposite Jack Benny.
• Cheap Costume: "Halloween Party" sees Walter Denton dress up as a Bedsheet Ghost. Meanwhile, Mr. Boynton puts together a skeleton costume, Stretch Snodgrass disguises himself as Hopalong Cassidy, and Miss Brooks announces her intention to masquerade as a witch.
• Chekhov's Gun: Phone booths play a key role in a couple episodes:
  • In "Key to the School", Mr. Conkin and Miss Brooks use the phone booth at Marty's Malt Shop to place a call to board superintendent Mr. Stone, after everybody is locked out of Madison High.
  • In "Monsieur LeBlanc", Walter Denton calls Mrs. Davis' house from a phone booth pretending to be a Spaniard interested in purchasing Mr. Conklin's car.
• Chewing the Scenery: Principal Osgood Conklin is a very pompous man. Played by the great Gale Gordon, Mr. Conklin's especially over-the-top when he's angry or excited.
• Chinese Laborer: In "Two Way Stretch", in order to save a "Fawlty Towers" Plot from going off the rails, Miss Brooks pretends to be secretly married to Mr. Conklin. She claims the reason the marriage was secret was that she entered the country illegally in company with "Oriental labourers". It Makes Sense In Context.
• Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs: Mrs. Davis refers to the noisy crackling of most cereals in one episode, when she makes Miss Brooks a bowl of sugar coated pine needles as a "quiet" alternative.
• Christmas Carolers: "The Magic Christmas Tree": When the Conklins, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton pay Miss Brooks a visit on Christmas Eve, they regale her with a rendition of "Deck The Halls". Miss Brooks places her hand over Walter's mouth midway through, to stop his off-key adolescent squeaking.
• Christmas Episode: Our Miss Brooks had several Christmas episodes, although religion was rarely mentioned at other times (the program also had two Easter episodes and two Thanksgiving episodes):
  • "The Magic Christmas Tree" sees Miss Brooks prepared to spend Christmas Eve alone with Mrs. Davis' pet cat Minerva. Hilarity Ensues.
  • "Christmas Show" features the frantic exchanging of Christmas gifts . . . before Christmas.
  • "Department Store Contest" sees Miss Brooks' childhood letter to Santa Claus inadvertently entered into the titular contest.
  • "Christmas Gift Returns" sees more trouble from the exchanging of Christmas gifts.
  • "Music Box Revue" sees Miss Brooks buy a magic music box that she'll only hear play if she's in the proper Christmas spirit.
  • "A Dry Scalp is Better Than None" and "The Telegram" see Miss Brooks and company throw Christmas in July parties for Mrs. Davis' sister Angela and Uncle Corky respectively.
• Christmas in July
  • In the episode "A Dry Scalp is Better Than None", Mrs. Davis' hypochondriac sister Angela pretends to be dying. Miss Brooks, Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton throw her an early Christmas, Angela's favorite holiday.
  • In the radio episode "The Telegram", Mrs. Davis' Uncle Corky sends a telegram giving notice that he'll be visiting for a week. A series of missteps leads to the telegram being partially burned, and interpreted as Uncle Corky saying he has a week to live. Miss Brooks, Mrs. Davis, the Conklins and Walter Denton throw Uncle Corky a Christmas party in July.
• Chronically Crashed Car: In early radio episodes, Miss Brooks' is frequently getting into car accidents. By the time the show began broadcasting on television, this becomes far more rare. However, in "Trial by Jury" and "Miss Brooks' New Car", Hilarity Ensues after collisions with a fruit stand.
• Class Trip: In the episode "Heat Wave", Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton each try to win permission to take their respective classes to Fisher's Farm. Fisher's Farm just happens to be the location of "the ol' swimming hole" (everyone's wearing their bathing suit under their regular clothing). Mr. Boynton gets ultimately permission to take his biology class down; Miss Brooks needs to rely on Loophole Abuse to join the others.
• Classy Cane:
  • In "Mr. Boynton's Mustache", Mr. Boynton tells Miss Brooks he's considering buying a cane to invoke this trope.
  • In "Blind Date", Mr. Boynton carries a classy cane so his blind date will recognize him; he had broken up with Miss Brooks after an argument. Unbeknownst to Boynton (and Miss Brooks), the blind date was scheme to get the two back together, and Boynton's date is Miss Brooks. Mr. Conklin, in a case of Exact Eavesdropping, overhears Boynton's blind date calling on the phone (actually his daughter, Harriet, speaking with a Southern accent). Conklin and mistakes it for an old college flame, Lula May Calhoun, whom Conklins wants out of town and away from his wife. Mr. Conklin shows up with cane in hand to beg her to leave; again, it's actually Miss Brooks, carrying a parasol.
• Clean, Pretty Childbirth: In "The Egg", when the chick hatches it hatches completely dry. In reality, the newly-hatched chicken would have been wet and taken some time to dry off.
• Closet Shuffle: It happens a few times to Miss Brooks:
  • "The Loaded Custodians": Miss Brooks, tricked by custodian Mr. Burwell into thinking there's hidden treasure in his office hides behind a screen when Walter Denton arrives looking for the treasure. Eventually, Miss Brooks, Walter Denton and Mr. Boynton end up behind the screen when Mr. Conklin knocks down the plaster on the wall looking for treasure. Mr. Conklin, afraid of being caught, physically takes the screen and hides behind it. Conklin's daughter Harriet catches Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton in the Monkey Morality Pose and finds her father's hiding place instantly. Subsequently, Mr. Burwell emerges from the closet revealing he had been taking photographs of the first four vandalizing his office.
  • In "Fischer's Pawn Shop", Madison High School is in danger of missing the opening baseball game of the season because Mr. Conklin failed to provide enough money for team uniforms. Desperate to avoid this tragedy, Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Walter Denton and Mr. Conklin take over some item to pawn to raise the necessary funds. They each hide behind a Chinese screen as someone new ends up entering the pawn shop. Miss Brooks takes the bust of Madison High School's founder Yodar Kritch sitting on the pedestal in Mr. Conklin's office. Mr. Boynton takes Miss Brooks' new dress. Walter Denton takes Mr. Boynton's new cages. And Mr. Conklin borrows the school baseball trophy, a silver loving cup donated by Yodar Kritch. [[spoiler: It turns out all to be unnecessary. Rival principal Jason Brille of Clay City High sent a letter already cancelling the game, because he had spent his own school's sports appropriation and couldn't afford team uniforms.
  • "Cow in Closet": In this radio episode, absent-minded Mrs. Davis buys her brother Victor a new milk cow for his farm and Miss Brooks a new cushion for her chair in her classroom. Hilarity Ensues as Mrs. Davis mixes up the delivery instructions. Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton end up hiding the cow in the closet before Mr. Conklin can see it.
• Clothing Switch: In "Madison Country Club", Miss Brooks spills breakfast on her dress. She borrows a dress belonging to her elderly landlady Mrs. Davis. A kind gesture by Mrs. Davis, but Miss Brooks ends up going to school looking absurd. Hilarity Ensues.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Mrs. Davis. She sometimes forgets what she's saying in the middle of a sentence.
• Clown-Car Base: The episode "Oo-Me-Me Tocoludi Gucci Moo Moo" has the gang squeeze into a tiny trailer.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Mr. Boynton, by way of a combination of Oblivious to Love and bashfulness. He's the object of Miss Brooks' affection. And Miss Enright's. And an obnoxious reporter for SNAP magazine in the "Model Teacher". And the newly hired biology teacher in "Life Can Be Bones". And a Phys. Ed. teacher in "Connie and Frankie" . . . . Miss Brooks finally gets her man in the cinematic Grand Finale.
• Cold Snap: A few episodes of ''Our Miss Brooks depend on winter weather for their humor.
  • "Blue Goldfish" sees Mr. Conklin very miserly with the furnaces' coal supply, thus keeping Madison High School cold inside during the winter weather. This was a television remake of the radio episode "Lack of Coal at Madison".
  • "Going Skiing", a radio episode, sees Miss Brooks go skiing with Mr. Boynton. Hilarity Ensues when Miss Brooks uses Walter Denton's new ski-fasteners.
  • "Winter Outing", another radio episode, sees Madison High's faculty and students continue a tradition started by school founder, Yodar Kritch. A winter picnic in frosty Kritch Canyon .
• Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: In "Connie Tries To Forget Mr. Boynton", when Connie tries to forget Mr. Boynton, every stranger she meets looks and sounds like Mr. Boynton. The "Misters Boynton" Miss Brooks meet include, but aren't limited to, the American Ambassador to India, an elderly postman, a matron, a fourteen year old boy and a newborn baby. Fortunately, it's All Just a Dream.
• Collared by Fashion:
  • Walter Denton wears a large frilled collar when he dresses as Romeo for "The Festival".
  • Mr. Boynton wears a Sir Walter Raleigh costume with a frilled collar in "Madison Country Club". Mr. Boynton again affects a frilled collar when he dresses as Prince Charming for the masquerade ball in "Oh Dem Gold Shoes".
• Comedic Spanking: Mike and Danny's fate in "Orphan Twins". Let's say they had it coming.
  Miss Brooks: Oh, isn't that cute? They stopped on the front lawn, and Sergeant Gillis just lifted Danny up and put him across his knees.
  Mr. Conklin: Across his knees?
  Miss Brooks: Yes. Now the sergeant's raising his hand, now the hand's coming down. Well, what do you know?
  Mr. Boynton: What is it Miss Brooks?
  Miss Brooks: At last those big tears are for real!
• Comically Inept Healing: In "First Air Course", Miss Brooks purposely invokes this trope to avoid teaching the eponymous program.
• Comically Missing the Point: This happens quite often:
  • Almost any time Miss Brooks suggests anything romance-related to Oblivious to Love Mr. Boynton:
    Miss Brooks: In these boyhood fights, Mr. Boynton, was there any girls involved?
    Mr. Boynton: Gosh, no, Miss Brooks. I wouldn't hit a girl.
    Miss Brooks: Well, bravo for you.
  • Any time Miss Brooks tries to correct Stretch or Bones Snodgrass' grammar:
    Stretch Snodgrass: Miss Brooks, you done it again.
    Miss Brooks: Please Stretch, I did it again.
    Stretch Snodgrass: I don't blame you for bragging.
  • Many other occasions as well. For example, this exchange with Walter Denton:
    Miss Brooks: Walter, George Eliot was not a gentleman.
    Walter Denton: He may have not been a gentleman, but he was a darned good writer.
• Comical Overreacting: Mr. Conklin, portrayed by Gale Gordon, will start yelling at the drop of a hat.
  • In "Radio Bombay", Miss Brooks mistakenly thinks a hurricane is heading to Madison and dismisses school in Mr. Conklin's absence. When Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Harriet Conklin and Walter Denton go to his house, it is his daughter Harriet goes to tell him the news. Walter listens at the door in an adjoining room, Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton listen from further away. His yelling causes Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton to try and make an exit, while Walter Denton falls on the floor.
  • Humorously subverted in the radio episode "Friday The Thirteenth". Mr. Conklin, the repeated victim of Miss Brooks' episode-specific klutziness, remarks that losing one's temper "displays ill breeding". He goes to his closet and shouts privately, but loudly enough to be easily overheard by Miss Brooks.
• Comic-Book Adaptation: Dell adapted the movie into comic book form.
• Comic-Book Time: Our Miss Brooks ran on radio and television from 1948-1956, ending with a cinematic Grand Finale in 1956. Yet, students Walter Denton, Harriet Conklin and Stretch Snodgrass are always sixteen years old. The number of years Miss Brooks has been teaching at Madison High School range anywhere from four to eight. The only consistentcy is that Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton had been in the army during World War II. Mr. Conklin was a major, in charge of the post exchange at Camp Barbrick, Ohio. Mr. Boynton, Depending on the Writer, was either stationed near Madison, near New Orleans, or had a campaign ribbon for having been deployed (or even seen combat) somewhere in the South Pacific.
• Commitment Issues: Part of Miss Brooks' troubles in getting Mr. Boynton to propose arise from commitment issues, coupled with his innate shyness.
  • This was made especially clear in the episodes "Hello, Mr. Chips" and "24 Hours". Specifically, in "Hello Mr. Chips" Miss Brooks hears that Mr. Boynton has been saying a man should only get married when he's too old to do anything else. Miss Brooks punishes him by treating him as an old man that evening when he comes to dinner.
  • When Miss Brooks gets Mr. Boynton to take her to a friends' wedding in "Old Age Plan", Mr. Boynton tries to back out of the date (finally) anticipating that Miss Brooks will want to get married herself.
  • Part of this may be hereditary influence, as in "Mr. Boynton's Parents", Mr. Boynton remarks that his father and mother went together for eight years until they were married.
  • In The Movie Grand Finale, Mr. Boynton himself is finally getting ready for commitment. He, up to now, Oblivious to Love, discusses with Miss Brooks the "good, old biological feeling" of being ready to marry and start a family. Miss Brooks, who decided she wanted to marry Mr. Boynton on their first meeting, remarks that's she's way ahead of him.. Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton get married at the end of the movie.
• Community-Threatening Construction: At the beginning of the 1955-1956 season of the television series, and ''only'' in the television series, Madison High School is abruptly closed and ordered demolished by Los Angeles City Council. The episode, "Transition Show", sets up Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin's move to working at Mrs. Nestor's Private Elementary School. This not only changed the location of the school, but without explanation dropped the Everytown, America setting of the small city of Madison. This development was unique to the television series. The radio series continued to produce new episodes set at Madison High School. The concluding 1956 theatrical film pointedly had Miss Brooks at Madison High School. Miss Brooks finally marries her longtime beau Mr. Boynton and lives Happily Ever After.
• Company Cameo: Our Miss Brooks was sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive for most of its radio run (although not its coexisting television run). Palmolive used the program to promote its "Lucky Goldmine" contest in story. For example, in "Game at Clay City" Walter and Harriet try to guess the latest clue. The most notable Company Cameo was in the July 31st, 1949 episode, "Connie's New Job Offer". One morning, Mrs. Davis informed Miss Brooks that the (real) winner of $49,000 was the personal secretary for a mayor of a small New Jersey town. In this story, Miss Brooks had once worked for the same mayor! Connie considers returning to her old job. It was sure to be open now, the secretary having won $49,000 in the Colgate-Palmolive "Lucky Goldmine" Contest! Ultimately, Connie decides against going back to New Jersey and chooses to remain a teacher at Madison High School.
• Compete for the Maiden's Hand: In "The Grudge Match", Walter Denton challenges Stretch Snodgrass to a fight for Harriet Conklin's love. The two end up boxing in a temporary ring setup in the Madison High School gymnasium.
• Conflicting Loyalties:
  • In "The Big Game", Miss Brooks wants to maintain academic standards . . . but give long-ago Madison football hero Gus Geary his diploma so he can remain Assistant Coach. Miss Brooks relies on a loophole to evade the tricky ethical dilemma.
  • Again, in "The Yodar Kritch Award", Miss Brooks relies upon Loophole Abuse to give Bones Snodgrass the eponymous award.
• Conscription: In "Mr. Conklin's Induction Notice", Walter Denton plants an induction notice in Mr. Conklin's mail. Mr. Conklin falls for it, although he is middleaged and had been a Major during the war (World War II had ended only six years before the episode aired).
• Consistent Clothing Style: Averted with Miss Brooks, who varies her wardrobe. Played straight with Mr. Conklin, who usually wears a three-piece suit. Mr. Boynton favours a two-piece suit, or his laboratory outfit. Mrs. Davis usually wears a dress with a floral print. In "Madison Country Club", Hilarity Ensues when Miss Brooks is forced to wear one of Mrs. Davis' dresses. Miss Brooks' entire wardrobe was locked in the closet, and Mrs. Davis' pet car Minerva had swallowed the only key.
• Conspicuous Consumption: In "Madison Country Club", Miss Brooks brags about how much she spends on travel, food, champagne and clothes to society matron Mrs. Grabar. Miss Brooks thinks that Mr. Conklin is poking fun of the faculty; in reality Conklin was soliciting a donation from the wealthy philanthropist.
• Conspicuous Trenchcoat: When Miss Brooks attempts to track down a missing postman in Postage Due, she wears a trenchcoat like any proper amateur detective.
• Constantly Lactating Cow: In "Miss Brooks Takes Over Spring Garden", Mr. Boynton decides to abruptly start milking the school mascot (a goat in this episode) to provide the kids with fresh goat's milk. There's no discussion of the goat ever had any kids, or even being milked before.
• Construction Is Awesome: Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton build a new garage for Mr. Conklin in "Do-It-Yourself".
• Continuity Reboot: The cinematic series finale fell in with the regular continuity of both the radio and television versions of the series. However, it was a partial reboot as it erased the events of the final television season (which featured Miss Brooks working at a private elementary school in California, a plot development not occurring in the concurrent radio series). The movie began by retelling Miss Brooks' initial arrival in Madison. On the other hand, the characters (and actors!) were the same as on the radio and television series and there were many continuity nods throughout the film. The movie ends with Miss Brooks achieving her Series Goal, marrying Mr. Boynton and living Happily Ever After.
• Contrived Coincidence:
  • Many of the show's plots and misunderstandings heavily relied upon this trope. For example, several plots involved Brooks, Boynton, and Conklin conveniently becoming involved in the exact same scheme and not realizing the others are involved too . . . that is until the end of the episode. Other episodes would have Miss Brooks learning some piece of misinformation from Mrs. Davis that would conveniently affect Mr. Conklin's plans later that exact same day.
  • In "Poison Ivy", Miss Brooks tells off an obnoxious man who is tying up Mrs. Davis' party line. Later, Miss Brooks and Walter Denton nearly run over an obnoxious jaywalking woman on their drive to school. Unhappily, Mr. Conklin soon informs Miss Brooks that said obnoxious man and woman are important state officials who have the power to fire Mr. Conklin or Miss Brooks on the spot!
• Contrasting Replacement Character: In the fourth television season of the series, Miss Brooks receives two successive love interests; Clint Albright and Gene Talbot. For a few episodes, Miss Brooks is pursued by Clint Albright; for about half a season, it's Gene Talbot. Miss Brooks' love interest on the radio and TV up to this point had been Mr. Boynton Miss Brooks marries Mr. Boynton at the end of The Movie Grand Finale ; notable for being shy and oblivious. In direct contrast, the gym teachers Clint Albright and Gene Talbot are much more aggressive. Albright flirts with Miss Brooks immediately on seeing her, soon catching Miss Brooks under mistletoe and forcing a kiss on her. Talbot calls Miss Brooks honey, and by the end of his tenure Connie's furious at him for taking her up to the Hollywood Hills on dates . . . late into the night. As to the gym teachers' reception by fans, by the end of the season, The Bus Came Back with Mr. Boynton aboard.
• Convection, Schmonvection: In "Public Property on Parade", nobody so much as breaks a sweat when standing next to Madison High School's coal fired boiler.
