Line #69 Main/DetentionEpisode


1	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/simpsonsdetentionroom.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Room for one more?]]
3
4	->''"The room is filthy and unmaintained, with used chewing gum and who-knows-what-else underneath every single desk. There are no activities allowed in that room, no distractions to ease your mind, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone allowing your lingering guilt over what you did to gnaw at your soul until it brings you to tears]]. Principal Skinner is in charge of the room, and watches all of his hostages with eyes of cold steel, waiting to snap at anyone who steps out of line. And the other desks are manned by the school’s most dastardly rogues and delinquents, who will stop at nothing to make your life miserable. If a little girl like you or I were to lose her concentration for even a moment, she would find her hair tied into knots and [[{{Wedgie}} her knickers hoisted up from the back]]."''
5	-->-- '''Anastasia Burns''', ''FanFic/TheSimpsonsTeamLASH''.
6
7	In Anglophone[[note]]And often elsewhere too, at least in the past[[/note]] pre-collegiate schools, detention is a disciplinary action where students are required to stay in a designated room, keep quiet, and do absolutely nothing for some amount of time. In fiction, detention is [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace one thing where a well-to-do student does not want to go to]]. The other one is {{dodgeball\|IsHell}}. The room is run down, dimly lit and gritty, the teacher running the room is [[SternTeacher keeping a watchful eye on you]] and [[SadistTeacher may make your stay a living heck]], the desks are filled with bullies and {{delinquents}}, graffiti is everywhere, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and there're decades-old gum beneath your desk]]. And heaven forbid if you spend your time in detention on a weekend.
8
9	Naturally, the student will find ways to get out of this hellhole, with the help of the delinquents of course. In real life, failing to show up to detention or bailing out can lead to an even more severe disciplinary action such as longer detention periods, suspension, or even expulsion.
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11	Can be the school equivalent to a PrisonEpisode (in which case, it may involve a JuvenileHell). It can be a form of a BottleEpisode due to the nature of the room. Compare StandingInTheHall, the Japanese equivalent; AfterSchoolCleaningDuty, When a student is made to clean school property after school; and WritingLines, when a student is made to write something they are not supposed to do repeatedly; and SummerSchoolSucks when a student is forced to do summer school. See also TheBreakfastPlot.
12
13	----
14
15	!!Examples:
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17	[[foldercontrol]]
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19	[[folder:ComicBooks]]
20	* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'', at least through MediaNotes/{{the bronze age of comic\|Books}}s, the titular character is frequently given detention, usually by Principal Weatherbee. Sometimes given for the pettiest issues, detention seems to be the school's punishment of choice, both for Archie and (less frequently) for other characters.
21	[[/folder]]
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23	[[folder:Fan Works]]
24	* ''Fanfic/FireEmblemThreeHousesFifthPath'': The aptly named Support "Detention with Professor Byleth" which covers four students being in detention.
25	* The first chapter of ''Fanfic/TheSimpsonsTeamLASH'' involves [[NewTransferStudent Liv Krustofsky]] getting detention on her first day, and, having never been to a public school before, being terrified of it. She ends up finding it incredibly draining and boring.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
29	* ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' is formed by five students from different cliques under detention on a Saturday.
30	* ''Film/{{Detention}}'': It's a comedy/horror teen film about a group of students who were sent to detention before prom night when their principal suspects that one of them is a slasher. Whacky hijinks ensue such as finding the slasher, one of which involves going back to 1992.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Literature]]
34	* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid: The Last Straw'': One scene deals with Greg in detention. He is annoyed by the students sitting next to him, but manages to get out early when he tricks the teacher into thinking one of the students punched him.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
38	* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' has had quite a few detention episodes, since the majority of the series takes place at school, but there's none more notable than the SlasherMovie-themed episode "[[Recap/BoyMeetsWorldS5E17AndThenThereWasShawn And Then There Was Shawn]]", taking place during the gang's senior year at John Adams High; in this episode, Cory, Topanga, Angela, Shawn and another student named Kenny are given detention for disrupting the class and end up being trapped inside the school with an unknown killer running amok, [[CouldntFindAPen bloody message]] and all.
