History Literature / SweetValleyHigh

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: At the beginning of the university series, after Elizabeth finally breaks up with her tall, athletic, brown-haired, brown-eyed, hopelessly devoted boyfriend whose first name begins with To- and whose surname begins and ends with W-s (Todd Wilkins), she gets another tall, athletic, brown-haired, brown-eyed, hopelessly devoted boyfriend whose first name begins with To- and whose surname begins and ends with W-s (Tom Watts).

* TokenMinority: In the original series, it's Patty Gilbert, Maria Slater, and Annie Whitman's stepsister Cheryl (all African-Americans), Jade Wu (Asian-American), and Rosa Jameson (Latina-American). In Senior Year, it's Maria Slater (African-American), Tia Ramirez (Latina-American), and her friend Andy Marsh (gay). In SVU, it's Nina Harper, her boyfriend Bryan Nelson, and Tom Watt's best friend Danny (all African-American). When the twins are sophomores at SVU, their gay friend Neil lives with them.

%% * TwinSwitch

* JustEatGilligan: In ''The Evil Twin'', Margo's scheme to pose as Elizabeth is frequently hampered because she doesn't act like Elizabeth; people often think she's Jessica trying to pull a "twin switch." Even after this happens three or four times, Margo doesn't think to try taking Jessica's place instead - which could have succeeded. (The one time she does consider it, it's only because she's briefly alone in the house with Jessica; and quickly goes back to her original plan of becoming "Elizabeth.") Averted in ''Return of the Evil Twin'' where Margo has decided she'd make a much more convincing Jessica, although this causes friction with Nora because ''she'' wants to be Jessica.

* JerkJock: Bruce Patman is on the football team and is often a jerk.

* JustEatGilligan: In ''The Evil Twin'', Margo's scheme to pose as Elizabeth is frequently hampered because she doesn't act like Elizabeth; people often think she's Jessica trying to pull a "twin switch." Even after this happens three or four times, it never occurs to Margo to try taking Jessica's place instead - which could have succeeded. Averted in ''Return of the Evil Twin'' where Margo has decided she'd make a much more convincing Jessica, although this causes friction with Nora because ''she'' wants to be Jessica.

%%ZCE* JerkJock: Bruce Patman.

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Despite their opposite personalities, Jessica and Elizabeth always keep identical hairstyles to each other, even having the same ExpositoryHairstyleChange throughout the seasons. Both have long hair without fringe in season 1, long hair with fringe in season 2, and shorter hair without fringe in season 3 and 4. They need the same appearance in order to make the TwinSwitch plots and gags possible. The Trope doesn't apply to their clothes, though: like it is described in the books, Elizabeth dresses "conservatively", while Jessica dresses flashier/sexier (think lots of mini skirts and BareYourMidriff, even in scenes taking place in school).

* MsFanservice: Jessica wears crop tops and short skirts very frequently, which fits her flirty AttentionWhore personality. What is more surprising is that ''Elizabeth'', who is supposed to be a GirlNextDoor, has many moments of this trope too, including BareYourMidriff both at school and at home (just less often than her sister), not to mention the white minidress she wears at the dance in the pilot.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Jessica, Lila, and Enid are comedic characters who get their share of slapstick, but averted with Elizabeth.

* ShoutOut: The girl's father is named [[Franchise/NancyDrew "Ned"]]

** Winston is the StrawLoser who tends to be the butt of the jokes, but it's downplayed because he's still seen as a friend of most of the core characters.

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Despite their opposite personalities, Jessica and Elizabeth always keep identical hairstyles to each other, even having the same ExpositoryHairstyleChange throughout the seasons. Both have long hair without fringe in season 1, long hair with fringe in season 2, and shorter hair without fringe in season 3 and 4. They need the same appearance in order to make the TwinSwitch plots and gags possible.

** Winston is the StrawLoser who tends to be the butt of the jokes, but it's downplayed because he's still seen as a friend from most of the core characters.

* ''Sweet Valley Twins'': the first SpinOff. The twins are 12-year-old sixth-graders at Sweet Valley Middle School (and in case you were working on the math, no, it's not right; they should have been 11 years old.) Jessica is in a clique called the Unicorns, who got their own SpinOff. (144 books)

* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Elizabeth drives while drunk ''once'', crashes her car and gets arrested. For worse, Jessica's then-boyfriend was with her and died; that's punishment for ''Jessica'', who had pranked Elizabeth by spiking her drink.

