Line #20 Series/VivaLaBam


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vivalabam_coverimage_1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''Bam Margera! What will he do next?'' [[spoiler:Whatever the fuck he wants.]] [[note]] Characters going clockwise from center: [[FameThroughInfamy Bam Margera]], [[TeamMom April Margera]], [[StoppedCaring Phil Margera]], [[MrFixIt Tim Glomb]], [[DeadpanSnarker Ryan Dunn]], [[ButtMonkey Rake Yohn]], [[LargeHam Brandon DiCamillo]], [[TheChewToy Don Vito]], [[DrugsAreGood Raab Himself]] [[/note]] ]]
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4	->'''He's Bam Margera!'''
5	->'''He loves to skate!'''
6	->'''He also likes to shake things up a bit...'''
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8	'''''Viva La Bam''''', one of the {{Spin Off}}s to MTV's hit show ''Series/{{Jackass}}'', focused on Bam Margera -- but instead of focusing on brief stunts and skits, ''Viva La Bam'' focused more on the general antics and shenanigans of Bam, his crew of friends, and his family in his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Bam's friends included Ryan Dunn, Chris "Raab Himself" Raab, Brandon "Dico" [=DiCamillo=] and Rake Yohn, while family members featured on the show included Bam's dad Phil, his mom April (aka "Ape"), and Bam's uncle Don Vito. Although the show didn't focus much on stunts, it still carried a DontTryThisAtHome disclaimer before each episode.
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10	The show lasted for five seasons (from 2003 to 2005), which means it technically lasted longer than ''Jackass'' itself. Most of the episodes had some kind of theme or challenge that the cast members (usually Bam and his crew) had to accomplish through stunts, pranks, or assistance from a number Bam's associates and celebrity friends. Although Bam and his crew improvised a good deal of the show, a greater degree of planning and organization supported the entire endeavour. Either way, when Bam and his crew got going, [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity soon followed]].
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12	----
13
14	!! ''Viva La Bam'' presents examples of the following tropes:
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16	* {{Angrish}}: Don Vito
17	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: For the most part, April found herself hating the shenanigans of Bam and his crew, but on occasion, she'd lighten up and enjoy herself -- especially when Don Vito, who April disliked, got humiliated.
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19	* BuffySpeak: In one episode, Vito made a bet with Bam to learn ten sentences in Spanish to win Bam's Hummer. This tidbit followed the bet:
20	-->'''Don Vito: What do I do if I don't learn the Mexican people language?'''\
21	'''Bam: You have to be my pet Mexican.'''\
22	'''Don Vito''': A pet Mexican? What the hell's a pet Mexican?\
23	'''Bam''': You'll find out...[[note]]simply, Bam put a sombrero on Vito's head and filled it with salsa[[/note]]
24	* ButtMonkey / ChewToy: The appeal of the show in it's first season was to see Phil and Ape get tormented by Bam and Co. with Don Vito as just an odd CloudCuckooLander. By season two, Vito became easily the star of the show because he'd actually attempt to fight back against Bam (as opposed to Phil who will let Bam get away with anything and April who will just kinda shout at Bam).
25	** Rake Yohn constantly found himself abused, humiliated and made fun of by the rest of Bam's crew.
26	* CloudCuckooLander:
27	** Technically, the entirety of Bam's crew qualify.
28	** Brandon [=DiCamillo=] is this to Bam & the crew.
29	* TheDogBitesBack: Don Vito, after having his home destroyed by Bam, has had enough and steals Bam's Hummer (and Ryan Dunn by accident), takes it on a road trip and finally destroying it by dropping it off a cliff.
30	* DirtyOldMan: Don Vito
31	* DumbassHasAPoint: Don Vito usually talks out of his ass, but in "Bam in the River", Bam sets out a challenge to take the Brandywine river to the Delaware River, Don Vito tells them it's not possible because it doesn't go that way. Turns out, Don Vito was completely right, as Phil and April calls Bam to notify him. Bam had to completely get Vito stone cold drunk to trick him as such to make the fix.
32	* EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped: Don Vito's {{Angrish}} mode often had subtitles accompanying it -- and part of the time, the subtitles consisted of question marks.
33	-->'''Vito:''' Here's the thing. I liapli-??????????-by myself.\
34	'''Mike V:''' I don't even know what the fuck you're saying! Let's go!
35	* FreudWasRight: In an episode where [[ItMakesSenseInContext CKY and Vito go sailing down the Brandywine River in boats that look like a Viking ship, shoe, Tom Sawyer raft, and hot dog]], Vito comments on the design of the last one, saying "it looks like a giant penis."
