History WesternAnimation / Recess

* ContraltoOfDanger: Miss Finster is a SternTeacher who is strong, frequently practices boxing on a punching bag, and is terrifying to all the kids on the playground, with a deep, GutturalGrowler type of voice.

* HistoryMarchesOn: Gretchen answers the question "Who was the first man to the North Pole?" with "Robert Edwin Peary". Wildly considered correct at the time, more recent histography alledges he was mistaken and about fifty miles short- and that the real winner was yet again Roald Amundssen.

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Gretchen

-->'''Digger Sam:''': My voice! What happened to my voice?

%% * ImGoingForACloserLook

* MoralGuardians: Not in real life, but used as a plot point: the UnusualEuphemism described below is taken by some of the adults to be profanity, and things escalate until T.J. is in a courtroom defending himself. A good chunk of the trial goes along without anyone willing to utter the word in question... until T.J. finally does. Upon realizing this whole thing is over the word "whomps", the judge promptly laughs the MoralGuardians out of the courtroom for wasting his time.

* {{Motormouth}}: Everyone to varying degrees, most likely to get across a lot of information in a quarter-hour.

* MyLittlePhony: in one episode, the tomboyish Spinelli being forced to watch "My Furry Unicorns".

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Inverted. "Anyone named Gustav is bound to be trouble."
** Played straight with "El Diablo". A kid notices Gus playing a guitar and tells TJ and the others to get out since Gus was a one-man army in dodgeball in a previous school.

* NewTransferStudent:
** Gus again. It mainly comes into play in "The New Kid"
** Jared Smith, who appears for a single episode and proves to be [[TheAce better at everything than everyone]].

%%* The Team
%%** TJ: TheLeader
%%** Vince: TheLancer
%%** Gretchen: [[TheSmartGuy The Smart Girl]]
%%** Spinelli: [[TheBigGuy The Big]] [[TheChick Chick]] (While physically the smallest, she is the toughest, strongest and the best fighter).
%%** Mikey: [[TheBigGuy The Big]] [[TheHeart Heart]]
%%** Gus: KidAppealCharacter
%%** In "Lawson and His Crew", Lawson consciously mirrors these roles by gathering Kurst, Menlo, Randall, Skeens and Swinger Girl together under his leadership.

** Randall Weemes was a snitch who rats on his fellow students for Mrs. Finster, however, the one group he isn't willing to snitch on are higher authority figures such as King Bob. This is also shown in the movie, when, after one of Phillium Benedict's followers tried to pin the blame on Benedict for everything and desperately bargaining that he'll "offer evidence for the state trial", Randall remarks in disgust "Jeez, what a squealer."

* LastNameBasis:
** Spinelli.
** And then there's Lawson, Skeens, Gelman, Kurst (the Worst), Mundy, etc.
** The evil Dr. Slicer.

* LookOnMyWorksYeMightyAndDespair: King Bob attempts to build a pyramid of mud. [[spoiler:It rains.]]

-->'''Vince:''' If we lose, Lawson's going to make us look like dummies!\\

** -->'''Randall:''' "Geez, what a squealer."

* IAmSpartacus: Used twice for Spinelli. In one episode, the Ashleys find out what her first name is and makes her join them. Her friends get everyone to change their name to Ashley, even the boys. (They do forget that Ashley was originally a boy's name.) In another episode, Spinelli gets made fun of for accidentally calling a teacher "Mama". Her friends start calling the teacher "Mama" to take the heat off her.

* IHaveThisFriend: Gus says this when asking T.J. for advice after stealing gum for the "bad kids".
* IOweYouMyLife: "Copycat Kid" starts out as this kind of plot when Mikey thinks Vince saved his life, but it soon changes into more of an IJustWantToBeYou scenario.

* IdenticallyNamedGroup: The Ashleys, a group of girls who are all named Ashley. They all dress the same and are distinguished by the first letter of their surnames. When word gets out that Spinelli's first name is Ashley, she is forced to join the group, to her abject horror.
** In a later episode, Spinelli is forced to take ballet lessons and meets a quartet of snooty ballerinas named Megan.

