Big Time Rush

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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Big Time Rush is a Nickelodeon Sitcom about a boy band created by Scott Fellows (You know? The dude behind Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and Johnny Test). Fairly standard fare, spiced up with fresh faces and decent music. Debuted in November, 2009 and is still ongoing.

Kendall, James, Carlos and Logan are four hockey players from small-town Minnesota. James dreams of becoming a pop star, so when Gustavo Rocque, the ridiculously stuck-up producer for Rocque Records, comes to their town looking for talent, he gets all of his friends to audition with him. Unfortunately, Gustavo hates him but loves Kendall, who doesn't do the whole rich and famous act. But, in the end, he agrees to record some demos in Los Angeles as long as Rocque takes his friends, too, and makes them a singing group. They find out they only have three days to become a passable band, and proceed to ensue hilarity.

Now with its own Ho Yay and Shout Out page.

Tropes used in Big Time Rush include:

Kelly: "If you have a bad day with Deke, you'll be bigger nobodies than Tanyon Labelle."
BTR: "Who's Tanyon Labelle?"
Kelly and Gustavo: "Exactly."

Camille:"Get to the part where you get your butts kicked and put meat on your faces!"

  • Beware the Nice Ones: Kendall can be your best friend, or your worse nightmare.
  • Bishonen: All of the boys display some of this, but James especially oozes bishie. He's very well aware of it and flaunts it for all it's worth.
    • Barnett "Guitar Dude" O'Hara as well, considering he's a former (current?) male model. In-universe as well - note the fact that he's constantly surrounded by pretty girls.
      • And picked up by Mercedes Griffin exactly one second after she declared she'd "never love again."
  • Big No: Used by Gustavo when things go wrong.
  • Big "What?": Also used too.
  • Bloodless Carnage: Lampshaded in "Big Time Girlfriends".

Logan: Broadswords at eleven!
Bitters: Sorry, no blood - Palm Woods rule.

  • Book Ends: The series opens with the boys running away from a bunch of screaming girls, James claiming that the next time this happens, it will be when he's famous. The boys running away from screaming fangirls is the last thing we see them doing in season one.
  • Bound and Gagged: Jett by Kendall in Green Time Rush and by doing so, the two won the environment challenge for school.
  • Boy Band: Natch.
  • Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Griffin invokes twice this in Welcome Back Big Time.

Griffin: A little wheeling, a little dealing... and poison.
Griffin: Remember: Big Time Rush, Rocktober... poison.

  • Butt Monkey: Logan. When the guys are worried that Wayne Wayne will have someone kicked out of the band, James remarks that he thinks it'll be Logan... Whilst crouching right next to him. Later, Gustavo and Griffin remark that they thought Logan would be the one kicked out of the band, Griffin going so far as to use the intercom so that Logan would hear him.
    • Logan was also sat on by Gustavo and ran over by a horde of fangirls. Boy can't catch a break.
    • In Welcome Back Big Time, Logan does several weeks of school work in a day - not just his own, but the rest of the group's too. All James and Kendall do is something very minute so they could claim the work was their own, but Carlos just signs his name.
      • Somehow their teacher doesn't put 2 and 2 together when Carlos's project includes a working laser.
    • In "Big Time Moms," it is revealed that Logan's real name is Hortense, but James' mother makes him change it.
    • In Big Time Movie Logan gets shot by tranquilizing dart guns... alot.
    • In "Big Time Pranks", the guys hold a prank contest among all of the Palm Woods tenants and Logan is the first one to be disqualified. Funny thing is, nobody even pranks him, he actually pranks himself.
    • In "Big Time Break", Logan goes through a lot of trouble just to get a lecture from his favorite math celebrity teacher just to find out she's a crazy feminist and, latter, getting beaten up by a bunch of girls.
  • Cool Car: The Big Time Rush Mobile.
    • It's just a 1966 Pontiac GTO Convertible.. meh, I guess that's sort of cool.
  • Call Back: In the pilot, one of the platinum awards Gustavo received was for Yard Squirrel Christmas. This doesn't become mentioned again until 'Big Time Christmas'.
    • And in Big Time Beach Party Griffin notes that BTR's first number one single was in Kerplankistan. In Big Time Wedding, the band is visited by the king from said country.
  • The Cameo: Nicole Scherzinger in the pilot.
  • Captain Ersatz: The producer from Big Time Live is pretty much a Jerkass version of Liz Lemon.
  • Cast Full of Pretty Boys
  • Cat Fight: A male example, as seen between Carlos and Logan. Let's just say the fans rejoiced at the implication.
  • Cats Are Mean: Gustavo has a hairless cat named Monty. He really doesn't like the boys.
  • Child Prodigy: Katie, oh so much.
  • Christmas Special: Big Time Christmas a two parter combined together to make a movie.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Mercedes. She and Logan have only been "dating" for a week, so naturally, it's time to plan their one year anniversary.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Oh, Carlos.