• Conveniently Interrupted Document:
  • "Madison Mascot": Mr. Conklin's letter telling Miss Brooks to get him an elephant bookend is torn. Miss Brooks is forced into the conclusion that Mr. Conklin wants her to get him an elephant. It Makes Sense in Context.
  • In "The Telegram", the eponymous telegram catches fire. As a result, half the message from Mrs. Davis' Uncle Corky gets destroyed. What little's left causes everybody believes that Mrs. Davis' uncle only has a week left to live. Again, It Makes Sense in Context.
• Conveniently Precise Translation: In "Monsieur Leblanche" (a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of Mr. Leblanche Needs $50), Mr. Leblanche writes a letter to Miss Brooks asking to borrow $50. Harriet Conklin, who is fluent in French, ultimately translates the letter after Walter Denton's ridiculous and altogether erroneous attempt. Harriet smoothly translates the French in perfect English, somehow doing it word-for-word. Walter had told Miss Brooks that Mr. Leblanche was asking her on a date, Harriet discovers that Leblanche was asking to borrow $50 to buy a car.
• Conveniently Seated: The cinematic series finale has possibly the only scene of the series where Miss Brooks is shown teaching a full class (as compared to being heard teaching a class on the radio, or tutoring a student or students). Miss Brooks is in front, teaching the class. Walter Denton and Harriet Conklin have seats in the back; all the better for Walter can tell Harriet about his car troubles and invite her to lunch. Stretch Snodgrass is right in the middle, so he can stand up to answer a question on double-negatives spectacularly wrong. Finally, Gary Nolan is in front, so after class Miss Brooks can upbraid him for his failing the English test.
• Cooking Duel: In "Miss Enright's Dinner", Miss Brooks duels with Miss Enright for Mr. Boynton's affections by preparing recipes pinned up by the school's home economics teacher. Unfortunately, unknown to Miss Brooks, the recipe for Irish Stew on the board is a prank one Walter Denton pinned up to trick Miss Enright.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: When Miss Brooks accidentally derails Mr. Conklin's promotion in "Rumors", Mr. Conklin punishes Miss Brooks by forcing her to do his family's laundry.
• Cool Key: In "Key to the School", Miss Brooks is given the key to the school by the custodian. Hilarity Ensues when Mrs. Davis takes the key with her on a visit to her brother Victor, leaving students and faculty alike locked out of Madison High School.
• Cool Old Guy: In "The Big Game", Gus "Snakehips" Geary, who's still admired as Madison High School's greatest football star decades after he graduated.
• Cool Teacher: Miss Brooks is usually considered the most popular teacher in the school. In "The Weighing Machine", the students think she's broke (more broke than usually) and start a fundraising campaign on her behalf. In The Movie Grand Finale, she's able to call a secret meeting of the student body (or a large segment thereof) in the boiler room to elect Mr. Conklin "Coordinator of Education".
• Coordinated Clothes:
  • In "The Festival", Walter Denton and Harriet Conklin attend the titular festival as Romeo and Juliet.
  • "Red River Valley" sees Walter Denton, Mr. Boynton, Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin dress as hillbillies to audition for Deacon Jones' Square Dance troop.
  • In "Amalgamation", Miss Brooks, Mr. Conklin, Mr. Munsee and Mr. Talbot dress as Dutch Vaudeville comedians to annoy Mrs. Pryor. It Makes Sense in Context.
• Copycat Mockery: Miss Brooks has learned to expect Mr. Conklin's typical Delayed Reaction when he is surprised by anything angering or distasteful. A couple of times, she mimics his exclamation and expression when it finally comes along. A good example is in the episode "Cure That Habit". On radio episodes, being an audio medium, Miss Brooks sometimes just copies the inevitable shout.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: Mrs. Davis is creative with her recipes. An early radio example is her Armenian Pancakes, soaked in sour goat's milk.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: The eponymous Mr. Travers, of the episode "Mr. Travers' Three Acre Lot". In brief time we hear him, Mr. Travers forecloses an old lady's mortage for being a day late with her payment. He threatens to do the same to Miss Brooks' friend and landlady, Mrs. Davis. Mr. Conklin plots to get Mr. Travers to sell the lot next door to the school so Madison High School could finally have a regulation-sized football field. In the end, Mr. Travers refuses to sell the lot out of sheer spite.
• Cosmopolitan Council: In the episode "Foreign Teachers", educational officials from France, Ireland and Sweden visit Madison High School. They turn out to be so insulting that Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin throw them out. Unfortunately, this gets Miss Brooks and company in trouble with the head of the National Board of Education . . . .
• The Couch: Mrs. Davis' living room has a couch, under a window and to the left of the fireplace. It's always facing the fourth wall, as the show was shot using the three camera configuration. It's none too prominent, as Mrs. Davis (and therefore Miss Brooks) doesn't have a television set. Much of the talking and action usually takes place in front of it. However, there are exceptions, notably "Old Age Plan".
• Counter Zany: Happens occasionally. In "Twins at School", after discovering Connie has been impersonating her non-existent identical twin Bonnie, Mr. Conklin invents a non-existent identical twin of his own. Complete with cowboy accent.
• Courier: The bicycle-riding telegram delivery boy, in "Telegram for Mrs. Davis". Hilarity Ensues when Mrs. Davis is too superstitious to open the telegram, or allow Miss Brooks to open the telegram on her behalf. The boy won't leave until he gets the requested reply . . . .
• Courtroom Episode: "Trial by Jury" sees Miss Brooks defend herself in court for "speeding, going through a red light, reckless driving, driving on the sidewalk and hitting a fruit stand." The episode was a remake of "Reckless Driving" which played on the radio.
• Covered in Gunge: In "Vitamin E-4", a conman named Professor Anderson tricks Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin into working for in the manufacture and promotion of the titular "vitamin". Unbenowngst to the three, Professor Anderson is really a conman who modus operandi includes tricking well-educated teachers to win over the general public. The episode ends with Brooks, Boynton and Conklin manufacturing the vitamin according to the recorded directions of Anderson. It doesn't go so well; Mr. Conklin ends up having the ingredients of the titular "vitamin" thrown, poured or falling over him. Incidentally, the main ingredient of Vitamin E-4 is chicken fat!
• Covert Group: Miss Brooks becomes involved in secret activity a few times through the course of the series. One of the most memorable was in "Red River Valley", where Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton meet secretly to rehearse for a job with the hillbilly troupe led by Deacon Jones.
• Cowboy: Tex Barton, a stereotypical teenaged cowboy, is a Madison High School student in a few episodes i.e. "School T.V. Set", "Bargain Hats for Mother's Day," "Tex Barton Basketball Star."
• *Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": In "Old Age Plan", both Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton suffer from this as thinking about old age has given them "stiffness in the joints". Fortunately, the cause was purely psychosomatic and they get better when Miss Brooks shows them via a Zany Scheme how foolish they were acting.
• Cram School: In "The Yodar Kritch Award", a time-pressed Miss Brooks tries this approach with Bones Snodgrass. It fails miserably.
• Cranky Neighbor: In "Mr. Travis' Three Acre Lot", Mr. Travis, a cheap, hostile businessman, consistently refuses to sell his lot and finally let Madison High School have a regulation-size gridiron.
• Crappy Homemade Gift: In "Home Cooked Meal", Miss Enright knits Mr. Boynton a sweater. It's extremely short in the body, long in the arm, and very tight; so much so that when Mr. Boynton compliments it saying it looks like something out of Esquire Magazine, Miss Brooks quips it looks like something "Out of Esquire, by Seabiscuit."
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Mr. Boynton is usually even-headed, but on occasion can be crazy jealous when provoked. In the cinematic series finale, Miss Brooks spending time with millionaire Gary Nolan sees him turn crazy jealous (with a little prodding from Mrs. Davis).
• Crusty Caretaker: In "The Loaded Custodians", Mr. Barlow is portrayed as a rather crusty old man. Averted with the previous custodian, the literal- minded Mr. Jensen.
• Cry Laughing: It happens to Miss Brooks at the end of "Hobby Show", where she's about to suffer a nervous breakdown. Afraid that she is overworking herself, Miss Brooks' friends visit encouraging her to start a hobby. Unfortunately, Miss Brooks is expected to knit (Mrs. Davis' hobby), play chess (Mr. Boynton's hobby), run model trains (Walter Denton's), finger-paint (Harriet Conklin) and fix broken toys to give to underprivileged children (Mr. and Mrs. Conklin) . . . all at the same time. The radio original featured the same gag, although there, Walter and Harriet's hobbies were the less-visually interesting stamp-collecting and Crossword Puzzle solving, respectively.
• Cuckoolander Commentator: In "Walter vs. Stretch Grudge Match", Miss Brooks deliberately invokes the trope when she's assigned to do the play-by-play commentary for the titular boxing match between the teenage combatants:
  Miss Brooks: As the fighters go to the center of the ring, just a word of reminder. Boys, if like Walter Denton, you're about to get your head knocked off, why not put an Adam Pat on it first? And now let's listen to the referees' instructions . . .
  Mr. Conklin: Marquis of Queensberry rules. I am here for one reason and one reason only. To see that fair play is strictly observed. You will at all times be honestly and impartially judged. Now, then, Stretch?
  Stretch Snodgrass: Yes, Mr. Conklin?
  Mr. Conklin: I want you to be sure to go a neutral corner every time Denton is on the floor. You Denton?
  Walter Denton: Yes, sir?
  Mr. Conklin: Where do you want your body . . . oh, well, I . . . Now then you two, I want a good clean fight and may the better man win. And win quickly, Stretch. Go to your corners, come out fighting.
  Miss Brooks: There goes the bell, folks. Oh, Walter's down, fell over his shoelace. Now it's tied, and the two men meet in the centre of the ring. They're cautious at first, Walter is dancing lightly around, left arm extended. Stretch is dancing around. Now they're dancing around together. Mr. Conklin breaks them, and once again they circle around carefully. Now here it is, the first exchange . . . .
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: Miss Brooks' wacky landlady, Mrs. Davis, often gives good advice. In The Movie Grand Finale she plays a critical role in Miss Brooks' finally marrying Mr. Boynton and living Happily Ever After.
• Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: Curiosity is definitely bad in the episode "Sneaky Peepers". When Miss Brooks accidentally orders a copy of Rodin's "The Kiss" instead of "The Thinker" for Madison High School. Mr. Conklin orders the offending statue covered up until it can be returned. After Mr. Conklin falsely accuses Walter Denton of looking at the statue, Denton decides to setup a trapdoor to catch the actual culprit. Lo and behold, Walter Denton, Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Mr. Conlin and Head of the School Board Mr. Stone end up falling through the trapdoor and locked in a storage room in the basement.
• Curse Cut Short: One episode features this exchange between Miss Brooks and Walter Denton:
  Walter Denton: Mr. Conklin's making my usual tranquil life a veritable . . . .
  Miss Brooks: WALTER!
  Walter Denton: . . . (meekly) inferno?
• Curtain Camouflage: Twice, behind the same set of curtains no less:
  • In "First Day", Walter Denton tries to avoid Mr. Conklin by hiding behind the curtains in Mrs. Davis' living room.
  • In "Madame Brooks Du Barry" Mr. Conklin and Harriet hide behind the curtains and spy on Miss Brooks.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Miss Brooks sometimes finds herself playing to this trope, usually around Mr. Conklin.
  • Occasionally, Miss Brooks finds herself breaking his glasses, i.e. "Living Statues".
  • Her clumsiness might have reached its nadir in the episode "Home Cooked Meal". There, she unwittingly causes Mr. Conklin to be locked in a freezer before accidentally contributing to his attending a minor gas explosion.
  • Miss Brooks' clumsiness again strikes Mr. Conklin in the cinematic series finale. Miss Brooks' arrival at Madison is portrayed at the beginning of the movie, when she makes a unique first impression on Mr. Conklin by accidentally dropping a dumbbell on his foot.
• Cute Machines: Mr. Muunsee's robot in "Transition Show", built to resemble a mechanical man. Miss Brooks is favourably impressed, although all the machine does is sharpen pencils.
• Cuteness Equals Forgiveness: A rare male example in "The Miserable Caballeros". A young Mexican boy, Benny Romero, tricks Miss Brooks, Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton into believing he's a neglected orphan. In fact, his parents are two of the richest people in Mexico. Still, Miss Brooks and co. forgive his deception, which was to win a bet with his cousin that he could spend a day in an American high school.
• Cutting Corners: Mr. Conklin periodically subjects Madison High School to economy drives. One such drive occurs in the episode "Blue Goldfish", where Conklin's miserly apportionment of coal causes the school to feel like a refrigerator.
• Daddy's Girl: Harriet Conklin is close to her father. She can often be seen in his office helping him out.
• Dad the Veteran': During World War II, Mr. Conklin served as a army major at Camp Barbrick, Ohio. Conklin occasionally mentions having been "a major in the last war" ("Hobby Show", a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of "The Workhorse"). In The Movie Grand Finale, Mr. Conklin gets into trouble for trying to run Madison High School like a military base.
• Da Editor:
  • In "Cafeteria Boycott", Miss Brooks describes the school food as putrid. Unfortunately, she unknowingly does so in front of the local newspaper editor. Neither particularly gruff or authoritarian (except when confronting Mr. Conklin), the editor becomes a problem for Miss Brooks notwithstanding.
  • Lawrence Nolan, in The Movie Grand Finale. He's authoritarian, but being something of the local plutocrat, he's more of a stuffed shirt rather than stereotypically gruff.
• Darned By Faint Praise: A Snap magazine reporter "compliments" Miss Brooks' clothes: "That's a very nice suit...One can tell at a glance that it's worn you for years."
• Darn It Feels Good To Be A Gangster: In "Sunnydale Finishing School", Miss Brooks receives a letter offering her a position at the eponymous school. Walter Denton, utilizing a Zany Scheme, pretends to fall victim to this trope and begins acting like a mobster while speaking in a blizzard of hard-boiled slang.
• Damsel out of Distress
  • Miss Brooks, when trapped in an industrial freezer with Walter Denton, Philip Boynton and Osgood Conklin in "Male Superiority". The three males panic while Miss Brooks stays calm. An example of Laser-Guided Karma and Hypocritical Humor, as all three had lectured Miss Brooks on a man's ability to stay calm during an emergency.
  • In its Spiritual Successor, "The Big Jump", Boynton and Conklin similarly panic when a prank by Walter makes it appear the school is on fire. Again, Mr. Boynton had been claiming men were calmer in the event of an emergency.
• Dance of Romance: In The Movie Grand Finale, Connie's fantasy includes her dancing with Phillip in their future home.
• Dance Party Ending: The Season One finale, "June Bride", concluded with Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Mr. Conklin, Harriet Conklin, Watler Denton, the judge and the telegram delivery boy all joining in an improptu square dance while Mrs. Davis plays the organ. An Audio Adaptation was later produced for the radio version of the program, titled "Marriage by Proxy".
• Dances and Balls: Dances drive the plot of a few episodes, as befitting a program whose main setting is Madison High School. Notable examples include "The Yodar Kritch Award" and "Cinderella for a Day".
• The Dandy: Briefly and infuriatingly, Mr. Boynton falls victim to this trop in "Mr. Boynton's Mustache". Miss Brooks had decided to get Mr. Boynton to pay more attention to his appearance, so suggests he grow a mustache and then has the female faculty members compliment him. Thankfully, Mr. Boynton is cured when Miss Brooks gets the Home Economics Class to reward him with their class project . . . a suit made out of an old horse blanket.
• Darkest Africa:
  • In "Safari O'Toole", the eponymous adventurer spends much of his time in the Savage South, Africa in particular. He's a fake, but a nice one, who's only trying to impress Mrs. Davis.
  • In "The Hawkins Travel Agency", Mr. Stone proposes Mr. Conklin, Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks all accompany him on an African walking tour. He doesn't find any takers.
• Date Peepers:
  • In "Madame Brooks Du Barry", Mr. Conklin and his daughter Harriet hide in the back of Mrs. Davis' living room, and spy on Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton as they have a date.
  • In "Mrs. Nestor's Boyfriend", Miss Brooks, Mr. Munsee, Mr. Talbot and Mr. Conklin use binoculars to spy on (widowed) Mrs. Nestor's date with her new boyfriend.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Mr. Conklin loathes his daughter's boyfriend, Walter Denton. It isn't uncommon for him to kick Walter down his porch steps. Why? Walter is something of a nuisance to Mr. Conklin, as the episodes "Cure that Habit", "Wild Goose", "Cafeteria Boycott" and "Space, Who Needs It?" attest. However, there are other reasons as well. In "Spare That Rod!", Mr. Conklin complained that the worst thing about Walter was his squeaky voice.
  Miss Brooks: I expect it's his age. His voice is probably changing.
  Mr. Conklin: Well, I wish it would hurry up. He sounds like a canary with a mouthful of rancid birdseed.
• David vs. Goliath: In "The Grudge Match", the eponymous boxing match between 5'6 Walter Denton and 6'5 three-letter Dumb Jock Stretch Snodgrass. A different take on the trope, as the teenagers were best friends fighting over a girl. Walter Denton challenged Stretch to the fight, and it was common belief at Madison that he'd be clobbered. Mr. Conklin, refereeing the match, is struck by mistake.
• A Day in the Limelight: Although Miss Brooks is always the star of her shore, some episodes give lesser characters a major role:
  • "Brooks' New Car" features a major role for Mrs. Conklin. Likewise, "Weekend at Crystal Lake".
  • "Madison Mascot" and "Stretch to Transfer" are two of several episodes that feature the student athlete in something akin to a starring role.
  • "Angela's Wedding", "A Dry Scalp is Better Than None", and "Mr. Casey's Will" feature Mrs. Davis' sister Angela as the episodes mover and shaker.
  • "The Egg" has an appearance by Mrs. Davis' usually unseen, only mentioned, brother Victor.
• Deadpan Snarker: Miss Brooks is one of the queens of this trope, as are many of Eve Arden's characters in other works.
• Dean Bitterman: Osgood Conklin, albeit of the Repressive, but Efficient variety. Unlike some other examples of the trope, he loves his position as principal and seems to love Madison High School and its wellbeing. The students and teachers? In "Spare That Rod!" its shown that he has mottos on his wall reading such sentiments as "Respect Through Power". Although the head of the school board, Mr. Stone, is generally satisfied with Mr. Conklin ("Nodnick Daughter of Medick") by the time of the The Movie Grand Finale he's had enough of his dictatorial-streak. Stone threatens to dismiss Conklin, leading to Conklin to run against Stone for in the election for the newly created position of "Coordinator of Education".
• Death by Childbirth: Lawrence Nolan's wife died giving birth to Gary.
• Death Glare: When truly angry, Mr. Conklin is known to give a withering stare. Usually, he yells to great effect; but occasionally he has a glare that tends to frighten both faculty, students, and his own daughter. Noteworthy examples occur in "The Novelist", "Spare That Rod!", and "Space, Who Needs It?".
