History Series / TheLunchroom

* TheBeard: In the episode titled "Guess Who's Coming Out at Dinner?", Jordan is afraid to come out to his religious mother by himself, so he recruits Brian to pose as his boyfriend. It doesn't go well.

** Don't help any women with a crossword puzzle.

%%* CoolLoser: The Gang.

%%* OverprotectiveDad:
%%** Reverend Mark Johnson frequently causes trouble for Kay and Casey.
%%** Any love interest not named Ellen Conner.

** The episode "With Friends Like These..." was suppose to be the start of a storyline involving Casey "breaking up" with The Gang and looking for new friends. This was later dropped.

-->'''Belzer''': "Hey, I'm a hallucination. I'm suppose to fuck with you're mind."

* RealSongThemeTune: Marvin Gaye's version of "Ain't That Peculiar".

* RousingSpeech: Reicther gives one to The Gang in "Life's Too Short."
* RunningGag: Several:
** Joel's overeagerness to fight.
** Brian's misuse of the word "liberal".
** Reicther's bizarre drawings.
** Casey inadvertently causing havoc in Rev. Johnson's life.

* AccidentalPervert: Will staring at James Kelly's penis.

* TheAlcoholic: Debbie Vandele.
** Most of the teaching staff but especially the shop teacher, Mr. Cox.
* AlcoholicParent: Brian and Stacy's mom but it's PlayedForLaughs.

* AmusingInjuries: Reicther getting a concussion while playing the board game Risk.

* AscendedExtra: Mr. Parker appeared briefly in Season 2 before becoming one of the show's main characters.
** Kirk, Joseph, Tom Lawrence, Principal Stevens, and Cathy were suppose only appear one time before becoming recurring characters.

* BackStory: "Secret Origins" shows how The Gang became friends.

%%* Bastard Boyfriend: Ben Tramer and Arthur Winchester.

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Principal Stevens]] in Season 5.

* BottleEpisode: "Waiting for Kirsten". The whole episode is set backstage at play rehearsals.

* BreakoutCharacter: Reicther.

* BribeBackfire: Will and Ellen in "Writing Wrongs".

* TheBully: Jason Tolbert. [[spoiler:Who Casey accidentally injures at one point.]]

* ButtMonkey: Richard.

* CannotSpitItOut: Will and Ellen are in love but can't vocalize it for two seasons.

* CerebusSyndrome: The first two seasons are wacky and lighthearted (to a fault in the case of Season 2) with things getting slightly more serious in Season 3. By the last two seasons, the show was killing characters and showing the darker sides of the main cast.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Mr. Parker started off as a ConspiracyTheorist before becoming CoolTeacher.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Both of Will's love interests, Rene and Meadow.
** Ellen's supposed best friend Rory Reid.
* CliffHanger: [[spoiler:Season 3 ends with Brian attempting suicide, the end result which is revealed next season.]]

* ComingofAgeStory: One of the series main themes.

* CoolLoser: The Gang.

* TheCouch: Or in this case, The Gang's lunch table.

* CreatorBreakdown: Brian starts to lose it in "Writing Wrongs" when no one will review his book, ''The Chronicles of Haven''. He creates a phony user name and praises his own work on a highly acclaimed website called SimplyNovels. Even with the fake praise, no one reads the story which leads Brian to rant against the site and ultimately gets him banned.
* DeanBitterman: Principal Bob Stevens.
* DeadpanSnarker: Most characters, especially Mr. Parker.

* DoubleDate: Joel and Cathy with Chris and Kate in "Slow Fuse".

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:"Rehearsals for Departures" ends with Kate killing herself.]]

* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Chris' middle name is Langston.
* EroticDream: Season 3 opens with Will having one about Salma Hayek.

* EverybodyisSingle: The Gang in Season 1.
* EvilTeacher: Mr. Zimmer and Mr. Drake (the substitue in "Comics and Comedians") have no problem openly mocking Brock and Joel for being nerds.

* [[spoiler:FakingTheDead: Brian in "Brian's Odyssey.]]

* FeudEpisode: Casey and Reicther go through this in the episode "Prozac Candy" when they discover they both like the same girl

* {{Flanderization}}: Casey got dumber as the series went along but also more caring and romantic.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: Stacy]] mentions she has a thing for Keira Knightley and other female celebrities.

* GarageBand: The Bog Standard, The Jeff Goldblum Experience.
* Gayngst: Stacy.
* GeniusDitz: Casey can be ditzy but it's been shown he gets better grades then the rest of The Gang and is enrolled in numerous advanced classes.

