History WesternAnimation / BensCity

** This is closer to real life, making this a case of TruthInTelevision.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Subverted. Luke, Sophie's co-owner of the hair salon, is totally gay. Everything about this character just screams gay in the most clichéd manner. However, played straight in the Season finale, when a famous hairdresser named [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Sigourney Cutter]] comes to a concurrent hair salon, only to turn against them and help Sophie's. The whole episode gives next to no clue on this, but at the end she reveals to be homosexual.
-->'''Luke:''' Oh, I love you so much, I think I coud become hetero!

* AnAesop: Due to Henry Wallet being Minister of the Environment, most episodes have an environmental message in either its main plot or its subplot.

* ButtMonkey: Though not as bad as what can be seen in other shows, Henry Wallet is very unlucky and all kinds of mishaps happen to him, even some that defy the laws of gravity. Seriously, he drops his cup of coffee... on the ceiling?

* CliffHanger: The final episode of season 1, "The Little Bun", reveals [[spoiler: Sophie's pregnant]].

* FiveManBand: They form a rather bizarre Five-Man Band as they're all main characters of the series, though at different levels and not in a "team", per se.

* FollowTheLeader Follow The Leader: In “The Little Bun”, Ben suggests Henry Wallet admits to using public funds for personal expenses, which leads all other ministers to admit their own mistakes on TV, and then the federal government does too, and it’s followed by governments of other countries.

* KarmaHoudini: In "The Contract", a starting mafioso menaces Henry and Ben, sends a henchman to kidnap Sophie (he fails), and also tries to attack them at their apartment (failed again). He is sentenced to a single day of prison. (This also serves as a [[TakeThat Take That]] to Quebec's system of justice, which seems to be too gentle with criminals.)

* LighterAndSofter Lighter And Softer: Compared to most shows and sitcoms.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Ben and Sophie.

--> ''[[[GilliganCut Gilligan’s Cut]] and we see all four sitting and apparently eating at a small see-saw.]''

** Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as [[MenInBlack "Agents John James and James Johns"]].

''Ben's City'' is a {{CBC}} WebAnimation series that airs in [[CanadaEh Canada]]. It depicts the adventures of NiceGuy Ben Hardy through his everyday life. Ben juggles his romance with his [[AsianGalWithWhiteGuy Asian girlfriend Sophie]], his friendship with publicist Scott Gardner, and his job as counselor for Quebec's Minister of Environment, [[MeaningfulName Henry Wallet]]. Scott also frequently helps his neighbor, Mrs. Shrink, whose husband was an inventor.

* ActingForTwo: In the original French version, François Pérusse does the voice of every single character. This concept is kept in the English version, by Rick Jones.

* NightmareFuel: A travel counselor entirely vanishes from existence after suggesting Ben to go look at the website of another travel agency.
--> '''Scott''': Honest people really are disappearing.

Ben's City is a CBC Web Series that airs in [[CanadaEh Canada]]. It depicts the adventures of [[NiceGuy Nice Guy]] Ben Hardy through his everyday life. Ben juggles between his romance with his [[AsianGalWithWhiteGuy Asian girlfriend Sophie]], his friendship with publicist Scott Gardner, and his job as counselor for Quebec's Minister of Environment, [[MeaningfulName Henry Wallet]]. Scott also frequently helps his neighbor, Mrs. Shrink, whose husband was an inventor.

The series' tone is generally upbeat and shows [[SliceofLife Slices of Life]] of the characters. The episodes' plots go from political meddling to [[AdultFear Adult Fears]] to intrusion of supernatural.

The show first aired in the province of Quebec under the title Pérusse Cité. The series was, in fact, created by François Pérusse, a comedian famous for being a PungeonMaster, and the worlds he invents are [[WorldOfPun Worlds of Pun]]. The show was then translated to the English language for the rest of Canada, though many of the puns were LostInTranslation.

* ActingForTwo: In the original French version, François Pérusse does the voices of every single character. This concept is kept in the English version, by Rick Jones.

--> '''Luke:''' Oh, I love you so much, I think I coud become hetero!
--> '''Sigourney:''' Oh darling, the problem is that I'd have to become hetero as well.

--> '''Scott:''' Call Ben's Phone. ...Call Ben's Phone! [[PunctuatedForEmphasis ...CALL! BEN'S! PHONE!]] (followed by a series of small curse words)
* BeyondtheImpossible: "The Debris" contains a lot of supernatural elements, and the ending of "The All Inclusive" feels like a [[Series/TwilightZone Twilight Zone]] twist ending. Yet, most of the rest of the series happens in a very realistic world.

