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Josh Nichols: I don't know Drake, all this cheating makes me feel... dirty.
Drake Parker: Well, take a bath when you get home.

Well I never thought that it'd be so simple, but...
I found a way, I found a wa-ay
If you open up your mind...
See what's inside!
It's gonna take some time to realign
But if you look inside, I'm sure you'll find
Over your shoulder, you know that I told you
I'll always be pickin' you up when you're down!
So just turn around!
— " I Found a Way", sung by Drake Bell

Drake & Josh is an over-the-top Nickelodeon sitcom created by Dan Schneider about two Odd Couple stepbrothers that ran for four seasons from 2004 to 2007.

Drake Parker (Drake Bell) is a popular, conceited ladies' man and dim-witted musician who ends up getting a stepbrother in Josh Nichols (Josh Peck), a goofy, affectionate, unpopular geek (until Josh Peck lost the weight and became quite handsome, that is, although Josh Nichols was still a geek).

The two barely even know each other before their parents get married, but end up growing fairly close and balancing each other out. Drake teaches Josh how to not be so uptight, and Josh tends to bring out a nicer side of Drake. Many episodes are about Drake getting Josh to do something a little outrageous and not be so stiff, and it usually involves a plan to make money or get a girl.

And then there's Drake's horrible sister, Megan (Miranda Cosgrove), who is several years younger than him and goes out of her way to torment him and Josh whenever possible. She has no excuse for it, and continuously avoids punishment since their parents think she is an angel. The last season saw a reduction in her general mean-spiritedness (more harmless pranks than outright evil torture), but throughout the series, there is only one moment she shows genuine affection towards them.

The show is a Spin-Off of the sketch comedy series The Amanda Show, which Schneider had created and which featured Drake Bell, Josh Peck, and Nancy Sullivan as cast members. Schneider was impressed with the chemistry Drake and Josh displayed during several of the show's sketches, and decided to give them their show where they could play off their differing personalities.

Like its fellow TeenNick programs, the show was aimed at preteens and young teenagers, but notable for many jokes aimed at adults. Homages to many classic sitcoms, innuendo and camp are the order of the day in many episodes. If there's a sitcom trope, Drake and Josh probably covered it.

The show had two TV movies, Go Hollywood (set during the series), which was later referenced in its "sequel" via the series' near-end special Really Big Shrimp. About 15 months after the series ended, Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh was aired, set about 2 months following the events of Really Big Shrimp.

Despite being the earliest part of the Nick Verse, it wasn't where it originated. Drake Bell helped, but it started in Zoey 101; Drake and Josh, meanwhile, exists as a Show Within a Show in the Nick Verse. Well, most of the time.note 

The producers and several cast members on this show (namely Schneider and Cosgrove) went on to make the show iCarly, which is very much in the same vein of comedy.

In late 2016, a web series entitled Where's Walter started being posted to Drake Bell's YouTube channel. The series chronicles Drake Parker's attempts to find Josh's father Walter Nichols, who has gone missing. The series features several cast members from the show returning, although its canon status is unclear.


This show provides examples of:

