History WesternAnimation / Recess

** The boys in the main gang: T.J. and Mikey are both chubby (the latter much more so), while Vince and Gus are skinny. Individually, T.J. and Vince tend to hang out most often with each other, as do Mikey and Gus, who are also a BigGuyLittleGuyDuo.

''Recess'' is an American animated television series that was created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere (who worked on ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' until the show was originally supposed to end in 1994), and produced by [[Creator/DisneyTelevisionAnimation Walt Disney Television Animation]]. It ran from September 13, 1997, to November 5, 2001, simultaneously on Creator/{{ABC}} (Saturday mornings) and Creator/{{UPN}} (Sunday mornings and weekday afternoons, beginning in 1999).

* FamilyThemeNaming: "Officer Mikey" implies that all of the Ashleys have sisters named Brittany in kindergarten.

%% * 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

%%* FluffyCloudHeaven: In "The Lost Ball" during a dream sequence.

%%* ForbiddenFriendship: Gus and Cornchip Girl once had one.

* InformedObscenity: In one episode, T.J. is brought to court for use of his CatchPhrase "This whomps". The judge decided that "whomps" was not dirty in and of itself, and that only a dirty-minded person would think it was.

* CatchPhrase: Several.
** TJ has "Ten-der!"
** The Ashleys have a loud "[=SCANDALOUS=]!" said in unison, and their little brothers do the same with "[=NOTORIOUS=]!".
** Randall uses "moist", usually used after having creepily found something out about someone.
** Mr. "The Dude" Dudakoff apparently used to use "Sup-ple!" in much the same way TJ uses "Ten-der!"
** Any variation of "this whomps!" is shared among the main six characters, mostly TJ and Vince since they invented the word.

In 2001, a film based on the series, ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'', was released in theaters to positive reception. Please put all tropes relating to the movie there. In 2003, the film (and the show itself) was followed up with a DirectToVideo sequel and finale, ''WesternAnimation/RecessTakingTheFifthGrade''. The main six characters (and Miss Finster) themselves last appeared in a 2006 {{crossover}} episode of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries''. There was also ''Recess: All Growed Down'' (2003), which, despite consisting of three previous episodes, one new episode, and framing material, is still considered a "movie" by Disney. The series and movies are currently available to stream on Creator/DisneyPlus.

''Recess'' is an American animated television series that was created by Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere (who worked on ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' until the show was originally supposed to end in 1994), and produced by [[Creator/DisneyTelevisionAnimation Walt Disney Television Animation]]. It ran from September 13, 1997, to November 5, 2001, simultaneously on Creator/{{ABC}} (Saturday mornings) and Creator/{{UPN}} (Sunday mornings and weekday afternoons, beginning in 1999). The series focuses on six elementary school students and their interaction with their schoolmates and teachers. In many respects, it serves as an animated knock-off of prisoner-of-war movies such as ''Film/TheGreatEscape''... combined with a generally positive depiction of the elementary school experience.

In 2001, ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'' was released in theaters to positive reception. Please put all tropes relating to the movie there. In 2003, the film (and the show itself) was followed up with a DirectToVideo sequel and finale, ''WesternAnimation/RecessTakingTheFifthGrade''. The main six characters (and Miss Finster) themselves last appeared in a 2006 {{crossover}} episode of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries''. There was also ''Recess: All Growed Down'' (2003), which, despite consisting of three previous episodes, one new episode, and framing material, is still considered a "movie" by Disney. The series and movies are currently available to stream on Creator/DisneyPlus.

Many plots would deal with the kids' SeriousBusiness attitude about simple grade school life, mostly, among other aspects, [[TitleDrop recess]]. This includes having a designated 'King'. Nicknames for each other based on their main 'quality' (Swinger Girl, The Diggers, Pale Kids etc.) And the concept of popular fads quickly taking over playground demographics. The series was also well known for its large PeripheryDemographic, due to every episode having at least one ParentalBonus.

* CoolLoser: The Recess Gang [[InvertedTrope inverts]] this. Most of the kids have ''reasons'' to be considered "losers": Gus is shy and somewhat dweeby, Gretchen is nerdy, Mikey can come across as too nice and an ExtremeDoormat, and is fat and [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide a poetry-spouting ballerino]], Spinelli is too aggressive to be friends with anyone, and while T.J. is considered the most popular kid in school (unless you're Gordy, who doesn't like him), he's also BookDumb (very much) and chubby, which most kids consider "loser" traits. Vince is the only one who doesn't have any loser-esque qualities. Despite this, they're the most popular kids on the playground.