* CrookedContractor: In "The Arts", Sophie plans renovations for the hair salon. In Ben’s City, the best companies have the silliest names, such as "Does This Look Straight to You?" and "I Don’t Have a Hammer, So I Use my Vice-Grip". Subverted with "Butt-Crack Company", which immediately plans delays in the renovation. Companies with the most trustworthy names are the least trustworthy, too. In the French version, À Plus Construction reflects this: "A+" refers to the best among the best, but "À plus" can also mean “See you later”, which could mean lots and lots of delays.

* {{Determinator}}: Ben Hardy. He always manages to pull his boss out of hot waters.

* ForInconveniencePress1: Played with in “I Need Space”, when Scott calls a cable company on Mrs. Shrink’s behalf.
--> '''Automatic message:''' For service in English, press 1.
--> '''Scott:''' ''[annoyed]'' Yeah, yeah, and for a prostate exam, press 0.
--> '''Assistant:''' What kind of exam sir?

--> '''Henry:''' Ben, how many gaffes do I do per day?
--> '''Ben:''' Two.
--> '''Henry:''' Well, they're done now.

--> '''Henry:''' Ben, remember the day I had that mishap happen to me?
--> '''Ben:''' Of course, it was the only day you've had just one happen to you.

This series provides examples of:

* [[ActingforTwo Acting for Two]]: In the original French version, François Pérusse does the voices of every single character. This concept is kept in the English version, by Rick Jones.
* [[ActingUnnatural Acting Unnatural]]: In "The Shuffle", Ben discusses with Scott about a scheme he discovered that involves getting Henry fired and replaced by a younger minister. While running in the park, they fear someone could hear them talking about the scheme, [[spoiler:as Scott was hired to make an advertisement for the new Minister,]] so they start acting lines in case they're being listened. And indeed, they were. [[spoiler:By a squirrel who reported what they said to the [[VillainoftheWeek guy behind it all]].]]
* [[AmbiguouslyGay Ambiguously Gay]]: Subverted. Luke, Sophie's co-owner of the hair salon, is totally gay. Everything about this character just screams gay in the most clichéd manner. However, played straight in the Season finale, when a famous hairdresser named [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Sigourney Cutter]] comes to a concurrent hair salon, only to turn against them and help Sophie's. The whole episode gives next to no clue on this, but at the end she reveals to be homosexual.
--> '''Luke''': Oh, I love you so much, I think I coud become hetero!
--> '''Sigourney''': Oh darling, the problem is that I'd have to become hetero as well.
* [[AnAesop An Aesop]]: Due to Henry Wallet being Minister of the Environment, most episodes have an environmental message in either its main plot or its subplot.
* [[BatmanGambit Batman Gambit]]: Those are often pulled by the villains, who are usually people trying to pollute the environment.
* [[BerserkButton Berserk Button]]: Scott Gardner and any technology that works wrong.
--> '''Scott''': Call Ben's Phone. ..Call Ben's Phone! [[PunctuatedForEmphasis ...CALL! BEN'S! PHONE!]] (followed by a series of small curse words)
* [[BeyondtheImpossible Beyond the Impossible]]: "The Debris" contains a lot of supernatural elements, and the ending of "The All Inclusive" feels like a [[TwilightZone Twilight Zone]] twist ending. Yet, most of the rest of the series happens in a very realistic world.
* [[BlatantLies Blatant Lies]] Frequently used by the villains to try and get their projets accepted by the ministers.

* [[BleepDammit Bleep Dammit]]: For humor purposes, when they swear, the characters often get bleeped. The funniest? They often point the bleep out, like it's part of their world.

* [[BrickJoke Brick Joke]]: “The Shuffle” has a quick laugh, “Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!” said by a farmer, at the beginning and at the end of the episode.
** In “The All-Inclusive”, there’s a hockey videogame that ties in with the strange twist ending.
* [[ButtMonkey Butt Monkey]]: Though not as bad as what can be seen in other shows, Henry Wallet is very unlucky and all kinds of mishaps happen to him, even some that defy the laws of gravity. Seriously, he drops his cup of coffee... on the ceiling?