Kendall: What have we learned since coming to LA?
Carlos: When you leave the house, |your toys come alive!

    • And Carlos has now cemented this as his role, when the boys end up going back to Minnesota and pursue some other dreams. Logan wants to be a doctor, Kendall wants to be a hockey player, but Carlos? He wants to be a superhero called Meteor Man Asteroid Boy El Fuego del Space Rock Thingy something related to meteors, but presently unnamed.
    • Logan can approach this territory at times, namely when he's completely freaking out.
    • Griffin, of the Eccentric Millionaire-type.

Griffin: Lolo, I'm transferring you to Missile Defense.

For clarification, Lolo is a chimpanzee. And even he face palmed at that one.
  • Completely Missing the Point: Gustavo - In the pilot, Kendall responds to Gustavo saying James had no talent by turning this against Gustavo, pointing out his last hit was ten years ago. Gustavo indignantly replies that his last hit wasn't ten years ago, it was nine.
  • Continuity Nod: When the boys are finally forgiven by Mrs. Magikowski (the old lady who let them use her car to drive to the auditions) for not shoveling her walk. Instead they offer to mow her lawn. When that fails, they give her their butler, Sebastian.
  • Covered in Kisses: Logan, after Camille the method actress is "in character" (read: making sure no other girls go near Logan) by kissing him all over.
  • Crossover: Surprisingly, with SpongeBob SquarePants in Big Time Beach Party. Or at least a crossover with the live action segments, as Patchy the Pirate suddenly shows up to hang out with Carlos and Logan to find buried treasure.
  • The Danza: Kendall is played by Kendall Schmidt, Logan by Logan Henderson, Carlos by Carlos Pena, and James by James Maslow.
  • The Dandy: James.
  • Dawson Casting: The guys are about 3–4 years older than the standard sophomore/junior high school age, as is Erin Sanders who plays Camille.
    • Surprisingly, Ciara Bravo who plays Katie - She's fourteen, but she's playing a 12 year old.
  • Demoted to Extra: All of the cast members who appeared in the video for "The City Is Ours". Okay, so they are technically extras in the music video, but the video in the show features Camille, Jo, the Jennifers & Guitar Dude far more prominently that the actual full-length video that was released, which is more or less a longer edit of the one seen in the show.
  • Department of Redundancy Department: James and Carlos are the "Hollywood Super Party Kings of Hollywood".

Logan: You said "Hollywood" twice.
James: You bet I did.

    • And again by James in 'Big Time Crush'.

James: When it comes to love I'm like a doctor. Of love.

      • Yet again in "Big Time Beach Party"

James: All aboard the Malibu beach party party bus.
Logan: You said "party" twice.
James: You bet I did.

      • Once more in "Big Time Superheroes."

James: We are the Super-tastic Super Six!
Hawk: You said "super" twice.
All: You bet he did.