* LastNameBasis: Spinelli is the only one referred by her friends by her surname. Eventually revealed the reason is because her name is Ashley, and she doesn't want to be linked to the Ashleys club.
%% ** And then there's Lawson, Skeens, Gelman, Kurst (the Worst), Mundy, etc.
%% ** The evil Dr. Slicer.

* StockSoundEffects: The school bell (Already a stock sound effect on its' own, from the Hollywood Edge's "Premiere Edition" sound library), which is used at the beginning of the theme song and in almost every episode ("Rainy Days" and "The Story of Whomps" use a different bell sound effect, though).

* AndStarring: For the main cast credits (the main six kids and the three main teachers; the rest of the cast was listed separately in a NowWhichOneWasThatVoice case), Dabney Coleman (Principal Prickly) got the "And" most of the time. When Prickly only appeared in the background or didn't appear at all, the "and" went to Allyce Beasley (Miss Grotke). If Grotke didn't appear in the episode, had a background role, or it was a season one episode (before gaining AscendedExtra status), the "And" went to Creator/AprilWinchell (Miss Finster).

* NowWhichOneWasThatVoice: Only the cast for the main six and the three main teachers (most of the time -- the writers can't make up their minds on whether Miss Grotke's a main or supporting character) are credited for which character they played. Everyone else is listed as "additional voices", with only the names of the voice actors/actresses and not their characters. {{Averted}} with the movie.

* OffModel: As a whole, the show was more inconsistent in season one. The first episodes animated by Creator/SunwooEntertainment (Such as "Jinxed" and "To Finster, With Love") and Creator/PlusOneAnimation (Such as "The Break-up" and "Mama's Girl") were very off model, but both of them improved afterwards. Creator/ToonCity, who began work on the show in 1999, was easily considered the worst department to work on the show, as all of their episodes were extremely inconsistant and had downright ugly animation. They didn't touch another episode after 2000.
** The animation qualities of each animation studio made it somewhat easy for certain fans to know who did what:
*** Grimsaem (A Sunwoo division; they did most of season one including the TitleSequence) was slick and consistent.
*** Creator/SunwooEntertainment (Did other episodes of season one, season three and ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'') was very off-model when they started out, but eventually became one of the best animation departments for the show (Especially seen in the movie).
*** Creator/PlusOneAnimation (All of season two (Sans "Dance Lessons"), other episodes onwards, and the DirectToVideo movies) had stiffer, more limited animation, and were prone to going off-model a lot.
*** Creator/ToonCity (One episode ("Dance Lessons") of season two and eight more shorts afterward were extremely inconsistent and animated the show in a bouncy, fluid style which made the show look more deranged than usual.
*** Finally, Anivision (Another Sunwoo division) only did one episode ("Recess is Cancelled"), but was pretty consistent for the most part.

* FamilyThemeNaming: "Officer Mikey" implies that all of the Ashleys have sisters named Britney in kindergarten.

* ExtravertedNerd: Vince's older brother is pretty much a blatant reference to Urkel. In an interesting twist, though, he knows he's a geek — it's jockish Vince who's in the dark.

[[caption-width-right:350:Those meddling kids.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Those meddling kids.[[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/recesskids_5652.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Those meddling kids. [[note]]Counter-clockwise from bottom right: [[TheLeader T.J.]], [[GentleGiant Mikey]], [[LovableJock Vince]], [[LovableCoward Gus]], [[TheSmartGal Gretchen]], and [[TheLadette Spinelli]].[[/note]]]]

** "A Genius among us" explores that a person's hobby shouldn't necessarily be the same as their career; otherwise it's no more enjoyable than the next job. For being the school janitor, Hank is good at math and even likes it. But he chooses to remain a janitor because if he became a professional mathematician, he wouldn't be able to simply do math for fun.

* PasteEater: Discussed and parodied in "Outcast Ashley" when Gus tells the gang that Gretchen and Ashley A. were walking to school together. The rest of the gang don't believe him, and Vince tells him that eating paste is bad for him.

