Line #29 Literature/PlanetTad


1	''Planet Tad'' is a parody of the typical sort of blog written by a confused teenage boy. It has been a regular feature of ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' magazine since 2005 and in 2012 was released as a book by the same name. The book contains a years worth of entries, though not one for every day of the year. A number of the entries are content that previously appeared in ''MAD''. The series is written by Tim Carvell, head-writer of ''[[Series/TheDailyShow The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]'' and the book release received an endorsement from Creator/JonStewart himself, as well as Creator/StephenColbert and Tom Angleberger, author of the ''Literature/OrigamiYoda'' books.
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3	In 2014, a sequel, ''Return to Planet Tad'', was released, containing another year's worth of entries.
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5	Compare ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid''
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8	!!''Planet Tad'' features examples of:
9	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Sophie, To Tad
10	* BigOlUnibrow: Tad tries to shave his off and ends up shaving off his entire eyebrows.
11	* BlandNameProduct: Plenty of real products are mentioned within the series, but there's also a sequence about Tad wanting a "[=GamePort=] XL."
12	* ABoyAGirlAndABabyFamily: At the end of ''Return to Planet Tad'', Tad and his sister Sophie learn that their family will soon become this, with a new baby boy on the way. Neither is very enthused at first, but Tad begins to warm to the idea after learning that he will be a role model for his little brother, someone who can teach him right from wrong (he and his father agree that they can't count on Sophie for that) and that he'll be getting his own room.
13	* CensorshipBySpelling: In ''Return to Planet Tad'', Tad agrees to dress up as his high school's mascot, a shark, only to learn that he has to dance to complicated routines taught to him by the school cheerleaders. When he fails miserably during rehearsals, one of them comments "I can't believe he's this A-W-F-U-L," leading him to state "I can understand when you spell words out."
14	* ChildProdigy: Tad's little sister, Sophie, is this. In ''Return to Planet Tad'', he says that he thinks one day he'll end up working for her.
15	* ComesGreatResponsibility: Tad hopes that when his sister grows up, she uses her powers for good and not evil.
16	* DeadpanSnarker: Tad
17	* DeadPetSketch: Sophie gets a pet hamster named Mr. Squeakers, though Tad says that "He and I know his name is Thunderclaw." After Tad and his friend Chuck lose Thunderclaw, they replace him with another hamster. It works, but then the original Thunderclaw is found lifeless when Tad's mom pours herself some Rice Krispies.
18	* EggSitting: Tad has to do this with one his classmates for health class. Tad hardboils the egg.
19	* ForcedMeme: Tad tries to make "gruntled" into a word, but it doesn't work.
20	* LastMinuteBabyNaming: Tad's parents can't agree on whether to call the baby "Kenneth" or "Steven," so he remains nameless when they bring him home, until Tad suggests "Kevin" as a compromise. Tad's glad this is accepted, since his other suggestion was going to be "Stenneth."
21	* LetsMeetTheMeat: In one sequence, Tad gets a summer job dressing up as a hot dog to promote a restaurant. As customers enter, Tad whispers "You're eating my babies."
22	* MST3KMantra: [[invoked]] Tad clearly doesn't believe in it and a large portion of his blog consists of pointing out things in media that he feels don't make sense.
23	* NobodyPoops: Tad rents a DVD set of season one ''Series/TwentyFour'' and asks the age-old question of fans: "When do the characters go to the bathroom?" He actually manages to come up with the correct answer as given by the producers, which is during the minutes between acts.
24	* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: While ''Return to Planet Tad'' isn't an example, the title page has "Revenge of, "Beneath the," "Beyond the," "Attack of the," "Escape from" and "Son of" above the title, each of them crossed out.
25	* PaperThinDisguise: Mocked by Tad in regard to ''Series/HannahMontana'', who can't believe there's a whole show about a group of people who can't realize that Hannah Montana is just Miley Cyrus in a wig
26	* {{Pirates}}: The Mascot of Tad's middle school, Lakeville
27	* PlayingSick: Tad is forced into becoming a slave to his sister's demands after she catches him at this. Tad finally caves in and admits the truth to his parents, who feel he's already been punished enough - they knew all along and let Sophie's torture be his punishment.
28	* ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud: One of Tad's classmates, Ben Irvin, manages to avoid being cast for a play that nobody in the school wants to be in by doing this during his audition.
29	* SchoolPlay
30	** In the original ''Planet Tad'' book, Tad is forced to help his sister Sophie prepare for her role in the school play of ''Hansel & Gretel'', then ends up playing Hansel because he knows all the lines when the kid who was supposed to play the role had the stomach flu, in exchange for a ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' trilogy extended edition DVD boxset.
31	** In ''Return to Planet Tad'', Tad is forced to participating one in order to raise a bad grade, but ends up not being able to perform when he himself gets sick.
32	* SecretSanta: Tad's class participates in one of these, with Tad as a secret Santa to a girl that he likes. It bombs badly when he chooses chocolate as his gift and she thinks that her Santa is trying to make her fat.
33	* SeinfeldianConversation: Not so much a conversation as Seinfeldian ''observations'' regularly offered up by Tad
34	* ShockinglyExpensiveBill: In ''Return to Planet Tad'', Tad's mother gives him her old cell phone as a birthday gift. She and his father forbid him from calls other than from or to them, but don't specifically forbid the use of text messaging. He soon starts text messaging like crazy and also uses the phone to update his online blog. It transpires that the phone did not come with a text message plan and when his parents are hit with a $127.40 bill (20 cents times 637 text messages), they forbid him from doing ''anything'' with it other than talking to them on it and also require that his ringtone be "I'm a Little Teapot."
35	* StrawVegetarian: Sophie, until her family needles her about it so much that she starts eating meat again
36	* TheUnfavorite: Tad and his Mom are unfavorites of Tad's Grandma Judy (the mother of Tad's father)
37	* ViewersAreGoldfish: Tad believes that goldfish have a seven-second memory and must spend their lives going "Oh my God, I'm drowning! No, wait, I have gills."

Context Literature / PlanetTad