YMMV / Shake it Up

• Creator's Pet: Flynn. At only 10 years old he is portrayed as a Spoiled Brat far more intelligent than all the characters older than him, except Henri. They even said he set up Wi-Fi in the apartment when he was three. Also, he is given all the good stuff no matter what he does. He's been given the spotlight dance despite not doing anything the entire episode, he tricked Rocky into getting him a toy by pretending to be a needy child, becoming an internet sensation, and even impressing a girl twice his age. No matter what he does he almost always gets away with his actions despite being selfish, greedy, and obnoxious.
• Designated Villain:
  • Gunther and Tinka come off as this. They are blatant jerks most of the time, especially towards CeCe, which is somewhat justified because CeCe herself can be quite a selfish jerk herself. On the other hand, they don't really do anything bad, yet they are still treated like the devil simply because of their Lack of Empathy, even when they try not to act like jerks.
    • They become less and less Designated Villains as the series goes on, and by the time of the third season (and Tinka becoming a solo act) her Designated Villain role completely disappears, where she instead relinquishes the role to...
  • Logan was also a case of this as well. He had legitimate reasons to hate CeCe, such as for not having any sense of responsibility for her actions, being lazy, and being an all around jerk. When he fires her, CeCe just smites him afterwards even if he really did nothing to wrong to deserve it. Despite his legitimate reasons to not stand CeCe, it still made him the bad guy in the eyes of others, especially Rocky.
    • This is somewhat reversed by the time of Love And War It Up, when Rocky tries to get CeCe and Logan to get along and give eachother a chance. CeCe makes a genuine effort to make good with Logan, but when she accidentally ruins his badminton game, he rejects any reconciliation they could have, and in turn Rocky permanently breaks up with Logan for not giving CeCe a chance.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Most fanfiction you see about the show will be CeCe/Rocky, although the CeCe/Gunther pairing is also relatively popular.
  • Ever since it was teased in Season 1, the Tinka/Ty pairing gained a lot of popularity to the point where the showrunners made it canon, albeit in the form of their future versions only.
• Growing the Beard: The second half of Season 2 onward.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • In the Make it in Japan special where Cece and Rocky make a speech about how Gunther and Tinka shouldn't be separated as a metaphor for their own friendship. The very next season Gunther does not return and Tinka is given a solo role.
  • In "Add It Up" where it's revealed that Cece has dyslexia and wants nobody to know because people can be mean. It's only more heartbreaking when you know that Bella Thorne has dyslexia in real life and was bullied mercilessly for her inability to read.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Cat Deeley's use of So You Think You Can Dance becomes a lot funnier when Zendaya got on Dancing with the Stars without complete confirmation that she can dance.
  • Same with the episode "Future It Up" : Rocky saying that her husband is an international secret agent is funnier when one remembers the part Zendaya played aftewards.
  • This show gives us a flamboyant, foreign dancer named Gunther. Sing gives us a flamboyant, foreign dancer named Gunter.
• Just Here for Godzilla: As with the vast majority of Disney Channel KidComs, many boys are only here to see Bella Thorne, Zendaya and Caroline Sunshine.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: Not many people remember this series, but those who do might only remember it as "that show that made fun of eating disorders that was called out by Demi Lovato."
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Flynn once tried to go out with Paisley.
  • In a relatively rare example, Kent Boyd (Rascal from Teen Beach Movie) got to play himself (introduced as Kent Boyd from So You Think You Can Dance) during the Cold Opening of an episode.
  • Tanner was a dancer in "Party It Up"
  • Luke Ross/Carlos/Conor as a dancer in the Season 1 finale.
  • Raina later became a teenage superhero.
  • While not having a role per se, the song "Future Sounds Like Us" is sung by Dove Cameron, and this was nonetheless how she got her start on Disney Channel before Liv and Maddie.
  • The drill instructor from "Boot It Up" is the mom from Kirby Buckets and Just Roll With It.
  • Amber is Sally van Buren, a mean little pageant girl.
  • Flynn's precocious friend Henry grows up to become a football player.
  • Dylan, an older guy CeCe crushes on in one episode, goes on to portray Hairspray Live's Link Larkin.
• She Really Can Act: Bella Thorne in the scene where CeCe prays for Rocky's recovery after Rocky injures her foot. CeCe doesn't really come off like the religious type (and she admits that she usually only prays when she wants something for herself), but thanks to Thorne's delivery, the prayer seems heartfelt and genuine.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: A reasonable facsimile of "Bad to the Bone" plays as Rocky enters detention clad in her new "bad girl" outfit.
  • Up Up and Away sounds remarkably similar to "Blow" by Kesha which was released around the same time

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