  • Accidental Hug: Often. "Hug me, brotha!"
  • Accidental Marriage: Josh meets a girl online named Yooka and does a 'Friendship Ceremony' between Yooka and Drake, which they later find out was a marriage ceremony.
  • Accidental Pun: The angry factory lady in "I Love Sushi" makes one.
    Angry factory lady: Let the sushi roll!
    Josh: (chuckles) Heh heh, I get it; "sushi roll."
    Angry factory lady: That wasn't a joke. That was an unfortunate coincidental pairing of words.
    Josh: ...
  • Actor Allusion:
    • In the opening for "The Wedding," Josh asks Drake if he hates Aunt Catherine, too, and the last line of the intro is Drake replied, "Totally!", Drake Bell's character Kyle's Catchphrase on The Amanda Show.
    • A Running Gag on The Amanda Show was Penelope always getting Drake's name wrong. Now, Drake's on the other end of it, always getting Craig's and Eric's names wrong. When called out on their mistake, Drake and Penelope both respond with a sarcastic, "It matters."
    • When Josh is hesitating to go through with the plan in "First Crush," Drake Dope Slaps him on the head, exactly like their biggest recurring roles as teenaged mobsters (Drake as lead mobster Tony Pajamas, Josh as his right-hand man slash lookout) on The Amanda Show.
  • Adults Are Useless: Audrey and Walter tend to be pretty clueless, especially about Megan.
  • Aliens Speaking English: Parodied in "Alien Invasion." Drake and Josh try to scare Megan making her believe that her radio is getting signals from aliens. While Josh tries some "alien-sounding" gibberish, Drake starts speaking some random words in French, which outrages Josh.
    Josh: We're supposed to sound like we're from outer space. Not Paris!
  • The Alleged Car: Trevor's El Camino in "The Wedding." It breaks down, has no repair tools, and then catches on fire.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Drake Parker; he's cool and rebellious, and a real lady magnet.
  • All-Natural Fire Extinguisher: Subverted in the episode "We're Married?". After Drake accidently gets married to foreigner Yooka via a "friendship ceremony" (unaware that it is actually a wedding), Drake and Josh try to figure a way out of the marriage, but not before saying they need to put out the fire for the ceremony. Drake attempts to unzip and pee out the fire, but Josh stops him and puts it out with a vase of water. Josh yells at Drake as they exit the room.
  • All There in the Manual: Audrey's name is only mentioned in her bio on Nick.com.
  • Ambiguously Absent Parent: Josh's biological mother and Drake's and Megan's biological father were never shown or mentioned. Even in some flashbacks where Drake and Josh are shown as children and Megan as a toddler, only Walter and Audrey appear.
  • Amicable Exes: A major plot point of "The Storm" is how Drake manages to stay on friendly terms with multiple exes. This is most likely because, as shown in "Playing the Field," he's careful never to imply he wants more than a casual fling and is always open about that rather than lying to get what he wants from girls — he's a serial dater but not a serial ladykiller.
  • Annoying Laugh: The main trait of Drake's girlfriend Kelly, which is enough grounds for him to break up with her. Things get complicated when Kelly is the daughter of his nemesis teacher Mrs. Hayfer.
  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Megan just loves aggravating her brothers. Taken to the extreme in later seasons, where she's not only annoying but also evil.
  • Anticipatory Lipstick: At the end of the episode "Little Sibling", where two goth girls apply lipstick and attempt to kiss Drake before Josh helps him escape.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In "The Storm":
    Drake: The problem?! (to the bassist) You were two beats behind the whole song. (to the rhythm guitarist) You were playing an A minor, not an A7... (to Gary, their drummer) And you? Dude, you're wearing a woman's shirt!
  • Artistic License – Biology:
    • In "The Affair", Walter has an allergic reaction from unwittingly eating cumin, which manifests identically to an asthma attack, and has to be given an inhaler and a thump on the chest to recover. Actual cumin allergies are anaphylactic, with the effects being far more visible (among other things including heavy swelling) and requiring epinephrine injections.
    • The writers needed a gross substance for Drake's B-plot in "Mindy Loves Josh." They chose "lizard urine." Reptiles don't "urinate" the way mammals do; they excrete all waste together in a thick, goopy, white substance just like birds, meaning the giant containers of yellow liquid Drake and his mom carry around simply would not exist in reality.
  • Artistic License – Education:
    • In "Megan's New Teacher", Josh becomes a student-teacher for Megan's 5th-grade class and he makes them work from college textbooks, and the work is so difficult that even the kids' parents can't do it. There are no complaints made to the school about this at all despite the parents knowing about it.
    • In "Josh is Done", Josh ends up missing his chemistry exam due to him running late for class and Mr. Roland not allowing tardy students to enter. While teachers can have rules and punishments for tardiness for students, many school policies do not allow teachers to kick students out of the classroom for being tardy. Furthermore, Mr. Roland has Josh take the make-up chemistry exam on a Saturday at six in the morning, which teachers are also not allowed to do because schools are typically not open on weekends or as early as six A.M., and drops his grade by a whole letter, which is a rather severe punishment for being late to class. He does rescind the last part after Josh gets a perfect score on the make-up exam, but still.
  • Artistic License – Law: The cops arrest and interrogate 2 16-year-olds in "The Gary Grill" without making any attempt to notify their parents.
  • Artistic License – Music: Humorously averted when Megan strums Drake's brand new autographed Stratocaster for it to make only a quiet sound to her confusion. Josh then demonstrates that it needs to be plugged into an amp for it to sound right. Said amp bursts into flames when turned on, while somehow causing the guitar to burst into flames as well.
  • As Himself: Tony Hawk in Drake & Josh Go Hollywood and Gary Coleman in "The Gary Grill."
  • Assembly Line Fast-Forward: The episode "I Love Sushi" has the boys working in a sushi factory in a direct Shout-Out to the I Love Lucy scene.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: As antagonistic as she could be to Drake and Josh, Megan's multiple Pet the Dog moments show she cares about her brothers, such as when she saves them from counterfeiters, won't let anyone else hurt them, and kisses them when they defend her from her cheating boyfriend.
    • And it works the other way around too. Drake and Josh may not like Megan's pranks, but they do care about her and don't want anyone to hurt her.
  • Baby's First Words: Not really, but when the brothers babysit for their father's boss's baby, he ends up on the roof and Josh says "Mama" in a babyish voice to the baby's mother on the phone. The mother buys it as the baby's first word and later tries to get him to say it "again," unsuccessfully.
  • Badly Battered Babysitter: Mainly Josh in "Two Idiots and a Baby"; the brothers in "Sheep Thrills." Both times, they end up being run ragged trying to take care of their "child."
  • Bait-and-Switch: When the two of them take their driver's license test, Drake gets paired with a young female instructor who flirts with him the entire time while Josh is paired with a grumpy middle-aged woman with Drill Sergeant Nasty behavior. When the tests were over Josh passed because he answered every question and did everything right while Drake failed because he violated numerous driving laws on his "date." What initially started as Drake's Born Lucky versus Josh's Butt-Monkey was reversed in an instant.
  • Batman Gambit: Played with in "Peruvian Puff Pepper", Megan orders the eponymous condiment for her salsa which she will enter in a salsa-making contest where Drake and Josh are one of her rival competitors. This pepper "ensures" her victory in the contest. The brothers manage to steal the pepper from her, much to her anger from being unable to retrieve it from her denying brothers. When the brothers use the pepper for their salsa and win the contest, Megan asks them to reveal the "secret ingredient." It is then revealed that the pepper had adverse side effects and is illegal, thus disqualifying the brothers' salsa. Since Megan is in second place, she gets the first-prize plasma TV instead. When the brothers accuse her of intentionally letting it slip that she bought the pepper, knowing they'd steal it for themselves, she smugly brushes it off as paranoia. The best part, she unintentionally gets her "boob" brothers in even more trouble than earlier in the episode.
    • Maybe more intentional in "Megan's Revenge", after Drake and Josh tell her that her pet hamster Herve died, she indirectly makes the boys scared that she will attempt horrific revenge on them... ...but she does nothing wrong to them the entire time. She says just seeing them being terrified of what she could do to them is "the best revenge there is."
  • Beast in the Building: In "Sheep Thrills", Megan convinces the boys to raise a sheep named "Baaaab" that she bought online. They have to keep the sheep in their room, but it escapes and creates chaos in the house. Things get worse when Baaaab gives birth.
  • Beat Them at Their Own Game: "The Bet" with Drake and Josh; "Megan's Revenge" with Megan letting Drake and Josh go insane; "Who's Got Game" with Drake and Josh; and "Alien Invasion" with Drake and Josh falling into Megan's counter-prank trap.
  • The Bet: The episode "The Bet" had Drake and Josh betting they could quit their bad habits longer than the other. In this case, Drake's addiction to junk food and Josh's addiction to video games. The episode also has their parents making a bet on which boy would cave in first: Audrey bets Josh would win, and Walter bets Drake would win. Because they both cave, the entire family except Megan has to dye their hair pink, though Drake decides to wear a pink wig.
    • In another episode Drake and Josh bet who can get more dates in a week. Drake ends up falling in love with the first girl he meets. Their relationship temporarily ended when Drake forgets to call off the bet, breaking the girl's trust in the process. Drake goes to great lengths to win back her trust through honesty and succeeds. While Josh wins the bet, still do not know Drake gave up a long time ago.
  • Better than Sex: Discussed, in a child-friendly manner in "The Demonator."
    Drake and Josh are in a dazed and dream-like state after riding the Demonator.
    Drake: It's better than love.
    Josh: It's better than girls.
    Drake: (Snaps out of it.) Okay, don't get crazy.
  • Big Bad: The criminals in Go Hollywood, the source of the conflict and danger in the movie. Megan for the series, playing the main antagonist to her brothers.
  • Big Brother Bully: Inverted with Megan, the kid sister who makes her older brothers miserable.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Drake and Josh become incredibly protective of Megan in "Megan's First Kiss" when she gets her first boyfriend, who's revealed to have another girlfriend.
  • Big Damn Movie: Drake & Josh Go Hollywood. Exactly what you might expect happens. While in Hollywood, Drake and Josh get mixed up with a counterfeiter, and said criminals in this movie are some of the most wanted men in America; they even threatened at one point to drown Drake and Josh. Er...this film's based off a... family show, right?
  • Big Storm Episode: "The Storm" has Drake and an entire party of people from a concert of his trapped at the Parker-Nichols House after a storm washes out the concert venue.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Megan pretends to be innocent in her parents' presence, but once they're gone, she's free to unleash her pranking on her brothers.
  • Biting-the-Hand Humor: When the brothers are stranded in the treehouse, they can't contact their parents due to them having dinner with the Schneiders.
    Josh: Stupid Schneiders!
  • Blame the Paramour: In "Battle For Panthatar", Drake accidentally hooked up with his friend Thornton's girlfriend without knowing who she was, with the girl herself being totally complacent, just before the night of Thornton's awesome birthday party. However, Thornton's anger is mostly directed at Drake, causing him to become Uninvited to the Party (and Josh too, by proxy). Drake tries to jump through several hoops to make it up to Thornton, but when none of them work, he and Josh crash the party just to get his signed Abbey Road album back.
  • Bland-Name Product: This show, along with other Dan Schneider productions, is famous for this concept. This show replaces Apple Inc. with "Pear Inc.," iPod with "iBot," "Ghost Busters" with "Ghost Monsters," Nintendo DS with "Nintendo GS," Harry Houdini with "Henry Doheny," "Chuck E. Cheese's" with "Chuck E. Cheddar's" and "GameCube" with "Gamesphere." Also, Drake and Josh drink "Mountain Fizz," "Dr. Fizz," and "Mocha-Cola." The list is endless.
  • Blended Family Drama: The titular characters are stepbrothers with opposing personalities. The first episode is about their parents' wedding announcement and ends with the two eventually accepting each other as brothers. Throughout the rest of the show, they're united in their dislike of Drake's little sister Megan.
  • Book Dumb: Drake Parker. He can't even pronounce America correctly!
  • Book Ends: The series finale ends with the two title characters fighting over a piece of shrimp, then dissolves to a clip of the first skit the duo performed together on The Amanda Show where they did the same thing.
  • Bottle Episode: At least two:
    • "The Storm" involved scenes within the Parker-Nichols household, with a lot of cameos and continuity characters stranded inside.
    • "Tree House" centers around Drake and Josh trapped in a half-finished treehouse with no exit large enough for them to escape through. Megan, acting especially callous since she was forced to miss her friend's birthday party to help the brothers rebuild the treehouse they destroyed, refuses to help free them, instead engaging in activates such as grilling burgers to torture them with hunger and giving their dates away to Craig and Eric.
  • Brains and Brawn: An interesting case where one character is both. While always paired with Drake, Josh is always the smarter one but the interesting part is how subtly it's portrayed that Josh is the stronger of the two, frequently lifting Drake off the ground for a Bear Hug is a running gag.
  • Brainless Beauty: Drake becomes one while he dates teenage girls who are even dumber.
  • Brand X: In "Megan's New Teacher," Megan tries to waste time playing a "Pintendo GS" (which is a Gameboy Advance SP) because the homework Josh gave to her class is at least college level.