• December–December Romance: In "Puppy Love, Mr. Barlow and Mrs. Davis", Mrs. Davis falls in love with the aged school custodian. It leads to Face Palm worthy descriptions of love in old age by callow teenagers Walter Denton and Harriet Conklin.
  • Walter described the old folks' romance as follows:
    Walter: Oh, by the way, how's Mrs. Davis' romance with Mr. Barlow coming along?
    Miss Brooks: Oh, have you noticed that, too? I think it's the cutest thing in the world. Mrs. Davis actually has a bad case of puppy love.
    Walter: It is cute ... considering she's in her second puppyhood. No disrespect intended, you understand. After all, what can be more romantic than two lonely old people encountering the grand passion in the sear and yellow leaf of life.
    Miss Brooks: Why, that's absolutely poetic, Walter.
    Walter: The burning desires of youth long past, they look now for the subdued glow of companionship. The warm and simple pleasures that two elderly people in love can share together.
    Miss Brooks: I can see them now - soaking their feet in the same pan of Epsom salts.
  • Later, Harriet ups the ante:
    Miss Brooks: Hello, Harriet. I've got to deliver a message to the custodian. Have you seen him?
    Harriet: Oh, yes. Mr. Barlow just went into his office. (dreamily) Isn't it wonderful, Miss Brooks?
    Miss Brooks: I don't know. I've never been in his office.
    Harriet: I mean about Mr. Barlow and Mrs. Davis. They're crazy about each other. Of course, it's a big secret.
    Miss Brooks: It couldn't be a bigger secret if they took out an ad.
    Harriet: Is there anything more romantic than the mellow romance of old age?
    Miss Brooks: Now please, Harriet.
    Harriet: To think of two people finding love at a time of life when others are preparing to pass on. Two people walking hand in hand in the twilight of life.
    Miss Brooks: Yes, there's nothing like a brisk walk before passing on.
• Declarative Finger: The gesture is occasionally used by the pompous Mr. Conklin.
• The Defroster: Miss Brooks sees it as part of her job to try and defrost troubled students. She's also a generous, kindhearted and quick-witted individual. Notably, Miss Brooks defrosts Mr. Whipple, The Scrooge in the episode "Mr. Whipple". Later, in The Movie Grand Finale, she defrosts one of her students, Gary Nolan. For good measure, she defrosts his father, Lawrence Nolan, as well.
• Delayed Reaction: Mr. Conklin often does this, for comedic effect. "Cure That Habit" is one of the notable occasions where Miss Brooks, accustomed to this peculiarity, anticipates and mimics his reaction.
• Delinquents: In "Sunnydale Finishing School", Miss Brooks' friends think she's going to take a job at the exclusive school - after snoopy Mrs. Davis finds a years-old letter offering Connie employment. Walter Denton seeks to keep Miss Brooks at Madison High School by pretending to undergo a Face–Heel Turn and become a juvenile delinquent.
• Depending Upon the Undependable:
  • Dumb Jock Stretch Snodgrass's ineptness drives the plot of a few episodes. "The Auction" and "Madison Mascot" (each a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation) hinge on Snodgrass mixing up a couple of vital messages.
  • In "Public Speaker's Nightmare", Walter Denton requests Stretch fix a broken reel-to-reel recording; Stretch's efforts result in a mangled nonsensical recording.
  • Stretch's brother Bones is at fault in "Marinated Hearing (a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of "Board of Education Day", where he is tasked to repair a torn speech of Mr. Conklin's praising the Board of Education. Instead, Bones puts together a hodgepodge that accidentally incorporates part of his biology theme on monkeys.
  • Walter Denton is sometimes to blame. In "Writing Magazine Articles", Denton is tasked to pretend to be Mr. Conklin's imaginary idiot son and Miss Brooks' imaginary quiz kid son. Walter mixes it up.
• Derailed Train of Thought: Absent-minded Mrs. Davis often suffers from thought derailment.
• Descriptiveville: Madison High School of the eponymous City of Madison has, as its main rival Clay City High School of the eponymous Clay City. Clay City is first introduced in the early radio Road Trip episode "Game at Clay City". Notably, in the second television season opener, "Clay City Chaperone", Miss Brooks is chaperone in Clay City for the Madison cheerleaders attending the big football game between the two arch-rivals. In these episodes, its never explained who or what clay is. It may well be the soil. The trope, however, is averted in some later episodes where the rival high school is named Henry Clay High.
• Desert Skull: The skull of an extinct buffalo was found in "Kritch Cave" (in the episode of the same name). Kritch Cave is located in Kritch Canyon, the isolated, tract of barren land behind Madison High School. Kritch Cave is only accessible through the rear of the Madison High School lands; its made inaccessible to the rest of the world by Kritch Mountain (in actuality, a tall hill).
• Despair Event Horizon / Despair Speech: In the cinematic grand finale. After overhearing a conversation at the relator's, Miss Brooks discovers that Mr. Boynton has bought the cottage across the street from Mrs. Davis' house. The conversation suggests that he finally intends to propose. Alas, he bought the house so his widowed mother could move in with him. This comes as a shock to Connie, who had even brought wallpaper over to the cottage to decorate. She's lost in daydreams, when Mr. Boynton comes in relates his plans to live with his mother.
  Connie: (sobbing) Fine schnook I've been! (She hands the wall paper to Mr. Boynton) Wear it in good health! (Connie leaves the cottage, slamming the door behind her.)
  • Miss Brooks goes into a deep depression, offers her resignation and prepares to leave Madison. Fortunately, the matter is fixed by the good offices of Mrs. Davis and Mr. Boynton's mother. Mrs. Davis tells Mrs. Boynton the situation, and invites her to be her new boarder. Mr. Boynton proposes to Miss Brooks, and everybody lives Happily Ever After.
• Devil's Advocate: Miss Brooks occasionally finds herself promoting Mr. Conklin's latest edicts to the less-than-receptive students of Madison High School"
  • In "The Cafeteria Strike" (a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of "Cafeteria Boycott") Miss Brooks leads a "back to the Cafeteria movement" despite the fact the food served is "putrid".
  • The earlier radio episode "School on Saturday" sees Miss Brooks ramrod Mr. Conklin's demand that the students attend school on Saturday.
  • The Movie Grand Finale sees Miss Brooks acting as Mr. Conklin's campaign manager in his quest to become the new "Coordinator of Education" (head of the school board). Miss Brooks is less than keen on the idea herself.
• Devoted to You: Miss Brooks is devoted to Mr. Boynton, with Miss Enright often appearing as her rival for his affections. Miss Brooks wins, finally marrying Mr. Boynton in the cinematic grand finale.
• Didn't See That Coming: This happens several times in Our Miss Brooks, and causes a Zany Scheme or a well-intentioned plan to help someone go awry. A few notable examples:
  • In "Head of the Board", Miss Brooks sends Stretch Snodgrass to get an old man from the park to impersonate Mr. Hewitt, the Head of the State Board of Education. Mr. Conklin has ordered Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton to help him clean the school the week before the start of term. By a Contrived Coincidence, Mr. Hewitt happens to be visiting in town, sitting in the park, and chosen by Stretch Snodgrass to impersonate himself. Hilarity Ensues, as well as a "Fawlty Towers" Plot.
  • In "Red River Valley", Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Walter Denton and Mr. Conklin practice a hillbilly routine to get a $500 a month summer job working with Deacon Jones' square dance troupe. It so happens that Matthew Jones, Inspector from the State Board, chooses that day to visit Madison High School.
  • "Fargo Whiskers" sees Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton think Miss Brooks have taken leave of her senses. They wish her to take a week off before another school official; when Miss Brooks refuses, Conklin and Boynton have Walter Denton impersonate the official. Unfortunately, Mr. Fargo arrives a few days early and Hilarity Ensues.
• Dinner with the Boss: Miss Brooks' principal, Mr. Conklin, ends up coming to dinner from time-to-time. A notable incident was the "Thanksgiving Show", where Mrs. Davis, Miss Brooks, Walter Denton, Osgood Conklin, Martha Conklin and Harriet Conklin dine on a tiny squab for their thanksgiving dinner (and a lot of side dishes, including an enormous amount of canned salmon).
• Disastrous Demonstration: Madison High School's attempts to use new technology backfires terribly - usually in front of the head of the school board, Mr. Stone.
  • In "The Tape Recorder", Walter Denton buys a reel-to-reel tape recorder for the school. Unfortunately, when playing back the machine to Head-of the-Board Mr. Stone, the machine garbles its messages. The machine suggesting everyone is insulting or threatening Principal Conklin or Mr. Stone. Also, that Mr. Conklin jumps into Miss Brooks' lap!
  • In "Movies at School", Miss Brooks tries to use film as an educational aid. Unfortunately, a disgruntled worker at the film company has switched the films around within their canisters. Miss Brooks, leaving a film of the poem "Lady of the Lake" with her class, instead leaves a poem of "Sirens of the Screen, Past and Present". Mrs. Davis intends to show her Ladies Aid Club "Shearing Sheep at Big Billabong, Australia. The ladies club sees a film with showgirls in their dressing room. When Mr. Stone investigates, Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin intend to show the probity of the school by playing a film about the "Board of Education". Instead, they end up playing a film about gambling in Las Vegas.
• Discount Card: The episode "Christmas Gift Mixup" features a Running Gag where Mrs. Davis, Walter Denton, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin give Miss Brooks "hints" as to what they'd like for Christmas. They helpfully relay the costs of their gifts, and lend Miss Brooks their "exclusive" savings card that gives sale prices at a local store.
• Disguised in Drag: In "The Stolen Wardrobe", Mr. Conklin, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton are falsely accused of robbing Sherry's Department Store. They end up (reluctantly) disguising themselves as women to evade the police.
• Disposing of a Body: In the penultimate radio episode, "New Girl in Town," Harriet Conklin tricks the eponymous "new girl's" mother into believing Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks are burying Mr. Boynton's old girlfriends in the athletic field. In reality, Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks are only burying the bodies of Mr. Boynton's dead lab mice.
• Disproportionate Retribution: In Spare That Rod!, it's mentioned that disproportionate retribution is Mr. Conklin's modus operandi as principal of Madison High School. When Conklin discovers that some students had wrote "Old Man Conklin is a Pinhead" on Miss Brooks' blackboard after school, he orders Miss Brooks to inspect and clean all the blackboards at Madison High School.
• Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Dell's comic book adaptation of the cinematic series finale has Mr. Boynton carrying and smoking a pipe.
• The Ditz: Stretch Snodgrass and his brother Bones. Stretch also has an even more clueless girlfriend, Suzie Prentiss.
• Dog Walks You: The titular Big Eater dog in "Peanuts, The Great Dane" drags Miss Brooks wherever he wants to go.
• Domestic Appliance Disaster: In "Home Cooked Meal", Miss Brooks tries to prepare a roast turkey for Mr. Boynton. Actually, Miss Brooks' friendly elderly landlady Mrs. Davis brings over the cooked turkey so Miss Brooks can pretend to have cooked it herself. All Miss Brooks has to do is place it in the gas oven to warm up. Unfortunately, the oven's automatic gas jets hadn't been connected, so Miss Brooks fills the kitchen with gas. While Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton are frantically trying to call the fire department, Principal Osgood Conklin visits Mr. Boynton's house to return his tools. Conklin can't see in the darkened kitchen, and lights a match . . . he's ultimately unharmed, just covered in soot and the remains of the roast turkey.
• Don't Explain the Joke: Mr. Boynton tells terrible jokes, sometimes he has to do this to find the humor to begin with.
• Don't Make Me Take My Belt Off!: The program features a couple examples:
  • "The Twin Orphans" ends with Miss Brooks looking out Mrs. Davis' front window, and observing the titular pair being taken over their knee and spanked by their father. The "orphans", Mike and Danny, had tricked the Madison High crowd into believing they had escaped from an Orphanage of Fear. By the dialogue, Miss Brooks obviously believes the spanking to be well earned.
  • Averted in "Amalgamation". Mrs. Nestor's school is nearly merged with Mrs. Pryor's school next year. Upon visiting, Mr. Conklin almost swats one of the bratty child actors with his hand, but is stopped by Mrs. Pryor. As a believer in the "progressive method", students at Mrs. Pryor are allowed uninhibited self-expression. No discipline, corporal punishment or otherwise.
• Don't You Like It?:
  • In "Mr. Boynton's Parents", Miss Brooks is dismayed when Walter Denton and Harriet Conklin are representing a student delegation naming her their "Mother away from Mother". To make matters worse, they present her with a shawl as a gift for Mother's Day.
  • In "Mr. Boynton's Mustache", Miss Brooks, Miss Enright, Mr. Boynton, Mr. Conklin and Mr. Stone frantically try to avoid being presented with the Home Economics students' class projects. The girls sewed up a suit and a dress out of an old horse blanket.
  • In "24 Hours", Mrs. Conklin is furious with her husband for gifting her with a pair of expensive andirons for her birthday.
• Doomed New Clothes:
  • In "Easter Outfit", Miss Brooks' wears a new dress for the Easter Parade. Unfortunately, Connie was forced to go to the parade in her old dress. She had worn the new dress to Easter Breakfast and landlady Mrs. Davis's Easter Egg Hunt. However, Mrs. Davis' Easter Egg hunt goes wrong when Mrs. Davis forgot she hid two eggs under the chesterfield . . . and didn't hard-boil them!
  • "Friday The Thirteenth" sees Mr. Conklin proud of his new black suit, black hat, black vest, black shoes and midnight blue tie. During the course of the day it gets torn and dirtied.
• Doom It Yourself: In "Do It Yourself", Mr. Conklin starts the plot in motion when he burns down his garage after a misguided attempt at fixing the electrical wiring.
• Door Slam of Rage: In "Trying to Pick a Fight", Miss Brooks tells Mr. Conklin that some couples pick fights so they can make up later. Sometime later, Mr. Conklin calls Miss Brooks to his office. It seems in trying to pick a fight with his wife, Mr. Conklin only managed to provoke his wife into threatening to go home to her mother. Mr. Conklin leaves to head to the railroad station to try to prevent his wife's departure, angrily slamming his office door behind him.
• The Door Slams You: Miss Brooks does this to Mr. Conklin a few times, by accident of course. It usually results in Miss Brooks breaking Mr. Conklin's glasses.
• Door-to-Door Episode:
  • In "Kritch Cave", Miss Brooks sells lots in Kritch Canyon at the behest of Mr. Conklin. Only it happens that, through a mixup, she sells Madison High School by error.
  • In "Bargain Hats For Mother's Day", Miss Brooks sells three hats Mrs. Davis whipped up in return for Mrs. Davis forgiving several weeks back rent.
• Double Date: A variation on the trope in "The Frog". Miss Brooks is tired of Mr. Boynton taking her to the zoo on the dates. In an desperate effort to move their dates, Miss Brooks gets a pet female frog to date Mr. Boynton's pet frog Mcdougall. The idea is for Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton to double date with their pet frogs. It turns into a very noisy triple date, when Mr. Boynton brings a tomcat to date Mrs. Davis' lovelorn female cat Minerva.
• "Double, Double" Title: "Arguments, Arguments", first aired May 29, 1949. On October 3, 1952 an adapted version of the episode began Our Miss Brooks television run under the title "Trying to Pick a Fight".
• Double Entendre: Miss Brooks' letter to Mr. Conklin requesting flower pots for her windowsill gets mixed up with a love letter in Bones, Son of Cyrano. Cue a flurry of double entendres when Mr. Conklin questions Miss Brooks.
• Double Standard: Violence, Child on Adult: In "Amalgamation", one of Mrs. Pryor's bratty child actors bites Mr. Conklin and rips his hat and jacket. Mrs. Pryor believes in the "progressive method", where it's forbidden to discipline or criticize a child in any way.
• Do You Want to Haggle?: Several episodes:
  • In "Game At Clay City", Miss Brooks haggles with a mechanic.
  • In "Stretch Is In Love Again", Miss Brooks haggles with Mr. Conklin.
  • "Fischer's Pawn Shop" sees Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Mr. Conklin and Walter Denton haggle with Fischer to raise money for baseball uniforms.
  • "Indian Burial Ground" has Mr. Conklin haggle with a prospective buyer for his vacant lot.
  • "Bartering With Chief Thundercloud" features a bartering session with the eponymous chief.
• The Drag-Along: Miss Brooks often finds herself made an unwitting accomplice to Walter Denton's various schemes, i.e. "Cure That Habit", "The Cafeteria Strike", as exposing Walter would lead to his being suspended or expelled. Other occasions see her being ordered to go along with a scheme of Mr. Conklin's, as he's her principal and has the power to force her - or leastways make her life very miserable if she refuses, i.e. "The Big Jump". Yet that's not the whole story. Occasionally she even gets cajoled by her landlady Mrs. Davis, or her sister Angela, into aiding into some other wacky scheme from which Miss Brooks would prefer to keep her distance, i.e. "Mr. Casey's Will".
• Drama Queen: Harriet Conklin is overemotional in early episodes.
  • In "Game at Clay City" she emotionally describes her relationship with Walter Denton thusly:
    Harriet: Walter isn't a real happy heartthrob, but he's good for a heartache or two!
  • In "Student Government Day," Harriet Conklin is elected "Mayor for a Day." At the assembly, in front of the mayor, she emotionally rails against municipal corruption. Later on, she berates a policeman by reciting the Constitution.
  • In "Stretch Has A Problem" she's fit-to-burst when she thinks Walter needs her at his side during the State Basketball Championship. She doesn't miss a beat when she finds out its actually Stretch Snodgrass.
  • In "Walter v. Stretch Grudge Match," Harriet instigates the said grudge match and then panics before the fight begins.
  • In "Poetry Mixup" and "Bones, Son of Cyrano," Harriet is ecstatic thinking she received a love note from Mr. Boynton.
• Dream Episode: The third-season episode "The Dream". After reading a book called "Maternity Ward", Miss Brooks dreams that she marries Mr. Boynton and has a baby girl named Cleo. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Conklin has a second child, a boy named Osgood Conklin Junior. Harriet Conklin marries Walter Denton and they have at least five children in three year. By the end of the dream, Osgood Conklin Junior and Cleo are secretly married and secretly have a baby girl of their own.
  Osgood Conklin Junior: Yes, sir, that's my baby
  No, sir, I don't mean maybe
  Yes, sir, that's my baby now!
• Dream Sequence: Usually with Brooks dreaming about Boynton sweeping her off her feet or in some magical fairy tale, then the alarm clock ruins it all. A notable exception is "Connie's Job Offer", where Miss Brooks dreams of becoming mayor of a town in New Jersey.
• Dress Code: In "Dress Code Protest", Mr. Conklin imposes a dress code after the students celebrate "Spirit Week" by wearing outrageous and mismatched clothing. Miss Brooks refers to the "celebration" as a "Malevolent Mardi Gras."