  • Did Not Do the Research: Contrary to how he was introduced in Big Time School of Roque, Chris Masters has never held a championship in the WWE. May fall under They Just Didn't Care.
    • In Big Time Concert, Kelly says that all of the original members of Destiny's Child had been replaced except Beyonce when Kelly Rowland survived all of the line-up changes as well.
  • Disguised in Drag: When Logan crossdresses to get into an all-girl's school, he not only passes the "lobby test" but is hit on by a male actor only seconds after putting on the disguise.
    • In another episode Kendall and Jo don disguises to avoid paparazzi, one of these disguises is Kendall as a girl and Jo as a guy.
      • In Big Time Crush Logan dresses up as a old lady in an attempt to help Carlos get a girlfriend, which went horribly wrong... Later on, he meets up with a cute girl while in grandma disguise and THAT goes horribly wrong...
        • In Big Time Songwriters James claims that he can come up with lyrics to a love song if he was singing to a girl, unfortunately for Logan he was the only person available at the time, so Logan got dressed up in a blouse and wig.
        • In Big Time Prom, in order to escape from his date's bodyguards, James changed clothes with Camille– Camille ended up in a tuxedo, and James in a pink strapless ball gown.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Everyone and constantly so. One good example? Miranda Cosgrove in Big Time Christmas: "Yeah, but - they're REALLY cute."
  • Do-It-Yourself Theme Tune: Song Title? Big Time Rush. Who sings it? Big Time Rush.
  • Dope Slap: The boys, usually because one of them has gone off track.
  • Downer Ending: Big Time Crush. All four of them end up not having dates to a romantic movie. Turns later into Ho Yay and Crowning Moment of Funny when all of them agree to watch a kiddie movie about a unicorn instead.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: James. But this is a kids show, right?
    • This is lampshaded—of all times—at the Yard Squirrel Christmas short in 'Big Time Christmas'. In Butch Hartman style, BTR are squirrels...but James is the only one with eyelashes.
  • Dueling Shows: Disney XD's I'm in The Band.
  • Embarrassing First Name: Invoked in Big Time Songwriters. Apparently Katie's first name would've been 'Apple' if Kendall didn't convinced their mom to call her Katie.
    • Hortense. In case you didn't know, that was Logan's original name. Thank goodness for James' mom.
  • Enemy Mine: Kendall and Jett in Big Time Pranks.
  • Establishing Character Moment: The show is VERY good at this.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Arguably all of the boys, but special mention goes to James - whilst helping Logan ask Camille to the dance, he wound up accidentally asking (at least) five girls to the dance and all of them said yes.
  • Even The Chimp Is Ashamed: In Big Time Demos, Griffin decides that he's going to reassign his hit-predicting chimpanzee to his company's missile defense division. Everyone looks at him like he's insane and then the chimp Face Palms.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Dirt Boy in Big Time Wedding
  • Evil Counterpart: Played for laughs with Cat's Crew in Big Time Girls Group. Jett also serves as this for Kendall (and still played for laughs), as well as a Romantic False Lead for Jo.
  • Evil Laugh: Bitters.
  • Exact Words: Sometimes used to full effect in some episodes. In Big Time Beach Party, the band gets to go to Griffin's beach house when they got a number one single (Griffin never mentioned where it had to be).[1] Likewise in Big Time Wedding the king of Kerplankistan only tells the priest to marry his daughter with whomever was wearing the ceremonial garb not knowing that James and Dirt Boy exchanged clothes during the scuffle.
  • Executive Meddling: An in-universe example with Griffin.
  • Expy: Dak Zevon is Zac Efron.
    • The character Aubrey Stewart from "Big Time Prom" is Kristen Stewart, right down to her last name and the assumption that she's always expressionless.
      • This is subverted when she finally breaks out in tears after James admits the real reason he asked her to prom.
  • Extreme Omnivore: Annie from "Big Time Beach Party", who eats raw clams, shell and all.
  • Fan Disservice: When Bitters bought a new car, he attempts to woo girls by doing a slow-mo car wash like he's a Hood Ornament Hottie. His body motions were more of a Gross Up Close-Up and the female passers-by react in disgust.
  • Fan Service: In "Big Time Break" James flashed his washboard abs multiple times.
    • For this Tropette, it was two different daydream sequences in "Big Time Party" where Logan imagines himself in a James Bond-esque spy movie, complete with a tuxedo.
    • "Big Time Concert" really delivered. A notable occurrence is during Gustavo's extreme concert preperation which for no discernable reason involved the boys getting sprayed with water. While their mouths were wide open. And they were wearing generic camoflauge gear.
      • Shortly after, the boys were soaked again (the cause of which is unmemorable and totally not the point anyway). This wouldn't normally have been that interesting of a scene, but James was, shall we say, not wearing a bra...
  • Five-Man Band:
  • Flowers for Algernon Syndrome: Parodied when James decides to steal Logan's smarts after Logan "steals" his swag. He has a huge montage where he solves complicated math problems on two humongous boards while Camille is looking on in shock, but when the montage is over, he doesn't know what any of it means and assumes it's a recipe for toast.
  • Foreshadowing: The song Shot in the Dark [dead link] for the events of Big Time Concert.
  • Four-Girl Ensemble: More than a Five-Man Band (despite the fact that they are musicians) or a Four-Temperament Ensemble the boys are naive Carlos, wise leader Kendall, sexy James and mannish (or as close to it as singers are going to be) or serious Logan.
  • Four-Temperament Ensemble: Kind of:
    • Phlegmatic (the "middle of the road" kind): Kendall
    • Choleric: James
    • Melancholic OR the other kind of phlegmatic: Logan
    • Sanguine: Carlos
  • Freaky Fashion, Mild Mind: Lucy Stone has dyed red hair and dresses like a stereoptypical rocker chick, but is really quite friendly.
  • Friendship Moment: Plenty of these throughout the series. Some notable moments:
    • James throwing away the phone number of sweet and georgeous Heather Fox to make Carlos feel better in "Big Time Secret."

James: Supermodel spokesgirls will come and go. I hope. But best friends are forever.

Officer: But I better not catch you anywhere near Hawk Records. Or next time...there will be no bail.
Gustavo: Yes, sir, mister commissioner. We will stay away from Hawk Records.
[Cut to the group at Rocque Records.]
Gustavo: Okay. How do we get back into Hawk Records?!