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Drake and Josh ponder what the secretive Megan could be planning.
    Josh: It could be explosives!
    Drake: Or poison!
    Josh: (horrified) Explosive poison...
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: The beginning of each show has both Drake and Josh speaking to the audience to give anecdotes that usually have a thematic similarity with the upcoming episode. They know they have to give these anecdotes and even know they are both on the screen in small windows.
  • Brick Joke:
    • Josh begins one episode by trying to make an egg disappear, in the process ruining Drake's chances with a cheerleader. Then at the end of the episode, he pulls the egg out from behind Drake's ear.
    • In the episode "Driver's License," when Megan overhears Josh saying that Drake's saving his butt (paying for Josh's ticket after Josh ran a stop sign) Megan says that she'll find out what it is. Two seasons later in the episode "Steered Straight," Megan reveals she found out and brings up how Drake and Josh got a speeding ticket, to the shock of Audrey and Walter.
  • Bucket Booby-Trap: Megan and Ashley Blake set up a bucket to fall on the boys that backfire and hit Ashley instead.
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Subverted. To get Drake and Josh to stop arguing over who started a fight over a foam finger at a baseball game nine years ago, Megan tracks down the vendor to get his side of the story. Audrey expresses doubt the man remembers what happened at that one game, but the vendor tells her he does remember.
    Vendor: It's not every day you have to call the cops on two eight-year-olds.
  • Butt-Monkey:
    • Josh Nichols gets taken advantage of by Drake quite a lot and is the butt of many jokes, and on some occasions, Megan will say that he has a huge head- when in actuality there's nothing wrong with his head at all. In one episode, he's assaulted in the streets several times. He has been arrested several times.
    • His dad, Walter, is an even bigger one, even replacing Josh. He's disrespected constantly, even by his wife, and suffers nothing but bad luck throughout the series.
    • To a lesser extent, Craig and Eric. They're always being made fun of and mocked as characters who are even lamer and nerdier than Josh.
  • Call-Back:
    • In the No Fourth Wall opening of "Megan's Revenge," Josh and Drake talk about how their car crashed into their neighbor's mailbox. Josh had been using the car and thought he had set the parking brake, but the car rolled down to crash into the mailbox anyway. He owned up to his apparent mistake and ended up having to do chores for the neighbor to help pay for a new mailbox. But what had happened was that Drake used the car after Josh did, and Josh didn't know about it, so it was his fault that the mailbox was destroyed. Drake, being Drake, got away with no punishment. In the later episode "Who's Got Game," when trying to convince his new girlfriend Carly that he was being honest about how his dating her had nothing to do with the bet he and Josh made about who could get the most girls, he admits to the neighbor that it was his fault that her mailbox was destroyed, not Josh's.
    • In the show's fourth episode, Josh is hanging from a ledge and becomes hysterical over his dead pet turtle Sheldon. What exactly happened to the turtle isn't addressed again until the episode Playing the Field, two seasons later.
    • In "Steered Straight," Audrey and Walter bring up trouble Drake and Josh got into including burning down the neighbor's treehouse from "Tree House," selling grills illegally from "The Gary Grill," and Megan brings up them getting a speeding ticket from "Driver's License."
    • In "Josh Is Done," Josh mentions that his stress-caused rash is gone after he kicked Drake out of his life. A few episodes later in "Megan's Revenge," Drake and Josh become hugely paranoid about what Megan will do to them after they seemingly kill her pet hamster, Josh telling Drake that the stress of the situation caused his rash to come back.
    • When Josh and Mindy first became a couple in "Mindy's Back", Josh gave her the condition that "he gets to be the boyfriend". They broke up in "Mindy Loves Josh" but eventually get back together in "Really Big Shrimp" with Mindy giving the condition that "she gets to be the girlfriend".
  • The Cameo:
    • Fonzie as the judge in the Christmas episode, with Kimbo Slice as Josh's fellow prison-mate Bludge.
    • Family Feud host John O'Hurley is Josh's attending physician in the episode "Paging Dr. Drake."
    • Gary Coleman as the entrepreneur of the Gary Coleman Grill, a parody of the George Foreman Grill.
    • Addie Singer is Megan's friend and partner-in-crime in www.meganparker.com, which redirects to iCarly.com.
    • Francis Poncherello plays a police officer who gives a driving ticket to Josh.
    • Dan Schneider and his wife Lisa Lillien in the Christmas special as the brothers are browsing TV channels.
  • Can't Get Away with Nuthin':
    • Pretty well balanced out with the two boys sliding a few things past their parents. But quite often it is Josh who bears the brunt of any punishment.
    • This was a plot point of "Dune Buggy." Josh laments that Drake gets away with everything and that he gets away with nothing early on, and admits it again in the middle of the episode.
  • Cassandra Truth:
    • Audrey and Walter are nigh oblivious about Megan's regular torment of her brothers, no matter how hard they try and prove it.
    • "Believe Me, Brother." Drake's girlfriend Susan is continuously hitting on Josh while framing up Josh for hitting on her. It was due to an accidental camera recording on Drake's band project that Drake learned the truth.
    • Same with "Eric Punches Drake." Eric plays along with the rumors that he punched Drake for insulting his sister (instead of just accidentally), elevating him to cool guy status. Feeling abandoned, his Heterosexual Life Partner Craig reveals Eric's weak point for Drake to exploit.
    • In "Honor Council", Drake is accused of stealing Mrs. Hayfer's car and putting it in her classroom, very few people believe Drake is innocent. Even Walter and Audrey don't believe him due to his past shenanigans.
  • Catchphrase:
    • Josh says "Hug Me Brotha!" a lot.
    • In-universe, Helen used to be on a show called "Happy Times" when she was a girl and her catchphrase was "That is not my job!"
  • Caught Up in a Robbery: In the season 3 episode, "Theater Thug," the eponymous robber is going around and robbing local movie theaters. Naturally by the episode's end, he hits up the theater Josh works at while Josh closes for the day. When the cops quickly arrive on the scene, the robber tries to take Josh hostage but Drake, who was using the bathroom, sneaks up on him and hits him, allowing Josh to pin the robber down and capture him. However, when Drake sends the cops in, they arrest Josh thinking he's the Theater Thug because Josh portrayed him in a televised dramatization earlier that episode.
  • Challenging the Bully: The pilot episode features Josh getting challenged to fight a bully who believes he was dating his girlfriend (when, in reality, it was Drake). Josh spends the episode learning karate and eventually gets good at it... but still loses the fight after one single blow.
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Parody: In the episode "The Bet," Drake and Josh bet that they can go longer without their particular pleasure than the other can. Drake's pleasure is junk food and after a certain point, at the suggestion of Megan, Josh tries to tempt Drake into giving into his junk food addiction by turning their bedroom into a candy paradise complete with a chocolate milk swimming pool. Josh even wears a brown top hat similar to the one Gene Wilder wears in the 1971 version!
  • Cheshire Cat Grin: Megan always pulls this toward her brothers. Brought to attention by Drake in "Megan's New Teacher."
    Drake: Ohh, I like that smile. That's a smile full of evil!
    Megan: Is there any other reason to smile?
  • Chekhov's Gun:
    • In "First Crush," Josh shows Drake a very skilled painting he has of his crush Kathy, one of many. After she catches Josh lying to her about playing the guitar, Drake sneaks one of the paintings in her locker as a birthday present. She is amazed by it and Josh, after getting over his shock about his painting being in her locker, explains why he lied and how he feels about her. This succeeds in getting him a date with her.
    • In "Smart Girl," Josh tries to tutor Drake to impress a smart, beautiful girl, including teaching him the six noble gases. Drake joins the academic team, and Josh helps him through a walkie talkie and listening device, until it malfunctions. The last question is about the six noble gases, and he is able to answer it.
    • In "We're Married," Yooka, Josh's e-pal from Yudonia, mentions that the goat is Yudonia's national symbol and very sacred to them. After Josh accidentally gets her and Drake married, he gets her and her parents to end the marriage by telling them that the meat they're eating is goat, and Drake is the one who made it.
    • Subverted in "The Battle of Panthatar." Drake gets an autographed Beatles album. After their friend Thornton uninvites him and Josh to his 16th birthday party because he catches Drake kissing his girlfriend, they decide to give him the album as a birthday present, much to Drake's reluctance, since he's a big Beatles fan. He says it's the best birthday present he's ever gotten, but he still doesn't re-invite them to the party.
  • The Chew Toy: Josh in earlier episodes, but most notably Walter. He's treated like crap by Drake, mocked by everyone, and his step-daughter doesn't even acknowledge his existence as her father. Ouch. To say nothing of the physical pain he endures in some episodes.
  • Christmas Special: The TV Movie Merry Christmas Drake & Josh.
  • Chubby Chaser: In "Believe me, Brother", Drake's girlfriend (for that episode) repeteadly hits on Josh and even steals a kiss from him, while inverting things and blaming him as a creep that keeps hitting on her everytime she's caught in the act. Drake and everyone else readily believes her side until the contrary is proven by the end of the episode.
  • Clip Show: Somewhat of an interesting episode where they appear on Dr. Phyllis' show (an obvious Dr. Phil expy) after they've been fighting.
  • Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: The entire plot of "The Bet." Drake and Josh bet that whoever caves in from their respective vices (eating junk food and playing video games) must dye his hair pink. Megan secretly suggested to each of them to sabotage the other to win. In their sadistic attempt for the other to cave in, Josh sets up their room into a Willy Wonka-style candy land while Drake plays Josh's Gamesphere right before his eyes. It ended up both of them caving in and losing the bet. But Drake manages to weasel out of it by wearing a wig.
  • Cold Open: Every episode opens with Drake and Josh talking to the audience about a past situation in boxes, against the show's graphical backgrounds.
  • Comedic Sociopathy: The show runs on this, especially involving Megan's shenanigans.
  • Comically Missing the Point: Occurs often with Drake. One instance of this is when they suspect their dad of having an affair:
    Josh: Well, I caught him sneaking in. He was wearing a suit and when I asked him where he'd been, he says, "I was out buying milk, but I drank it all on the way home."
    Drake: Oh, that's bad.
    Josh: I know.
    Drake: We needed some milk.
  • Commitment Issues: Drake goes through a different Girl of the Week every episode (sometimes he'll go through multiple girls in the same episode). He's been shown to be afraid of being steady for too long and will often get bored with his current girlfriend very quickly (possibly the only exception is Carly, the record store worker, and even she disappears eventually). When his brother is struggling with The "I Love You" Stigma and asks him for advice, Drake's immediate response is that saying I love you is a trap.
  • Compressed Abstinence: In an episode, the titular characters made a bet that they could each quit junk food or video games respectively longer than the other.
  • Concert Episode: Drake was an aspiring musician and many episodes deal with him trying to land gigs and performing. The episode Two Idiots and a Baby was about Drake's band getting the chance to perform at a concert, when he and his brother are asked to look after a baby.
  • "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: In "Treehouse," the boys couldn't have gotten trapped in the treehouse had Drake taken the power saw with him before Josh screwed in the wall.
  • Courtroom Episode: "Honor Council" has Drake being framed for somehow getting the English teacher, Mrs. Hayfer's car inside her classroom. So Josh defends Drake and has him attend an honor council to exonerate the latter. However, Mindy Crenshaw, Josh's rival, becomes the opponent to find whatever dirt she could use to convince the jury that Drake is guilty. She almost wins, until Josh shows her a copy of her report card showing that she got a B in Mrs. Hayfer's class, thus causing Mindy to retaliate by putting Mrs. Hayfer's car in the classroom and framing Drake for the crime, all for terminating her perfect 4.0-grade point average.
  • Crapsaccharine World: The expys and celebrity parodies encountered by the main characters are usually bizarre or just... evil.
  • Criminal Doppelgänger: An episode had Josh be repeatedly mistaken for a wanted criminal after playing one in a dramatization on TV, whose name was the "Theater Thug." This results in him getting beaten up and arrested repeatedly, to the point where he's in the same theater as the actual Theater Thug and is beaten up and arrested while the real guy makes off with the theater's money.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: In the pilot episode, Josh takes up martial arts to prepare himself for his fight with Buck. Even though Josh becomes more skilled at fighting, Buck still outdoes him in physical strength. Thus, all it takes is one punch to the face for Buck to knock Josh unconscious.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Everyone has their moments, but of the main cast, Josh and Megan are the snarkiest.
  • Dead Pet Sketch: Averted and inverted in "Megan's Revenge." After Drake and Josh accidentally kill Megan's pet hamster, they think about what to do knowing Megan is vindictive and will get revenge on them. Instead, they simply sit her down and tell her the truth. After a perfectly done Paranoia Gambit she finally tells them they didn't kill the hamster, they just stunned him.
  • Demand Overload: In-universe. In the penultimate episode (technically the grand finale), Drake's song was set to be put into a Super Bowl commercial but due to a contract mistake was altered electronically. Josh managed to switch the tapes that were going to be mixed into the commercial, and they were set to be sued for the illegal action. But the CEO said the original song was a massive hit, breaking their servers, and ended up firing the producer who tried to manipulate a hit song.