• Dressed in Layers: In "Heat Wave", Mr. Boynton, Harriet Conklin, Walter Denton and Stretch Snodgrass are wearing bathing suits underneath their regular clothes, covertly plotting an escape from school and a trip to the swimming hole. It so happens Miss Brooks is wearing a bathing suit underneath her regular clothes too.
• Dressed to Heal:
  • Miss Brooks dresses as a nurse to sneak into the hospital after visiting hours, in "Hospital Capers"
  • In the radio episode "Pensacola Popovers", Miss Brooks dresses up as a nurse to tend to a sick Mr. Boynton. Unfortunately, when she arrives at his apartment, she discovers her patient is not the healthy Mr. Boynton, but his ailing pet bullfrog Macdougall.
• Drinking on Duty: On T.V., in the episode "The Loaded Custodian", Miss Brooks and Mrs. Davis discuss how the previous custodian, Mr. Jensen, was fired for his drinking. Actually averted the few times Mr. Jensen appears on the radio (i.e. "Key to the School", "School Safety Advisor"), where his personality quirk is his insistence on interpreting common idioms literally.
• Driven by Envy: Mr. Conklin's rivalry with Jason Brille, principal of rival school Clay City High (or Clay High), drives several plots on the radio. On television, a few stories deal with Mr. Conklin's personal rivalry with Hamilton High principal Jasper Flint.
  • "Clay City English Teacher": A radio episode. Mr. Brille and Mr. Conklin are poaching teachers from their respective schools. Brille tries to get Miss Brooks transfer to Clay City.
  • "Madison Country Club": Mr. Conklin is furious that Mr. Brille received donations to renovate his office. Conklin schemes to get a wealthy dowager to fund his renovation project.
  • "The Little Visitor" has Mr. Conklin compete with Mr. Brille for a promotion.
  • "Two-Way Stretch Snodgrass": A Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of "Stretch To Transfer". Conklin plots to get former All-American Biff Mooney hired as the new school coach, to spite Jasper Flinter (Jason Brille in the radio original). Conklin is furious to hear Flint's hired Mooney. Flint then tricks star football player Stretch Snodgrass into asking for a transfer.
  • "Noodnick, Daughter of Medic": Miss Brooks succesfully gets Mr. Conklin a raise and a bonus. One of the conditions Miss Brooks insists upon is that Mr. Conklin's bonus be larger than that awarded Jason Brille.
• Driven to Madness: "The School Board Psychologist" sees the Head of the Board, Mr. Stone, appoint a psychologist to examine the faculty of Madison High School. He's given the broad authority to fire any faculty who he believes is unfit for the teaching profession. The psychologist is already overworked, and is provably unfit to make recommendations (he suggests, for example, Mr. Boynton should be an exterminator). Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Walter Denton, and eventually Mr. Conklin himself gaslight the psychologist until he withdraws his recommendations and takes his much needed rest.
• Driver Faces Passenger: Walter Denton usually drives Miss Brooks to school. As a reckless sixteen year old driver, he, of course, looks at Miss Brooks instead of looking at the road. On one occasion, Miss Brooks had to grab the wheel and steer in order to prevent an accident.
• Drives Like Crazy: Teenagers Walter Denton and Stretch Snodgrass are chronic offenders of this trip. More surprisingly, Miss Brooks usually is as well. A running gag has her telling Mrs. Davis why she can't drive her car. Often enough it's in the shop. However, there are many occasions where Miss Brooks is to blame after having proved herself a stereotypical woman driver. In "Trial By Jury", Miss Brooks goes to court to fight a charge of reckless driving after her car crashes into a fruit stand.
• Driving a Desk: Out of the necessity, as the television episodes were filmed on stage in front of a live studio audience. Whenever Walter Denton is driving Miss Brooks around in his jalopy, i.e. "Life Can Be Bones", one sees a closeup of Miss Brooks sitting beside Walter with the rear of the car taking up most of the background. The old car's seen to bounce around a little, while passing shadows are used in lieu of scenery to suggest movement. Location shots were used a few times to see Walter's car arriving at Madison High School or driving along the road (i.e "Postage Due").
• Driving Stick: In "Who's Going Where", Mr. Conklin insists on going to Crystal Lake and having Miss Brooks accompany him (and type out his reports while being a "guest" at his family cottage). Miss Brooks offers Mr. Conklin the use of his car. However, Mr. Conklin claims that he can't drive Miss Brooks' pre-World War II car, because of an unfamiliar gear shift system.
• Driving Test: In "Oakhurst Music Festival", Miss Brooks complains to Mrs. Davis about the perils in teaching Madison High School's driving course. Miss Brooks describes how, when giving a driving lesson to Stretch Snodgrass, she asked for the wheel. Stretch pulled off wheel and gave it to Miss Brooks.
• Dropped Glasses: Mr. Conklin fell victim to this trope on more than one occasion; i.e. "Cure That Habit", "Living Statues", and "Skis in the Classroom".
• Dunce Cap: Unsurprisingly, Stretch Snodgrass is forced to wear a dunce cap in "The Mambo".
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • It's rather interesting to listen to the first "Audition Show" with Shirley Booth trying out for the role of Miss Brooks. Mr. Conklin is the head of the Board of Education, not the incoming principal (that role belongs to Mr. Darwell). Miss Brooks' landlady Mrs. Davis is younger, and has a teenaged daughter who Walter Denton intends to drive to school (Denton only drives Miss Brooks when his girlfriend breaks the date). Walter Denton is characterized somewhat in the vein of a Dumb Jock, and has a much different voice. In fact, Denton's character is more akin to the later Stretch Snodgrass than the Denton who would be a mainstay of the program from Day 1.
  • An eyebrow-raising moments in early radio episodes is Walter Denton's contention that he's a great English student. Later, despite his Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness, it's firmly established Denton is Book Dumb.
  • The animosity between Mr. Conklin and Miss Brooks vanishes after "First Day" and remains subdued for most of the first season. Similarly, Mr. Conklin's hatred for Walter Denton is similarly absent. It emerges only after Walter's prank in the original radio version of "Cure That Habit". Mr. Conklin's nickname, "Old Marblehead", doesn't make its first appearance until the radio episode "Mr. Conklin's Carelessness Code". In one first season episode, "Easter Outfit", Walter tells Miss Brooks that Mr. Conklin's nickname amongst the students is "Napoleon".
• Easily-Overheard Conversation: Happens from time to time. Usually, the eavesdropper misunderstands and hilarity ensues.
• Easter Bunny: The Easter Bunny is mentioned in the two Easter episodes; "Easter Outfit" and "Dying Easter Eggs".
• Easy Amnesia: "Mr. Conklin's Plaque" begins with Mrs. Davis telling Miss Brooks how her sister Angela received amnesia after a blow on the head. Angela recovered after received a second blow.
• Easy Come, Easy Go: Happens to Miss Brooks in "Principal for a Day" where she becomes principal for a day. Happily averted in The Movie Grand Finale where Miss Brooks finally achieves her Series Goal and marries Mr. Boynton and lives Happily Ever After.
• Eating Pet Food: In "Poison Ivy", Mrs. Davis sets out dog biscuits in place of cereal for breakfast. Miss Brooks and Walter Denton both fall victim.
• Eek, a Mouse!!: In "A Demonstration of Male Superiority," a house mouse scares Miss Brooks and Mrs. Davis onto the dining room table. Walter Denton scares it away. Miss Brooks later proves "male superiority" in an emergency to be a myth, when she is trapped in a meat freezer with Walter Denton, Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton.
• Egg MacGuffin: episode "The Egg", Mrs. Davis gets a chicken egg from her brother's farm. Mistakenly, he had given her an egg soon to hatch. Miss Brooks and friends try to safely hatch the egg, and keep Mr. Conklin from frightening the chick by flashing a photo as it emerges from its shell.
• Elaborate University High:
  • Usually averted on radio and television in Our Miss Brooks. Madison High School's facilities seem to par for the course. Miss Brooks frequently criticizes her low pay, and episodes focus on various austerity measures (i.e. "Blue Goldfish"). The most tony aspects of the school are the ivy-covered walls and the bust of the founder, Yodar Kritch. Once or twice, the gymnasium is said to be in a separate building than the main school.
  • Elaborate University High goes into play in The Movie Grand Finale. Madison High School is a very large building with substantial grounds. It even has tennis courts!
• Elderly Future Fantasy: In "The Dream", Miss Brooks dreams she has finally married Mr. Boynton. They had a daughter named Cleo. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Conklin have a son, Osgood Junior. Walter Denton marries Harriet Conklin, they have several children but Walter takes about twenty years to finish high school. Ultimately, many years later, the now elderly Mr. and Mrs. Boynton nee Brooks are still happily married. And still living with Miss Brooks friendly landlady Mrs. Davis, who is well over a hundred year old. The only problem is Cleo, who is running around with the wild Osgood Conklin Junior. Mr. Boynton finds to his horror that Cleo is secretly married to Osgood Junior and they have a child named Osgood Junior Junior. In The Movie Grand Finale Miss Brooks finally gets to marry Mr. Boynton for real.
• Election Day Episode: The cinematic series finale to the Our Miss Brooks series sees Mr. Conklin compete with school board head Mr. Stone for the newly created post of "Coordinator of Education". Mr. Conklin withdraws when Mr. Stone, who is independently wealthy, gets the board to set the salary for the position at a mere $500 per year. Meanwhile, in the main plot, Miss Brooks finally manages to achieve her Series Goal, marrying Mr. Boynton and living Happily Ever After.
• Elegant Classical Musician: In "Faculty Band", Mr. Boynton mentions that Miss Enright, Miss Brooks' great rival, plays the harp.
  Mr. Boynton: Well, look at our new harp.
  Miss Brooks: But we're so young!
  Mr. Boynton: It's for the band. Miss Enright lent it to us. I understand she plays like an angel.
  Mr. Boynton: I can hardly wait.
• Elevator Failure:
  • In "Project X", Miss Brooks begins the episode by nearly falling to her death down an open elevator shaft at Clay City High School.
  • In "School Safety Advisor", a mix-up involves Mr. Conklin and a member of the school board falling six feet down the empty freight elevator shaft.
• Embarrassing First Name: Stretch Snodgrass' real name is "Fabian."
• Embarrassing Relative Teacher: Harriet Conklin's father is the school principal; to make it worse he's particularly unliked by the student body. Harriet's embarassed by the more unprincipled facets of Mr. Conklin's tenure. For example, in "Home Cooked Meal" she's mortified that instead of buying a home freezer, Mr. Conklin is secretly hiding the family's meat supply in the school cafeteria freezer.
• Emergency Impersonation:
  • In "Two Way Stretch Snodgrass", Walter Denton is drafted to impersonate Stretch Snodgrass, while Mr. Conklin and Miss Brooks impersonate his parents.
  • In "Head of the State Board of Education", Miss Brooks asks a bum to impersonate the head of the state board (unaware that said bum is the head of the state board), Mr. Boynton impersonates Mr. Conklin, Mr. Conklin imitates Walter Denton, and Walter Denton claims to be Stretch Snodgrass. It all Makes Sense In Context.
• Entertainingly Wrong: Happens several times. From Miss Brooks' perspective, the events of "The Wrong Mrs. Boynton" and "Mrs. Davis Reads Tea Leaves" are particularly infamous!
• Et Tu, Brute?: In "Mr. Conklin Plays Detective", Principal Osgood Conklin is shocked to discover that Mr. Boynton seems to be the one that stole his typewriter and made a long-distance call to Rockaway, Minnesota on his office phone. It turns out to be a misunderstanding. Mr. Boynton oiled the typewriter and put it in the office closet. Boynton left the money for the long distance call in an envelope on Mr. Conklin's desk.
  Mr. Conklin: Et-tu, Boynton?
• Even the Guys Want Him: Walter has at least once said Mr. Boynton is "tall, dark, handsome..." as well as "Boy, is he good looking!"
• Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy: Mrs. Davis curtsies on a few occasions, usually when the situation doesn't warrant it. In one episode, she even does a curtsy for a hobo calling himself "The Earl of Peoria".
• Everything Makes a Mushroom: In "Writing Magazine Articles", Miss Brooks tells the editor of "True Family Romance" that her entirely-made-up quiz kid son made a mushroom with his home chemistry set the other day.
• Evil Gloating: Mr. Conklin likes to gloat.
  • In "Faculty Cheerleader", Mr. Conklin gloats to his daughter over his morning coffee. He considers the sight of Miss Brooks, appointed faculty cheerleader, tossing a baton up in the air and it hitting her on the head. When Mr. Conklin decides to make himself faculty cheerleader, he's a victim of Laser-Guided Karma.
  • Mr. Conklin gloats to Miss Brooks in "Two Way Stretch Snodgrass" about his plans for the school football team, see Evil Laugh below.
• Evil Laugh: Mr. Conklin laughs evilly on a couple occasions. This example is from the episode "Two Way Stretch Snodgrass'':
  Mr. Conklin: I just learned that Biff Mooney, one of the greatest college football players, is interested in a high school coaching job in this part of the country. I've already opened negotiations by mail, and it's a foregone conclusion that he'll accept my offer. Ah-ha-ha-ha (evil laugh), ah, I can't wait to see the expression on Brill's face when I tell him about it. Heh, heh, heh (evil laugh).
  Miss Brooks: In some states, that laugh would be banned.
• Exact Eavesdropping: "Mrs. Davis Reads Tea Leaves" begins with Mrs. Davis reading Miss Brooks' tea leaves at breakfast and seeing Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton renting "honeymoon cottage" and surrounded by children and rabbits. Later, in the Cafeteria at lunch, Miss Brooks hears Mr. Boynton talking to teenage Harriet Conklin about renting the cottage at the end of June with Miss Brooks . . . if she'll agree. Miss Brooks expects a proposal of marriage, what Mr. Boynton has in mind is running a summer camp.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The series naturally stars Miss Brooks. Additionally, episode titles often describe what the episode is about, i.e "Angela's Wedding" or "Birthday Bag".
• Exact Words:
  • In "The Big Game", Miss Brooks takes Mr. Conklin's exact words at their literal value to pass former football star Gus "Snakehips" Geary and give him his high school diploma.
  • Similarly, in "The Yodar Kritch Award", Miss Brooks gives Bones Snodgrass (or Stretch Snodgrass, in the radio version of the episode) the Yodar Kritch Award for Unique Achievement in English. The unique achievement? Not answering a single question right.
• The Exit Is That Way: In "The Wrong Mrs. Boynton", Miss Brooks accidentally offers to masquerade as Mr. Boynton's mother in front of Dean Faraday of State University. Playing the "wrong" Mrs. Boynton requires her to go to Mr. Boynton's apartment and entertain the dean. Unfortunately, Mr. Boynton's apartment features mainly wildlife specimens . . . and doors. Miss Brooks, at various times, mistakenly goes into the bathroom, closet, kitchen, bedroom, and once even locks herself outside the backdoor and has to be let in the front by the dean.
• Expospeak Gag: Teenage Walter Denton is sometimes very fond of Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness. It's on these occasions that Denton engages in expospeak. The following example is a petition he writes for the episode "Cafeteria Boycott", remade for television as "The Cafeteria Strike". Note the oddball combination of 50's slang, extensive "borrowing" from the Declaration of Independence, and assorted legalese (the petition omitted for time in the newest syndication cut of the show). Walter Denton is simply asking for Mr. Conklin to fire the incompetent new school chef.
  Walter Denton: Whereas and to wit—
  Miss Brooks: That's pretty strong language, isn't it? A little on the pink side.
  Harriet Conklin: Listen, Miss Brooks.
  Walter Denton: When in the course of student's events, it becomes necessary to turn one's back on one's stomach, we the undersigned, exercising our constitutional right to peaceably assemble, and to form a committee to seek the redress of grievances, do hereby announce our firm intention of the Madison High School Cafeteria only to use the tables, chairs, water, napkins and toothpicks provided therein. Until such a time that the duly appointed party or parties, namely Mr. Osgood Conklin, principal, or the Board of Education, responsible for the operational bog-down that has befallen this installation, do take such action that will improve the food, lower the prices and better the service in said cafeteria. It is also recommended the person, or persons, in whom this authority is vested, immediately see that the present chef in charge of preparing the food, and without any further frippery or fanfare, chuck him the heck off the premises. Well, Miss Brooks, what do you think of it?
  Miss Brooks: How much do you want for the picture rights?
• Extended Greetings: Walter Denton likes to carry on. This exchange with Miss Brooks is in the episode "Wild Goose Chase":
  Walter Denton: And to you, fair flower of the faculty, a thousand salaams!
  Miss Brooks: Thank you, Walter Denton, and I've had my share, thanks.
• Extremely Short Intro Sequence: The syndicated opening sequence for Our Miss Brooks is only 13-seconds long. Notable in that the syndicated version dates back to the 1950's. The theme itself dates to the 1948 radio premier, when it was played briefly at the start and end of the radio episodes. A much longer version of the tune plays over the closing credits.
• Extreme Omni-Goat: In "Miss Brooks Takes Over Spring Garden", Miss Brooks takes over management of Madison High School's spring garden. Unfortunately, Miss Brooks' Sitcom Arch-Nemesis Daisy Enright takes over the care of the school's mascot, a goat. Miss Enright grazed the goat in the vegetable garden, eating all the shoots as they came up. Later, the goat annoys Miss Brooks' (and Miss Enright's) Love Interest Mr. Boynton when it eats his hat.
• Extracurricular Enthusiast: Walter Denton. He's been manager of the football, baseball and basketball team. He's been on the debating team, editor of the school paper "The Madison Monitor" and Vice-President of the Student Council. Walters also helps Miss Brooks' with the Spring Garden, and joins Madison High School's (short-lived) student Traffic Police. He's also tried out (unsuccessfully) for the baseball, basketball and water polo, before finally (and barely) making it onto the school football team.
• Eye Take: Miss Brooks bugs out her eyes from time to time. One example is early in the film, after Mrs. Davis greets her with an apparent non sequitur.
• Facial Dialogue: In "Home Cooked Meal", Miss Brooks' facial expressions as Mr. Conklin is about to light a match in a gas-filled room....
• Failure Is the Only Option: Miss Brooks can't get Mr. Boynton to propose marriage . . . that is until the cinematic grand finale where, with the help of Mrs. Davis, she succeeds in marrying Mr. Boynton and living happily ever after.
• Failures on Ice: In "Swap Week", school board head Mr. Stone is forced to recuperate at his vacation cabin. Stone had injured his ankle using the pair of ice skates Mr. Conklin bought him.
• Faint in Shock: In the concluding film, Mr. Conklin faints when he learns that the position he's been campaigning for pays only a nominal amount.
• Fair-Weather Friend: Sometimes, when the going gets tough, Walter Denton gets going, i.e. "Trial By Jury".
