History WesternAnimation / FamilyDog

[[quoteright:316:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/familydog.jpg]]

* UngratefulBastard: In "Hot Dog at the Zoo", Skip loses his ring and goes looking for it, unbeknownst to him that it was accidentally eaten by the dog after it was flung into his food bowl. When the dog locates it in the backyard (how it wound up there should be no mystery) and brings it to his owner, Skip is delighted at first only for him and Bev to suddenly and angrily accuse the dog of taking it, finger-pointing and all.

* IncompetentGuardAnimal: In the "Family Dog" episode, the dog fails to stop burglars twice; the first time because he had eaten too much, the second because he overslept. His owner takes him to be trained to be a more vicious guard dog, and the third time he succeeds in chasing away the burglars. In fact, it works ''too'' well, as the dog has followed them to their hideout, and when it attacks a cop who came to arrest them, they decide to use him as an accomplice in their crimes. Eventually, the dog turns on the burglars and he returns home... where it attacks his master after he gets locked out of the house and has to sneak in through a window.

* StatusQuoIsGod: In "Party Animal", Billy's newfound obsession with playing with fire [[spoiler: results in a house fire immediately following the Binsfords' block party. In the ensuing conflagration, the whole family escapes (the dog very narrowly), but the house burns and collapses to the ground.]] This is immediately followed by a montage [[spoiler: where the Binsfords pick up and cash an insurance check, have the house rebuilt and furnished exactly as before, and have a family portrait taken that looks just like one that perished in the blaze.]] The reboot works just a little too well, as [[spoiler: the episode ends with a housewarming party at which not only is Bev wearing the exact same outfit as at the first party, but Billy is shown [[AesopAmnesia not to have learned his lesson at all]], being caught by his mother and the dog playing with matches again]]![[note]]An alternative interpretation of what happened in this episode is on the WMG page.[[/note]]

* StatusQuoIsGod: In "Party Animal", Billy's newfound obsession with playing with fire [[spoiler: results in a house fire immediately following the Binsfords' block party. In the ensuing conflagration, the whole family escapes (the dog very narrowly), but the house burns and collapses to the ground.]] This is immediately followed by a montage [[spoiler: where the Binsfords pick up and cash an insurance check, have the house rebuilt and furnished exactly as before, and have a family portrait taken that looks just like one that perished in the blaze.]] The reboot works just a little too well, as [[spoiler: the episode ends with a housewarming party at which not only is Bev wearing the exact same outfit as at the first party, but Billy is shown [[AesopAmnesia not to have learned his lesson at all]], being caught by his mother and the dog playing with matches again]]! [[note]] An alternative interpretation of what happened in this episode is on the WMG page.[[note/]]

* StatusQuoIsGod: In "Party Animal", Billy's newfound obsession with playing with fire [[spoiler: results in a house fire immediately following the Binsfords' block party. In the ensuing conflagration, the whole family escapes (the dog very narrowly), but the house burns and collapses to the ground.]] This is immediately followed by a montage [[spoiler: where the Binsfords pick up and cash an insurance check, have the house rebuilt and furnished exactly as before, and have a family portrait taken that looks just like one that perished in the blaze.]] The reboot works just a little too well, as [[spoiler: the episode ends with a housewarming party at which not only is Bev wearing the exact same outfit as at the first party, but Billy is shown [[AesopAmnesia not to have learned his lesson at all]], being caught by his mother and the dog playing with matches again]]![[note]]An alternative interpretation of what happened in this episode is on the WMG page.[[note/]]

* StatusQuoIsGod: In "Party Animal", Billy's newfound obsession with playing with fire [[spoiler: results in a house fire immediately following the Binsfords' block party. In the ensuing conflagration, the whole family escapes (the dog very narrowly), but the house burns and collapses to the ground.]] This is immediately followed by a montage [[spoiler: where the Binsfords pick up and cash an insurance check, have the house rebuilt and furnished exactly as before, and have a family portrait taken that looks just like one that perished in the blaze.]] The reboot works just a little too well, as [[spoiler: the episode ends with a housewarming party at which not only is Bev wearing the exact same outfit as at the first party, but Billy is shown [[AesopAmnesia not to have learned his lesson at all]], being caught by his mother and the dog playing with matches again]]!

* PantyShot: In "Party Animal", Billy gets Buffy to

* TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation: The original episode is noteworthy in that, while the era was already taking effect on feature films ([[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail some]] of [[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime which]] even shared the same [[Creator/StevenSpielberg producer]]), this was the first example of high-quality animation created for television.

* HartmanHips: Bev has quite prominent hips.
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in "Eye on the Sparrow" when Billy refers to his mother as "Thunder Thighs".

* PekingDuckChristmas: As the Binsfords watch a home movie of last Christmas, Skip recalls that they had to go out for Pizza for Christmas dinner because the dog ate the ham.

* BlackComedyAnimalCruelty: Downplayed example, as the abuse isn't ''that'' bad, but some of the show's humor was derived from the Binsfords failing to take proper care of their dog. Heck, the first episode alone was more or less built around this trope, as its premise was that the dog was thirsty, but constantly failed to get even a single drop of water.

* HartmanHips: Bev. ''In spades.''

* JerkWithAHeartofGold: The Binsford family as a whole. Despite their constant bickering and their mistreatment of their pet, deep down, they really do care about him and each other.