* {{Jerkass}}: Bruce Patman before he fell for Regina Morrow, and after her death he fell back into his old ways for quite some time (In #86:Jessica against Bruce, he deliberately puts Jessica in several situations that could get her seriously and permanently injured).

* TheUnFavourite: Several books in the series deal with Jessica's feelings of insecurity about Elizabeth's perfection--#21, ''Runaway'' and #83, ''Kidnapped By The Cult''--as well as several in the "Twins" series.

* ThereAreNoAdults: Notably applies to the twins' parents, who aren't seen and even rarely referred to throughout the series.

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Despite their opposite personalities, Jessica and Elizabeth always keep the same haircut that changes throughout the seasons. Both have long hair without fringe in season 1, long hair with fringe in season 2, and shorter hair without fringe in season 3 and 4. They need the same appearance in order to make the TwinSwitch plots and gags possible.

* BookDumb: Jessica.

* SchoolGradeHacking: In the ItsAWonderfulPlot episode, Todd changed from the football team captain to a computer nerd. Toward the end of the episode, he is arrested for breaking into the school records and changing the grades for the sake of Enid, the timeline's AlphaBitch.

-->'''Teacher:''' I'm going to let you take a make-up test.
-->'''Jessica:''' Perfect! I know all about makeup.

->''Look right down any crowded hall''
->''You'll see there's a beauty standing''
->''Is she really everywhere''
->''Or a reflection?''
->''One always calls out to you''
->''The other's shy and quiet''
->''Could there be two different girls...''
->''Who look the same at...''
->''SWEET VALLEY, SWEET VALLEY HIGH...''

* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: Averted. One book involves a girl having vicious rumors spread about her by [[AlphaBitch her rival]]. Sure enough, she's ostracized and her crush dumps her. While the rumors are eventually proven to be false and the AlphaBitch punished for her actions, the girl and her crush never reconcile. Aside from being hurt and angry over how he treated her, she realizes how [[DirtyCoward spineless he is]] and that she can't trust him.

* ButtMonkey: Jessica, of all people. Her schemes and stunts consistently blow up in her face, leaving her humiliated (though given her often malicious intent, this is frequently deserved). Her genuine efforts at improving herself (music lessons, cooking classes) end up the same way. Virtually everyone, even her own parents, appear to blatantly favor Elizabeth over her--not until she runs away, TWICE, does it finally dawn on anyone how troubled she is. When she aces the [=SATs=], instead of congratulating her, everyone, including her own sister, assumes she must have cheated somehow. Speaking of which, Elizabeth herself frequently treats her like something she stepped in. And the few times she genuinely likes a guy enough to have a steady relationship with him, it never works out.

** Suzanne Devlin (a visitor) makes up that teacher Mr. Collins has assaulted/raped her, after he rejects her attempt at seducing him.

* GenderBlenderName: Steven's one-time girlfriend Billie's name can easily be taken for a boy's name.

* AdaptationalComicRelief: Aside from Elizabeth (who is the OnlySaneWoman in the TV series), most characters are sillier and more comical than in the books. Jessica and Lila are ditzy airheads, Todd is a stereotypical jock obsessed with basketball, and Enid is a perky {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, although all of them have these traits emphasized in later seasons.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Jessica, Lila, and Enid are comedic characters who get share of slapstick, but averted with Elizabeth.

** From season 2 onwards, Patty is replaced by Cheryl Thomas as the token black girl. Cheryl's only ADayInTheLimelight is her debut episode, but for the rest of the show, she only serves as a friend of Elizabeth and Enid. In the books, Cheryl Thomas was actually actually the step-sister of Annie Whitman (who is AdaptedOut in this show).

* DarkerAndEdgier. Compared to the other [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Saban]] [[Series/VRTroopers shows]] at the time. They didn't shy away from using guns, possibly killing characters et al.

** ''Dead Before Dawn'': ''Film/DOA'' in SWEET VALLEY.
* RecycledScript: The plot of ''Sweet Valley Confidential'' has Elizabeth moving out of ''Sweet Valley'' as a result of her boyfriend cheating on her with Jessica. This plot was used in the ''Elizabeth'' book where Liz was the main star. The most notable change was that in ''Elizabeth'', Liz moved to England while in ''Confidential'' Liz moved to New York.