• Fairy Tale Episode: "Cinderella for a Day". A mysterious shoe salesman lends Miss Brooks a custom-made gold slipper until midnight. Miss Brooks is treated to several Cinderella-style presents, from the same mysterious donor, that allow her to attend the masquerade ball at the country club in style. It turns out the shoe salesman was a millionaire gambler who had placed a bet with a expert shoemaker that he could find a pair of feet that would perfectly fit the custom made slippers. The gifts were partly his reward to Miss Brooks, and partly for laughs.
• Fairy Tale Wedding Dress:
  • "Angela's Wedding" begins with Mrs. Davis' sister Angela trying on her wedding dress while carrying her bouquet. It is an elaborate white dress with a veil and a train, with humour coming from the fact Angela is in her latter middle-aged and is quite plump.
  • In The Movie Grand Finale to the series, Miss Brooks pictures herself in one as she fantasizes about marriage to Mr. Boynton. Miss Brooks finally gets her man at the end of the film
• Fake Charity: In the episode "Bobbsey Twins in Stir", a conman is tricking people into selling fake tickets to the policemen's ball. The proceeds are supposedly going to "widows and orphans".
• Fake Twin Gambit: In "Connie and Bonnie", Miss Brooks innocently blunders into an illegal roadside casino just as its raided. Although quickly exonerated by the police, the story gets in the paper., Miss Brooks blames her nonexistant uncouth twin Bonnie Brooks as being the culprit. Miss Brooks is forced to impersonate Bonnie to convince a skeptical Mr. Conklin. On a later occasion, Miss Brooks reassumes the identity of "Bonnie" again to moonlight in a diner to earn extra money ("Twins at School").
• Falling-in-Love Montage: Played for Laughs. Mr. Boynton takes Miss Brooks to the zoo, where they feed an elephant mother and her baby. Then Miss Brooks lures Mr. Boynton away from the zoo, to a sale on furniture in the Sherry's Department Store window, as a way of suggesting matrimony. Mr. Boynton again starts taking Miss Brooks again to the zoo, where a camera fade shows how much the baby elephant had grown in a couple years.
  Miss Brooks (narrating): Ours was not the fastest romance in history, but it took no time to develop into one of the slowest.
• Family Business:
  • Mrs. Nestor's private elementary school in the last television season. Mrs. Nestor is principal, her sister (also named Mrs. Nestor) become the new principal, her brother Munsee is vice principal.
  • The Madison Express, the Madison daily newspaper owned by Lawrence Nolan. He expects his son Gary to run the paper after he retires.
• Family Versus Career: Several episodes (i.e. "The Wrong Mrs. Boynton) suggest that upon achieving her series goal of marriage to Mr. Boynton, Miss Brooks intends to resign her position as Madison English teacher. In the theatrical series finale this is also the case. Family first for Miss Brooks, as her Happily Ever After is to become a wife and mother.
• Fancy Dinner:
  • The School Board Banquet in "Stretch is in Love" (radio) and "Suzy Prentisss" (television). It's a black tie event, tuxedos for men and evening gowns for women.
  • To a lesser degree, Miss Brooks' dinner at an expensive French restaurant in "French Sadie Hawkins Day".
• Fanfare: The movie dispenses with the usual series theme, and opens with a fanfare heavy composition.
• The Fashionista: Wealthy Miss Enright, Miss Brooks' rival, is always impeccably dressed.
• Fashion Magazine: In the episode "Cosmopolitan Magazine", a photographer arrives from the real-life Cosmopolitan Magazine to do an article and photo-spread about an average American high school. The trope is somewhat averted, as at the time (1953) Cosmopolitan was an esteemed literary and general interest periodical, and not the sex and fashion magazine it is today. The radio episode was broadcast to coincide with Cosmopolitan's publication of an article on Eve Arden and Our Miss Brooks. An example of the application of media "synergies", at least fifty years before the modern word was coined.
• Fast-Food Nation: Occasionally, the fast-food available at local hangout Marty's Malt Shop is alluded to. In a radio episode, "Dress Code Protest", Stretch Snodgrass mentions to Miss Brooks he would have won a hamburger eating contest had he not unexpectedly fainted and knocked himself out against the table. Miss Brooks is sickened to find out that the first prize for the winner of the contest was a banana split.
• Fatal Fireworks: In the episode "School Safety Advisor", Dumb Jock Stretch Snodgrass brings an enormous firecracker to school, preparatory to setting it off for the Fourth of July. Stretch accidentally gets the fuse wet, so he attempts to dry it off with a match. This lights the fuse; fortunately a quick-thinking Miss Brooks throws the firecracker into an empty supply room. Alas, the room wasn't so empty after all! Fortuantely, Mr. Conklin emerged relatively unharmed from that minor explosion!
• Favors for the Sexy: This happened most notably in the episodes "The Model Schoolteacher" (the radio original) and "The Model Teacher" (the television remake). Walter Denton, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin trip over themselves helping a glamorous Immoral Journalist from "Snap Magazine". She is at Madison High to do a profile on the day in the life of a schoolteacher, but really views her role as that of doing a hatchet job on Miss Brooks.
• "Fawlty Towers" Plot:
  • "Head of the Board": The trouble begins when Walter Denton makes a prank call to Mr. Conklin, claiming to be Wallace T. Hewitt, head of the State Board of Education. Miss Brooks is forced to find an impersonator to play the role and avert Mr. Conklin's wrath. Hilarity Ensues.
  • "Two-way Stretch Snodgrass": Happens when Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin have Walter Denton masquerade as student athlete Stretch Snodgrass.
• Feeling Their Age: In "Old Age Plan" the power of suggestion turns Boynton and Conklin into shambling wrecks with one foot in the grave. Miss Brooks is trying to sell an old age savings plan to the two men and, after reading the signs of old age to them, they come down with all the symptoms.
• Feigning Intelligence: In "Magazine Articles", Miss Brooks enlists Walter Denton to masquerade as her nonexistent fourteen year old quiz kid son. Miss Brooks had written an fictional article for "True Family Romance" magazine about her quiz kid son, and needed to prove the story was true in order to collect her payment. Hilarity Ensues, especially as Mr. Conklin gets involved . . . .
• Fell Asleep Standing Up: Stretch Snodgrass in "Stretch Is In Love Again" falls asleep standing in the school hallway. Judy Brille, daughter of rival high school principal Jason Brille, was colluding with her father to keep Stretch out dating her and dancing to the wee hours of the morning. In that way, they hoped to keep him useless in the big game.
• File Mixup: The episode "Have Bed - Will Travel" sees Mrs Davis' medical records mixed with an ill nonagenarian friend, making Miss Brooks believe her landlady is mortally ill.
• Fill It with Flowers: In "Poetry Mix-Up", Mr. Boynton advises Miss Brooks to request some flowers from the school nursery, in order to brighten up her dreary classroom.
• Film Noir: The latter part of "Postage Due" is very much film noir influenced, with Miss Brooks providing a Private Eye Monologue.
• Final Season Casting: The chaotic and controversial last season of the television series. Executive Meddling saw Miss Brooks take a new job as a teacher at a private elementary school in California (versus the Everytown, America setting of Madison). The last season initially sees the departure of everybody but Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin. Mrs. Davis was briefly replaced by her sister Angela, before returning to the picture a couple episodes later. Mrs. Nestor is introduced as Miss Brooks' new boss, only to be replaced by her sister, also named Mrs. Nestor. Mr. Boynton is replaced as Miss Brooks' love interest by two gym teachers in quick succession, until finally returning at the end of the program. Harriet Conklin and Walter Denton disappear entirely from Miss Brooks' life, although Mrs. Conklin again made a few appearances toward the end. This was averted on the radio, as the program continued at Madison High School in the City of Madison as per usual. The cinematic series finale followed the radio continuity, ignoring the final television season completely.
• Fire of Comfort: In the episode "Magic Tree", Miss Brooks spends Christmas Eve in a rocking chair in front Mrs. Davis' fireplace
• First-Name Basis: Significantly, making up after an argument midway through the cinematic grand finale, Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton finally move to a first name bais, "Connie" and "Phillip" respectively.
• Five-Finger Discount: In "The Bicycle Thief", Stevie, a poor but otherwise honest honor student just can't help himself; he borrows Mr. Conklin's bicycle for his birthday. Miss Brooks tries to prevent Mr. Conklin from discovering the identity of the borrower.
• Flashback: A large part of "Borrowing Money to Fly" involves Miss Brooks recalling her initial arrival in Madison and her first coming to teach at Madison High School.
• Flashback Effects: Visual effects and music were used to signify dream sequences in "Magic Christmas Tree", "The Dream", "King and Miss Brooks" and "Mr. Boynton's Return". Just the music was used for the radio in "Connie's New Job Offer" and the radio version of "Magic Christmas Tree".
• Floorboard Failure: In the Grand Finale, when campaigning for the position of Coordinator of Education, Mr. Conklin falls through the floor of the temporary stage Walter Denton constructed. Walter didn't use enough nails.
• Florence Nightingale Effect:
  • In the episode "Pensacola Popovers", Miss Brooks tries to work the Florence Nightengale Effect to her benefit by buying Mr. Boynton snacks throughout the morning. Including the titular cookies, which made everyone aside from Mr. Boynton sick. Mr. Boynton eventually telephones Miss Brooks, asking for her nursing aid. However, it turns out that Mr. Boynton wants Miss Brooks to nurse his pet frog (who had also eaten a Pensacola Popover).
  • In "Reunion", one of Miss Brooks' friends had met her husband while she working in a doctor's office. He had visited the doctor due to a slipped disk.
• Flying Saucer: In the episode "Space, Who Needs It?", Walter Denton makes a model of a flying saucer. He holds it on a stick in front of Mr. Conklin's telescope lens, tricking the principal into thinking the Earth's being invaded.
• The Food Poisoning Incident: Mrs. Davis is often a Cordon Bleugh Chef (try her Limburger omelet), but once she goes straight into Lethal Chef territory. "Pensacola Popovers", in the episode of the same name, are guaranteed to give man or beast gastric distress. Walter Denton tries one and is sick as a dog. Principal Osgood Conklin tries one, and goes home sick within a half an hour. Mr. Boynton's pet frog Mcdougall licks one, and is reduced to hopping around on his head in a frenzy.
  • Miss Brooks gives a few to Love Interest Mr. Boynton, in a plot to make him sick so she can nurse him back to health. Alas, Mr. Boynton's cast-iron stomach makes him immune. For awhile, at least. Mr. Boynton calls Miss Brooks as he needs someone to nurse . . . his pet frog Mcdougall. Eventually, the popovers have their effect, and Mr. Boynton faints away at the Biology Club luncheon and is taken to the hospital.
    Miss Brooks Well, what do you know? A delayed popover!
• Flowers of Femininity:
  • Elderly landlady Mrs. Davis prefers floral wallpaper at home, and dress patterns generally.
  • In "Bones, Son of Cyrano" (a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of "Poetry Mixup"), Miss Brooks requests six small flowerpots for her classroom.
• Food Porn:
  • In "Carelessness Code", a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation, Miss Brooks has no money for lunch due to Mr. Conklin's arbitrary "carelessness code" fines. A lot of time is spent with Miss Brooks looking hungrily upon Harriet's cafeteria lunch of roast beef and mashed potatoes.
  • In the "Thanksgiving Show", Walter Denton describes his typical thanksgiving dinner to Miss Brooks:
    Walter Denton: Well, usually Mom cooks a big turkey. And we have dinner at about four o'clock in the afternoon. Oh gosh, I'll never forget last year's meal. First we had a fresh fruit cup and then some delicious vegetable soup. And then this golden brown turkey was served with a special dressing of raisons and chestnuts. And then we had some candied yams with a baked marshmallow covering and . . . .
• Foreign Language Title: The episode "Le Chien Chaud et le Mouton Noir". In English, this translates to "the hot dog and the black sheep", referring cleverly to two jokes running through the episode.
• Foreign Queasine: A staple of early radio episodes, was landlady Mrs. Davis' reliance on outlandish foreign recipes for Miss Brooks' breakfast. One such dish were Armenian Pancakes, which relied on sour goat's milk. Another was an Eskimo recipe for "blubber burgers", whale meat fried in seal fat. Mrs. Davis become more staid as time goes on, and the show moved to television. However, Miss Brooks complains of eating Hungarian Goulash in a later episode. Miss Brooks outright refuses to touch a plate of Veal Scallopini and Garlic Bread Mrs. Davis presents her with one morning.
• Forgetful Jones: Miss Brooks' elderly landlady Mrs. Davis is often described as "absent-minded". Sometimes she forgets what she's talking about, and switches tack mid-sentence. In "Phone Book Follies", Mrs. Davis is absentmindedly packing phone books in her bag after looking up numbers.
• Forgotten Anniversary: In "24 Hours", Miss Brooks talks to an irate Martha Conklin; she's furious that Osgood Conklin hadn't bought a present or even mentioned their anniversary. Miss Brooks tries to patch things up by buying a pair of andirons and sending it as a gift in Osgood Conklin's name. Later, Miss Brooks is surprised to find Martha Conklin is angry at Osgood Conklin for buying an expensive pair of andirons. It's made worse when she receives the pair of andirons Osgood bought for her. He hadn't forgotten after all.
• Forgotten Birthday: In "The Birthday Bag". Miss Brooks forgets her own birthday, while everybody else remembers.
• Forgot to Mind Their Head: Occasionally happens to Mr. Conklin. For example, in one episode he's looking for something under his desk and bumps his head when he gets up.
• Forgot to Pay the Bill: In "Public Property on Parade", the electricity is disconnected when Mrs. Davis fails to pay the bill. Miss Brooks is forced to type out a speech by the light of a streetlamp.
• Fortune Teller:
  • Mrs. Davis believes tea leaves to be a reliable method of telling the future. Most notably, in "Mrs. Davis Reads Tea Leaves", Mrs. Davis' dresses up as gypsy to read Miss Brooks' tea leaves. Her predictions appear to come true . . . until Hilarity Ensues.
  • Mrs. Davis also reads tea leaves in the radio episodes "The Weighing Machine" and "Friendship" to varying results. In "Weighing Machine", Mrs. Davis' reading is prompted by the need to double check a fortune Miss Brooks' receives from a penny weighing machine. Here, the readings turn out to be correct . . . but not in the way Mrs. Davis or Miss Brooks expects.
  • Mrs. Davis switches to playing cards in the cinematic series finale. However, Mrs. Davis simply uses the cards as a device to reveal Mr. Boynton's intention to Miss Brooks, in spite of having previously been pledged to secrecy.
• For Your Own Good: In "Spare That Rod!", Principal Conklin's rationale for his severe discipline policy. It's for the benefit of the students, the faculty and Madison High School alike.
• Four-Leaf Clover: In "Four Leaf Clover", Miss Brooks picks a four leaf clover that brings her nothing but bad luck. She eventually pawns it off to a crooked auto mechanic.
• Fourth Wall Greeting: "Transition Show" begins with Miss Brooks in the school cafeteria talking to the audience. Madison High School has suddenly been ordered closed and demolished to make way for a new Los Angeles Freeway (in spite of the show previously being set in a small city named Madison. Miss Brooks leaves the about-to-be-demolished school cafeteria, and goes to tell-off the also-fired Mr. Conklin. By the end of the episode, Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin are working at Mrs. Nestor's Private Elementary School in the San Fernando Valley.
  • Notably, the concurrent radio show continued at the extant Madison High in its Everytown, America setting. That was also the continuity followed by The Movie Grand Finale at the end of the season. This left the fourth season of the television series an Oddball in the Series disjointed from the rest of the program's run.
• Frame-Up: In "Taking the Rap for Mr. Boynton", Miss Brooks tries to get Mr. Boynton into trouble with Principal Conklin. This Zany Scheme is so can take the blame for him and make him less Oblivious to Love. This involves trying to make it look like Mr. Boynton ate Mr. Conklin's lunch and drawing a cartoon of Mr. Conklin as a mouse and making it look like Mr. Boynton's work.
• Free Prize at the Bottom: The fateful box of Cracker Jacks, at the end of the film.
• Free-Range Children: Teenagers Walter Denton, Stretch and Bones Snodgrass tend to be able to go where they please and when. Averted with Harriet Conklin, who Mr. Conklin is (sometimes) seen to keep an eye on.
• French Cuisine Is Haughty: In the episode "French Sadie Hawkins Day", Miss Brooks accidentally orders "Parking in Rear" from the snobby maître d'hôtel. She then proceeds to order expensive meals for everybody, ignorant of the fact that she has agreed to pay for the entire dinner.
• Freudian Slip: Miss Brooks sometimes slips something marriage or romance related when talking to Mr. Boynton.
• A Friend in Need: Miss Brooks can always be counted on to stand by her friends; even Mr. Conklin, her Friendly Enemy.
  • On multiple occasions, she protects Walter Denton from having one of his practical jokes exposed and backfiring on him. "Cure That Habit" and "Mr. Conklin is Honored" are cases in point.
  • Miss Brooks is eager to protect Mr. Boynton, naturally enough. "Mr. Conklin Plays Detective", where Miss Brooks believes Mr. Boynton used Mr. Conklin's phone to make a long distance call, is a case in point. Likewise, "The Jewel Robbery", where Miss Brooks wrongly believes Mr. Boynton robbed a store.
  • Miss Brooks saves Mr. Conklin's job in "Wake Up Plan" and "Saving the School Newspaper". When Miss Brooks wrongly concludes Mr. Conklin has been fired in "Rumors", she sets up a laundry to raise money.
  • Miss Brooks saves Mrs. Davis from a hurried marriage in "Marriage Madness".
• Friendly Enemies: Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin often kvetch about being the bane of one other's existence. However, depending on their goals, they'll either be working together on friendly terms ("Citizen's League", "Two-way Stretch Snodgrass", "Postage Due"), helping one another ("Cure That Habit", "The Hobby Show"), socializing with one another ("Parlor Game" and "The Birthday Bag") . . . or at loggerheads as if they were sworn enemies ("Old Marblehead", "Business Course", "Secondhand First Aid").
• Friendship Song: In the episode "Friendship", "Friendship" (from Anything Goes) is played between scenes, ever more manically as Miss Brooks' loses friends. Unusually, the two buddies singing the song don't have a role outside the song. In the song's last appearance, about midway through the episode, one friend decides to murder the other:
  The Two Friends: Friendship
  Friendship
  Just a perfect friendship
  When other friendships be forgot
  Gunshot
  Surviving Friend: I will still be hot.
• Frivolous Lawsuit: In the episode "Mr. Travers' Three Acre Lot". Mr. Conklin literally sets Miss Brooks up for a fall so he can sue Mr. Travers and force the sale of the eponymous lot.