36	* FunWithSubtitles: A lot of the time, the production staff would just subtitle his speech exactly how it sounded.
37	* GoodParents: Phil and April.
38	* HappilyMarried: Phil and April.
39	* HilarityEnsues: Naturally.
40	* InsaneTrollLogic: Brandon resorted to this in the episode where Bam's Lamborghini got stolen. When he finds Don Vito at an Italian restaurant, he denied stealing it, but Brandon thought he did it because he saw Vito eating veal scallopini, which rhymes with Lamborghini[[note]]also, both things are Italian[[/note]].
41	** This was after he'd used it to clear himself with "How could I steal it, I don't have any hair"
42	* ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans: The show [[JustifiedTrope justified]] this trope when Bam and his friends and family traveled to New Orleans over a two-part episode -- they went specifically for Mardi Gras.
43	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Bam, shockingly enough, did this a lot.
44	** He revealed that he'd bought Phil a new vehicle after mangling his dad's beloved van.
45	** He managed to get Don Vito [[note]]yes, the same Don Vito who had his cars destroyed on a regular basis[[/note]] inducted as a member of the Metal Mulisha.
46	** He constantly made April's life a living hell, but got Music/BillyIdol (April's idol) to visit her as a birthday gift.
47	** For his parents' anniversary, Bam got them a seat for dinner in Monaco, gave them a bottle of wine that he had drove from Munich to Dracula's Castle in Romania -- through a snowstorm in the Swiss Alps, no less -- to get, and tied Don Vito to a pier to stop him from ruining the dinner in any way.[[note]]After Vito ruined the previously planned dinner in Venice, that is.[[/note]]
48	** In one of the earlier episodes of the series, Bam did the whole "Don't Feed Phil!" shtick in order to stop Phil from over eating. April suspected was out of fear of Phil's health (and also because he fears he'll "look like him").
49	* LargeHam[=/=]{{Keet}}: Dico pretty much out hams Creator/BrianBlessed in this show!
50	* LaserGuidedKarma: April needs to do chores, but Bam & the guys have filled her car with snow; April promptly just takes Bam's Lambourginhi.
51	-->'''Bam:''' I would've thrown a snowball at it, but then I realized it's mine!\
52	'''April:''' (''to the camera'') Justice.
53	* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Raab
54	* NotSoAboveItAll: April. After initial shock to Bam's antics, she usually wound up laughing along with everyone and would sometimes even partake; for instance, when Bam built a skatepark ''inside'' the house, April wound up kicking holes into one of the walls along with the guys.
55	* {{Oktoberfest}}: The crew went to Munich ''during'' Oktoberfest, which made this a JustifiedTrope.
56	* OneOfTheKids: Phil often found himself joining in and having fun with Bam and co.'s antics.
57	* OneSteveLimit: Averted - Bam, Novak & [=DiCamillo=] all share the first name of Brandon. Bam's an obvious case of OnlyKnownByHisNickname, Novak's on a LastNameBasis, and [=DiCamillo=]'s somewhere inbetween.
58	* OnlyKnownByHisNickname:
59	** Bam & Don Vito.
60	** Raab is a subversion - Raab is his last name, but he's credited as Raab Himself.
61	** Edward Webb, stage name Rake Yohn.
62	* OnlySaneMan: April qualifies as this, but even she could sometimes find herself NotSoAboveItAll.
63	* PianoDrop: The prize for the out-of-control scavenger hunt that ended the first season provided the name for Music/BloodhoundGang's "[[RealitySubtext Hefty Fine]]".
64	* PrideBeforeAFall: Bam is extremely overconfident in his challenges sometimes, to the point where he doesn't put much effort and rarely wins, especially against Don Vito.
65	* RunningGag: It's an achievement if one of Vito's cars lasts more than 2 episodes.
66	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Never really said explicitly, but probably ''WHY'' Bam gets away with breaking so much stuff.
67	* StopHavingFunGuys: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by the show - The Township of West Chester is depicted as such, lodging complaints about the Margeras due to some of Bam's antics. After receiving the first complaint of the series, because Bam broke zoning laws when he had an elephant on the property, Bam immediately tells the viewer that the neighbours had written the family a thank you note over the same incident, as their children had enjoyed playing with the elephant. The complaints are also given as the reason for the cast moving into "Castle Bam" at the start of season 2, and the creation of the "State of Bam" in the fourth season.
68	* StraightMan: April definitely qualifies, but Phil arguably fits in here as well. He enjoyed the shenanigans on occasion, but he mostly remained a passive observer and joined in when he didn't become a victim.
69	* TheUnintelligible: Don Vito qualifies so much that even the subtitles got in the act.
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Context Series / VivaLaBam