39	* In the ''Series/Class2016'' episode "Detained", Quill puts all the regular pupils in detention so that she can go off on a secret mission. The detention room then gets transported to a very nasty part of space due to a Rift incident.
40	* The ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' first season episode "Detention" had a classic ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' scenario, with all four heroes - and AlphaBitch Abbey stuck in the library together for hours on the weekend. Dawson TheMovieBuff even lampshades this.
41	* The ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Basic Rocket Science" is part this and part ParodyEpisode. The Detention part comes when the study group is punished for creating and submitting a design for the school flag with a hidden obscene image. The punishment is cleaning out a new space simulator acquired by the college. The Parody part comes when the simulator gets towed with them in it and they have to get back to the college, sending up numerous space exploration movies in the process.
42	* The ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' episode "Take on Me," doubling as a WholePlotReference to ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''.
43	* ''Series/{{iCarly}}'': In "[=iGot=] Detention", Sam gets detention around the same time she has to do the show, so Carly and Freddie deliberately get detention and host the show from there whenever Mr. Howard is out of the room.
44	* The ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'' episode "Detention" has Ned and Cookie get detention for throwing a paper airplane in the hallway, and Moze for standing up for them. Ned and Cookie then have to keep the teacher from leaving the room to keep themselves from being beaten up by the eighth grade bullies.
45	* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': In the episode "The Breakfast Bunch", the main characters all get put in detention. This is to [[TheBreakfastPlot allow for an extended homage to]] ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''
46	* The latter two Creator/RLStine shows both had one
47	** ''Literature/TheNightmareRoom'' had "School Spirit", which a group of teens are given detention from a creepy teacher who turns out to have sinister plans for them.
48	** ''Series/TheHauntingHour'' has "Detention", with a similar setup to the above where they don't know how they got detention and eventually discover there's a dark reason they ended up there.
49	* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': The episode "A Bad Reflection on You" had the MonsterOfTheWeek and four Putties disguising as the Rangers to cause trouble at school and get them in detention, and they have to stay there with Bulk and Skull. When they see the fake Rangers wreaking havoc on TV, they're forced to trick Bulk and Skull into covering their eyes and ears so they can morph and teleport away to fight, and they return just in the nick of time before Principal Caplan comes back and sees they're gone.
50	* The first episode of ''Series/PrettyLittleLiarsOriginalSin'' has the titular Liars end up in detention in the final parts of the episode where they meet each other and plot Karen's downfall together after being accused of things done to her that they didn't do to and collectively assuming that she set them up.
51	* ''Series/YoungSheldon'': In "A Sneeze, Detention, and Sissy Spacek", Sheldon is given detention for walking out of class due to being TerrifiedOfGerms, and is then suspended after walking out of detention for the same reason.
52	[[/folder]]
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54	[[folder:WebComics]]
55	* Chapter 13 of ''Webcomic/RockAndRiot'' features the Jaquettes and Rollers in detention. Connie comes out, leading the rest of the cast to do so as well.
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58	[[folder:WebOriginal]]
59	* In the ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'' episode, "Robot Jeffy", Jeffy gets detention for [[ToiletHumor dirtying his diaper and tossing it at Jackie Chu's face]]. Cody's robot, Codo, makes a robot of Jeffy named Jeffo to take Jeffy's place in detention so Jeffy can stay in his room and play video games. When Bully Bill bullies Jeffo, Jeffo enters Kill Mode and goes on a rampage.
60	* ''Podcast/TrialsAndTrebuchets'':
61	** "Book Worms" has the students attending detention in the archives as punishment for skipping their evaluations, leading to them getting sucked into a PortalBook where they help a fellow student who was trapped in there escape.