• Fruit Cart: Memorably, in "Trial by Jury", Miss Brooks finds herself charged with speeding, reckless driving, driving the wrong way, and crashing into a fruit stand. The unfortunate fruit stand owner again suffers at the hands of Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin's automobile mishaps in "Miss Brooks' New Car". At the end of the episode, Miss Brooks takes a wagon load of fruit to the Conklins as a peace offering. The fruit stand owner had decided to give Miss Brooks his stock and start again in another city.
• Frying Pan of Doom: In "Angela's Wedding", Mrs. Davis uses a frying pan to great effect on the noggin of a gym teacher who insults her deviled eggs.
• Funny Background Event: In "The Pet Shop", Walter Denton and Miss Brooks playact the scene that Teacher's Pet Walter thinks will occur when Miss Brooks meets Mr. Boynton that day. The scene continues as Walter, pretending to be Mr. Boynton, proposes marriage to Miss Brooks. In the background, Miss Brooks' landlady Mrs. Davis walks into the room. Not knowing the two are acting, she looks aghast. Mrs. Davis then sniffs the old grape juice she had given them to drink, to see if it had fermented into wine! Finally, the playacting ends and Miss Brooks and Walter return to the breakfast table. They're about to have some more grape juice, but Mrs. Davis intervenes . . . .
  Mrs. Davis: Not another drop!
• Funny Foreigner: Mexican boys Ricky Velasko ("The Miserable Cabellero" and "Buddy") and Benny Romero (fourth season). Both characters were played by talented child actor Ricky Vera.
• Fun with Foreign Languages: Guaranteed whenever French teacher Mr. LeBlanc appears.
• Fur and Loathing: Miss Enright, Miss Brooks' snooty, catty rival, brags about her furs as well as other expensive clothes.
• Gag Echo: A notable example occurs in the episode "Miss Brooks Writes About a Hobo." The titular hobo calls himself "The Earl of Peoria." Miss Brooks responds by asking "How is the Princess Margaret-Rose?" The hobo introduces himself to Mrs. Davis. Mrs. Davis inquires "How is the Princess Margaret Rose?" Walter Denton appears, again asking "Then how's the Princess Margaret Rose?" Finally, Mr. Conklin is introduced to the hobo. He asks "Then how's the Duke of Edinburgh?" Mr. Conklin laughs at his own joke.
• Gag Haircut: In "The Hairdo". Miss Enright instructs the hairdresser to sabotage Miss Brook’s hairdo.
• Gambit Pileup: In "Writing Magazine Articles", Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin each write fictional articles for "True Family Romance" magazine, neither knowing of the other's "indiscretion". Both are forced to prove the veracity of their fake tale in order to collect their fee. Both enlist Walter Denton to play the part of their respective fake fourteen year old sons . . . in the same place, at the same time. Hilarity Ensues.
• Games of the Elderly: In the cinematic series finale, Mrs. Davis mentions how Mrs. Boynton (Mr. Boynton's mother) "beat my brains out" in canasta. At movie's end, Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Boynton finally get Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton married
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: The six major characters are equally balanced by gender. Three girls: Constance (Connie) Brooks, Margaret Davis and Harriet Conklin. Three boys: Phillip Boynton, Osgood Conklin, and Walter Denton.
• Genre Refugee: Tex Barton, a teenaged cowboy.
• Gentleman Adventurer: Safari O'Toole, in the episode of the same name. He is Mrs. Davis' faithful pen pal, and is noted for his travels through the wilds of Darkest Africa. He's also a fake.
• Getting the Baby to Sleep: Miss Brooks is afflicted with a screaming baby in "Babysitting for Three".
• Getting the Boot: Walter Denton complains about his dates with Harriet ending with Mr. Conklin kicking him down the porch steps. i.e. "The Little Visitor".
• The Ghost:
  • Mrs. Davis' eccentric sister Angela is frequently discussed by Mrs. Davis at the breakfast table. Angela, however, remains unheard (on the radio) and unseen (on television) for quite awhile. Eventually, Jessica makes several appearances on the television series (sometimes as her sister's Suspiciously Similar Substitute, at a time when actress Jane Morgan suffered a stroke). The role was played by Canadian actress Jesselyn Fax. Fax also performed the role at least twice on the radio.
  • Similarly, Mrs. Davis' much discussed brother Victor goes several years without being seen. He finally makes one appearance in the second television season, the episode "The Egg."
• Gift of the Magi Plot: In "Easter Parade", Miss Brooks works during her Spring Break in order in earn money so she can accompany Mr. Boynton to the Easter Parade in a new dress. Meanwhile, Mr. Boynton's working to earn money for a new suit to wear when he takes Miss Brooks to the Easter Parade. Due to tax deductions, Miss Brooks doesn't earn enough for the new dress. Mrs. Davis lends her the extra money, Miss Brooks doesn't learn the money is actually coming from Mr. Boynton. Mr. Boynton no longer has enough money for the new suit. Miss Brooks' new dress is messed up when she accidently sits on a couple of Easter Eggs Mrs. Davis hid under the sofa cushions. So she too goes to the parade in her old dress of which she's positively ashamed. Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton both enjoy a heartwarming moment as a result.
• Girl of the Week:
  • "New Girl In Town" is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Walter Denton dates the new girl, while Miss Brooks' Love Interest Mr. Boynton is attracted to the girl's widowed mother.
  • "Life Can Be Bones" sees Miss Brooks romantically threatened by Mr. Boynton's temporary laboratory assistant.
  • In "Hello, Mr. Chips", Miss Brooks tries to date an English schoolmaster to make Mr. Boynton jealous.
  • In "Clay City English Teacher", scheming Clay City High School principal Jason Brille tries to lure Miss Brooks to his school with the eponymous male teacher. Miss Brooks won't go unless there's a job for Mr. Boynton too.
• Girls Behind Bars:
  • In "The Embezzled Dress" (a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of "Student Banking"), Miss Brooks fears being sent to prison. Landlady Mrs. Davis had unknowingly spent the students' bank money left in Miss Brooks' care, thinking it was Miss Brooks' back rent. Walter Denton, trying to teach Miss Brooks up, tells her about the conditions at the State Prison for Women. It involves mopping the floors all day; as there are not enough mops to go around, many of the inmates have to clean the floors on their hands and knees.
  • In "Bobbsey Twins in Stir", Mrs. Davis, and later Miss Brooks, are briefly in jail after they're tricked into selling phony tickets to the policeman's ball.
• Girl's Night Out Episode: In "Cat Burglars", Miss Brooks and Mrs. Davis spent the night with Harriet. Mr. Conklin is wary of the cat burglar at large in Madison.
• Girls With Mustaches: In "Madame Brooks Dubarry", Mrs. Davis wears a fake mustache when she dons a Theodore Roosevelt costume for a party.
• Girly Skirt Twirl: Miss Brooks does one in her fantasy sequence in the series' cinematic series finale. She's dreaming about her life married to Mr. Boynton.
• Give Me Back My Wallet: In "The Burglar", Mr. Conklin wakes up from his nap discovering a burglar in the process of absconding with the basket of fried chicken his wife cooked for him.
• Glad I Thought of It: Mr. Conklin uses this trope from time-to-time, usually at Connie's expense. However, being a Deadpan Snarker, Connie doesn't let this go without remark.
• The Glasses Got To Go: Said by Miss Brooks in "The Dancer." She had tried on a pair of glasses to see if Mr. Boynton will find her attractive in them. Mr. Boynton complimented Miss Brooks on how "mature" she looks.
• Glory Days: In "The Big Game", the Glory Days for assistant football coach Gus "Snakehips" Geary was when he won the big game of 1912 almost singlehandly. After high school, he was hired as vice president of a local firm for publicity - then a few years after he was demoted to janitor. As it paid the same salary, he stayed on until he was layed off and returned to Madison High as a popular assistant coach.
• Go-Getter Girl: Harriet Conklin is a straight A student, Student Council President, and member of a number of clubs. Next to her boyfriend, Walter Denton, she's probably Miss Brooks' biggest Teacher's Pet. She's also seen as the only student who likes the principal, likely because she's his daughter.
• Going Down with the Ship: In "An American Tragedy", Mr. Conklin, Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks are stranded on a rowboat in the middle of Crystal Lake. Mr. Conklin proclaims himself captain, however it turns out the rowboat is leaking and starts to sink. Neither Mr. Conklin nor Miss Brooks can swim . . . .
  Mr. Conklin (panicking): Well keep your head, Boynton! Don't get panicky! Don't get panicky, boy! You need all your strength, every ounce of it to tow me ashore!
  Miss Brooks: Tow you ashore? What about me, sir? I can't swim either, and you know the tradition of the sea, the captain goes down with his ship!
  Mr. Conklin: Not in this ship!
  • Fortunately, they had unknowingly drifted near the shore and the water under the boat was only three feet deep
• Gold Digger: In "Marriage Madness", the butcher's new business partner tries to marry Mrs. Davis for her money. It seems as if he's been often married, starting with the time in school he ran off with his French teacher.
  Miss Brooks: If he had said English teacher, I would have screamed!
• Good-Guy Bar: Marty's Malt Shop is the usual hangout for teachers and students alike, outside school.
• Good Ol' Boy: In "Four Fiances", the Texan to whom Miss Brooks finds herself unwittingly engaged. The gentleman is portrayed sympathetically.
• Good Parents: Martha Conklin, mother of Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Harriet Conklin. Unfortunately, it doesn't apply to Harriet's father, Osgood Conklin. Although Harriet and her father are close, Osgood Conklin is pompous and overprotective.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Used from time to time, often making the avoidance humorous in itself:
  • Sometimes, swear words are referred to obliquely. For example, in "Stretch is Accused Of Professionalism, there's this exchange between Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks:
    Mr. Boynton: Stretch has as much chance of passing that test as, well, . . . .
    Miss Brooks: Maybe one of them didn't melt down there.
  • Miss Brooks censors Walter Denton at breakfast when he's complaining about Mr. Conklin:
    Walter Denton: Miss Brooks, Mr. Conklin is making my otherwise placid existence a living . . . .
    Miss Brooks: Walter!
    Walter Denton: Inferno?
  • Words like "dang" and "heck" are often treated seriously. When Mr. Boynton uses it in the cafeteria Hilarity Ensues:
    Walter Denton: Language!
    Mr. Boynton: Oh, sorry Miss Brooks.
    Miss Brooks: That's all right, Mr. Boynton. In such times, even I resort to a mild profanity. Whoa Nelly!
  • On a more serious note, Mr. Conklin's favourite exclamation is the mild "Gad!"; likely to avoid blasphemy and breaking The Third Commandment.
  • In a Real Life Moment of Heartwarming, Eve Arden asked the radio and later the television crew not to swear on set as there were kids working on the show.
• Gossipy Hens:
  • In "The Party Line", the two woman who share Miss Brooks' party telephone line hold up the phone gossiping all day. The women also listen in on Miss Brooks' conversations and gossip about Miss Brooks, Mrs. Davis and Mr. Boynton.
  • Mrs. Davis and her sister Angela, on occasion. Of course, they'll deny being gossips...
• Go-to-Sleep Ending: The episode "Wake-Up Plan" ends with Miss Brooks finding Mr. Boynton sleeping on a bench in the hallway, just outside Mr. Conklin's office. Miss Brooks sits on his lap.
  Miss Brooks: Oh well, might as well make it unanimous. Good night all.
  Mr. Boynton: (whistles in his sleep)
• Got Volunteered: Miss Brooks often finds herself volunteered by Mr. Conklin to do his secretarial, typing or speechwriting work; i.e. Aunt Mattie Boynton, Public Property on Parade.
• Grammar Nazi: Miss Brooks herself is a mild example, as an English teacher she's often heard correcting Walter Denton or Stretch Snodgrass' grammar. Here, it's justified.
• Grande Dame: Mrs. Grabar in "Madison Country Club". Mr. Conklin intends to squeeze money out of the rich dowager so he can redecorate his office. When she arrives, he plans on staging quite a show of poverty, complete with the staff dressed like hobos. Miss Brooks and company have other plans. Hilarity Ensues.
• Grand Romantic Gesture: In the episode "Clay City English Teacher", Mr. Boynton tries to impress Miss Brooks by imitating Sam Spade. It makes sense in context.
• Granny Classic: Mrs. Davis is often portrayed this way; she's kind, loves to cook, sews and knits, and has a pet cat named Minerva. In The Movie Grand Finale she's responsible for the marriage of Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton
• Gratuitous Laboratory Flasks: In "Swap Week", Mr. Boynton has, for some reason, a lot of test tubes and flasks out in his biology laboratory. Miss Brooks absentmindedly adds two test tubes together, and hides the result under a blanket when the test tube starts to bubble-up.
• Gratuitous Spanish: Mexican boy Ricky Velasco in "The Miserable Caballero" and "Buddy", in the last television season Mexican student Benny Romero. Both parts were played by child actor Ricky Vera.
• Gray Rain of Depression: In "The Pet Shop", a misunderstanding means that Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton are likely to stand one another up for their date. At the last moment, Miss Brooks decides to go wait for Mr. Boynton outside the pet shop as promised. Miss Brooks waits, likely in vain, as a grey rain of depression falls. Mr. Boynton also cannot stay away, and the misunderstanding is cleared. The rain likewise clears, and Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton go out on their date.
• Greasy Spoon: Miss Brooks moonlights in one, taking the identity of her nonexistent identical twin, in the episode "Connie and Bonnie".
• Gretzky Has the Ball: Miss Brooks' knowledge of sports ranges from the excellent to the ridiculously inadequate.
  • In "Bronco Dismissed" the trope is averted, as Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton substitute coach for the football team without any difficulty. Likewise in other episodes such as "Baseball Slide" and "The Big Game". In some episodes, however, Miss Brooks is very much in the dark . . . .
  • In "Game At Clay City", Miss Brooks' football knowledge isn't lacking, but Mr. Boynton admits to being clueless as to most if not all sports. He even asks who's pitching for the football team.
  • In "The Grudge Match", Miss Brooks confuses the baseball term "bullpen" with "pigpen". She also mistakenly calls pitchers "chuckers". She later redeems herself, by serving as the announcer for the titular boxing match.
  • In "Stretch Is In Love Again", Miss Brooks cheers on a dead tired Stretch Snodgrass when he runs the wrong way and scores on Madison.
  • In "Two Way Stretch Snodgrass", when Mr. Conklin calls Stretch one of the most promising high school tailbacks in the country, Miss Brooks look behind Stretch to see if he had a tail.
• Greyscale of Evil: Osgood Conklin prefers to dress in black three-piece suits, or at least dark colors. Although the program appeared on television and film in black and white, and didn't "appear" at all on the radio, this tendency is mentioned several times:
  • "First Day": Mr. Conklin not only dressed in black, but drove a large black sedan that Walter Denton compares to a hearse.
  • "Friday The Thirteenth": Mr. Conklin brags about his respectable black suit and hat to his daughter. He worries that his "midnight blue" tie might be loud.
• Grin of Audacity:
  • Sported by Walter Denton, whenever conniving to pull an especially severe prank on Mr. Conklin. Being told off sometimes serves to encourage the grin (except by Mr. Conklin himself, of whom Denton is somewhat afraid). Noticeable in "Wild Goose", "Space, Who Needs It?", "Cure That Habit", "Marinated Hearing" and "Spare That Rod!".
  • Walter is also proud of having a "dark secret". In "Citizen's League", Miss Brooks suffers from guilt for having accidentally stuck a pin in the seat of the church organist Mrs. Dunfy when fitting her dress for the governor's wedding. Miss Brooks asks Walter if he himself has a dark secret. Walter smirks, laughs, and says he does. However, after being chewed out by Miss Brooks, Walter admits it's far from terrible, and again in the nature of a teenage prank.
  • In "Wake Up Plan", Mr. Conklin laughs at his having sent a letter to the board of education, reporting Miss Brooks for missing her morning classes. This is in spite of admitted to himself, out loud, that it was a terrible thing to do.
  • In The Movie Grand Finale, Mrs. Davis suggests to Mr. Boynton that Lawrence Nolan had induced Miss Brooks to take a trip on his yacht so he might seduce her. Mr. Boynton is outraged, and begins frantically checking his address book. Meanwhile, Mrs. Davis smiles and stifles a giggles, overjoyed that her use of Operation: Jealousy was off to a fine start!
• Guys are Slobs: Walter Denton in "Mr. Boynton's Parents". Walter mentions that one of the reasons he wants to honour his mother on Mother's Day is she picks up after him; a typical teen boy, he leaves his room a mess and his clothes all over the floor.
• Half-Witted Hillbilly: In "Just Remember the Red River Valley", Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Mr. Conklin and Walter Denton try to get jobs with Deacon Jones' square dance troop. The deacon was looking for teachers to tutor "the hillbilly kids" during the summer at a salary of $500 a month (in 1954). According to a friend of Mr. Boynton, the deacon was looking for teachers who could relate to the children and double in the square dance act. This results in Miss Brooks and company pretending to be hillbillies. Unfortunately, Mr. Jones, State Inspector of Schools, chooses that moment to pay a visit to Madison High School.
• Halloween Episode: The first season of the radio series has an episode where Walter and Stretch convince Miss Brooks to throw a Halloween party with the promise of inviting Mr. Boynton.
• Hallucinations: In "Halloween Party", Mr. Conklin is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He starts seeing things, such as a large dog in the doctor's waiting room.
• Ham-to-Ham Combat: Any episode where Madison High Principal Osgood Conklin faces his archrival, Clay City High School Principal Jason Brill.
• Hand Gagging: In "Magic Christmas Tree", Miss Brooks puts her hand over Walter Denton's mouth to stop his painfully off-key rendition of "Deck The Halls".
• Handgun: In "The Stolen Wardrobe", thieves valuable clothes stolen Sherry's with Miss Brooks, tricking her into believing it's a prize for being best dressed teacher at Madison High School. Mr. Conklin, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton attempt to return the clothes, but are shot at by (in Mr. Conklin's words) "a trigger-happy flat-floot" and flee the store. Later, the police-officer, handgun holdstered, shows up at Mrs. Davis' house.
• Happily Ever After: After eight years on the radio, and four on television, Miss Connie Brooks finally gets her happily ever after at the end of The Movie Grand Finale. Or, to be more accurate, Mrs. Connie Boynton gets her happily ever after!
• Happily Married:
  • Osgood and Martha Conklin are very much in love. In the episode "Mr. Boynton's Parents", Mr. Conklin even buys his wife a black sheer negligee for Mother's Day!
  • At the end of The Movie Grand Finale, the same applies to Phil Boynton and Connie Boynton nee Brooks. The last few moments of the film sees them leave the zoo arm and arm, and their future home with "The End" superimposed over the shot.
• Happy Birthday to You!: Miss Brooks' friends gave her a surprise party on the radio, in "Suprise Party". The episode was later remade for television under the title "The Birthday Bag". Miss Brooks starts the rendition to dodge Mr. Conklin's question, ''How old are you?"