* PickedLast: Explored at least a couple times. Played with a bit by having the second-to-last pick actually be the worst sports player (e.g. a random kid with a broken leg and crutches, or [[AndZoidberg Gus]]), but the one picked last is being socially snubbed.

* PoliticiansKissBabies: Parodied in "The Candidates"- when Gretchen and Vince are running against each other for class president, they have to kiss the pets of the other students, including ''fish''. The boys tries to discredit Gretchen (who's running against Vince for [[SeriousBusiness class president]] on a platform of "Girls for Gretchen", although she genuinely wants to do a good job) by having her asked to kiss a pet lizard. She gets out of it by claiming to have a cold.

* PrecociousCrush: The episode "The Voice" when Mikey develops a crush on the middle school's music teacher, Miss Salamone.
* {{Prequel}}: ''Recess: All Growed Down'' was released in 2003 (two years after the show was cancelled), but features T.J. and his friends as kindergarteners, rather than fourth (or fifth) graders.

* PunishmentBox: it's just a square drawn on the playground floor. T.J. at first laughs it off, but eventually it breaks him.

** In "Rainy Days," T.J. and the gang finally snap out of their CabinFever, defy the rules and play outside in the rain... but then all [[CatchYourDeathOfCold catch colds.]]

** Although playground monitor Ms. Finster is generally shown as a stern authority figure, she is usually portrayed as unfailingly fair and given several humanizing episodes.

%%** If we talk teachers, then its Ms. Finster and Ms. Grotke.

* {{Retraux}}: To an extent, the show's art style is reminiscent of Creator/HannaBarbera cartoons of the '70s and '80s (Specifically, the more action/adventure based ones).

* ReviveTheAncientCustom: In "The Rules", the rule book of King Morty is found in the school library, and used to settle a dispute regarding what a kickball kicked into the dumpster means. The kids then decide to use it to see how to play other games. Thing is, Morty attended 3rd Street School during TheGreatDepression, when the school couldn't afford new balls for the playground. As a result, Morty's rules involve kids making games out of washing rags, playing four square with a tree stump, and an unspecified game called "Cabbage".
* RhymingWithItself: During "Rainy Days," the gang becomes rather zombie-esque after five days of horribly boring indoor recess. Mikey composes a poem like this; it rhymes every thing with "thee" and "tee-hee."

* RogerRabbitEffect: In the 2001 opening for Creator/{{One Saturday Morning|AndABCKids}}, the gang (And characters from other OSM shows) appear in a live action park with some live-action kids.

%%** Ms. Finster is a sadist playground monitor – although she's seen grading papers like a classroom teacher in ''one'' episode, with no explanation why. In the DTV "epilogue", ''Taking The Fifth Grade'', she becomes the fifth grade teacher after the previous one transfers.

* SaturdayMorningCartoon: Seasons one, two, and 13 episodes from season three, airing on Disney's Creator/{{One Saturday Morning|AndABCKids}}. 26 episodes from season three aired on weekday afternoons on UPN and in synidication for Disney's One Too.

* SchoolPlay: The Holiday pageant in the Christmas special, which was being broadcasted to the rest of the world and Mikey was meant to be the lead of Santa Claus. The episode centred on him debating with himself and his friends as to whether Santa existed or not and Mikey nearly refusing to play the part in the school play.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When T.J. becomes rich in monstickers in "Economics of Recess," Randall becomes his accountant. However, even he leaves T.J. when he sees just how crazy he's become.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: The "C Note" episode. To wit: T.J. finds a hundred-dollar bill in an envelope outside the school, and tells his friends. They all want to spend it, but a chance comment from Gus makes T.J. realize that someone must have lost the cash. They spend the whole episode trying to track down the owner--first at the school, and then in the local papers and bulletin boards. Gretchen realizes that the only local person who could possibly lose a hundred-dollar bill and ''not'' be concerned is Thaddeus T. Third the Fifth, the richest man in town. The Gang travels to his house and T.J. returns the money, with Thaddeus not even giving him a "thank you." The kids are at first disappointed, but then Thaddeus reemerges on a jet pack and tells the group that he deliberately leaves envelopes with C-notes all over town to see who'll try to do the right thing and return them. T.J. and his friends are apparently the first group to pass, so in gratitude, he tells them that they, along with their families, will all being going to an amusement park he owns for an all-expenses paid weekend getaway. And in a final surprise, he even lets the kids take turns riding on the jet pack.