* GirlNextDoor: Cathy Matthews, until later seasons revealed she's more flawed then people thought.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Dave completely forgives Stacy for cheating on him when he finds out with was with another woman.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Subverted. Most sex scenes are awkward or PlayedForLaughs.
* HappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler:Will and Ellen.]]

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Kirk and Joseph spent almost every waking second with each other.

* {{Homage}}: In the episode "The Lost Weekend", Brian gets into a car wreck with famous actor Jerry Seinfeld. The episodes contains dozens of references to the actor's famous sitcom, Series/{{Seinfeld}}:
-->'''Dr. Carter''': "Will you sign my puffy shirt?"

* IvyLeagueForEveryone: Subverted. When The Gang graduate high school, most end up going to state or community colleges.
** Subverted again. Kay actually turns down a full ride to Yale to be with Casey at a state college.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Subverted. When Sarah chooses Scott Greenberg over Brock he becomes extremely bitter and stops being her friend all together.

* JockDadNerdSon: Will Cooper and his dad.
* KilledOffforReal: [[spoiler:Kate Davidson]]
** [[spoiler: Superintendent Lyndon Brooks]] in Season 5.
* LampshadeHanging: Dr. Carter does this in "The Beginning of the End", in response to the numerous times The Gang have been in the hospital.

* LimitedSocialCircle: For a lot of the show's run it is just The Gang. While friendly with various other students, it's implied they just don't want other friends outside the group. This is why they go to such extremes when it looks like Brandon Brim might join their group in Season 4.

* LocalHangout: The Shake Shop.
* MaleFrontalNudity: Chris gets caught getting a blowjob and while the girl is fully clothed, she insists that he be completely naked.

* MakeUporBreakUp:
** Joel and Cathy: Once. After dating for nearly a year, they break-up in Season 5 after Joel finds out about Cathy's cheating. They get back together briefly after the prom episode but end things forever in the series finale.
* MidSeasonTwist: Season 4. Episode 8 ends with [[spoiler:Stacy discovering she's pregnant a few days before heading off to college.]]

* TheMovie: Almost happened. The writers considered ending the show with Season 3 so they could make a feature length movie. This idea was dropped in favor of doing two more seasons.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Chris in "The Trials of Chris Hughes".
** Kirk in "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me".
** James Kelly in "The Art of Folding".

* OnlySaneMan: Brock and Mr. Parker are frequently this.

** Averted with Principal Stevens. He actually got more villainous as the show when on.

** "Secret Origins"
** "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me"
** The webisodes "Like Father, Like Son" and "The First Day"

* WillTheyOrWontThey: Will and Ellen during the last two seasons.
** In the end [[spoiler:Will and Ellen finally get together after a near death experience.]]
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Mr. Parker and Ms. Ballard.
** Reicther has been this on several occasions especially at the beginning of "See How They Run".
* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: When reporting on the War in Iraq, the local paper reports with the headline, "The Shit Hits the Fan for Iraq!"
* YouAreFat: Bullies frequently use this against Brian.

* NoEnding: A lot of early episodes have this.

* OffScreenBreakup: Will/Meadow Le Cerva,[[spoiler:Joel/Cathy]].
* OldShame: Will's ''Garfield'' book collection.
** Joel's love of the musician Prince.
-->'''Joel:'''"Never lie to me again about having a Prince album!"

* OverprotectiveDad: Reverend Mark Johnson frequently causes trouble for Kay and Casey.
** Any love interest not named Ellen Conner.

* PaperThinDisguise: Joel's occasional British altar ego, "Nigel Pennyworth."

* ReferenceOverdosed

* TeenPregnancy:[[spoiler:Stacy (raising her child) and Cathy (miscarriage).]]
* TerribleIntervieweesMontage: Casey's audition tape for the school news.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: After Reichter torments him all night, Brandon Brim lets The Gang have it.

* WackyGuy: Reicther.
** Mr. Parker in earlier seasons.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** The writers wanted to do a {{Homage}} episode to ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' in Season 5. Sadly, it was never finished.
** An early Season 2 idea was to do ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' but featuring the show's characters (with Will, Joel, Brian, and Brock as the Hobbits, Casey as Aragon, Kirk as Gimli, Chris as Legolas, Reicther as Gollum, Mr. Parker as Gandalf, and Stacy as Arwen).

* BastardBoyfriend: Ben Tramer and Arthur Winchester.
** One could also argue [[spoiler:Will and Joel]] fit this too. [[spoiler:Joel was so desperate to hide his relationship with Cathy he often neglected her and would disregard her feelings to focus on his own. Will stayed with Nadine even though he had no feelings with her. He even ended their relationship by falsely accusing her of cheating.]]