** One episode showed the Ashleys' mums together exactly the same way too which implies they all have the same name too.

* ImagineSpot: In "Teachers Lounge", Gretchen, Spinelli, and Mikey have one on what the teachers do in the teachers' lounge.

* ImGoingForACloserLook

** Though like ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' or ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', the official copyrighted name is "Disney's Recess", as you can't put a copyright on "Recess".

* InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike: Spinelli means "spliffs" in Italian. And ''it wasn't changed'' in the Italian dub. Awkward moments with parents ensued.

* InvisibleParents: Parents are only very rarely seen.

** Miss Finster sways between this and JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

** Gelman was this for most of the series, usually picking on Gus for no reason ''at all''. In "A Great State Fair", he pulls a HeelFaceTurn.

* KarmaHoudini: [[AlphaBitch Ashley A]] and her GirlPosse. They [[ManipulativeBastard exploit]] Gus's HonourBeforeReason approach by tricking him into a "jinx" such that he doesn't talk at all, [[ForTheLulz just to toy with him for their own amusement]]. When Gus holds back from talking at all, even to the point where the school staff is threatening to take him to the police station over it, '''[[KickTheDog they STILL enjoy causing him to get into this kind of trouble]].''' Eventually it's announced that Gus was jinxed, and the main characters retaliate against the GirlPosse by tricking them into a jinx. However, the episode ends there, and if you just think about the logic of the episode, you will realize there's no way in the world that GirlPosse has the "honor" within them to obey said "jinx."

* GagHaircut: The basis of "Bad Hair Day" centered on T.J. and later Vince giving these to the kids.

* TheGhost: Spinelli's older brothers, Joey and Vito. T.J.'s sister, Becky, was this until ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'' when she finally made a physical appearance.

* GrandFinale: ''WesternAnimation/RecessTakingTheFifthGrade''. Originally, ''Recess: School's Out" was supposed to be the true ending to the series.

* GrowingUpSucks: The fear of growing up is a common one amongst the main six. This is mainly the subject of "The Legend of Big Kid" (With T.J.) and "Bonky Fever" (With Mikey).
** Even Principal Prickly, an actual grown-up, has this mentality. "The Hypnotist," in which Prickly is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he's a first grader, implies plenty, especially since Gretchen points out that hypnotism taps into the subconscious mind. Then, ''Recess: School's Out'' all but confirms that Prickly misses his childhood when he states that his happy memories of recess and summer vacation are the only link he has to his long-lost childhood innocence.
* HappyDance: T.J. does this in "The Break In", "The Box", and "Bachelor Gus".

* HartmanHips: Flo Spinelli has these.

* HeterosexualLifePartners:

** Mikey and Gus seem to be the closest friends with each other out of the main six main characters, and often take each other's sides in conflicts.

* HypnoFool: In one episode Principal Prickly thinks he's six years old.
* HypocriticalHumor: Used a lot. One example from "Soccer Boy":

** From TheMovie:

* EdutainmentShow: Not ''really'', but with some morals given out at the end of some episodes, as well as various science/history facts usually given out by Gretchen, makes some airings give it an E/I (a notice put on free-to-air in the corner of the screen.
* ElaborateUniversityHigh: The playground has elements of this. It inlcludes a jungle gym, a kickball/baseball field, the blacktop, a wooded area, a handball wall, the Ashley's club house, a sandbox, and a basketball court. Larger and more busy than the average elementary school playground.
** There are also ''two'' jungle gyms. There is "Old Rusty" which is a sheltered design and a flat top design that King Bob has his throne on.

%%** The Hustler Kid's first name is ''Francis''.

* EmbarrassingMiddleName:
** Theodore ''Jasper'' Detweiler. No wonder he [[OnlyKnownByInitials goes by his initials]] T.J.
** Ashley ''Funicello'' Spinelli.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: There are some punishments that even Miss Finster thinks go too far, like in "The Biggest Trouble Ever" when the Mayor planned to separate the gang to six different schools.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Characters such as "Swinger Girl" or "Guru Kid".