** Gus is shown to be a new kid in school in grade 4, yet ''All Growed Down'' shows him in Kindergarten. ''The Great Jungle Gym Standoff'' also apparently takes place before Gus transferred to school yet he appears in a few shots (probably an animation goof -- happens all the time). They explain Gus being the new kid again in fourth grade by the very canon fact he transferred many times over the past four years. The fact that he went to 3rd Street for a few days then transferred out fits his backstory well. Nobody (except Finster) remembered him because everybody who would actually have a reason to remember him was too young to remember. His friends think Gus made the whole thing up mostly because he helps over half of them become who they are today.

* SeriesFauxnale: "Lawson and his Crew" was intended to be the final episode to air on TV, and TheMovie was supposed to be the true finale. However, the show was so popular that it was renewed for another season [[note]]which was actually made up of unfinished episodes in between seasons three and five[[/note]]...[[ScrewedByTheNetwork and, thanks to Disney's sixty-five episode limit, didn't last long]]. There were the DTV movies, however [[note]] which were ''also'' made from unfinished episodes[[/note]].
* SeriousBusiness: Recess itself is like this, as is everything else -- and who honestly didn't have ''this'' happen when they went to elementary school? The Monstickers and Ajimbo game especially take the cake.
** In "Spinelli's Masterpiece", when Spinelli creates an elaborate work of art with colored chalk on the blacktop, the gang are so impressed with her creation that they do everything they can to prevent anyone else from destroying her creation, bringing all the other kids up to the jungle gym for the best vantage point to see her drawing, even convincing Miss Finster and Principal Prickly that the drawing must be preserved. Subverted at the end when Spinelli scoffs, "It's just a stupid chalk drawing."

* SchoolForcedUsTogether: School is what brought the group together; otherwise, a group consisting of a nerd, a tomboy, a jock, an artist, a schemer with a conscience, and the new kid would probably have never formed. In addition, there have been some episodes involving one of the group being transferred to another school, with the others being concerned that this would break up the group.
* ShaggyDogStory: "The Break In". The gang go to drastic measures trying to get T.J. out of detention. As soon as they get all the other kids to help them and their plan is almost a sucess...[[spoiler:T.J. breaks himself out. This is even taken further when he breaks out ''at the very end of recess'']].
** "Officer Mikey": The gang go through a huge ChainOfDeals to get Brad to make Mikey a safety ranger...[[spoiler:which he gives up by the end of the episode]].