  • Deus ex machina: The boys solve their problems in "Mean Teacher" with magic (a good luck charm of a shirt).
  • Devil in Plain Sight: Megan Parker. It's amazing how oblivious her parents are to her evilness.
  • Diagonal Billing: Drake Bell and Josh Peck alternate first and second billing from episode to episode.
  • Diagonal Cut: Scene transitions are almost all done this way.
  • Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Josh usually always suffers as a result of Drake's carelessness, but he usually puts up with it... until the episode "Josh Is Done." Josh gets fed up with Drake after he causes Josh to be late to his very important chemistry test, and so, because the teacher is incredibly strict, Josh has to take a make-up test with one letter grade knocked off. He decides he is "done" with Drake; they may be roommates until Josh leaves for college, but that's all they'll be. Drake is thoroughly convinced that Josh will come crawling back to him soon, and just waits. But Josh's life gets exponentially better without Drake; his rash is gone, Helen doesn't hate him and plays racquetball with him, and he gets asked out by a cute cashier. Drake's life on the other hand starts falling apart without Josh in it. Drake finally breaks down and asks Josh to forgive him for being such a horrible brother and come back into his life.
  • Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: The episode "Blues Brothers" features Drake entering a talent show with his band, with it becoming apparent in the episode they intend to perform "I Found a Way." Doubles as an Actor Allusion, since Drake Parker writes the song in the show, which Drake Bell wrote & performed to serve as the theme song for Drake & Josh in real life.
  • Disappeared Dad: Drake and Megan's birth father, gone before the series began and never even mentioned.
  • Disney Death: Henry Doheny pulls one in the climax of "The Great Doheny".
  • Disproportionate Retribution:
    • Drake and Josh inflict this upon themselves in "Megan's Revenge," which is a part of Megan's Paranoia Gambit scheme.
    • Because Drake ate her big cookie, Megan dyes his hands and feet a sickly greenish color to trick him into thinking he has a rare skin disease called dermatameculitis, which can only be cured by painful injections or dipping the infected areas in lizard pee.
    • Not only does Mr. Roland kick Josh out of class for being a minute latenote , but he forces Josh to take a make-up exam on Saturday at 6 A.M. and will have his grades dropped because of it. Fortunately, Josh aces the make-up exam and Roland is impressed enough that he takes back the grade deduction.
    • Officer Gilbert sabotages Drake and Josh in every way to make sure they obtain as many tickets as possible and ultimately end up in jail, all because his Christmas was ruined when he was eight by a chimpanzee; something Drake and Josh had nothing to do with.
    • Mindy Crenshaw parked Mrs. Hafer's car in the middle of her classroom and framed Drake. Then she became the prosecutor on the trial and managed to not only almost convince everyone Drake did it, but also to humiliate Josh. The offense? Her grades were a perfect 4.0 until Mrs. Hayfer dared to give her a B. Oh, and she hates Drake and Josh. And she's nuts. Yeah, Dan Schneider is fond of this trope.
  • Disqualification-Induced Victory: In "Peruvian Puff Pepper", Drake and Josh steal the rare titular spice of Megan's entry for Salsa Fest to use in theirs. This gives them the victory but once they mention the spice to the crowd, they are disqualified because it is illegal in North America, leaving Megan to win by default. Not to mention this was Megan's plan all along.
  • Disrupting the Theater: In "Megan's First Kiss", Drake and Josh suspect that Megan is up to no good and decide to follow her to her rendezvous at a movie. To disguise themselves, they dress up in ridiculous costumes complete with top hats and beards, sit right behind Megan, and discover she's on a date. However, to prevent the boy from kissing her, they start shouting nonsense, stealing his popcorn, and climbing over the seats to sit with him. Helen and Crazy Steve stop the movie and come to kick them out for disturbing everyone, but what's worse, the boy dumps Megan over having crazy brothers.
  • Distaff Counterpart: Girls of the Week Tori and Carly are female versions of Drake.
  • The Ditz:
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: The writers used Josh's girlfriend to increase the subtext between the stepbrothers!
    • When Josh and Mindy first become a couple, Josh can't bear to tell Drake, and Mindy is offended and refuses to date him unless he confesses. In context, it's because Josh knows Drake hates Mindy... and the result of Josh keeping it a secret is that Josh comes across like he's hiding that he's cheating on Drake and Mindy refusing to be "the other woman."
    • The ongoing animosity between Josh's girlfriend and his flirty stepbrother, culminating in Drake inadvertently causing them to break up by poisoning Josh's mind against her, easily comes across as Drake and Mindy being romantic rivals for Josh.
    • When Josh invites Mindy's parents to dinner at his house to impress them, he freaks out when he discovers Drake is home and demands that he stay upstairs and keep away from them... because he doesn't want Drake ruining things, not because he's hiding him...
  • The Dog Bites Back: Drake and Josh will have their moments of getting back at Megan, but it never lasts.
  • "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Drake Bell sings the theme song, titled "I Found a Way."
  • Doomed Autographed Item: Done with Drake's new autographed guitar. Josh plugs it into an amp for all of five seconds before the guitar bursts into flames. He spends all his money on a brand new guitar and then has to go and track down the guitarist that signed it- at a concert Drake happens to be backstage at, causing a lot of hilarity to ensue. Drake, however, is just happy that Josh went through all that effort for him.
  • Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: The show would be a lot creepier and disturbing if Drake's, Josh's, and Megan's genders were reversed.
  • Downer Ending: "Peruvian Puff Pepper," "The Wedding" (hilariously), "Tree House," and "Theater Thug." In fact, Most episodes contain downer endings, leaving very few that end on a high note for Drake & Josh — some of those being "Steered Straight" and "Dance Contest." Even the series finale doesn't end on the best of notes, the final scene being yet another fight between the boys.
  • Dramatic Irony: The audience can see that Drake can shove candy in his mouth a few seconds before Josh gets his hands on the game controller in the climax of "The Bet," meaning Drake technically caved first and lost, but the boys were in a frenzy of withdrawal, not paying attention, and each sincerely insists the other caved first. Megan makes it a moot point by explaining how the word "first" is conspicuously missing from the conditions of the contract she wrote, so they both lose regardless of any theoretical gap between them.
  • Driving Test: Josh passes, Drake doesn't.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: In the episode "Dance Contest", Drake and Josh each go through the winger; Josh gets his original dance partner stolen by Drake, and gets abused by his new dance partner, and Drake learns he's at risk of being held back in the 11th grade because he hasn't shown up for gym class for several months and he has to win the dance contest for extra credit to compensate for the gym class absences. What's even worse? On the day of the competition, both of Drake and Josh's dance partners are disqualified after a brief fistfight, and they're on the verge of giving up and going home...until Drake gets a last-minute idea to partner up with Josh for the dance contest. It was a huge long shot, but Drake and Josh ultimately win the dance contest together, Drake gets to move on to the next grade and Josh gets extra credit to one-up Mindy.
  • Earpiece Conversation: Josh feeds information to Drake through an earpiece in a Quiz Bowl-Esque contest to impress a smart girl.
  • Early Personality Signs: One episode has the titular stepbrothers realize that when they were younger, the two had gotten in a fight over a foam finger at a baseball game. Both of them believe the other started the fight. Eventually, the vendor who sold them the finger is brought in to resolve the dispute. The vendor reveals that it was Megan, who was a toddler at this point, who instigated the fight by throwing a cookie at Josh, who naturally assumed Drake had done it. This foreshadows Megan's later role as a troublemaker who likes to antagonize her two brothers.
  • Education Through Pyrotechnics: Drake makes one mistake with a chemistry experiment in "Josh Is Done," and the liquid that gets on his hands is dangerous enough for him to be thrown in an emergency shower with his clothes on and drenched head to toe.
  • Elderly Future Fantasy: At the end of "Foam Finger", the stepbrothers consider how their true first meeting was back when they were children, and how even back then all they did was argue. This cues an Imagine Spot where they're both old men, still living in the same room, still bickering. Then an elderly Megan appears and throws a cookie at them, which started the original fight when they were kids, leading them to awkwardly fight again.
  • Embarrassing Cover Up: Driver's License gives a hilarious example after Drake pays for Josh's police ticket.
    Josh: Thanks, Drake! You're saving my butt!
    Megan: How's Drake saving your butt?
    Josh: Oh, I didn't say he was saving my butt! I said Drake was... (realizes he can't think of anything else) shaving my butt...
  • Enfant Terrible:
    • Megan, of course.
    • Ashley Blake, from the episode "Little Diva" also counts, overlapping with Spoiled Brat. It's not a surprise that she and Megan became friends so quickly. It's worth noting that, unlike Megan, Ashley gets her comeuppance at the end of the episode.
  • Engineered Heroics: Played straight, but then Subverted in the episode "Who's Got Game?" Drake accidentally let it slip that Carly, a girl he was dating, was part of a competition between him and his brother to see who could date the most girls...only he liked her. One of his several attempts to show her that he's "honest" involves Craig and Eric to make it seem like he found one of their wallets and returned it to them. Carly sees through this and walks off...and then one of the nerds comes back and asks Drake if he stole his mom's credit card from the wallet. He did.
  • Enter Stage Window: Josh does this to win Mindy back after she broke up with him for not telling Drake about their relationship in "Mindy's Back."
  • Epic Fail:
    • In "Tree House", the boys build a new treehouse for the neighbor's kid, only for them to get trapped inside because Drake didn't put in a door. They spend hours trapped there and have to destroy their work to escape at the end of the episode.
      Josh: Drake?
      Drake: What?
      Drake: It goes right there. See? I drew it with a magic marker.
      Josh: You were supposed to cut it out with the power saw.
      Drake: Dude, I'm gonna!
      Josh: Oh really?
      Drake: Yes!
      Josh: ...So go get the power saw.
      Drake: Okay, I will. (walks straight into the wall, then slowly realizes he and Josh are trapped) ......I see the problem.
      Josh: Oh, DO YA!?
    • In "Steered Straight", the robber was able to gain access to the police car and get away with it because the officer was too incompetent to keep it locked.
    • In the Christmas episode, Drake and Josh attempt to make amends to the kids by making it snow by putting ice in a woodchipper in hopes that the ice would go out the other end like snow. Instead, being a wood chipper, the ice ends up going out in several chunks and shards at high speeds like a machine gun, strong enough to destroy several outdoor Christmas ornaments and windows.
  • Eskimos Aren't Real: Walter is under the delusion that ships don't sink, citing, like many, Titanic (1997) as a just a movie. His wife, being the smart one of the pair, recognizes that the film was based on a true story.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Megan has her moments:
    • When Drake & Josh were arrested for stealing Grill/MP3 hybrids endorsed by Gary Coleman (They had merely been selling them, and had no idea the grills were stolen), they each got a phone call. When Drake made his call, he phoned home and told Megan he was in jail, who laughed it off as a prank, but when Josh phoned seconds later, there was a noticeable look of concern on her face when she realized that they really were in jail, and helped the FBI arrest the real thieves.
    • There was also the time when Mindy framed Drake for putting their teacher's car in her classroom. Drake was likely going to lose until Megan decided to help. She even said she couldn't stand to see him sad, scared and upset like he was unless she caused it.
    • In "Josh Runs into Oprah," she bakes Josh a birthday cake, which Josh believes is poisoned. Megan sincerely counters that she wouldn't give him something that would make him sick on his birthday. She didn't say it wouldn't explode.
    • She also disapproves of eating orangutans.
    • In "Josh is Done", Megan outright tells Drake that he's gone too far after witnessing Josh become so serious breaking up their friendship.
  • Even Nerds Have Standards:
    Craig: Clayton.
    Eric: Pfft. Nerd.
  • Exact Words:
    • In "The Bet," Drake and Josh make a bet to see who caves into their vice first. Megan writes up a contract for the bet. In the end, they both end up losing because the contract only says that the loser is whoever caves, not whoever caves first. The parents also had a contract betting against their sons, also written up by Megan. Since both boys lost, both parents also lost.
    Megan: It doesn't matter who caved first.
    Drake and Josh: What?
    Megan: The contract says, "whoever caves must dye his hair pink." You both caved, so you both have to do it.
    • One Cold Open has Drake and Josh in a competition to see who could drink the most cups of coffee. Josh eventually gets too hyper from all the caffeine and passes out, while Drake remains completely fine because they never said that decaf coffee wasn't allowed.
  • Failed a Spot Check:
  • Failed Attempt at Drama: When Drake and Josh argue, Josh trips on his way out of the room.
    Josh: I may have tripped, but this doesn't diminish the impact of this exit!
    • The scene is referenced again in a later episode when a crappy TV show is made about Drake and Josh Expires Drew and Jerry. Drake and Josh watch a scene of the Drew and Jerry Show, and in it, the Jerry character says "I may have stumbled, but that does not lessen the significance of this departure!" This prompts Josh to wonder why they made Jerry such a dork, only to realize the reason and hang his head in shame.