* AbsenteeActor: The Gang appear in nearly every episode, however other series regulars such as Mr. Parker, Ms. Ballard, and Cathy are frequently absent.
** Kirk McNeil is absent from all but one episode in Season 3.
** Cathy is absent from 10 episodes in Season 4.

* BigManOnCampus: James Kelly.

* BlackAndNerdy: Chris Hughes.

* HollywoodNerd: Subverted. The Gang are more realistic nerds rather then the Urkel or Screech stereotypes.

* YouAreFat: Bullies frequently use this against Brian.
* YourCheatingHeart: Amidst a really bad fight,[[spoiler:Kay and Brock made out while she was still with Casey.]]
** One of Season 5's big story arcs revolved around [[spoiler:Cathy having a one night stand behind Joel's back.]]

* BlackBestFriend: Chris Hughes.

* SixStudentClique:
** The Head: Will
** The Muscle: Brian
** The Quirk: Casey
** The Pretty One: Joel
** The Smart One: Brock
** The Wild One: Reicther
** Chris doesn't fit into a slot as he started off as he's more BritishStuffiness and ForeignExchangeStudent.

* BiTheWay: [[spoiler:Stacy]]

* TheresNoBInMovie: One episode has The Gang obsessing over ''Morning Zombie'' about a zombie who only eats humans in the morning.

** "A Change Is Gonna Come": Named after a Sam Cooke song.

** The Gang have a mini version of this when they see Billy Dee Williams on a road trip.

.

** The episode "With Friends Like These.." was suppose to be the start of a storyline involving Casey "breaking up" with The Gang and looking for new friends. This was later dropped.

** In "The Mourning After", Reicther is the target of a series of pranks by a mysterious prankster. [[spoiler: The prankster is revealed to be Richard, who wants revenge for Reicther's actions during Freshmen year. This harkens back Season 1's "A Tale of Two Brides", when Reicther couldn't stop asking inappropriate questions about Richard's disability.]]

* CatchPhrase: Early seasons had variations on "Jesus Christ [INSERT WHACKY PHRASE]" (examples: "Jesus Harold Christ on rubber crutches" and Jesus Jumping Fucking Christ")

* CerebusSyndrome: The first two seasons are whacky and lighthearted (to a fault in the case of Season 2) with things getting slightly more serious in Season 3. By the last two seasons, the show was killing characters and showing the darker sides of the main cast.

* CompressedVice: The Gang become addicted to a homemade candy called Yenom and suffer withdrawl effects over just a few days. It's all PlayedForLaughs.

* DoesThisRemindYouofAnything?: In "Prozac Candy" The Gang's sugar withdrawal is played like they're withdrawaling from heroin.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: "Rehearsals for Depatures" ends with Kate killing herself.]]

** Reicther got wackier throughout the seasons until the end of Sesaon 5 thanks to some CharacterDevelopment.

** When Chris and Kate first meet in "Shades of Gray", she briefly mentions [[spoiler: that she was just released from Eastern Psyche for having "problems".]]

** Chris doesn't realize that Lorelei is [[spoiler: Principal Stevens' dautghter]] even though he first met her right outside his office.

* HomoeroticSubtext: Will with Joel. A recurring joke has Will trailing off everytime he describes how handsome Joel is:
-->'''Will''': "I keep getting lost in his beautiful, soulful eyes"

** Both parts of "Time Stands Still" show Reicther literally has no idea how to interact with women he has feelings for. He decides not to talk at all to avoid further embarrassement.

-->'''Brian (choking up):''' I use to.

** The debate about Natalie Portman's chest size in "The Show Must Go On"

* ShoutOut: Has it's own page.

* TeacherStudentRomance: Subverted in "Forgetting Ellen Conner". Reicther and Ms. Ballard end up kssing in her class but it's only because: 1)He does it against her will 2)He does soley to win a bet with The Gang.

** The last scene of Season 4's "Rehearsals for Depature" where it's revealed [[spoiler:Kate Davidson has killed herself.]]

** An early Season 2 idea was to do ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' but featuring the show's characters (with Will, Joel, Brian, and Brock as the Hobbits, Casey as Aragon, Kirk as Gimili, Chris as Legolas, Reicther as Gollum, Mr. Parker as Gandalf, and Stacy as Arwen).

* WildTeenParty: Loreali's party in "The Trials of Chris Hughes".

** "Master Debaters" parodies ''TheWestWing''.