* ShoutOut:
** Ashley Spinelli's last name is a reference to ''Literature/ManiacMagee'' novelist Jerry Spinelli.
** Ever notice that Upside-Down Girl looks and dresses an awful lot like a [[WesternAnimation/HeyArnold certain someone]]? She even has the same voice actress, who plays several characters on the show, but specifically uses her Helga voice for Upside-Down Girl.
** Also, King Bob may be a reference to another character from ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Big Bob Pataki, The Beeper King. They have similar appearances: unibrow, dark hair, perpetual scowl, and are both bossy and don't like being distracted from whatever has their attention.
** The "Terrifying Tales of Recess" segment with Mikey's living bike starts out as a parody of Stephen King's ''Literature/{{Christine}}'' and later when the other kids' bikes come to life it turns into a parody of ''Film/MaximumOverdrive''.
** The series is littered with shout-outs to ''Series/HogansHeroes''.
*** Matter of fact, this series is an {{Expy}} of ''Hogan's Heroes'': T.J. and the gang are expies of Hogan and his men; Principal Prickley is an expy of Kommandant Klink; Miss Finster is a more competent expy of Sergeant Schultz; in fact, the Third Street School playground looks almost like a compound of a prison camp. The two series' theme songs sound incredibly similar too.
*** One episode takes the cake with a senior citizen that TJ is visiting recalling the POW camp he was in during the war to be filled with [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of the cast of ''Hogan's Heroes''. The flashback ends with the Kommandant yelling, "ROOOOOGAN!"
** The Ashleys are parodies of [[Film/{{Heathers}} The Heathers]]. Ashley Q. in particular looks like Heather Duke. Ashley's T's outfit resembles that of one [[Film/{{Clueless}} Cher Horowitz]].
** Vince's nightmare about turning into a geek in "Big Brother Chad" is a parody of the opening of ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'', with Max's nightmare about turning into WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}.
** Principal Prickly's secretary is named Ms. [[Literature/HerculePoirot Lemon]].
** The prequel-movie ''All Growed Down'' is named after the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' movie ''All Growed Up'' and, as one may expect from the name, has an inverted premise. All Growed Up was a sort of look-ahead to the future of the ''Rugrats'' characters' lives, while All Growed Down shows us the ''Recess'' gang when they were in kindergarten. The main difference is that ''Rugrats'' turned it into a full spinoff, while ''Recess'' did not. This is also funny when you remember that the creators of ''Recess'' worked on ''Rugrats'' before the show was supposed to end in 1994.
** Ashley A. owns a Franchise/HelloKitty lunchbox.
** They make several references to ''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', specifically the famous line "What you talkin' bout, Willis?"
** SAL 3000 is, [[StockShoutOut unsurprisingly]], a parody of HAL 9000 and ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.
** Hank the AlmightyJanitor, who solves complicated math questions left on the chalkboard, is a shout-out to the film ''Film/GoodWillHunting''.
** Spinelli's AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents, Bob and Flo, might be named after Robert Reed and Florence Henderson, who played the parents on ''Series/TheBradyBunch''.
** Mikey mentions that he has a "Great-Uncle Mary" - just like the three main characters in ''Literature/OverSeaUnderStone'', which is "Great-Uncle Merry"
** In "The Story of Whomps", Miss Grotke is seen reading "[[Literature/HarryPotter Hillary Poffer]]" (complete with matching font), though it looks disguised as a romance novel.
** In "First Name Ashley", Spinelli is forced to watch pony movies with her eyelids held up, an obvious reference to ''Literature/AClockworkOrange''.
*** The Ashleys "welcome" Spinelli into their clique by chanting "[[Film/{{Freaks}} ONE OF US! ONE OF US!]]"
** At one point in "The Kid Came Back", TJ's ranting about how since they can't get rid of that one kid, they'll be "[[Film/{{Clerks}} slacking in their twenties, clerking in a video store!]]"
** In "The Rules," Spinelli claims that King Morty "drove the snakes out of the music room," a reference to the legend that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland.
** Gretchen's personal computer Galileo is a reference to the short-lived Apple Newton PDA.
** Spinelli's middle name is Funicello, which is likely a reference to famous Disney Teen Idol, [[Series/TheMickeyMouseClub Mouseketeer]], and ''Film/BeachParty'' star Annette Funicello.
** In "The Girl Was Trouble," when Kurst reveals that she traded away Gretchen's Galileo computer, Gretchen shouts "KUUUUURST!" much like [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan KHAAAAAN!"]]
** In "Pharoah Bob", Bob, drunk with power, punctuates his orders with [[Film/TheTenCommandments1956 "So shall it be written, so shall it be done!"]]

* DoorToDoorEpisode: "The Great Can Drive" episode revolves around the kids supposed to go door to door and collect cans for the less fortunate and win a competiton. None of the kids want to participate becuase they know that the class with the Ashley's always win (becuase they just buy all the cans). Only Mikey decides to do it, becuase he actually cares about the cause and not the competition.

* DorkHorseCandidate: In "The Candidates", where Gretchen competes against Vince for fourth grade president. Gretchen wins by one vote. Unlike most other examples, Gretchen and Vince are actually really good friends.

* DrawingStraws: In the episode, "The Experiment," Butch tells the gang a story about how his teenage brother Joey made out with his own girlfriend Christy and enjoyed it. This leads Gretchen to conduct an experiment in which a boy and a girl of the gang's number should kiss each other. Using straws, they select the boy and girl, who happen to be [[ShipTease TJ and Spinelli]].

** King Bob was going away in one episode and decided to place Gus as a temp specifically becuase he wouldn't overshadow him. While shy at the beginning, Gus little by little started being more and more tyranical demanding any snack from his subjects and sending them to "the dungeon" if they fail with even a single piece.

* DudeNotFunny: The gang and Cornchip Girl get really offended when Randall was making jokes at Mikey's expense just to be popular. Mikey himself didnt actually mind, until he started mocking him for being fat.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Season one might fall under this. Both Miss Finster and Principal Prickly were more sadistic, Miss Grotke wasn't as sympathetic, and everyone's voice was higher, as well as T.J. being played by a completely different kid. It was ''much'' more OffModel as well. The main six were more of anti-heroes, Vince was more of a SourSupporter, and the show was a bit more cartoony.