* FaceNodAction: Used by T.J. in the opening titles.

* FatAndSkinny:
** Jordan and Jerome, King Bob's lackeys.
** T.J. and Vince are often paired like this, same with Mikey and Gus.
** Miss Finster and Miss Grotke

** "Diggers Split Up" combines this with ADayInTheLimelight for the Diggers.

* FoodAsBribe: In "Officer Mikey", Spinelli tries to bribe Brittney A. with candy so she can give back Ashley A.'s diary. It doesn't work.

* FountainOfYouth: Somewhat, one episode has Principal Prickly mentally regress into a six-year-old.

** In "Mama's Girl," Spinelli gets subjected to constant teasing after [[ItMakesSenseInContext calling Miss Grotke "mama."]]

* FullNameUltimatum
** "Gustav Patton Griswald!"
** "Theresa Laverne [=LeMaize=]!"

* CatSmile:
** TJ made one in the episode "Bad Hair Day."
** Gus's default smile is this.

* ChainOfDeals: The gang arranges one to enable Mikey to achieve his dream of becoming a crossing guard. The chain works perfectly and Mikey is able to enjoy his new job. The next day, he announced to his friends that he quit due to the number of problems he suffered as a guard.

* ChezRestaurant: The episode "Chez Vince", where it's revealed that Vince has a secret talent for cooking.

* ClassTrip: In the episodes "Operation Field Trip" and "The Great State Fair".

* CourtroomEpisode: "The Trial", "The Story of Whomps", and "The Biggest Trouble Ever"
* {{Covered in Mud}}: The series focuses on elementary-school children and usually takes place in the playground, so getting messy is common for the child characters.
* CreatorCameo: Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere appear in both "The Great Jungle Gym Standoff" and "Gretchen and the Secret of Yo".
* CreepyMonotone: All the students after being sucked into the Ajimbo craze in "The Game".
* CrossingTheDesert: An episode does this trope with a hot playground in place of a desert.

* DanceOfRomance: Miss Finster and Hank do this in the cafeteria in "To Finster With Love"

* DerangedAnimation: Any episode by Creator/ToonCity.
* DetailHoggingCover: All of the show's VHS and DVD covers. It is from Creator/{{Disney}}, after all.
* DiggingToChina: The Diggers. Who ''actually do it'' once in "The Break-In".
* DisguisedInDrag: Menlo in "All The Principal's Men", and Gus in "Lost Leader".

* DishDash: The "discredited version" of this trope was used when Spinelli first tried her hand at plate spinning.
* TheDitz: T.J. (especially in later seasons) and Lawson.
* DoAnythingRobot: Gretchen's hand held computer Galileo can do things most super computers would be envious of.

* TheDocumentary: "Kids in the Mist", where a child psychologist films the kids.

%%* DoorToDoorEpisode: "The Great Can Drive"

* DoubleEntendre: The segment "All The Principal's Men" is one big sex pun.

** Gus became this when King Bob appointed him temporary monarch of the playground.

* DudeNotFunny: The gang and Cornchip Girl react this way when Randall starts making mean jokes about Mikey.

* TheAce:

** The episode "Here Comes Mr. Perfect" introduces a new student named Jared. He comes up with better plans than T.J., he's stronger than Spinelli, a better poet than Mikey, smarter than Gretchen, has been to more schools than Gus, he's faster than Vince, can burp louder than Tubby so loud it shakes windows, and is a government agent. But it turns out he's a BrokenAce- He eventually explains that he doesn't have any friends, because people think he's a show-off or get jealous.

* AdorablyPrecociousChild:

** Gretchen is probably the prime example, being a child prodigy, rather level headed, but having most of the same impulses and naiveté as the rest of the group.