  • Fake a Fight: In "Steered Straight", Drake and Josh's parents hire some cops to pretend to convict them to teach them a lesson after they get busted for using fake IDs to enter a prestigious nightclub. However, Blaze, a criminal on the run, hijacks the police car, forcing the duo to help him and his crew rob their own home. Eventually, the pair decide to drive the goons away by pretending to get into a bloody fistfight over the specifics of a plan to kidnap the governor of California. It works.
  • Fangirl: Wendy towards Drake in "Number One Fan," going so far as to spread his picture around the school.
  • Fat and Skinny: At first, then Josh Peck lost a lot of weight by the end of the series, especially in Merry Christmas Drake & Josh.
  • Fight for the Last Bite: As a Call-Back to The Amanda Show, Drake and Josh end their finale episode "Really Big Shrimp" fighting over the last piece of shrimp; the scene then transitions to the original scene from the previous show.
  • Finale Movie: Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh was a TV movie Christmas Special released a year after the final regular episode of the show aired.
  • Flanderization:
    • Drake just got dumber and dumber as the show progressed. At the start of the series, he was a teenager who admittedly wasn't too bright, but wasn't too dumb either. Eventually, it got to the point where he couldn't pronounce the word 'America'. As in, the country he lives in.
    • Josh became de-flanderized as the show progressed. Initially, he was a weird and awkward fat kid. As the show progressed and his career took off, his character became much more down-to-earth, though he still has his moments of being socially awkward.
    • Megan went from just a typical mischievous younger sister occasionally pulling harmless pranks on her brothers to a sadistic demon child who believes she was put on Earth to make their lives miserable. Her "pranks" also went from just simple antics like putting a bucket of water over an open door to having a full arsenal of high-tech gadgets and weapons that would make most CIA operatives jealous. She also seemed to be willing to go to further extents to cause them misery; in one episode, the writers imply she was willing to put a whole crowd of people in danger of kidney failure just so she could beat Drake and Josh in a salsa contest.
  • Flirty Stepsiblings: Heck, Drake and Josh have even kissed each other on the lips!
  • Fluffy the Terrible: Human version. Ashley Blake's huge bodyguard is named "Citrus." He is only there to intimidate the brothers, but he's more like a gentle giant as Freight Train. And the end of the episode shows that even he hates his bratty boss by placing her back in the trash bin.
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The title character; Josh is smart, responsible, and studious, while Drake is relaxed, immature, and ditzy.
  • Forgotten First Meeting: In one episode Drake And Josh discover that they met when they were nine (rather than in high school as they previously thought).
  • Formerly Fat: Josh is an In-Universe and a Real Life example of this. He started as the Fat Comic Relief Butt-Monkey but as the show went on, he kept on losing weight and by the time the Christmas movie came out, he is a lean, Tall, Dark, and Handsome Long-Haired Pretty Boy.
  • The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Hilariously inverted at the beginning of "The Battle of Panthatar" in which Josh has a (muted) spat with one of the viewers, whose friend spits in Josh's eye.
  • Freudian Excuse: Officer Gilbert's excuse for wanting to keep Drake and Josh from satisfying Mary Alice and her foster family is due to an incident he had when he got a chimpanzee for Christmas as he wanted, but then it destroyed their tree and presents and escaped. He hated Christmas ever since. As Josh points out in the letter, the chimpanzee was an adult and too much for the then young Gilbert to handle. The one Drake and Josh send him is a baby and is much more passive.
  • Friend in the Black Market: A running gag whenever Megan is asked how she got a certain unusual item, she always responds with: "I know a guy."
  • Fun with Acronyms: In "Helicopter," Drake learns from Vince that in skydiving, you must Squat, Pray, Leap, "Aaaaaah!," and Touchdown!
    Vince: That's S-P-L-A-T!
    Drake: (confused) That spells splat!
    Vince: Oh, man...
  • Gasshole: Kelly, one of Drake's girlfriends. When he accidentally belches during a date, she shows him how to burp properly.
  • Generation Xerox:
    • Walter is an awkward and usually clumsy man, clearly inherited by his son Josh.
    • The Parkers' "attractiveness" seems to run in the blood. A few episodes deal with men (like Gavin) calling Audrey hot. Corey and Toplin (Thornton's little brother) are two boys who "had a thing" for Megan. And as for Drake Parker...
  • Get Out!: After Josh destroys the foam finger, Drake tells him he crossed the line and ends with him telling Josh this phrase. Josh responds by screaming "No!!!", prompting Drake to move out of their bedroom.
  • The Ghost:
    • Grammy. She appears once in season 1 and is often mentioned for the rest of the show but never re-appears.
    • Bruce Winchell, Walter's rival weatherman.
  • Gilligan Cut:
    • At the end of "My Dinner With Bobo," Megan refuses to let the boys out of the closet unless they not only return Bobo to the car dealer but buy the yellow beetle that she wants with the flowery stickers on the bumper. They refuse. Cut to the boys and Megan driving in it.
    • Another one in "Megan's First Kiss," Drake and Josh threaten to rough up Corey after his two-timing nature had been exposed to Megan. Cue scene later in their residence, Megan is seen propping up her brothers, who are all badly bruised and beaten up, both pummeled down by Corey, who happened to be well-versed in martial arts.
  • Glasses Pull: Invoked by Josh in "Honor Council" when he acts as Drake's lawyer and is trying to appear professional. He doesn't even need to wear glasses!
  • The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Gender Flip version — Drake is the smooth-talking, Book Dumb girl magnet, and Josh is the socially awkward genius.
  • Good Luck Charm: Josh's hideous shirt in "Mean Teacher."
  • Googling the New Acquaintance: In "My Dinner with Bobo", Drake and Josh sell their new pet orangutan to a scientist who says he worked with apes in Africa. A suspicious Megan does a search on the guy and finds out that he fled while being prosecuted for trying to eat primates.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck!: The Yudonian curse word "Boosha!"
  • Green-Eyed Epiphany: His fear of commitment drives Drake to break up with his usual Girl of the Week Tori, and he enjoys now having the opportunity to get numbers from multiple girls. But when he notices Tori's also going on dates with different boys, he's instantly jealous enough to want to get back together.
  • Guilty Until Someone Else Is Guilty: In the episode "Honor Council", Drake is accused of moving Mrs. Hayfer's car into her classroom. Despite the question of how he would've done it going unanswered, people become more and more convinced that he was responsible, and even his stepbrother Josh, who was initially on his side, starts to believe he did it. It's only by getting Josh's rival Mindy Crenshaw to confess to the crime after being tipped off by Megan that he manages to clear his name.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: Crazy Steve.
    Crazy Steve: YOU ATE MY ENCHILADA!
  • Haplessly Hiding: In the episode "Alien Invasion", Drake and Josh prank Megan into thinking there is alien activity by tampering with the equipment she's been using to find some. The two hide in trash cans and hear her believing the prank, much to their pleasure. They are still in the cans when their dad Walter comes out to empty the trash and disposes of it in Josh's can. Drake remains safe, though.
  • Hard Truth Aesop: "Megan's New Teacher" has the lesson just because you're passionate about something, doesn't mean you're cut out for it. Despite Josh's academic inclination, and desire to teach the future generation, his poor skills with children show that's not the career he's destined for.
  • Hate Sink:
    • Susan from the episode "Believe Me Brother" was Drake's girlfriend. She flirted with Josh whenever nobody was around and even kissed him, and when Drake showed up she acted like Josh was the one doing it all, driving a wedge between the brothers. Then when she was finally caught and Drake dumped her, she didn't even apologize, only saying that she couldn't help it if she was attracted to both of them, but now she wouldn't date either of them.
    • Thornton from the episode "The Battle of Panthatar" served as such; uninviting Drake and Josh to his 16th birthday party simply because Drake unknowingly kissed his girlfriend at the premiere, and even when the two give Thornton their autographed Abbey Road album, in which he considers "the best present he's ever gotten", he still refuses to let them inside. Unlike other antagonists in the series, his Jerkass attitude towards the duo isn't Played for Laughs. His humiliation from the hands of the duo and Drake successfully retrieving his album away from him was certainly well-deserved.
    • Corey from the episode "Megan's First Kiss". He blackmails Drake and Josh into giving him their clock, guitar, and the pants on their legs in exchange for staying with Megan after he breaks up with her at first. Then it's revealed that he was cheating on her all along with another girl, and he tries to weasel his way out of it when the brothers reveal his infidelity to Megan. It was so bad that the brothers finally tried to beat him up and then got their asses kicked because he knew kungfu. Heck, even Megan herself got some humanization in that episode by kissing Drake and Josh while saying she loves them in the end.
    • Hewitt from the episode "Blues Brothers". His arrogant attitude towards Drake and sabotaging Drake in the talent show by stealing the song he was going to use despite proving plenty capable of performing well earlier just serves to make Josh's comeback to save Drake in the talent show all the more satisfying.
  • Happily Ever After: Josh and Mindy, getting back together in the grand finale.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Officer Gilbert in the Christmas movie when Drake and Josh send him a letter with the present he wanted as a kid telling him that he shouldn't hate Christmas just because he was ruined.
  • Heh Heh, You Said "X": Drake usually does this when someone says something that may be interpreted as an Accidental Innuendo. Provides the page quote.
  • Hired on the Spot: In "Movie Job", after Josh accidentally makes an employee at The Premiere quit, he starts giving advice to moviegoers when they mistake him for an employee. Helen, impressed by this, asks him if he's looking for a job and if he's sane, hiring Josh immediately when he confirms both of her questions. In the same episode, Drake is hired even quicker, with Helen nonchalantly hiring him on the spot when Drake simply asks for a job.
  • Humor Dissonance: A deliberate in-universe example. In "Josh is Done," Craig and Eric are telling a story about how they were at a pool party once... and one of them accidentally left his socks on! Josh and the other person with him are cracking up at this story.
  • Hollywood Restraining Order: The episode "Josh Runs Over Oprah" has the titular TV personality put a restraining order out on Josh for running her over, then trying to get into her hospital room to apologize. He's handed the restraining order at the end of the episode and is despondent... until Drake reveals that Oprah herself signed it.
  • Homage: The sushi scene is copied verbatim from the famous I Love Lucy chocolate scene. Also, The Blues Brothers.
  • Home-Early Surprise: The heroes turn the house into an inn while their parents are away, and it becomes a monumental affair. The parents call the boys to tell them that they're coming home early. They clean it up in time but get busted anyway.
  • Hospital Hottie: Drake takes interest in the student nurses in the hospital, prompting him to impersonate a doctor and play the trope as well.
  • Humiliating Wager: Drake and Josh are addicted to eating junk food/playing video games, respectively, and each contractually makes a bet that they could go without their respective addictions longer than the other one, with their parents getting in on the betting action. The loser would have to die/dye...... their hair pink. Both Drake and Josh crack at the same moment, meaning they both lost (along with both parents), so all of them end up with pink hair.
  • Hustling the Mark: In "Pool Shark," Megan hustles Drake in a dart game, which gives Drake the idea to rip off others in the Premiere upon learning of Josh's innate talent in billiards.
  • Hypocritical Humor: One notable example is in the episode "Dr. Phyllis Show," where Drake and Josh both appear on the said fictional show (a parody of Dr. Phil) as the subjects for "bickering brothers." At one point, Dr. Phyllis scolds Drake and Josh having to resort to physical confrontations as she doesn't seem to tolerate it. However, she later instigates a physical fight with them for insulting Liza Tupper, who just happens to be her daughter.
    • In "Steered Straight," Walter became Audrey's mannequin for a huge girl's prom dress, making him the subject of ridicule throughout the scene.
      Walter: (in a prom dress) You boys need to learn to act like men!
      (Everyone stares at Walter)
      Walter: What? It's for a prom!
      Policeman: Yes, ma'am.
      Walter: (annoyed) Sir!
  • Hypocritical Heartwarming: Megan may torment Drake & Josh, taking great pride in making them miserable... But she also doesn't want other people making her brothers miserable.
  • Idiosyncratic Wipes: Green or blue arrows striking through the screen before parting away in the middle to reveal the next scene.
  • The "I Love You" Stigma: In a sweet parting moment at the door, Mindy tells Josh that she loves him, which causes all sorts of awkwardness between them. Josh talks to Drake about it and implies he might love her back, causing Drake to slap him across the face. Josh and Mindy discuss it later on and realize that they are too young to understand what "I Love You" means and decide to break up so they can better understand their feelings for each other. They get back together in the grand finale.
  • Imagine Spot: In "Sheep Thrills," when Megan promises not to prank the boys for a long time if they take care of and make sure that their parents don't find out about Baaaaahb, her sheep, the boys have one of these, involving them holding each other's hands in a circle dancing in a meadow while Megan showers them with flowers.