* 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.

* ElmuhFuddSyndwome: Randall suffered this speech impediment when he was in kindergarten (as seen in one of the episode featured on the video Recess: All Growed Down).

** The Hustler Kid's first name is ''Francis''. And he immediatly asked the gang to not tell anyone after revealing it.

* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Theodore ''Jasper'' Detweiler. While not revealed in an specific episode, it apparently is embarrassing enough that Menlo could use revealing it as a threat.

* EndingTheme: Usually, it's a shortened version of the theme song, though in "Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave", the ending theme was a Jingle Bells re-endition by Mikey.

* EnsembleCast: The creators wanted to make sure each member of the main six got equal screentime, so they could keep it from turning into "The T.J. Show", "The Gus Show", "The Spinelli Show", etc. Though being the leader of the gang, T.J. got the most episodes focused on him, and was the main protagonist for ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut''.

* 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.
** In "The Fuss Over Finster" T.J. calls all the kids out for taking advantage of the injured Miss Finster and they all feel bad, including Lawson.
** 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.

* FantasyTwist: The gang find a $100 bill and all fantasize about what they'll do with their share of the money. Each of their fantasies end with them owning and flying a jetpack, except even in his own fantasy Gus can't control his.

* FeelingTheirAge: In an episode where Miss Finster sprains her ankle and has to hop around on crutches, after trying and failing to keep order on the playground like she usually does, she laments to Randall that when she was a young woman, she would just have walked off this kind of injury but she's too old and decrepit to just bounce back now. It gets to the point that the main cast feel too guilty to take advantage of Finster's injury and talk the other kids into behaving until she's back on her feet.

** In "The Break-up", all the other members of the gang get mad at T.J. and at each other when T.J. can't choose which one one of them is his best friend. In the end, T.J. brings them back together by sharing an essay about how all five of them are his best friends.

** "Diggers Split Up" was ADayInTheLimelight for the Diggers where they decided parts after Sam things Dave is a control freak.

** "Teachers Lounge" has one to the gang in second grade, when Vince (almost) gets a chance to see inside the teachers lounge.

* FlawlessToken: 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]].

* ForcedIntoTheirSundayBest: In "One Stayed Clean", the gang resent having to dress formal for picture day. T.J., Vince, Spinelli, and Gretchen in their picture day getup supply the page's image.

* FoulCafeteriaFood: In the pilot episode, the cafeteria food, "Tomato Surprise", is an acid that is so strong that it [[AteTheSpoon melts a spoon]] (and is later used by Gretchen to melt the hinges of a door). T.J. also mentions that they've previously been fed fish sticks made out of cardboard and macaroni and cheese stuck together with paste. This prompts T.J. to break into the kitchen to find the good food, and he finds a fridge full of it. However, when he touches the handles of the fridge, an alarm sounds and he gets caught by Ms. Finster, and he gets punished with lunch detention.

** In "Gus and Misdemeanors", one piece of graffiti on the side of the school says, "Geoffrey and Gretchen", refrencing back to "The Pest".
** In "Mikey's Pants", the gang fashions a pair of shorts out of newspaper to cover Mikey's ripped pants. On the back of the shorts, there's a headline of "Bottom Falls Out Of Mark", noticeable since the rest of the text is the usual black boxes to simulate writing.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: In the episode [[Recap/RecessS4E33DontAskMe Don't Ask Me]], Guru Kid needs to use the bathroom, so he allows Spinelli to substitute. When her advice works so well that people start to go to her for advice, Guru Kid is fine with Spinelli taking over his job, and he doesn't even try to take it back until he feels that his time has come. While at first things were good, Spinelli started to advise the kids to use violence to the point where almost every kid was fighting with each other on the playground. Spinelli does not see the problem, as she gleefully advises the kids to use violent moves and badmouths Guru Kid for not giving the kids "advice they could use," which, as Vince points out, is advice kids could use on each other. Eventually the kids turn on Spinelli, blaming her for the negative consequences of their actions. Guru Kid steps in and saves Spinelli by pointing out that they all chose to follow Spinelli's advice, and they are in control of their own actions. The kids concede his point, admitting that no one said they actually had to listen to Spinelli.