* [[CliffHanger Cliff Hanger]]: The final episode of season 1, "The Little Bun", reveals [[spoiler: Sophie's pregnant]].
* [[CrapsaccharineWorld Crapsaccharine World]]: The animation style is colorful and bright, and even the governments are trying to help people (contrasting the bad governments very often seen in fiction), but there's still mafia, criminals, economical problems, natural disasters, and one joke makes a one-time character literally disappear. It's still lighter than most Crapsaccharine worlds.
* [[CrookedContractor Crooked Contractor]]: In "The Arts", Sophie plans renovations for the hair salon. In Ben’s City, the best companies have the silliest names, such as "Does This Look Straight to You?" and "I Don’t Have a Hammer, So I Use my Vice-Grip". Subverted with "Butt-Crack Company", which immediately plans delays in the renovation. Companies with the most trustworthy names are the least trustworthy, too. In the French version, À Plus Construction reflects this: "A+" refers to the best among the best, but "À plus" can also mean “See you later”, which could mean lots and lots of delays.
* [[CrossDressingVoices Crossed-Dressing Voice]]: François Pérusse and Rick Jones also voice all the female characters.
* [[DeadpanSnarker Deadpan Snarker]]: Many characters have their moments, but most of them are sarcastic in a non-insulting way. It helps that the others take it lightly with a smile.
* [[DefrostingIceQueen Defrosting Ice Queen]]: One-time character Mary-Ann in “The Carrier” first appears as a stuck-up psychologist coming to Scott’s agency for an ad. She quite changes at the end, though.

* [[EverythingisWorseWithBears Everything's Worse With Bears]]: Played with. In "The All-Inclusive", people answer to a question from the main cast, which results in a "No" montage consisting of only people answering no to their question. Last to answer is a bear, who then explains his answer a little more, and is then told by the producer to shut up. The bear immediately takes on an angry face and srtars menacing the producer, effectively scaring him; then, the bear gets back to being joyful, lectures the producer on being more polite next time, and leaves.

* [[ExactlyWhatitSaysontheTin Exactly What It Says On the Tin]]: Most episodes have a short name, only a word, about the episode's plot. "The Carrier", "The Ice", "The Arts", "The Debris", "The Contract".
* [[FiveManBand Five-Man Band]]: They form a rather bizarre Five-Man Band as they're all main characters of the series, though at different levels and not in a "team", per se.
** [[TheLeader The Leader]]: Ben Hardy
** [[The Lancer The Lancer]]: Scott Gardner
** [[TheSmartGuy The Smart Guy]]: Sophie N'Guyen
** [[TheBigGuy The Big Guy]]: Henry Wallet
** [[TheChick The Chick]]: Mrs. Shrink
* [[FollowtheLeader Follow The Leader]]: In “The Little Bun”, Ben suggests Henry Wallet admits to using public funds for personal expenses, which leads all other ministers to admit their own mistakes on TV, and then the federal government does too, and it’s followed by governments of other countries.
* [[ForInconveniencePress1 For Inconvenience, Press 1]]: Played with in “I Need Space”, when Scott calls a cable company on Mrs. Shrink’s behalf.
--> '''Automatic message''': For service in English, press 1.
--> '''Scott''': (annoyed) Yeah, yeah, and for a prostate exam, press 0.
--> '''Assistant''': What kind of exam sir?
* [[GagBoobs Gag Boobs]]: Lindo Bumpo, homosexual crossdressing stripper, was known as Linda Bumper during his act. The illusion was perfect. Now retired, he still has those implants, which perk out strangely under his three-piece suit.
* [[GreenAesop Green Aesop]]: Many, considering Ben’s job as the minister of Environment’s counsellor is a major plot point in many episodes.
* [[HappyEnding Happy Ending]]
* [[HartmanHips Hartman Hips]]: Sophie and many female characters. Taken [[UptoEleven Up to Eleven]] with the news anchorwoman, whose hips are maybe larger than a door frame.
* [[HeroicBSOD Heroic BSOD]]: In the first episode, "I Need Space", Sophie dumps Ben and only leaves lots and lots of post-its around his apartment to tell him. He's heartbroken and can't seem to do anything right.
* [[ImagineSpot Imagine Spot]]: The federal Minister of Environment has one when Prime Minister Peter Mess suggests firing him from ministry duty and instead putting him as ambassador of Canada in Italy. The evoked images are women, historical landscapes, food, and drawers.

* [[JerkWithAHeartofGold Jerk With A Heart of Gold]]: Scott. He dates many girls, usually at the same time and is a [[DeadpanSnarker Deadpan Snarker]], but we see him much more like a lovable guy who cares for his friends and for his job.
* [[KarmaHoudini Karma Houdini]]: In "The Contract", a starting mafioso menaces Henry and Ben, sends a henchman to kidnap Sophie (he fails), and also tries to attack them at their apartment (failed again). He is sentenced to a single day of prison. (This also serves as a [[TakeThat Take That]] to Quebec's system of justice, which seems to be too gentle with criminals.)
* [[KilledOffForReal Killed Off For Real]]: The Minister of Culture, at the beginning of “The Arts”. Apparently from falling down the stairs with a final "Pataclaf" sound.
* [[LighterAndSofter Lighter And Softer]] than most shows and sitcoms.
* [[LoveatFirstSight Love at First Sight]]: Ben and Sophie.