  Miss Brooks: Happy Birthday to me
  Happy Birthday to me
  Everybody: Happy Birthday dear Our Miss Brooks
  Happy Birthday tooo you!
• Hardboiled Detective:
  • In "Postage Due", Miss Brooks plays the hard boiled detective as she searches for the missing postman.
  • "Clay City English Teacher" has Mr. Boynton consciously imitates Sam Spade in an attempt to lure Miss Brooks away from the eponymous teacher.
• Harmless Villain: Mr. Conklin, when he serves as the antagonist on the series. His schemes usually involve some petty mischief serving his self-aggrandizement or his greed.
  • For example, in "Old Marblehead", he shakes down students and faculty by creating a "Carelessness Code" and fining them mercilessly. His goal is to pay for a bust of his head in the school library - and he intends to destroy the existing bust of Julius Caesar to ensure he takes his rightful place. Miss Brooks simply tricks him into busting the wrong bust.
  • Another episode, "Home Cooked Meal", sees Mr. Conklin use the cafeteria freezer to freely store his own food. He buys a freezer of his own, after Miss Brooks and Walter Denton accidently lock him inside.
  • In "The Big Jump", Mr. Conklin plots to force Miss Brooks to jump off the roof of the school as a publicity stunt for a civil defense drill. Walter Denton lights some smudge pots on the stairs to the roof, leading to Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton jumping off in a panic
  • In the cinematic series finale, Mr. Conklin plots to be elected the new Coordinator of Education. Mr. Stone, the existing board superintendent (or equivalent), forces Mr. Conklin to withdraw by setting the new post's salary as a measly honorarium of %500.00.
• Hat of Authority: In "Public Property on Parade", the Mayor of Madison is seen either wearing his top hat or carrying it about.
• Head-Turning Beauty:
  • In "New Girl", all the boys at Madison immediately fall for the titular girl. Worse, from Miss Brooks' perspective, Mr. Boynton starts to fall for her mother.
  • The Madison Express's new lonely hearts columnist. Every man (and boy) in the newsroom literally turns their head to look at her as she walks by.
• Heat Wave: Notably, the focus of the radio episode "Heat Wave". Mr. Conklin can have school cancelled due to the sweltering conditions, but he won't so long as he's kept cool by the fan secreted in his desk drawer. Walter Denton, Harriet Conklin and Stretch Snodgrass try to get school dismised in order to go to the "old swimming hole" over at Phillip's Farm. Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton join in the scheme.
• Heel–Face Turn: In "Mr. Whipple", Miss Brooks, Walter Denton and Mr. Conklin are so affected by the story of the eponymous Mr. Whipple, a man who hasn't has a bite of solid food for a week. It turns out Mr. Whipple is a bad tempered miser who's on a liquid diet. No matter, the show of kindness melts Mr. Whipple to the point where he undergoes a heel-face turn and donates the money for Madison's new gymnasium.
• Held Back in School: Discussed several times through the course of the series:
  • Walter Denton is frequently under the threat of being held back, being either Brilliant, but Lazy or just plain Book Dumb. Walter is never actually held back a grade, as Walter Denton (and Harriet Conklin) stays sixteeen or seventeen through the course of the series on radio, television and in The Movie Grand Finale. Not Allowed to Grow Up means not allowed to fall behind.
  • Walter Denton does occasionally fail individual courses. In "Mr. Leblanch needs $50" (a Sound-to-Screen Adaptation), Walter's said to have taken three terms of first term French.
  • In the Summer of 1949, several radio episodes, beginning with "Taxidermists", have Walter Denton attending "Madison High Summer School" so he won't be held back. Naturally, Walter's friend Stretch Snodgrass attends too. More perplexingly, so does Harriet Conklin in spite of being a straight-A student. Miss Brooks needs the money while Mr. Conklin considers himself principal in and out of season.
  • In "The Big Game", it's discovered that beloved Assistant Coach "Snakehips" Gehry never graduated high school. He failed his final English exam some forty years before. Miss Brooks gives him an English exam so he can get his high school diploma and keep his position with the team.
  • In the television episode "The Dream", Miss Brooks dreams that Walter Denton takes about twenty-five years to graduate high school.
  • Stretch and Bones Snodgrass were either held back in school several times ("The Yodar Kritch Award", The Movie Grand Finale) or they've always passed "by the skin of their teeth" ("Two Way Stretch Snodgrass").
• Held Gaze:
  • In ''The Magic Tree", before Mr. Boynton kisses Miss Brooks. It's All Just a Dream.
  • Just before, and after, Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton share a kiss in the series' cinematic series finale.
• Hello Again, Officer: Miss Brooks is the victim of this trope in "Four Leaf Clover". The same policeman catches her (accidentally) breaking Mr. Morelli's barber pole, parking by a fire plug, parking by a fire plug again, makes her pay compensation for damaging a golf fanatic's grass when picking the titular four leaf clover, then he finally forced Miss Brooks into quarantine when she visits Mr. Morelli to pay damages (the policeman had forced her to visit him in the first place!).
• Here There Be Dragons: In many episodes, Mr. Conklin has an old map of North America from the time of the American Revolution hanging on his office wall (i.e. "Spare That Rod!"). The northwest portion of North America is a blank.
• Heroic Bystander: Clay City High School Principal Jason Brill plays the part when he saves Miss Brooks from falling down an open elevator shaft. Madison High School Principal Osgood Conklin tries to match this feat with a "fake" heroic bystander rescue. Conklin stages a real rescue when the superintendent, Mr. Stone, himself falls into an open elevator shaft.
• Hero's Classic Car: Through the series, Walter Denton drives a 1930's style jalopy; also qualified as The Alleged Car. In The Movie Grand Finale, Mr. Boynton borrows the car to drive to Crystal Bay and "rescue" Miss Brooks from Lawrence Nolan.
• Hiccup Hijinks:
  • In "Cure That Habit", Mr. Conklin has a bad case of the hiccups and suffers through two hiccup remedies. One is a revolting and ineffective mixture cooked up by Mrs. Davis. The second is student athlete Stretch Snodgrass' attempt to cure Mr. Conklin's hiccups by spinning him around in a chair.
  • In "Trial by Jury" and "Mr. Conklin's Love Nest", Mr. Boynton suffers psychosomatic cases of the hiccups from either lying or acute embarrassment.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Mr. Conklin, a.k.a. "Old Marblehead", may be a pompous, dictatorial, underhanded dictator of a principal, but from time to time he shows his good side:
  • In "The Hobby Show" he helps fix broken toys to give to needy children.
  • He's a member of the "Citizen's League."
  • He helps throw a Christmas Party when he believes Mrs. Davis' sister Angela is dying in "A Dry Scalp is Better Then None."
  • He helps Miss Brooks and co. find a missing postman in "Postage Due."
  • Offers to adopt orphans in "The Twin Orphans" and "The Miserable Caballero."
  • He helps Miss Brooks and Mrs. Davis out of problematic situations in "Four Fiances" and "Marriage Madness," among others.
  • In "Weekend at Crystal Lake" he is worried that Mr. Boynton is going to repeat An American Tragedy and hides under the boat tarpaulin to try and save Miss Brooks.
• High-School Dance: A school dance drives the plot in several episodes. "Wishing Well Dance" sees Miss Brooks' hair clipped throughout the day as a gift for Mr. Boynton (to make a pillow for his pet frog). "Mr. Whipple" features Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton as Queen and King of the last dance to be held in the old gymnasium. The costumed dance in "Oh, Dem Gold Slippers" is shown, where Miss Brooks is dressed in a gown.
• High-School Hustler: Walter Denton, who was the bane of Principal Osgood Conklin's existence. Not least, because Walter was dating Mr. Conklin's Harriet. On several occasions, Mr. Conklin was the victim of Walter's pranks. For example:
  • In "Cure That Habit", Walter applies to an alcoholism treatment program in Mr. Conklin's name; Hilarity Ensues when the president of the company warns the head of the board of education that Mr. Conklin is a hopeless drunk.
  • "Wild Goose" has Walter trick Mr. Conklin into thinking that he's won a free t.v. from Sherry's Department Store. Hilarity Ensues as Mr. Conklin sends Miss Brooks to pick up his "prize".
  • In "Space, Who Needs It?", Walter hides a shotgun pellet and buckshot in Mr. Conklin's homemade telescope. Mr. Conklin thinks he's discovered a new planet and her three moons, which he immediately christens "Conklin Junior". Walter then uses a toy flying saucer and wind-up space men to make Mr. Conklin think Madison is being invaded by space aliens.
• Hilarity in Zoos: It's a running gag that Mr. Boynton usually takes Miss Brooks to the zoo on their dates.
• The Hilarity of Hats: In "Bargain Hats For Mother's Day," Mrs. Davis asks Miss Brooks to sell the homemade hats she made. They feature an imitation sparrow perched upon imitation fruit. Mr. Conklin buys one for his wife Martha, Mr. Boynton buys one for his mother, Walter Denton gets one to use as a table centerpiece, while Genre Refugee Tex Barton buys one for his horse Lucy. Unfortunately, the recipients, even Lucy, are fanatics about having individualized wearing apparel . . . .
• Hint Dropping: Miss Brooks drops plenty of hints for Mr. Boynton. He rarely catches on.
• Hired for Their Looks: In The Movie Grand Finale, it's implied that the city editor hired the new "Miss Lonely Hearts" entirely on her looks. When she walks to the water cooler, she's the subject of the Male Gaze of every reporter in the room. Including the boss's son (Gary Nolan) and later the boss, Lawrence Nolan.
• Hobbes Was Right: This is Mr. Conklin's belief, leastways when it comes to running a high school. Conklin essentially says as much to Miss Brooks in "Spare That Rod!". Conklin's military strictness would later put him under the opprobrium of the school board president, Mr. Stone, in the theatrical series finale.
• Hobos: Miss Brooks deals with hobos in the episodes "Hobo Jungle" and "Miss Brooks Writes About a Hobo".
• Holiday Personification: In "Music Box Revue", Miss Brooks meets a young boy hawking magic music boxes. He tells her Santa Claus named him "The Spirit of Christmas".
• Hollywood Board Games: In the cinematic series finale, Miss Brooks and Lawrence Nolan play a game of Scrabble aboard the Paradise, Nolan's yacht. Not surprisingly, the board is plainly the deluxe edition, with a built-in turntable.
• Hollywood Darkness: Night scenes were usually shot uncommonly well. "The Burglar" and "Public Property on Parade" have nighttime scenes that are about as dark as you'd expect. However, the trope arises in "Wake-Up Plan", where the Conklin's hallway is suspiciously bright.
• Hollywood Density: In "The Jewel Robbery", Miss Brooks wrongly assumes Mr. Boynton robbed Frank's Jewelry Store and put the stolen jewels in a suitcase. What really is in the suitcase is Mr. Boynton's laundry, including his long-underwear. Miss Brooks fails to notice the suitcase is too light to have jewels when she has a student switch it with an identical suitcase owned by the cafeteria dishwasher. The dishwasher is the actual thief, and has the jewels stashed there! As it turned out, although Miss Brooks does not notice, Mr. Boynton immediately discovers the switch.
• Hollywood Genetics: Brown-haired Mr. and Mrs. Conklin have a blonde daughter, Harriet.
• Hollywood Kiss: Miss Brooks dreams she gets one from Mr. Boynton in "Magic Christmas Tree". Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks finally share a Hollywood kiss midway through the film.
• Hollywood Law: In the episode "Hospital Capers". A lawyer (a literal ambulance chaser) gets Mr. Boynton to sign a contract hiring him a counsel; the contract features a hefty penalty if Mr. Boynton chooses to terminate his representation. When Miss Brooks visits the lawyer, he hands her ever larger magnifying glasses to read the contract's fine print. Lampshaded when the lawyer admits to Miss Brooks that he's been disbarred in several states.
• Hollywood Natives: In "Bartering With Chief Thundercloud", the eponymous chief and his wife.
• Hollywood Police Driving Academy: At the end of "Stolen Aerial", Mr. Conklin neglects to use the brake on his parked car and it ends up rolling downhill. A patrol car travelling in the opposite direction manages to be hit head-on by the driverless vehicle.
• Hollywood Pudgy: Mr. Conklin has been descriped as fat or "pear-shaped". Once in "The Stolen Wardrobe", when he's mistaken for a fur theif, he's described as stout. In reality he wouldn't stand out in a crowd.
• Hollywood Spelling: Averted in the episode "Suzie Prentisss", where the eponymous Suzie misspells her last name by giving it an extra "s".
• Homemade Inventions: It happens a few times on the series:
  • "In Living Statues", Walter Denton creates a paint to buffer up worn and scratched wallpapers and walls. Unfortunately, he adds "Jeffrey's Marine" (aka rubber cement) to the mixture. Hilarity Ensues.
  • "Dying Easter Eggs" has Walter create a 24-hour delayed-action Easter Egg dye. Hilarity Ensues when Stretch Snodgrass accidentally fills the soap dispenser at Mrs. Davis' with the invention.
  • In "Transition Show", Mr. Munsee is shown to have many childish, cobbled-together inventions. One of them is a robot that only sharpens pencils.
• Homemade Sweater from Hell: In "Home Cooked Meal", Miss Enright knits one for Mr. Boynton. One arm is terribly short, tight, and cuts off his circulation. The other is far too long.
• Home Sweet Home: At the end of the film, Mr. Boynton and Miss Brooks marry and move into the house across the street from Mrs. Davis'.
• Horrible Camping Trip: "Weekend at Crystal Lake" sees Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and eventually Walter Denton join the Conklins at their cabin on Crystal Lake. Features mishaps such as Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton's motorboat motor getting stuck and forcing the Conklins to abandon their rowboat and jump in the water, Miss Brooks burning supper by piling the barbecue charcoal on top of the ribs, and, finally, the Conklins spending their anniversary in separate rooms as Walter Denton's appearance mean the boys and girls each get a room in the the two-bedroom cabin.
• Hospital Paradiso: It happens to Miss Brooks at least five times, three on the radio and twice on television:
  • In "Sunnydale Finishing School", Miss Brooks turned down a position at a private school and went to teach at Madison High School.
  • In "Clay City English Teacher", Miss Brooks turns down an attractive job offer from Jason Brille to continue teaching at Madison High School (in spite of not being able to stand Principal Osgood Conklin.
  • In "Connie's New Job Offer", Miss Brooks turns down a job that offers twice the pay she gets as a teacher.
  • In the television episode "Baseball Slide", Miss Brooks turns down a $500 bonus to sign with the Peoria White Sox Woman's Softball team. Miss Brooks warns Mr. Conklin, however, that if she is faced with continued unpleasantness she might just take up the offer.
  • "King and Brooks", another television episode, sees Miss Brooks turn down a position where she'd go to India and teach the son of the Maharajah of Bungatti.
• Hospital Epilogue: In "Pensacola Popovers", Mrs. Davis' Pensacola Popovers are guaranteed to make anyone (or any animal) that eats one sick-to-the-stomach. Miss Brooks gives a few to Mr. Boynton (along with a good deal of junk food) so she can nurse him back to health, part of a Zany Scheme to get Boynton to propose marriage. It doesn't seem to work. Yet, at the end of the episode Mr. Boynton suddenly passes out in the middle of the Biologist's Club dinner. He ends up telephoning Miss Brooks from the hospital.
• Hot Sauce Drinking:
  • Mr. Boynton likes hot food. In "Mr. Boynton's Barbeque" he treats Mr. Conklin and Miss Enright to his "mild" barbecue sauce. The two run for water.
  • In the episode, "The Miserable Caballeros", Mexican boy Ricky Velasco proceeds to put an extraordinary amount of pepper and spices on his lunch. He tells Miss Brooks that he finds American food too bland.
• Housewife:
  • Martha Conklin is a housewife
  • Miss Brooks' Series Goal is to marry Mr. Boynton. In several episodes (i.e. "The Wrong Mrs. Boynton") it is made explicit that Miss Brooks wants to become a fulltime housewife and mother.
• Hourglass Plot: The penultimate episode of the television series, "Principal For A Day", has Miss Brooks appointed principal and Mr. Conklin become a History (not English) teacher. Because Status Quo Is God, their respective positions are restored at the end. Neither seem to learn much from the episode. Miss Brooks enjoys herself thoroughly, and other than adding feminine touches to her office and spending some quality time with Mr. Boynton doesn't abuse her power. Mr. Conklin's temporary humility, and appreciativeness to Miss Brooks' giving him the teaching position, is cast off as soon as he becomes principal again. It helps that Mr. Conklin is a pompous Jerk with a Heart of Gold and not an outright villain.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Said by Stretch Snodgrass (of all people) of Mr. Conklin, in the episode "Letter From The Board of Education. Walter Denton speaks the line in the television remake, "Spare That Rod". Walter Denton had forged a letter threatening Mr. Conklin with dismissal for being "flagrantly dictatorial" in his disciplinary methods. Mr. Conklin was forcing himself to be meek and humble as a result.
• Hypno Pendulum: In "Fargo Whiskers", Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton briefly attempt to use a watch to hypnotize Miss Brooks and suggest she stay home from school for a week. A misunderstanding made them think Miss Brooks was suffering from a nervous breakdown; they were afraid she would act weirdly in front of the visiting school inspector.
• Hysterical Woman: Miss Brooks is typically the most intelligent and well-grounded person at Madison High School. However, in an out-of-character moment, she begins laughing hysterically at the end of "The Hobby Show". Miss Brooks' friends had come over, worried about her overworking, and were trying to get Miss Brooks to take up their various hobbies. That is to say, they expected Miss Brooks to fingerpaint (Harriet Conklin), knit (Mrs. Davis), play with a model train set (Walter Denton), play chess (Mr. Boynton) and fix broken toys for needy children (Mr. and Mrs. Conklin) all at the same time.
• I Am Very British: The visiting English headmaster in "Hello, Mr. Chips".
• I Ate WHAT?!: In "The Model School Teacher". The editor of Snap Magazine has eatten Cordon Bleugh Chef Mrs. Davis' waffles. He thinks they're good, until he learns what was in it. The joke is ommitted (along with the magazine editor's character) in the television remake "The Model Teacher".
• Identical Grandson: In "The Dream", Miss Brooks' daughter Cleo Boynton is her mirror-image. Similarly, Osgood Conklin Junior looks just like his father.
• Identity Denial: In "Le chien chaud et le mouton noir", Miss Brooks gets a job moonlighting as the "receptionist" at the "Le Salon de Chien Chaud" (a glorified hot dog stand). Mr. Stone, head of the board of education, steps in the restaurant. Miss Brooks hides behind the counter and fakes an Italian accent. Mr. Stone isn't fooled.
  Miss Brooks: (in an Italian accent) I no speaka good English. I no a be in the country so long.
  Mr. Stone: You no a gonna teach a too long.
