Two of a Kind

A fairly standard Dom Com series, starring Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen as Mary-Kate & Ashley Burke, who live their ordinary pre-teen life -- except for the fact that their widowed working father, Kevin, can't be at home all the time and therefore needs a sitter to be with them... and he's (at first) not impressed with Carrie, a student in his class whom his daughters picked as their nanny.

This show has parallels with Full House, the most obvious examples being both the prominent roles the Olsen twins take up and Miller-Boyette as production company. It ran for one season only and was the last sitcom produced by Miller-Boyette.

This show provides examples of:
"Brian: This is the worst day of my life! Two guys called me a hottie, and I got asked out by a boy named Carl.
 * Actor Allusion: During the pilot Mary-Kate says of poker "I thought a Full House beat everything".
 * Alpha Bitch: Jennifer in her first episode. This gets dropped pretty soon and she is shown hanging around with Ashley all the time.
 * Attractive Bent Gender: This happens to Brian during the Halloween Episode after some costume swapping, something of which he is not fond.

Max: You didn't have to say yes."

"Mary Kate: Well I guess Jennifer Dilber wins again.
 * Back to School: When Kevin & Carrie first meet in one of his classes, he notes that she's older than the average college student, and she notes that she's decided to return to school.
 * Big Eater: Carrie actually.
 * Bottle Fairy: Carrie is a fairly mild example.
 * Brick Joke: The twins discuss Carrie having a tattoo that says "Jean Luc" in the pilot. In a later episode after Kevin walks in on Carrie in the shower, he asks who Jean Luc is.
 * Can't Get Away With Nuthin: Played with in when the twins sneak over to Carrie's college party without Kevin's permission. They get caught but the end of the episode has them realising they can still make a good story out of this.

Ashley: At least we can say we were at a college party.

Mary Kate: And that a cop showed up, and we nearly got arrested.

Ashley: I think we can make this work."

"Ashley: "Oh my God, I look like Grandma""
 * This also occurs in an episode where Carrie convinces Kevin to call in sick at work and go to a ballgame instead, which is the first time he's ever played hookey. He wins a car because of this- and ends up on the big screen and the evening news. When his boss calls,.
 * And then subverted when the girls throw a party at the house while Kevin is away. See Sarcastic Confession below.
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment: The twins sneaked their way around to a college party without Kevin's approval, so Carrie decided to have them stay... as clean-up crew.
 * Cosmetic Catastrophe: Ashley gets an ink stain on her face and Carrie tries to cover it up with a lot of makeup.

"Carrie: What is she, some kind of witch?
 * The Danza
 * Even Nerds Have Standards
 * Fiery Redhead: Carrie. An ex boyfriend of hers reveals she used to be worse.
 * Geek Physiques: Paul.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: A female next-door neighbor tells Carrie of a female relative of her love interest. She isn't fond of said relative and lets Carrie know it, and then this takes place:

Neighbor: You're just one letter off."

"Marcy: You never mentioned her.
 * A not-so subtle example in another episode where the twins lie to their father's date that Carrie is another one of his girlfriends:

Kevin: There's not much to tell. I needed someone, I took out an ad and Carrie showed up. It's just a coincidence that she happened to be a student of mine. And whenever she's too busy with her studies I just call Mrs Baker. She's my neighbour. Of course she's 72 so she's not as much fun as Carrie but she still gets the job done"."

"Kevin: How was the party?
 * "Peeping Twins" literally implies that Mrs Baker and Mr Filmore are going to have sex.
 * Halloween Episode
 * Hair Flip: According to Ashley, if a guy nods in greeting you should respond with one of these.
 * Hypocritical Heartwarming: In-universe example where the twins lie to their father's date as they're afraid of losing Carrie. She finds this sweet but immediately tells them off after a cough from Kevin.
 * Hollywood Tone Deaf: A date Matt set up for Kevin.
 * Informed Ability: A plot point in one episode where a guy Mary Kate likes says he only swing dances and when she keeps asking him to dance with her (after learning how to swing-dance) he rebuffs her before confessing he can't dance at all and just made it up as an excuse.
 * Ironic Inversion: Ashley auditions for a modelling agency but doesn't get it despite having prepared for weeks. Mary Kate has no interest in it and ends up getting it with a sarcastic tryout.
 * Karma Houdini: Carrie gets this a couple of times. She nags Kevin into asking out a waitress, convinced that they'll hit it off. Instead the waitress flips out because she hates being hit on at work, and Kevin has to find a new place to get coffee. Another episode had her rant to him about a model asking him out, suggesting she only did it to make herself seem smart. This ends up making Kevin paranoid and ruining his date. Carrie is never called out on this.
 * Another episode has Kevin planning to break up with Nancy but Carrie tells her by accident, making Nancy even angrier that she knew in advance as well. The episode ends with Kevin finding one of his car mirrors smashed and Carrie gets away scott-free again.
 * Lovable Alpha Bitch: Jennifer Dilber.
 * Lovable Jock: Mary Kate herself.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Carrie is part this, part Magical Nanny.
 * Missing Mom: Kevin is widowed. How this came to be is never revealed.
 * Noodle Incident: The twins make one up to scare their father's date. For some reason Ashley has so many germs they can't keep cats anymore.
 * Sarcastic Confession: The twins hold a party that escalates out of control later before Paul manages to make the guests leave, and together they tidy up before Kevin gets home. Then this occurs:

One of the twins: It got very quiet after the band left.

Kevin: Very funny."


 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Kevin and his brother, Matt.
 * Ship Tease: Carrie and Kevin a few times.
 * Stab the Salad: The plot of the episode "Peeping Twins" though the audience knows from the start.
 * Those Two Guys: Max and Brian.
 * Token Minority: Max.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Between Mary-Kate and Ashley.
 * Twin Switch: So very often, to the point of not only fooling the father but getting a tutor suspicious when the girl he tutors shows drastic academic improvement. Carrie is able to tell the difference immediately however.
 * Wild Teen Party: All right, so the twins aren't teen yet, but the party they hold still turn into this. They aren't punished for it, however, because they clean up well after it before Kevin returns and the truth Kevin gets about it is not quite full-fledged.
 * Will They or Won't They: Between Kevin and Carrie.