* AlphaBitch:
** The Ashleys, with Ashley A. being the [[IncrediblyLamePun Alpha Ashley]].
** The fifth grader with a blue shift and brown curly hair also may qualify. In her only speaking appearance she complimented Gretchen on her appearance...before making fun of her for her glasses and alleged baby fat.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: One episode introduces a new kid who's better at everything than everybody else at Third Street. In the end it turns out [[MartyStu he's better at everything than everybody else in the]] ''[[MartyStu country,]]'' [[MartyStu and that the government has him on call.]] Interestingly, the episode deconstructs the concept of a MartyStu by making the perfect kid a nice guy who despises being the best because it inevitably makes everyone else hate him and means he can't aspire to anything.

* BadassAdorable: The main kids, especially in the movie, but mainly Spinelli (For already being a CuteBruiser), Gus (Thanks to his identity as ''El Diablo'' when it comes to dodgeball, and for being one of the cutest kids in the gang) and T.J. (For being the team leader).

* BearerOfBadNews: This is Butch's main job, though Randall does this sometimes as well.

* BeefBandage: T.J. uses one on his black eye at the beginning of "The Shiner".

* BerserkButton: The six main characters, except Vince, each have one.
** T.J.: Don't mess with recess.
** Spinelli: Never refer to her by her first name.
** Gretchen: Never suggest that she's dumb.
** Mikey: Don't mistake his kindness as a sign of weakness.
** Gus: Don't harm a little kid.

* BigEater: Mikey and Kurst; they even bond over it.

* [[BigDamnMovie Big Whomping Movie]]: The plot of the movie revolves around the kids and faculty uniting to stop a madman from plunging the Earth into an eternal winter and thus eliminating summer vacation. The series, meanwhile, focuses on mostly playground antics.

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The Glamor Puss Museum of Makeup, Wigs, and Pantyhose.

* BlondeBrunetteRedhead:
** The three main boys in the pilot: Mikey (Blonde), Vince (Brunette), and T.J. (Redhead). In the series proper, T.J. was given brown hair and Gus, a second blonde, was added.
** Ashley A. (Blonde), Ashley B. and Ashley T. (Brunettes), and Ashley Q. (Redhead).

* {{Bowdlerization}} and EditedForSyndication:

* BreakTheCutie: Gus on multiple occasions, and T.J. in "Lost Leader"
* BreakTheHaughty: Vince in "I Will Kick No More Forever" and Ashley A. in "Outcast Ashley"
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Spinelli did this often when appearing in ''Recess'' promo spots on Creator/DisneyChannel.

* BrokenAesop: The episode "Nobody Doesn't Like T.J." tried to teach the moral, "You can't get everyone to like you." Instead, it came off as "You're allowed to not like someone for no good reason at all."
** "Pharaoh Bob" also blunders where King Bob confesses to Gretchen he only wanted the pyramid to be remembered. Gretchen tells him great kings aren't remembered for the things they build, but by the things they do for their people. Not only is this historically inaccurate, but contradicts the reason ''why Bob wanted the pyramid in the first place'' - because King Wally, Al and Chuck were all forgotten in spite of all the good deeds they did for the school playground.
* BrokenBird: Kurst the Worst may or may not fall under this trope: she's considered one of, if not the meanest girl at school, yet seems genuinely unhappy when people call her by her nickname and never seems to take that much pride in her mean acts, unlike most of the other bad kids at 3rd Street.
** Further evidence for this trope appears in "Kurst the Not So Bad" and "Lawson and His Crew." In both cases, Kurst remarks that she's nearly ''constantly'' hungry, to the point where some of her mean actions, like breaking into the cafeteria, are motivated by food alone. It's possible that she has some kind of eating disorder, wherein she copes with negative situations or loneliness (the few "friends" she has aren't exactly friendly) with food, an [[TruthInTelevision all-too-common reality for many people.]]

* BrokenWinLossStreak: Vince's winning streak in kickball is broken by Ashley Q. in "I Will Kick No More Forever".
* BubbleBoy: The main six ended up in one of these when they faked the symptoms of a severe illness (they were aiming for a more minor one but Gretchen messed up).