• Idiot Ball:
  • Whenever Stretch Snodgrass appears he has idiot ball firmly in hand. i.e. "The Auction", "Stuffed Gopher".
  • The same applies to Stretch's brother Bones, i.e. "Marinated Hearing".
  • The idiot ball also passes into Walter Denton's clutches on occasion, i.e. "Living Statues", "Cure That Habit".
• Idiotic Partner Confession: The episode "Blue Goldfish" sees Harriet Conklin reveal the truth about Mr. Conklin's much vaunted tolerance to the cold.
• If I Were a Rich Man: In "King and Brooks", Miss Brooks dreams about what life would be like married to a maharajah.
• The Illegal: In the episode "Two Way Stretch Snodgrass", Mr. Conklin and Miss Brooks, pretending to be Stretch Snodgrass' parents, spin a story of illegal immigration and a secret marriage to preserve their masquerade. Mr. Conklin's daughter Harriet walked in the room, threatening to blow up the scheme when she identifies Mr. Conklin as her father and claimed her mother (Martha Conklin) was nowhere in sight.
  Miss Brooks; Your father and I, your father and me, we've been secretly married for sixteen years.
  Harriet Conklin: But I'm almost seventeen.
  Miss Brooks: I'm over seventeen. I was hoping you wouldn't notice it.
  Biff Mooney': What is this all about? Mrs. Snodgrass, I demand to know the truth!
  Harriet Conklin: Mrs. Snodgrass!
  Mr. Conklin: You might as well know the whole story Harriet. As a poor but honest immigrant, I entered this country illegally. Your mother and I started out from the old country together.
  Miss Brooks: But I, your mother, couldn't make it. They shot me at the border. Of course, years later I was smuggled into the country.
  Mr. Conklin: With a group of Oriental laborers.
  Harriet Conklin: Oriental laborers?
  Miss Brooks: Don't look down your nose at me, girl. I helped build Boulder Dam!
• The Illegible: In the radio episode "Letter to the Education Board", Miss Brooks and Mr. Boynton struggle to read Stretch Snodgrass' essay. It was remade on television as "Marinated Hearing", where the sloppy essay was written by Stretch's brother Bones.
• I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You!: In "Stretch Is In Love Again", Judy Brille, the daughter of Clay City High School principal Jason Brille, was assigned by her father to keep Stretch Snodgrass busy on dates long into the evening. As a result, he's so tired he's useless playing football; once he even ran the wrong way. Madison High looks to have an embarassing defeat to its principal rival. And nobody at Madison knows what's going on. Stretch is sworn to secrecy by his double-agent girlfriend. So, Miss Brooks, asked to investigate what's going on by Mr. Conklin, interrogates Stretch.
  Miss Brooks: Who is this new girlfriend, Stretch?
  Stretch: Oh, no you don't!
  Miss Brooks: No I don't what?
  Stretch: You don't get Judy's name out of me! (audience laughs) I promised to keep it a secret.
  Miss Brooks: Well, that's your privilege. If you don't want me to know Judy's name, I'm not going to know Judy's name. That's all there is to that. Judy what?
  Stretch: Gosh, I didn't even want that part of her name to get out. It just slipped. Look, Miss Brooks. You wouldn't want me to break a promise, would you?
  Miss Brooks: Fervently. Listen, Stretch. Even if you enjoy all this "rumbering", don't your girl's parents object to these late hours every night?
  Stretch: Oh, I'm sure they don't.
  Miss Brooks: How can you be so sure?
  Stretch: Her old man gives me the money to take her out.
  Miss Brooks: What!
  Stretch: Sure! He's not like our principal. Mr. Brille's a good sport.
  Miss Brooks: Stretch, you're telling me you're taking out Judy Brille?
  Stretch: How did you know?
  Miss Brooks: A little birdbrain told me.
• Immoral Journalist: Stephanie Forest in the episodes "The Model Schoolteacher" (the radio original) and "The Model Teacher" (the television remake). Forester is at Madison High School to do a profile on the day in the life of a schoolteacher, but really views her role as that of doing a hatchet job on Miss Brooks - taking as many insulting and unrepresentative photographs as possible. Miss Brooks covertly removes the unflattering photos, and, in the television version, disposes of Miss Forest by noon; Miss Forest receives a telegram stating her editor wants her in Florida, immediatley.
  Stephanie Forest: Now, as I was saying my dear. I don't want you to do a thing for this picture. Realism is what our readers want. The eyelids practically stuck together, the little straggly clumps of hair flopping over the ears, and those little tired lines around the mouth that look as if you just tasted a raw lambchop. We want you just the way you are!
• I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: Used in the episode "Suzi Prentiss". Miss Brooks tells Mr. Conklin, "I'm a teacher, not a psychiatrist."
• Implausible Deniability: In "Taking the Rap for Mr. Boynton", Miss Brooks tries to frame Mr. Boynton by drawing a cartoon with Mr. Conklin as a mouse in with Mr. Boynton's reports. Mr. Boynton catches her redhanded, and Miss Brooks tries to deny it.
  Miss Brooks: Eek, a mouse.
• Improbable Weapon User: In "Angela's Wedding", Mrs. Davis uses a Frying Pan of Doom to clobber new gym teacher Mr. Greeley. Mr. Greeley had insulted the devilled eggs Mrs. Davis had spent all afternoon preparing.
• Improbably Cool Car: Walter Denton's car is stated to be a jalopy. On the radio, one can leave it up to one's imagination or various uncomplimentary descriptions of the vehicle. However, on television, it was different. On the rare occasion when it's seen up close, or being driven on the street, it appears to be a vintage 1930's or 1940's roadster. If one looks closely, in an early episode Walter placed a custom badge naming his car the "Denton Special". Somewhat averted in The Movie Grand Finale however, when Mr. Boynton borrows the car four inner tubes go flat. The car is also visibly smoking when Mr. Boynton drives Miss Brooks home from Crystal Bay (Crystal Lake in the rest of the series).
• Improvised Sail: In "An American Tragedy", Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Mr. Conklin are stranded on a rowboat in the middle of Crystal Lake. Mr. Conklin suggests using Mr. Boynton's shirt as a sail. Miss Brooks ups the ante:
  Mr. Conklin: Let's try to get organized, shall we? Clear thinking is the ticket. Lacking an oar, we shall need to improvise a sail immediately. I shall need a large, white garment. Miss Brooks?
  Miss Brooks: You won't get a stitch from me.
  Mr. Conklin: Well, then, Boynton. I suggest we use your shirt as a sail.
  Miss Brooks: Second the motion. And let's throw in his undershirt, too, sir. Ha. His shirt ought to do nicely.
• Inadvertent Entrance Cue: In the episode "Stuffed Gopher", Miss Brooks asks Walter Denton the fatal question "Who could be so stupid?". Into the cafeteria walks Stretch Snodgrass.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness:
  • Harriet Conklin. Her motives are always displayed as unselfish or honest, in spite of her father Mr. Conklin being oft unprincipled and her boyfriend Walter Denton being an inveterate schemer and practical joker.
  • Phillip Boynton, Miss Brooks' Love Interest. He's considered by everybody to be the "soul of honesty". In "Trial by Jury", it's revealed that trying to lie makes Mr. Boynton break into the hiccups.
• Indian Burial Ground: The promise of a large reward sees Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton searching for one in the episode "Indian Burial Ground". The trope is partially subverted as the supernatural plays no role in the program. This is fortunate for Miss Brooks and company, as they end up digging up an empty lot in search of artifacts!
• Indubitably Uninteresting Individual: Mr. Boynton, Miss Brooks' Adorkable Love Interest lives this trope. He likes to play chess. He hangs out at the Biologists Club. His other hobbies include leading a Boy Scout troop and taking care of his pet frog McDougall. He likes to take Miss Brooks to the zoo on their dates. His bedtime is usually ten o'clock, but is known to stay up until eleven on New Year's Eve. In "Hello Mr. Chips", Mrs. Davis remarks his habits are like those of a much older man.
• Indy Ploy: In the episode "April Fool's Day", Miss Brooks attends an "Everybody Must Do Something Party". She stalls for time to avoid Miss Enright embarrassing her with an April Fool's Day joke. Miss Brooks plays the ukulele, sings, recites poetry, finally resorting to reading the phonebook aloud.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: In "Heat Wave", Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Walter Denton, Harriet Conklin and Stretch Snodgrass all get excused from school and find themselves at a farmer's swimming pond through a variety of lame excuses. Miss Brooks, in fact, runs off telling Mr. Conklin that she has to go to the pond to get water to put out the fire she accidentally started in his office.
• Informed Ability: Miss Brooks is said to be a wonderful English teacher. But given that an episode that actually showed Miss Brooks teaching high school would be rather dull, one has to take it on trust. The few times she is shown tutoring English, it's played for laughs i.e. the radio episode "English Test" sees her give a crash course to Dumb Jock Stretch Snograss. This was remade into the television episode, "The Yodar Kritch Award", with Stretch's brother Bones.
• Informed Attractiveness: Apparently, the visiting English schoolmaster in "Hello, Mr. Chips" is attractive. You can tell by the reaction of Miss Brooks, Harriet Conklin, and even Mrs. Davis.
• The Ingenue: Harriet Conklin is kind, sweet and optimistic, suprisingly given her father Mr. Conklin is a Mr. Vice Guy. While Miss Brooks is a nice person, she's somewhat too much a Deadpan Snarker to meet this trope.
• Instant Illness: In "Measles", Miss Brooks catches the measles within twelve hours of being exposed to them.
• Instant Waking Skills: Miss Brooks when waken by her alarm clock. Also happens when she's waken by a reporter in "Model Teacher". Sometimes, however, Miss Brooks is simply Not a Morning Person.
• Instructional Film: In "Audio-Visual Experiment", Miss Brooks rents a filmed version of the poem "Lady of the Lake" to show her class after she's left early for the day. Unfortunately, a disgruntled employee of the educational film company had mixed up films and canisters in revenge. The boys in the class stay late to repeatedly watch "Sirens of the Screen, Past and Present". Later on, Mrs. Davis' lady's aid meeting rents "Shearing Sheep in Big Billibong, Australia" only to have a film with scenes backstage in a women's dressing room. The company tries to rectify the mistake by giving Miss Brooks a film about the workings of the board of education, but end up giving her one all about Las Vegas and gambling.
• Instrumentals/Instrumental Theme Tune: The opening and closing themes, composed by Wilbur Hatch.
• Interclass Friendship:
  • In "Hobo Jungle", Miss Brooks mentions borrowing a fur from one of her "few well-to-do friends".
  • In the same episode, Miss Brooks learns that honour student Harvey Brent has given a false address and goes to investigate. She meets his father plus two friends who are raising the boy in a hobo jungle. Mr. Brent and his friends throw Miss Brooks a birthday party (in spite of it not being her birthday) in appreciation for Miss Brooks not reporting Harvey to the authorities.
• Intergenerational Friendship:
  • Miss Brooks' best friend and confidante is her landlady Mrs. Margaret Davis. Mrs. Davis states a few times that she is "sweet sixty" (i.e "The Big Game"). Miss Brooks is hinted to be in her late twenties in several episodes of the program.
  • Miss Brooks is friends with sixteen-year-old Walter Denton, and, to a lesser extent, Harriet Conklin and Stretch Snodgrass. However, Miss Brooks herself would surely object to the label!
• Internal Reveal: Many times. Hilarity always ensues. Here are a few examples:
  • In the "Wrong Mrs. Boynton", Miss Brooks offers to pretend to be Mrs. Boynton - that is, to say Mr. Boynton's wife - in order to impress the dean of the local college. What Miss Brooks doesn't know, but the audience does, is that she had unwittingly agreed to play the part of Mr. Boynton's mother.
  • In "Mrs. Davis reads Tea Leaves", Miss Brooks overhears a conversation between Mr. Boynton and Harriet, and jumps to the conclusion that Mr. Boynton is finally going to marry her and move with her to honeymoon cottage on the edge of town. The audience hears the entire conversation. It turns out that Mr. Boynton wants to open a summer camp. Cue Miss Brooks stunned reaction when he proposes they have twenty kids (that is to say, campers). Not to mention the fact that Mr. Conklin also attempts to "propose".
  • Similarly, in "June Bride", Walter Denton and the Conklins assume that Mr. Boynton has finally proposed to Miss Brooks, and the two are to be married that same day. In actuality, Miss Brooks had agreed to be the proxy for Monsieur LeBlanc's French bride.
  • In "Radio Bombay", a newscast on Walter's homemade radio forecasts the imminent arrival of a strong hurricane. Unfortunately, nobody is around to hear that the newscast originates from Bombay, India.
  • In "Spare That Rod", Walter Denton and Stretch Snodgrass alter a ten year old letter they find addressed to a previous principal. The letter was from the head of the board, accusing the principal of being "flagrantly dictatorial" in his management of the school. They use a typewriter to readdress the letter to Principal Conklin.
  • In "Bobbsey Twins In Stir". Mrs. Davis had been arrested after having unwittingly sold forged tickets to the policeman's ball. Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Mr. Conklin and Mr. Stone soon end up being drawn into the scheme - and arrested - as well.
  • Most significantly, in The Movie. Mr. Boynton tells Mrs. Davis that he finally intends to propose to Miss Brooks. Mrs. Davis soon reveals all to Miss Brooks, while pretending to tell her fortune.
• In the Local Tongue: "Oo Oo Me Me Tocoludi Gucci Moo Moo", in the episode of the same name. It's the name of an isolated lake deep in the wilderness. It's the local Indians' word for blue.
• Intimidating Revenue Service: In "Mrs. Davis Reads Tea Leaves", Miss Brooks is aghast to discover she's recieved a letter from the IRS:
  Miss Brooks: Collector of Internal Revenue! Not what's the matter with him! I paid my taxes in January!
• Involuntary Smile of Incapacitation: At the end of "Hobby Show", Miss Brooks breaks into an involuntary smile from the stress of trying to play with model trains, fix broken toys, fingerpaint, play chess and knit all at the same time. A Sound-to-Screen Adaptation of "The Work Horse".
• I Resemble That Remark!: In one episode, Miss Brooks suggests Mr. Conklin never had any friends. Mr. Conklin replies that as a boy he was very good friends with his mother.
• Ironic Echo Cut: In "Faculty Cheerleader", Miss Brooks complains to landlady Mrs. Davis that Mr. Conklin must be imagining Miss Brooks throwing a baton in the air and having it hit her on the head. Cut to Mr. Conklin, giving an Evil Laugh and contemplating Miss Brooks throwing a baton into the air and having it hit her on the head.
• Ironic Nickname:
  • In "Wild Goose", Miss Brooks refers to Dumb Jock Stretch Snodgrass as "the brain."
  • In speaking of Mr. Conklin, especially at breakfast to landlady Mrs. Davis, Miss Brooks often refers to Conklin as "our beloved principal". In reality, Mr. Conklin is Repressive, but Efficient yet unloved by the students - save for his daughter Harriet.
• Irrevocable Message:
  • In "Noodnick, Daughter of Medic", Mr. Conklin thinks he's being fired and Miss Brooks is taking his place as Madison High's principal. Conklin sends Mr. Stone (head of the board of education) a resignation letter telling Stone to "take a flying half-Nelson off a galloping goose". Mr. Conklin panics when he discovers his job is safe. No matter; fortunately the letter causes the school board and Mr. Stone to realize how much they need Mr. Conklin. Miss Brooks even manages to arrange for Mr. Conklin to get a raise.
  • In "Mr. Conklin is Honoured", Mr. Conklin is insulted to get a plaque instead of a bust after many years of service to the school board. He insults school board Mr. Stone over the phone, and immediately regrets it. Hilarity Ensues as Mr. Conklin tries to fake a case of Easy Amnesia and several of the Madison High School crowd hit him in the head to try and undo it.
• I Should Write a Book About This: In the episode "Miss Brooks Writes About A Hobo," Miss Brooks seeks out a hobo to write an article entitled "The Vanishing Hobo." At the end of the episode, the hobo relates he had bought a set of new clothes with the money he earned from writing about "The Vanishing Schoolteacher."
• Is This Thing On?: Miss Brooks tests the microphone before beginning announcing duties at the titular "Walter v. Stretch Grudge Match".
• Italians Talk with Hands: Mr. Morelli, an Italian barber in "Four Leaf Clover", lives this trope. He never speaks without gesticulating.
• It's a Long Story: Sometimes, an episode will end with Miss Brooks returning home in the evening to discuss the events of the day with Mrs. Davis.
• It's the Principle of the Thing: In "Spare That Rod!" Mr. Conklin berates Miss Brooks for not having her blackboard cleared at the end of the day. He had gone into her classroom after school and found that a student had written "Old man Conklin is a birdbrain." When Miss Brooks protests her punishment, Mr. Conklin tells her it's the principle of the thing.
• It Will Never Catch On: In "Wild Goose Chase", Miss Brooks jokes about T.V. being a temporary fad. This had been a common prediction just a few years before the episode aired on television. It was still a common view when the radio version had played a couple years before.
• I've Heard of That — What Is It?: In "Mr. Casey's Will", Mr. Conklin, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton all pretend to have been good friends of the late Mr. Casey once they discover they were beneficiaries in his will. Each of them give hilariously wrong descriptions of Mr. Casey. It turns out that Mr. Casey was the late pet cat of Angela Devon. Angela is the sister of Mrs. Davis, Miss Brooks' landlady and confidante - although eccentric, she is more of a Kind Hearted Cat Lover than a Crazy Cat Lady.
• I Was Having Such a Nice Dream:
  • The earliest radio episodes, including the premier "First Day", would often begin with Miss Brooks dreaming of some romantic/comedic adventure with Mr. Boynton. The format was very quickly dropped, in favor of a brief introductory narration with Miss Brooks before the main action, and/or a typically offbeat breakfast conversation with landlady Mrs. Davis and student Walter Denton.
    Narrator: Yes, Connie Brooks can dream . . . .
  • Occasionally, later television and radio episodes would feature dreams and abrupt ending thereof.
    • "The Magic Tree" sees Miss Brooks wake up after kissing a magic-Christmas-tree-influenced Mr. Boynton.
    • "King and Brooks" sees Miss Brooks abruptly waken from a dream where she marries a maharajah.
    • "The Dream" sees Miss Brooks waken from a dream where she finally marries Mr. Boynton. Miss Brooks marries Mr. Boynton for real in The Movie Grand Finale.
• I Was Quite a Looker: In "Angela's Wedding", Mrs. Davis' sister Angela claims to be a bathing beauty and provides her future husband, Gregory Farnsworth, with a photo of her from over thirty-years-before. Miss Brooks is asked to break the news that Angela is now a plump, middle-aged woman. Miss Brooks brings along smelling-salts to help break the news. Fortunately, Angela's fiance finds her to be still very attractive.
  Gregory Farnsworth: Oh, what a doll baby!
  Miss Brooks: (sniffs smelling salts)