62	** "Of Pets and Prophecies" begins with the students attending detention in the Evocation department as punishment for [[spoiler:breaking into the sewers, even though [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished they had only done so in order to save multiple students and a professor from an Oblex]],]] though the arc quickly shifts focus to [[HeroicPetStory the students' pets]] after an old magic rod causes the pets to be whisked away to a TalkingAnimal world, which they [[TheChosenOne are prophecized to save]].
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65	[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
66	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}:''
67	** In "Arthur Accused!", Arthur gets a whole week of detention from Mr. Haney and Ms. Tingley when he is falsely accused of spending the funds for a new puppy for the fire department at the arcade, rendering him unable to attend the third grade annual picnic. It's up to Buster to investigate the disappearance of the funds and [[ClearTheirName clear Arthur's name]], especially considering that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero he was the one who inadvertently landed Arthur in detention in the first place]].
68	** In "Arthur and the True Francine", Francine gets a week of detention when Mr. Marco accuses her of copying off Muffy's math test (when it was actually the other way around). This renders Francine unable to participate in a softball game against Mighty Mountain. After getting clobbered by Mighty Mountain in the softball game, Muffy tells Mr. Marco the truth and willingly takes her punishment of two weeks of detention so Francine can play.
69	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': In the episode "The Lesson", Gumball and Darwin get caught by Principal Brown cheating on a math test. They have to spend the entire spring break in detention, which is portrayed like a maximum security prison, with Principal Brown acting like a warden and a cupcake who [[VisualPun literally "lost his cherry"]] in a riot. The brothers and one of the other students plan a GreatEscape, but even after the former make it out, Brown points out [[HereWeGoAgain they're just going to have to come back the next day]].
70	* ''WesternAnimation/BeingIan'' had one episode with Ian landing the whole class detention and his repeated attempts at escaping detention keep accumulating more hours for the rest of the class.
71	* In the pilot episode of ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'', when Reggie Bullnerd picks on Rudy, Rudy draws a cartoon of "Bully Nerd" getting beaten up by Snap in retaliation. After Reggie uses Rudy as a human eraser, Mr. Wilter gives Rudy detention, forcing him to [[WritingLines write "Cartoons Are Not Funny" on the chalkboard repeatedly]]. After Rudy's chalk breaks, the next one he finds is a piece of magic chalk, which sets the show's premise in motion.
72	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}'': In the episode "Detention", Clarence gets sent to detention and discovers that Mr. Reece, the teacher in charge, falls asleep after eating donuts. The kids take advantage of this and turn the detention room into something akin to a nightclub.
73	* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': The episode "Dexter Detention" involves Dexter getting sent to detention after accidentally yelling out a test answer in annoyance. It's overseen by a SadistTeacher who insists [[FelonyMisdemeanor the students are all criminals]], has them WritingLines constantly, and has any of them he deems troublesome [[PunishmentBox shoved into a hole in the floor]]. This trope is turned on its head at the end, when Dexter and the other detention-birds dig their way out of the school...''[[OutOfTheFryingPan and into an actual prison]]''.
74	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Detention}}'': is a series rather than an episode. It focuses on a group of preteens who put themselves in wacky antics that lands them in detention in the end.
75	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'' is a series worth of this. Falsely accused of causing a prank on the first day, Lee Ping is sent to detention for a whole year. To add insult to the injury, his mother who is also a teacher at his school grounds him for that. The series revolves around him and his friends to sneak out of detention and find out who the real culprit of the prank is.
76	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'': "Doug to the Rescue" has Doug Funnie watching his crush Patti yell at resident bully Roger to stop bothering her about doing his book report; both are subsequently sent immediately to detention for disrupting class. While Doug's whispering to his friend Skeeter about what they could do to help, their teacher catches them and sends both to join Roger and Patti.
77	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': The episode "Detention X" has Grim becoming a substitute teacher and sending the class, Billy and Mandy included, into the Detention Dimension.