* NewKidStigma: When Gus announces himself as the new kid at 3rd Street School to King Bob, he is declared as such in front of the school. As a result, everyone only ever calls him "New Kid", even the teachers, he's made to sit at the back of the bus, and isn't allowed to take part in team sports. On his third day, everyone decides to turn his situation around and welcome him as Gus... until King Bob shows up, whereupon everyone goes back to calling him "New Kid". It isn't until Gus blows up in front of King Bob and says he wants his name back that King Bob gives it back and he finally gets some respect.
* NewTransferStudent:

%%** Gus again.

* EverythingsBetterWithPlushies: The main six all got stuffed dolls of them released towards the end of the '90s going into the early 2000s, at The Disney Store and Toys "R" Us. T.J., Gretchen, and Gus were released first, with Vince, Spinelli, and Mikey released later.
** Pamala Adlon, Spinelli's voice actress, mentioned how she couldn't believe that there was a Gus doll before Spinelli.

* OnionTears: Seen in "The Biggest Trouble Ever" when the gang have to peel onions in the school kitchen during their punishment. As they are at that moment hated by the town for a complete accident and the punishments have no end in sight, [[TearJerker Mikey states that it's hard to tell where the Onion Tears stop and where the actual tears from being robbed of a carefree childhood begin]].

Has a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/Recess Best Episode Crowner.]]

** The episode "Recess Is Cancelled" delivers an Aesop about how children ''need'' time to have fun, play together, build friendships, and in general just be kids. In the episode, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Third Street School cancels recess]] in an attempt to improve the kids' test scores. As the weeks go by, all of the children gradually become soulless, emotionless shells of their former selves who can't recognize each other or even formulate thoughts. It's only after their test scores drop dramatically that recess is reinstated, and the kids are immediately brought back to their original, joyful selves.

** The kids learn that sometimes a person just doesn't like you, for no apparent reason and trying to change that will only worsen things in ''Nobody Doesn't Like TJ.'' The episode revolved around TJ learning that Gordy doesn't like him. He spends the episode trying to figure out ''why'' Gordy doesn't like him; learns from Ms Finster that, even if she puts him into detention, that doesn't mean she hates him and finally trying to show Gordy how cool and fun he is, so Gordy ''would'' like him. Everything backfires and Gordy admits that his 'reason' for not liking TJ is just that: he just doesn't like him.

%%* GagWords: "Whomp"

* DisappointingOlderSibling: {{Downplayed}} in "Big Brother Chad." Vince begins this episode [[BigBrotherWorship talking about how cool]] his older brother Chad is, when he's actually a huge {{Nerd}}--something Vince apparently hadn't realized until his friends point it out. He spends the rest of the episode trying to reconcile this information with the way that he's always thought of Chad before.

* DodgeballIsHell: In typical fashion, plays this trope to the hilt, including gratuitous slow-motion shots, excessive drama, and an incredibly good player named "El Diablo" *whip noise* [[spoiler: who turns out to be ''[[{{Nerd}} Gus]]'' of all people]].

The series was notably the only show to premiere in the initial season of ''Disney's Creator/{{One Saturday Morning|AndABCKids}}'' that would last the entirety of the block's run, going on well into the first two years of [[Creator/OneSaturdayMorningAndABCKids ABC Kids]] (''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' doesn't count, as it originally ran on ABC from 1988 to 91; they put in on to fulfill ABC stations' E/I quotas). It was also rerun the most out of all the shows on One Saturday Morning, pretty much being on all of Disney Channel's affiliates at one point or another. It was one of the few older shows to air on Creator/DisneyXD after Creator/ToonDisney shut down.

* PositiveDiscrimination: Subverted in "The Candidates". Spinelli tries to use girl power to get Gretchen votes, but Gretchen says herself that being a girl is immaterial to being president. In the end, Gretchen wins partly because of the girl vote, but also [[DecidedByOneVote because Vince voted for her]].