  • Informed Attractiveness. A bit zigzagged. While Drake is meant to be the better-looking Chick Magnet in comparison to Josh, this is played more straight in earlier seasons, when Josh was more of a chubby, goofy dork. However in later seasons, Josh not only loses a great deal of weight and becomes better-built, but he becomes more down-to-earth while retaining his lovably dorky personality. Despite this, he is somehow less lucky with girls than his brother Drake, who, while not bad-looking, is relatively shorter and scrawnier than his brother, and not only shows blatant irresponsibility several times, but a sharp decline in common sense as the series goes on. This trope actually goes explained over the series to how Drake is charismatic, smooth talking, and calm while Josh is easily-stressed, socially awkward, and emotional which turns off girls more easily. Drake's relationships are also stated to only last 3 weeks.
  • Insane Troll Logic: One of Drake's most definitive traits.
  • Insult Backfire: In "Two Idiots and a Baby":
    Drake: You're a devious twisted little girl.
    Megan: Why thank you, Drake.
  • Intentional Mess Making: In "Peruvian Puff Pepper", Megan wants to join Drake and Josh in the Salsa-Making contest. When they refuse, she gets revenge on them by placing some explosives into their salsa pot. Within a few minutes, the kitchen is covered in salsa, and Drake and Josh are not only blamed for the incident but forced to clean it up as well.
  • It's the Best Whatever, Ever!: Mary Alice Johansson's wish to have "the best Christmas ever" in Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Drake. One episode, in particular, involved Josh and Mindy working on a project and discovering they have feelings for each other, but after a short time together she breaks up with him because Josh didn't tell Drake about it since he hates Mindy. After learning about the whole ordeal, Drake is not only supportive of the relationship but actively helps Josh to get her back, saying if he likes the girl it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. And another reason why Drake would be willing to support his relationship with Mindy? Because he has been waiting for Josh to finally find a girl, showing he wants his step-brother to find someone special!
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Happens in the episode "Megan's New Teacher." While Megan certainly could have been nicer to Josh when she confronted him about it, the fact remains that she was right that the college-level work that Josh was assigning her 5th grade was too difficult for her and her classmates to grasp and Josh should've eased upon them when it was made obvious instead of punishing them for not doing homework that even their parents couldn't figure out.
  • Just Fine Without You: In "Josh Is Done," Josh decides to stop having anything to do with Drake. Drake figures Josh can't get by without him, but it turns out that Josh gets by fine on his own and Drake needs Josh more than the other way around as while Josh has a good life, Drake gradually breaks down.
  • Karma Houdini:
    • Both Parker siblings. In terms of wrongdoings, Drake is rarely caught (as lampshaded by Josh in "Dune Buggy"), while Megan is never caught.
    • The theater thug is also this, due to everybody thinking Josh is the theater thug and beating him up. At the end of the episode the real thug shows up, but gets knocked out. When the police arrive, they arrest Josh thinking he's the thug, while the real one gets away.
      • The police and other folks are this as well since they're also never seen punished for thinking he's the thug and letting the real bad guy get away.
    • When Drake and Josh expose a kid cheating on Megan by bringing his other girlfriend, both girls break up with him. The brothers planned on teaching them a lesson. It was revealed back home, based on the injuries they've received, that the kid had taken martial arts classes.
  • KidAnova: Drake.
    Drake: Trust me, do you think I know a lot about girls?
    Josh: More than a young man should!
  • Laborious Laziness: Subverted in the cold open of "We're Married". Drake calls Josh pretending to be a cop ordering Josh to bring Drake a soda. Josh naturally doesn't buy it an blows a whistle over the phone. Drake goes down to get a soda, at which point Walter calls Josh and Josh threatens him thinking it's Drake again. Despite Walter saying who it is, Josh still think it's Drake doing a perfect imitation and insults him. Josh wonders why Drake is putting more effort into getting someone to get him a soda than it would take to go down and get one. Right on cue, he sees Drake sitting next to him, soda in hand, and Josh realizes what he did.
  • Lame Pun Reaction: Several throughout the show, notably everyone to Walter's puns.
    Walter: (on TV) Hey, if it's a five-day forecast, shouldn't it be called a fivecast? (chuckles)
    Josh: Oh, Dad...
  • Lame Rhyme Dodge: Josh uses it in a way that's worse than what it was before. Drake agreed to pay for Josh's speeding ticket so their father wouldn't find out, then Megan shows up.
    Josh: Thanks, Drake! You're saving my butt!
    Megan: How's Drake saving your butt?
    Josh: Oh, I didn't say he was saving my butt! I said Drake was... (realizes he can't think of anything else) shaving my butt...
  • Large Ham: Josh Nichols.
    "I like repeating words for emphasis. EMPHASIS!"
  • Least Rhymable Word: In one episode, Drake tries to find a rhyme for "orange." Surprisingly, he manages to find a rhyme: door hinge.
  • Let There Be Snow: Subverted in the Christmas special. A little girl wishes for snow at Christmas in her tropical home and Drake and Josh try to deliver this via a wood chipper. It wasn't working until "Crazy Steve" loaded it up with hard cheese instead of Drake and Josh's original plan, ice, which didn't go too well for them - smashing windows and causing other massive property damage, one id even describing it as a drive-by.
  • Little Miss Snarker: Megan. She's as snarky as she is evil.
  • The Living Dead: Of the living, unconscious variant in "Little Diva." Ashley Blake, the eponymous little diva, was given medicine that knocked her out to the point where throwing her around doesn't even wake her up, and spends the rest of the episode as a living dummy for Drake and Josh to haul around.
  • Local Hangout: The Premiere, the movie theater where Josh works.
  • Love Epiphany: When Mindy reveals she has feelings for Josh during a fight, Josh realizes he let his jealousy and resentment of being Always Second Best to her cloud his own feelings towards her.
  • Magic Realism: The effects of the "lucky shirt" in "Mean Teacher" are too extreme and too perfectly timed to be explained away as coincidence. The boys accept its magic as real and (successfully) plan how to use its magic to solve the problems of the episode. It's lost once the plot is resolved to prevent it from becoming a Story-Breaker Power, and no supernatural elements appear in the show before or after.
  • Manipulative Bastard:
    • Drake. Josh even lampshaded this when they were on the Dr. Phyllis Show.
    • Megan, too. She knows how to trick people, especially her parents, and does it constantly.
  • Milholland Relationship Moment: In one episode, Josh accidentally destroys a very valuable guitar of Drake's. When Josh eventually admits to it (after having spent the rest of the episode trying to get a replacement, a feat which cost him the only $1,200 he had), Drake reveals that he'd already found out, forgives Josh immediately, and tells Josh that he's spending his life savings on a replacement is "the coolest thing anyone's ever done for me."
  • The Millstone: "Josh Is Done" showed that Drake is this in regards to Josh. Without having to worry about Drake's selfishness, Josh would be able to enjoy a very good life. Conversely, without Josh, Drake would fall apart. So really, Drake needs Josh more than Josh needs Drake.
  • Miserable Massage: One episode had the two brothers getting rich by selling grills two men gave to them, not realizing that the grills were stolen. Using their new money, they pay for massages. Drake's masseuse is a young, attractive woman. Meanwhile, Josh's masseuse is a stereotypical Brawn Hilda. She even cracks her fingers before starting the massage, suggesting that the experience will hurt for Josh.
  • Missing Mom: Josh's birth mother, never mentioned at all during the series.
  • Mistaken for Cheating: The plot of "The Affair," where the boys mistake Walter for cheating on Audrey.
  • Moral Event Horizon: In-universe, subverted in the episode "Josh Runs Into Oprah," when Josh tells Drake that he has crossed this by leaving him to have an involuntary chemical bath... but then Drake gets the rest of the people at the Premiere to throw Josh a surprise party to make it up to him. Which it does.
  • My Sister Is Off-Limits: Drake and Josh develop this attitude in "Megan's First Kiss" where they're very uncomfortable with the idea of their sister having her first kiss at a young age.
  • Name and Name: Just look at the show's name: Drake & Josh.
  • Nerds Are Sexy: "Smart Girl" centers around Drake's attraction to Michelle, a brilliant girl with glasses and bookworm whom he still finds incredibly hot.
    • There are also plenty of fangirls who feel this way about Josh. In fact, several episodes show that if he just had more confidence in himself, he could get plenty of dates just fine.
  • Never Recycle Your Schemes: Averted. Drake has put squirrels into ''two teachers'" cars.
  • New Job Episode: The episode "Movie Job." The boys start working at the Premiere, where Josh takes the job very seriously but is hated by the boss, while Drake does nothing and somehow gets promoted to assistant manager.
  • Nice Character, Mean Actor: The eponymous child actress in the episode "Little Diva," Ashley Blake.
    Megan: Wow. Hollywood evil. I like that.
  • Nice Mean And In Between. Josh, Megan, and Drake. Josh is the nicest one of the trio, being the most responsible and polite most of the time. Megan is the mean one, as she enjoys making her brothers' lives miserable for no reason at all and is evil. This leaves Drake as the in-between, as while he can be a jerk at times and hardly gives Josh much respect, he still shows many Pet the Dog moments to show he's a caring brother to Josh and has much more redeeming qualities than his little sister.
  • Ninja Prop:
    • In the opening to "The Gary Grill," Megan hijacks the Once an Episode Cold Open and screws around with Drake and Josh's boxes, switching their sizes and shapes, distorting their voices, and eventually deleting them off the screen.
    • In "Helicopter" a completely random person shows up during the Cold Open, apparently the result of him testing out his new webcam. They try to get him to leave, but the oblivious man says he's lonely, and eventually starts brushing his teeth, leading to the duo bailing.
  • No Fourth Wall:
    • A repeated mishap causes an exasperated Drake or Josh to shrug directly in front of the camera.
    • Every episode begins with a segment with no fourth wall, with Drake and Josh talking directly to the audience about certain events that have happened to them in the past.
  • No Guy Wants an Amazon: Drake has to deal with a girl he is dating who is pretty tough and can out-fight him.
  • Noodle Incident: One of the running jokes in the series.
    • The Pinecone Incident:
      "That squirrel had it coming!"
    • Also:
      Drake: So my foot's stuck in there right? I'm freaking out, the dog's having a seizure, I still have half a pie left.
    • There was also an incident mentioned in the Treehouse episode:
      Josh: I don't trust you with animals after what you did to that dolphin.
      Drake: I just wanted a ride.
    • How Helen hired Crazy Steve:
      Josh: You hired a guy called ''Crazy Steve''?
      Helen: Had to, long story, wasn't pretty.
  • No-Respect Guy: Josh. Case in point: the delivery man angrily told him "Don't tell me what to do" when he simply said, "Have a nice day!" He gets it from Walter, who will never be as respected by his boss or his weather-viewing audience as Bruce Winchell is.
  • Nothing Is Scarier: "Megan's Revenge," where the boys go paranoid over waiting for Megan to get revenge for apparently killing her hamster, imagining the possibilities.
  • Obsessed with Perfect Attendance: In "The Affair," Josh adamantly refuses to skip school to spy on their dad because Josh has had a perfect attendance record since nursery schoolnote . Drake convinces him to go anyway. Regardless, he still has a perfect attendance award in "Who's Got Game."
  • Obsessive Hobby Episode: In "The Bet", Drake and Josh become obsessed with junk food and video games respectively. After they forget to pick up Megan from a party, they're both grounded and they bet each other who can go the longest without acting on their respective obsession.
  • Obviously Fake Signature: In order to try and get out of doing homework, Drake writes a fake doctor's note claiming that he twisted his liver and is consequently unable to read, write, or bathe, and signs it as "the doctor". When Josh points out that the doctor should probably have a name, he hastily amends it to "Bob the doctor".
  • Official Couple: Josh and Mindy, who are together for several episodes and get back together in the finale.
  • Offscreen Crash: This happened in episode #2 "Dune Buggy" when Drake (and his friend Trevor) drove a renovated dune buggy out of his parent's garage and into a tree as the result of avoiding a squirrel.
  • One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Peggy Sherman is talking about Walter's "secret" (an offer to be a top network's weather forecaster) being kept from his family, while the boys misunderstood it to be her desire for married men and destroying their family.
  • The Only One Allowed to Make You Miserable: Megan won't let anyone else make Drake and Josh miserable. For example, when Drake is framed for disassembling his teacher's car and reassembling it inside the classroom and he's pretty much cornered, Megan offers to help, claiming that she wanted to help because Drake looked so miserable...and only Megan is allowed to make him feel that way.
  • Only Sane Man: Believe it or not, Megan and Mindy. Both are cunning and extremely snarky. They can basically out prank anyone with convoluted schemes.
  • Opinion Flip Flop: After Megan complains about how Josh's teaching methods have alienated her from her friends, Drake defends him. Then when her classmate Neil tells Drake he can't play drums for Drake's band at their next gig because his mom grounded him for failing Josh's quiz, Drake immediately takes Megan's side.
  • Opposites Attract: The heroes have opposite personalities and complain about each other constantly, but when given the chance to find new friends in "Drew and Jerry," each of them still picks someone who is his exact opposite! While Drew and Jerry eventually leave to make a tv show together, at no point is anyone interested in befriending his doppelganger. No matter how much Drake may think of Josh as an annoying nerd or how much Josh hates Drake's crazy schemes and the trouble they cause, they're drawn to each other because of their differences.