* [[MeaningfulName Meaningful Name]]: Henry Wallet isn't a poor man.

* [[MoralDilemma Moral Dilemma]]: Each time Henry Wallet is facing a bribe. Actually, he often needs to see Ben disapproving this act to say no to the bribe. But we can blame his stupidity for that.
* [[NewJobEpisode New Job Episode]]: "The Turning Point".
* [[NiceToTheWaiter Nice to the Waiter]]: Inverted. Henry apparently dislikes a waiter at the French restaurant down the street, though only for one episode. When he goes to said restaurant with Ben and two others, though, the joke’s on him.
--> '''Waiter''': A table for four, sir?
--> '''Henry''': No, a see-saw for two.
--> [[GilliganCut Gilligan’s Cut]] and we see all four sitting and apparently eating at a small see-saw.
--> '''Ben''': So, the next time you’re going to-
--> '''Henry''': -Keep my mouth shut, I know Ben.

* [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: Elton John guest stars, though not voiced by himself, and is depicted as really nice and joyful. This celebrity was definitely not harmed.

* [[OhCrap Oh Crap]]: Ben has this kind of face when he sees [[spoiler:the island he went to with Sophie for vacation is about to be struck by a tornado]].
* [[RunningGag Running Gag]]: Henry Wallet's mishaps and gaffes. He even lampshades it in an episode. He trips a waiter and then tosses a fish at the face of a guest at a hotel.
--> '''Henry''': Ben, how many gaffes do I do per day?
--> '''Ben''': Two.
--> '''Henry''': Well, they're done now.

--> '''Henry''': Ben, remember the day I had that mishap happen to me?
--> '''Ben''' : Of course, it was the only day you've had just one happen to you.
* [[StatusQuoIsGod Status Quo is God]]: All episodes end just like they began. Except for the final episode, [[spoiler:where it's revealed Sophie is pregnant]].
* [[TakeThat Take That]]: Directed at golf. Yes, golf. The preceding Minister of Environment is seen playing golf and [[BerserkButton losing his temper]] when he fails considerably. Made even worse when Henry calls him, distracting him and making him fail again. {{Word of God}} says it's a common plague for golf players to become irate when they are not so talented and frequently miss. The scene can be viewed in its French original version [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJzktt218Ew here]].

* [[Catchphrase Catchphrase]]: Rick, a one-time character in "The All-Inclusive", has "Time is Nothing". [[spoiler: It's even part of the twist ending.]]

* [[Bowdlerize Bowdlerize]]: The English version replaces a certain similar sounding word by "Shoot". The French version keeps the original term.

The show first aired in the province of Quebec under the title Pérusse Cité. The series was, in fact, created by François Pérusse, a comedian famous for being a [[PungeonMaster Pungeon Master]], and the worlds he invents are a [[WorldwidePunomenon Worldwide Punomenon]]. The show was then translated to the English language for the rest of Canada, though many of the puns were [[LostinTranslation Lost in Translation]].

--> [[GilligansCut Gilligan’s Cut]] and we see all four sitting and apparently eating at a small see-saw.

[[quoteright:300:http://www.flashbackuniverse.com/blogImages/PierresBack/BensCity.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300: [[That's when you see who have big or small roles.]]]]

Ben's City is a CBC Web Series that aired in [[CanadaEh Canada]]. It depicts the adventures of [[NiceGuy Nice Guy]] Ben Hardy through his everyday life. Ben juggles between his romance with his [[AsianGalWithWhiteGuy Asian girlfriend Sophie]], his friendship with publicist Scott Gardner, and his job as counselor for Quebec's Minister of Environment, [[MeaningfulName Henry Wallet]]. Scott also frequently helps his neighbor, Mrs. Shrink, whose husband was an inventor.

[[quoteright:300:http://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/bens-city.jpg]]

** {{Word of God}} says Splendid, the star depicted in "The Cloud" and getting a haircut at Sophie's Salon, is an {{Expy}} of [[LadyGaga Lady Gaga]]. Splendid's songs have no intelligence value whatsoever, being only long series of onomatopeas in rythm with the music.