78	* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In the episode, "Full Moon", Harold, Stinky, and Sid [[{{Mooning}} moon]] Principal Wartz. Arnold is the only witness, and he refuses to rat them out because he's "[[HonorBeforeReason not a rat]]", so Principal Wartz gives Arnold 30 days of hard labor in detention. If Arnold confesses before the end of the deadline, Principal Wartz will lift his punishment, and if he doesn't, he will mark Arnold as a "Failure to cooperate" on his permanent record, but Arnold still refuses to rat his friends out. Near the end of the episode, Harold, Stinky and Sid's guilty consciences catch up with them and they confess what they did to Principal Wartz just before he can mark Arnold as a failure to cooperate.
79	* ''WesternAnimation/KickButtowski'': The episode "Detained" has Kick and his friends getting detention, with Miss Chiccarelli, who already hates him with a burning passion, being hired to watch the room.
80	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': The first episode (in production order) "Tick Tick Tick" involves Kim getting detention for being late to class, which she believes will stain her status on the school's social hierarchy, as cheerleaders don't "do" detention. Her father helps her realize that she isn't above or below anyone else at school, and that she had to do the time because she broke the rules. She also ends up making friends with the other students there after previously writing them off.
81	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode, "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS2E11PetsPeevedPulpFriction Pulp Friction]]", Principal Huggins gives Lincoln and Clyde detention when he finds out that they have an idea for the next ''[[ShowWithinAShow Ace Savvy]]'' comic book. Lincoln's sisters help bust Lincoln and Clyde out of detention to reach the post office in time for the contest's deadline. [[spoiler:In the end, it is revealed that Principal Huggins deliberately gave Lincoln and Clyde detention until after the deadline to get them out of the way so that he could submit his own entry for the contest. When Lincoln and Clyde find out, they and Principal Huggins form an alliance and submit their conjoined entry.]]
82	* ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'': In "Basic Jake", it turns out Jake deliberately gets himself into detention every Saturday so he can sneak into the old A/V room and host his own TV show.
83	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
84	** In "Bart the Lover", Bart gets a month's detention when he plays with a yo-yo in class and accidentally breaks the fish tank.
85	** The "Treehouse of Horror V" segment "Nightmare Cafeteria" has detention being held in the cafeteria due to the normal room being stuffed to overflowing. After the teachers discover [[ImAHumanitarian a taste for students]], [[AllCrimesAreEqual they start finding petty reasons to send their next meals into detention]].
86	** In "Lisa's Date with Destiny", Lisa gets detention when Mr. Largo thought that she was disrupting class by laughing at the word "trom[[HehHehYouSaidX boner]]". What Lisa was really laughing at was Nelson spraying Groundskeeper Willie with a hose and misunderstanding what he was saying.
87	** In "The Way We Was," Homer and Marge met in detention. Homer (who was a regular in the detention hall) had been caught smoking in the bathroom, and Marge (who was in detention for the first time ever) was sent there for leading a women's rights protest on campus that involved burning a bra.
88	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode, "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E13NewStudentStarfishClams New Student Starfish]]", [=SpongeBob=] brings Patrick with him to boating school, only for Patrick to constantly get him into trouble, culminating in both of them getting detention for having a [[WimpFight (wimpy) fight]] in the hallway. While in detention, the light bulb that keeps Roger, the class' egg alive burns out, so [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick have to put their differences aside and work together to keep Roger warm and find a new light bulb to replace the old one.
89	* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' episode "[[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS2E16GirlsDayOut Girls' Day Out]]", Star is thrown into detention for releasing the class hamster. There, she is elected "Mayor" of detention and sets to work fulfilling the requests of the other students there. Most are easy; the last one, batteries for a TV remote, requires her to leave the room and sneak around the school.
90	* The episode "[[Recap/TrollhuntersS2E10TheRecklessClub The Reckless Club]]" in ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'' centers around Jim and his friends being stuck in Saturday detention. The title is a parody of ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''.
91	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DetentionEpisode