  • Out-Gambitted: Megan is extremely skilled at these. Whenever Drake and Josh seem to succeed in getting revenge on Megan, the complexity of her plans reverses the tide. Most notably in "Alien Invasion," where Drake and Josh manage to trick Megan in the majority of the episode that she had seen "real" aliens. They go as far as dressing up into alien costumes just to get revenge on Megan. However, as the brothers do a victory dance, a real alien shows up behind Drake and Josh, terrifying the brothers even more. It turns out the alien is one of Megan's friends who helped her reverse the prank.
  • Overreacting Airport Security: In Drake & Josh Go Hollywood, Drake and Josh put their sister Megan on the wrong plane. After they discover this, the two attempt to run onto the plane and get her out before it takes off. They are stopped by security. Afterward, the boys are released and one of the officers tells them that they take airport security "very seriously," to which Josh voices his concern on whether or not the strip search was really necessary.
  • Over-the-Shoulder Carry:
    • In the episode "The Drake and Josh Inn," 'Sheet Man' puts Drake over his shoulder and spins him around a few times.
    • There's a brief clip of Josh carrying Drake over the shoulder in the Season 2 opener.
    • In the episode "Girl Power," Drake briefly has his girlfriend Lucy over his shoulder when they're wrestling to see who is tougher.
  • Pac Man Fever: Helen's Groove Machine is DanceDanceRevolution built into the TV like a home console. The most glaring part is that there are 3 dance pads and Josh joins in with Helen and Drake whereas the screen only has room for 2 players. Their dancing is also more choreographed and the footwork barely matches the on-screen directions.
  • Painful Adhesive Removal: One episode has Walter, Drake and Josh's father, getting Bound and Gagged himself by the latter after they feared the criminals in the house would badly hurt Walter. Drake and Josh got caught in the middle of the criminal gang after the formed were "arrested" as part of a Scared Straight program after they had gotten in trouble. But one of the criminals attacked the cop, resulting in the boys being mixed in with the criminal gang. Drake and Josh drag Walter into the closet where they try to figure out how to run the criminals off. Walter demands to know what's going on through the duct tape on his mouth. Drake and Josh briefly rip the tape off Walter's mouth, making him scream and demanding answers before they put the tape back over his mouth.
  • Paranoia Gambit: In "Megan's Revenge," Drake and Josh are freaking out because they think they killed Megan's hamster (it later turns out that he was just stunned), and Megan claims that she's not mad and isn't going to do anything to them... and then doesn't. However, they're so guarded against the revenge that they just know is coming that they can't sleep, turn down a double date because they're afraid the girls have been sent by Megan, and generally ruin their own lives in fear.
  • Parental Bonus: Carly really flips out at Drake when she finds out he "dated" her after making a bet with Josh, assuming Drake lied to her about how strong his feelings were for her just so he could "date" her. To a kid, her outrage and initial refusal to hear him out at all come across as a typical over-the-top Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure combined with Liar Revealed, treating Drake (supposedly falsely) telling her he liked her as a Felony Misdemeanor. To an adult, however, Carly's indignation makes perfect sense... if what Drake told her resulted in them having sex.
  • Parental Sexuality Squick: Drake, Josh and Megan get visibly nauseated when Walter and Audrey kiss or display any kind of affection towards each other, specially in the pilot.
    Audrey: Now is my time to kiss you. *Kisses Walter*
    Walter: Now is my time to kiss you. *Kisses Audrey*
    Drake: Now is my time to throw up on you!
  • Parody: Josh avoids watching Susanna Louisiana. And expect the movie titles in the Premiere Galleria as a spoof on very famous movies (The Empress Strikes Back, A Walk To Forget, Finding Texas, Titanium, 101 Dull Martians etc.) The movies are later seen in the video shop in an iCarly episode.
    • "Inside-Out Burger" is a parody of the burger chain In-N-Out Burger.
  • Plane Awful Flight: In "Drake And Josh Go To Hollywood," the boys have to take a plane and end up sitting with strangers. Drake gets to sit with two hot girls... while Josh, ever unlucky, sits with a fat, obnoxious, and disgusting married couple that spend their time bickering and making him look at their moles.
  • Playing Cyrano: In "Smart Girl," Josh uses a headset to help Drake talk to a smart girl he likes and compete in an academic contest so he can impress her.
  • Police Are Useless:
    • In "The Gary Grill", two cops accuse Drake and Josh, high school students in California, of stealing a bunch of grills from New Jersey without even checking for alibis. They even mock them when they try to explain what actually happened. Fortunately, they do release them upon finding the real thieves.
    • In "Theater Thug", the police arrest Josh when he gets mistaken for the titular crook, who was in plain sight.
    • In "Vicious Tiberius", an animal control officer arrives at Mrs. Hayfer's house to take care of the titular Rottweiler. Once he actually comes across Tiberius, however, he flees and hides in the bathroom with Drake and Josh.
      Josh: I mean you're the animal control guy. Why don't you go out there and control that beast?
      Officer: Nuh, uh. I'm not going out there letting that monster chew my butt off. I'm sitting right here on this toilet. Thank you very much.
    • In "Steered Straight", the cop is assigned to send Drake and Josh to jail but forgets to lock the car while pursuing a robber, allowing the robber to steal it.
    • In the Christmas special, the police, once again, arrest Josh when he gets mistaken for one of the party crashers, even though he was the one who reported them.
  • Porn Stache: Josh grows one in the episode "Playing the Field" to "be cool." The running gag in the said episode is how everyone else despises it: From Drake to even Mindy (who refuses to kiss her mustached boyfriend Josh). And when Mindy connives with Megan to shave off the mustache...
  • The Prankster: Megan pulls pranks on her brothers every other week and Flanderization has turned them from harmless whoopee cushion-style antics to freakily sociopathic pranks (she puts explosives in their room in one episode).
  • Production Foreshadowing: In the episode "Really Big Shrimp," one of the marquees at The Premiere theater reads Now She's Carly (referring to Megan's actress Miranda Cosgrove, who would later go on to play the titular character of iCarly).
  • The Punishment Is the Crime: In "Believe Me, Brother," Megan pulls a prank on Drake and Josh by splicing Drake's music video with embarrassing footage of him and Josh. However, she also accidentally adds in video evidence of Drake's girlfriend attempting to cheat on him with Josh, revealing that Josh had told the truth about her the entire time and that she had been trying to tear the two of them apart. As a result, the two of them are ultimately grateful that Megan's prank happened, so they don't tell on her, half because they're grateful, and half because the mere fact that her plan backfired and helped them is punishment enough for her. While Megan was surprised by this, she brushes it off, saying "there's always next time".
  • Pyrrhic Victory: In "Who's Got Game?", Josh finally wins a bet against Drake. The prize he chose for himself, in the beginning, was Drake's loft bed. The first night he sleeps in it, he has to get out of bed in the middle of the night, muscle memory takes over, and a painful fall ensues. He immediately accepts Drake's offer to switch back.
  • "Rashomon"-Style: The episode "Foam Finger" depicts Drake and Josh recounting their first fight differently on who is the instigator. Turns out that it was a toddler-aged Megan.
  • Rearrange the Song: In "Really Big Shrimp," Drake gets a record deal and records his song for the producers. Because Josh (Drake's manager) didn't read the fine print and signed the contract anyway, they got the rights to change it to a very over-processed electronic song, and Drake and Josh are very bothered by this.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: The two driving instructors in "Driver's License" turn out to be this as part of a Bait-and-Switch, with both providing fair assessments despite making no attempt to hide their biases. Josh's instructor gives him a license and says he's an excellent driver in spite of openly admitting to hating all teenagers on principle. Drake's instructor denies him a license because he is a terrible driver, even though she's just as smitten with him as almost every other woman on the show.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Rather balanced between the eponymous duo.
    • Josh first does this to Drake in "Dune Buggy." It's one of the few completely non-comical scenes in the whole show.
      Josh: We spent like a hundred hours on that dune buggy trying to fix it up and you ruined it! And you're hurt! But all you can think about is "getting away with it." (imitates Drake) "Ooh, I'm Drake! I'm so cool I get away with everything!" (normal voice) Fine, I'll just stay grounded and I'll fix the dune buggy again! So you just keep worrying about yourself. It's what you're best at.
    • And again in "Girl Power" which also manages to convince the Crenshaws to allow Josh and Mindy to continue dating.
      Josh: You see what you do!? One night, one night, I ask you to help me and you ruin it!
      Drake: Josh I...
      Josh:I told you how important this was to me. I told you that this was my last chance to impress Mindy's parents! I spent like two days working on this dinner, and 300 bucks on a dumb harpist (turning to address her) who at this point should stop...playing! (the harpist stops) And I don't even care what you think of Mindy, 'cause she is the greatest thing that ever happened to me, and I can't date her because you wrecked it! Alright? You wrecked my dinner, you wrecked my $100 ice sculpture, and you wrecked my relationship!
      Drake: (confused) You spent $100 on ice?
    • Inverted in "Josh Is Done" where Drake gives on to Josh about himself.
      Drake: I was wrong okay! I need you more than you need me! I need you way more than you need me! I'm sorry I made you late for your exam! I'm sorry I ran over your bike! I'm sorry I'm probably the worst brother in the world, and you're way better off without me! I just need you to understand... I'm sorry, Josh. I'm sorry.
    • And Drake delivers one to Josh again in "The Big Shrimp."
      Drake: You don't get it Josh, and you never will. That "when people play dirty sometimes you gotta play dirty back." That's what you don't get. You always gotta play by the rules!
      Josh: Rules are the foundation of a gentle society!
      Drake: You see, that is why you'll always be a loser.
  • Rebound Best Friend: In one episode, Josh ends up befriending a kid named Drew after Drake is unable to attend a magic show with him. Drew ends up spending more time with Josh than Drake can, so Drake gets jealous and finds his own new best friend in Jerry. The rest of the episode is Drake and Josh blatantly trying to replace the other and fight over their new friends, with it becoming increasingly obvious that Drew and Jerry are identical to Drake and Josh in almost every way. In the end, they hug it out, and Drew and Jerry end up happy too- getting chosen as the stars of a new Show Within a Show, Drew And Jerry.
  • Recurring Extra: Gavin the mullet guy and Crazy Steve showed up more often as their popularity rose.
  • Recursive Canon: The shared universe of iCarly, Zoey 101 and Victorious have Drake & Josh as a TV show in that shared universe. It has since been made official that it is a shared universe, and we aren't quite sure what the status of the in-universe Drake & Josh is all about.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Played with. Drake does things without thinking, and is cool and collected, while Josh plans things, but is clumsy and often loud.
  • Re-Release Soundtrack: The ending of the episode "The Storm" features a bunch of characters singing Queen's "We Will Rock You". In some DVD releases, the song is changed to them singing a song called, "Let's Get This Party Started".
  • Reunion Show: The Christmas Special, as stated 18 months after the show ended (but occurred 2 months after "Really Big Shrimp"), reuniting the cast for one last spin. One could tell a lot of the actors were getting too old for the roles but it was class of them to do the movie anyway.
  • Ruritania: Drake ends up accidentally marrying a girl from the country of 'Yudonia'.
  • Running Gag: Gavin's "I got it"; Josh repeating words for emphasis (emphasis!); Drake (and sometimes Megan) mixing up Craig and Eric; Ms. Hayfer hating Drake; Josh being mocked for his big head; Helen hating Josh (though that gradually abates later in the series); Drake and Josh's slowly escalating fighting, Drake switching girlfriends every episode... the list goes on and on...
  • Sadist Show: Very, Very, Very, Very, Very, Very Sadistic....
  • Sadist Teacher:
    • Drake is the sole brunt of Mrs. Hayfer's hatred. One example is when Drake gets a question right, she still thinks it's wrong because it's from Drake. Until a random student says the same answer and Hayfer say it's correct.
    • Josh of all people turns out to be one in "Megan's New Teacher" in a different way, as he shows no biased hate for any specific student, not even Megan. He has 5th-grade students learn from a college level textbook. When the students tell him the homework was so difficult that even their parents couldn't figure it out, Josh responds by giving them all a quiz that they inevitably fail.
    • Mr. Roland refuses to let Josh take the exam just for being tardy, forces him to take a make-up exam next Saturday at 6 A.M., and drops him a letter grade. That being said, he does give Josh his grades back after he gets a 100% on his make-up exam.
  • Sassy Black Woman: Helen. She's bold, snarky, and can put up a fight against anyone.
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: Both brothers, when they were stranded in Mrs. Hayfer's bathroom by her Rottweiler. The neighbors mistook them for "screaming girls" so they called for pet control (who also ends up stranded and using the same trope).
  • Secret Pet Plot: In "Sheep Thrills", Megan persuades the boys into raising a sheep named Baaaab. This forces them to care for it in their bedroom and hide it from their parents, which gets worse when Baaaab escapes and wanders around the house while their parents are home. Eventually, Baaaab gives birth, and they have to keep the lamb secret as well.
  • Selective Obliviousness: Walter and Audrey will always believe Megan to be a saint, despite some blatantly obvious hints to her true nature. And even when there is no proof that Drake and Josh were responsible for the shenanigans, they still refuse to believe them due to Megan being the younger sister. Megan exploits this hard in the episode "Peruvian Puff Pepper", getting her brothers in trouble while maintaining her innocence when their parents are around.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Josh is the far more emotional brother to Drake, who is cool and attracts many women.
  • Series Continuity Error: In "Driver's License" Josh passes his driving test and Drake doesn't. In episodes afterward, this is completely ignored, with some episodes implying that Drake has a license and Josh doesn't and other episodes implying they're both licensed.
  • Shared Universe: The iCarly episode "iStart a Fan War" featured a brief crossover with Craig and Eric from this show, along with other characters from this show and Zoey 101 as well, canonizing hints in the past.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: Josh's Great Grandpa has World War II delusions, even talking to Patton on his shoe.
  • Shoe Phone: Parodied in "The Demonator" when Papa Nichols, thinking he's in World War 2, tries to use his phone to contact General Patton.
  • Shout-Out:
    • The duo's last names (Parker and Nichols) are two intersecting streets in Massachusetts.
    • The bakery beside The Premiere is named Schneider's Bakery, based on Dan Schneider's own TV production company.
    • Belleview High School is based in Bellevue High School in Washington.
    • The hippie costume Josh wears as a disguise refers to the character Antoine from All That. He even says "What it is" in the same fashion, and even when interrogated claims his name is Antoine.
    • In "Helen's Surgery" it is revealed that Helen was on the show Happy Times, a shout out to Happy Days, What's Happening!! and Good Times.
    • In Really Big Shrimp, one of the "Now Showing" movies in the Premiere Galleria is titled Now She's Carly, a blatant call on Miranda's upcoming show iCarly.
    • The last scene in "Really Big Shrimp" involved Drake and Josh fighting over a shrimp that fell on the floor, which is a deja-vu scene between the same actors in one skit of The Amanda Show.
    • The episode "I Love Sushi" contains a scene directly mimicking a similar scene in the I Love Lucy episode Job Switching. The title of the episode is no coincidence. The sushi company is even called "Ball and Vance Corp."
    • Dan Schneider's wife's cooking show titled Hungry Girl is featured on the marquee of the movie theater.
    • One episode opens with Drake and Josh reminiscing on an old gym teacher... named Bilbo. And later on, the debate on whether Clay Aiken or Frodo would win in a slap fight.
    • In the Merry Christmas Drake and Josh TV Movie, Crazy Steve arrives at the Christmas parade in a DeLorean, the music sounding similar to the Back to the Future theme when he opens the door and climbs out. And when he leaves, the license plate (reading "CRAZY 1") falls off and spins on the spot, just like in the movie.
    • One episode has Drake blackmail Josh into pretending to be his valet. He starts calling Josh "Jives."
  • The Show Goes Hollywood: The TV Movie Drake & Josh Go Hollywood.
  • Show Within a Show: "Drew and Jerry" is a straight spoof on the eponymous characters, right down to their traits.
  • Similar Item Confusion: In "The Affair", Drake and Josh believe that Walter is cheating on Audrey, and do everything they can to save the marriage. At one point, they decide to cook him blueberry waffles with cinnamon in them, a favorite of his, and say that Audrey made them. However, Drake mixes the cinnamon up with cumin and uses the latter, unaware that Walter's allergic to it. He and Josh then rush to help their dad out as he begins choking from an allergic reaction.
  • Slap-Slap-Kiss: Countless times, most notably with Josh and Mindy.
  • Soft Glass: Subverted in one cold open. Josh tries to show the audience a magic trick where he makes a bottle disappear. He accidentally breaks it over his head knocking himself out. However, he manages to avoid cutting himself on the broken glass.
  • Spiritual Successor:
    • The Odd Couple... FOR KIDS!
    • To Kenan & Kel. Not only both are sitcoms created by Dan Schneider and share a similar premise of a Fat and Skinny duo (until Josh Peck lost weight, that is) going through a lot of trouble, some episodes share plot points. For instance, the episode in which Drake and Josh make a bet to go through a week without junk food and video games (their respective vices) is very similar to a Kenan & Kel episode in which Kenan makes a bet that Kel couldn't go through a week without drinking orange soda.
  • Standardized Sitcom Housing: The main house and the boys' room follow this.
  • Status Quo Is God: Drake will never have a girlfriend for more than an episode (unless one counts Carly, but even then only for two), despite multiple episodes dedicated to him trying to learn how to woo a particular girl he likes.
    • On the other hand, Josh's status as the Chew Toy/Butt-Monkey/Cosmic Plaything was gradually dropped as Josh Peck himself lost a lot of weight and they couldn't use the same "fat people are funny" gag. And he eventually got a hot girlfriend, Mindy, and was not too much different from Drake in terms of social standing and popularity. "Josh is Done" is a huge episode in that regard as Josh cuts Drake out of his life after being screwed over one too many times and manages better without him, while Drake's world falls apart without Josh taking care of him.
  • Steamrolled Smart Guy: Josh usually disagrees with Drake on which course of action to take. Josh presents the responsible and mature solution, which Drake then usually ignores, despite Josh's protests.
  • Stepping Out to React: At the end of "Really Big Shrimp", when Drake is given the record deal, he and Josh excuse themselves so that they may go into the hallway and cheer wildly. They then walk back in to try and professionally continue the discussion.
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: In one episode, Drake and Josh are forced to ride in a police car by their parents. The cop driving it, while noshing on a grapefruit, comments that it could use some sugar, to Drake and Josh's bemusement. Shortly after, the police car is jacked by a criminal... who adds some sugar to the grapefruit before eating it.
  • Stuck in a Chimney: Discussed in "Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh", where one of the children Drake and Josh have to give the best Christmas ever believes that Santa would get stuck going down a chimney. At the end of the movie, Bludge arrives dressed as Santa to give everyone gifts, but gets stuck (proving the kids' point) and has to break down the wall the chimney is built into to get out.
  • Surveillance as the Plot Demands: Megan has spy cameras and microphones everywhere.
  • Teacher's Unfavorite Student: The titular brothers have Mrs. Hayfer as their English teacher. While Mrs. Hayfer generally likes Josh, she utterly despises Drake for being lazy, rude, and not being good at his studies. The feeling is mutual on Drake's part, who thinks that Mrs. Hayfer disproportionately hates him as shown when Drake correctly answers a question, only for Mrs. Hayfer to call him wrong and immediately call another student right when he answers the exact same question and later immediately accuse Drake for being the one to park her car in her classroom, which Drake didn't do. Drake's hatred for Mrs. Hayfer is such that in a later episode, he excitedly asks if she died.
  • The Tetris Effect: One part of an episode has Josh spending several days without playing video games, so he began imagining his teacher as the Distressed Damsel in a Save the Princess game.
  • Took a Level in Dumbass: Drake and Walter. At first, Walter was an everyday father but by the end of the show, he's a complete idiot. Easy to tell how hard he fell in intelligence when you compare the respect his family gave him in the first season compared to later episodes when his stupidity is constantly taken advantage of by his children. Drake also grew more stupid too, from an average teen to too dumb to say "fuselage" correctly. Both never seemed to make it to being Too Dumb to Live however, fortunately. See Flanderization.
  • The Teaser: Each episode opens with a minute-long No Fourth Wall skit of Drake and Josh conversing with the audience in separate locations of their residence, which may or may not be related to the main plot of the episode. Said skit also highlights the Sibling Yin-Yang aspect between the brothers.
  • They Stole Our Act: This happened in the episode "Blues Brothers." After a chorus stole and performed Drake's song, Drake and Josh instead perform "Soul Man" from The Blues Brothers.
  • Title Drop: Played around within the Christmas special, where Josh addresses themselves as "Josh and Drake" in a signed letter to their parole officer, only to have Drake interrupt by saying that it sounds weird "the other way." Josh begrudgingly changes it to the title proper.
  • Those Two Guys: Craig and Eric. A running gag is Drake and Megan always getting their names mixed up.
    Craig: I'm Craig!
    Drake: Pfft, like it matters...
  • Tormented Teacher: The teacher for Drake's remedial English class is at the complete mercy of the students, who for the most part are delinquents who do whatever they want. They even tie him to his desk so he can be helpless as they cause chaos in the classroom.
  • Tsundere: Mindy Crenshaw, although it is most evident before she and Josh hook up and after they decide to see other people. They do end up getting back together in the finale.
  • Unconventional Food Usage: In "Merry Christmas, Drake, and Josh", Crazy Steve throws some cheese into a woodchipper to simulate snow.
  • Unexpected Kindness: During "Josh Runs Over Oprah", it's Josh's birthday, and Drake completely forgot. When Josh sadly goes downstairs, he's greeted by Megan, who cheerfully wishes him a happy birthday and presents him with a cake. Suspiciously, he asks if the cake is poisoned, knowing her usual schemes. She seems genuinely surprised that he'd think she'd do that on his birthday, leading him to believe her as he blows out the candles. Then it explodes in his face, because she never said it wouldn't do that.
  • Unexpectedly Dark Episode: "Josh Is Done." Good God. O.O.C. Is Serious Business indeed.
  • The Unintelligible:
    • Coach Bilbo; also doubles as the ghost.
    • Clayton, the brothers' mumbling Chemistry classmate.
  • Uninvited to the Party:
    • In one episode, their friend Thorton is having a massive birthday party, complete with gift bags that have cellphones in them, and Drake and Josh are invited...until Thorton catches Drake making out with his girlfriend unknowingly. Drake and Josh are officially uninvited, and in desperation, they give him Drake's autographed Abbey Road record as a present... and he still doesn't let them into the party. So they pull off an elaborate scheme to crash it... just to get the record back and ditch.
    • One episode sees Josh becoming a teacher for Megan's 5th-grade class. He's so tough on the kids that they all turn on Megan as a result. She attempts to go to a friend's birthday party at The Premier but is rudely told she's no longer invited and uses this as her motivation to sabotage Josh's class the next day.
  • Unknowingly Possessing Stolen Goods: In "The Gary Grill", Drake and Josh get themselves a job working for two guys selling Gary Coleman Grills; grills that are also .mp3 players. They make themselves good money, but it ends when they get arrested by undercover cops. Megan helps clear their names by finding the two guys and meeting with them to "work for them". She wears a wire, which lets the authorities know the conversation, leading to the two being arrested and clearing Drake and Josh's names.
  • Unusual Euphemism: When Drake is in disguise and using an Irish accent he uses "Holy shillelagh!"
  • Waxing Lyrical: In "Helicopter," Josh yells "HEY NOW, HEY NOW, don't dream, it's OVER!!!"
  • Weasel Coworker: Drake in "Movie Job." Drake is utterly useless at stacking candy, a complete slob, eats popcorn he's supposed to be selling, and is overall just useless. However, he's incredibly charming, and beloved by boss Helen, to the point he's instantly promoted (while Helen is unaware of diligent worker Josh's existence). In the end, Drake takes the blame for a publicity idea gone wrong Josh cooks up, and Helen reluctantly fires him, while she "hires" Josh to replace him now aware he exists. Notably, while Drake no longer works for Helen, her preference for him over Josh lasts the entire series.
  • Wham Line: "Mindy's Back" has one that changes everything.
    Mindy: Maybe I think you're actually really smart, maybe I happen to like you.
  • What Have We Ear?: Happens in the Christmas special, when Josh has been arrested and is in a jail cell with a Scary Black Man.
    • In the episode "The Great Doheny," Josh tries to pull this trick on him...only to be horrified when the coin comes away dripping fake blood.
  • Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: Megan in the later seasons. It gets Lampshaded in Megan's New Teacher.
    Drake: Okay, how much allowance do Mom and Dad give you?
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: In the pilot, Josh wears a woman's dress as "Miss Nancy" to give sound advice in a school paper column.
  • Who Would Want to Watch Us?: When Drew and Jerry were cast in a television show "about two brothers" (clearly spoofing the show itself), Drake and Josh mock the premise.
  • Wimp Fight: On occasion when the eponymous duo gets into a fight, they simply end up slapping each other.
  • With Friends Like These...: The eponymous duo again. As Josh constantly points out, his brother and alleged best friend Drake is constantly getting him in trouble, tricking him, blackmailing him, and causing him severe physical pain.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Megan is fond of these.
    Drake: I want my jacket back!
    Josh: And I want my laptop!
    Megan: Okay, fine. Just one sec. (lies down on the ground and shrieks)
    Josh: What's going on?
    Walter: What happened?
    Megan: (fake crying) Well, I was just outside trying to learn about space, but Drake and Josh pushed me down!
    Walter: What?!
    Drake: We didn't push her down!
  • You, Get Me Coffee: Used as a Running Gag in "Movie Job."
    Person A: You, get me a hot dog!
    Person B: Do you want me to put mustard on it?
    Person A: It's not going to put mustard on itself.
    Person B: True.
  • You Have to Believe Me!: Drake and Josh, constantly, about Megan.
  • You Say Tomato: Walter constantly mispronounced "touché" and "capeesh" was made into a running gag.

"Hug me, brotha!!"

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Drake Parker, Perfect Brother

Josh stresses over telling Drake he's dating Drake's arch enemy Mindy, only to find out there was never any reason to hide it.

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5 (8 votes)

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