  • Girl Group: Cat's Crew
  • Girl Posse: The Jennifers. Cat's Crew also qualifies.
  • Groin Attack: Griffin received one. "KUMBAYA" indeed.
  • Heroic BSOD: Played for laughs in Big Time Single during the time the boys are upset over their break-ups.
  • Hidden Depths: What ultimately saves BTR in "Big Time Demos" is Mercedes statistically stating how Big Time Rush would become popular to the fanbase to her father.
    • In Big Time Wedding Buddha Bob reveals that he's a great cook, mechanic, teller of make-believe stories and can re-tile a bathroom.
  • High School Dance: In the episode 'Big Time Dance' the boys become the end-of-school dance committee.
  • Hot Teacher: Miss Collins in "Big Time School of Rocque".
  • Hot Mom: Mrs. Knight (Challen Cates) is pretty easy on the eyes. She doesn't like wearing dresses, but rather prefers sneakers, track pants and jackets.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Not in a romantic sense but in a 'family sense', this is James and Katie who are shown together in their own adventures. James even states that Katie is like a sister to him.
    • But in Big Time Fan James is convinced that Katie has a crush on him (Katie downright says she doesn't have one).
    • This is almost epitomized (in a platonic way) when Katie and Freight Train work together in Big Time Jobs.
  • Hypocritical Humour: In Big Time Bad Boy, Mrs. Knight tells Katie not to judge people without getting to know them. Seconds later, she does that exact thing, when she sees the Palmwood's bearded maintenance guy and jumps to the conclusion that he's an axe murderer. Granted, he was swinging an axe around and it appeared to have blood on it (the axe was used to cut a jelly doughnut in half), but still.
  • I Can't Believe I'm Saying This: Kendall, in "Big Time Superheroes" as he gives James permission to transform into his alter-ego, Bandana Man.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each episode is titled "Big Time ____" in the first season. The second season features the episodes Welcome Back Big Time and "Green Time Rush" so a more accurate statement is that each episode features two words from the band's name.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Bitters and Katie.
    • Pretty much anyone Katie comes into contact with - and usually befriends or allies with - is much older than her. This includes Freight Train, Gustavo (to an extent), and James.
  • I Remember It Like It Was Yesterday: In Big Time Terror:

Gustavo: Oh, and remember when I bumped into Kendall and spilled my oatmeal?! Hahaha!
(Kendall turns around with an oatmeal stain on his shirt.)
Kendall: Yeah, because it happened like two minutes ago.

  • Ironic Echo: In Big Time Girlfriend, Carlos, Logan and Kendall try to win Jo's affections. After Carlos fails, Logan tries his attempt—Camille stops him—and he replies that he calls a do-over, and Kendall replies he can't. Then Kendall tries to go after Jo, but Freight Train carries him away and the roles are reversed.
  • It's All About Me: James.
  • Jaw Drop: Parodied as part of a running gag in Big Time Rocker.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gustavo. Arguably Bitters, especially as of Big Time Christmas.
  • Jerkass: Bitters. See Jerk With A Heart Of Gold above.
  • Jerk Jock: Jett (and it seems that this may also be his role on 'New Town High'.
  • Keet: Carlos.
  • A Lady on Each Arm: Griffin, in the pilot.
  • Lampshade Hanging: There was this nice little gem;

Kendall: We'll just put them [the Jennifers, Jo, and Camille] in the background [of our music video], that's acting right?
Every Single Background Character: YES!!!!!!!!

    • The episode Big Time Girlfriends. Bitters and Katie follow the guys around, acting like their love lives are a soap opera.
    • Basically, the show LIVES on this trope.
    • "Is that Carlos...in slow motion?"
    • "Okay, but can we get a cool, dramatic entrance?"
  • Large Ham: In-universe, Camille.
    • Out of universe, Gustavo.

Gustavo: Amazing. You forgot to write, I'm AMAZING!

  • Laser-Guided Karma: Atticus Moon gets it big time when Katie gets the Beetle on his back and causes him to float up into the sky.
  • Laugh Track: Averted. iCarly and Victorious are certainly fun shows, but unlike Dan Schneider, at least Scott Fellows knows that it isn't necessary to put emphasis on a funny moment.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall
  • Let's Just Be Friends: Invoked in Big Time Love Song when Jo states that she has a boyfriend and tells that she and BTR to be friends. But while BTR fight, Camille goes to Jo and states that she doesn't have one. Jo admits she said it cause she didn't want to deal with all the fighting everyday.
    • In Big Time Rocker James and Carlos want to avert being in the Friend Zone with Lucy, but because of their actions, they get there.
  • Little Miss Badass: Katie. SO much so. She's barely into puberty and she's already suckering the hotel staff out of their money and watches at Poker.
    • When Mrs. Knight is bummed about Kendall growing up and remarks that she'll have to get used to an empty nest, Katie points out that she's sat right next to her mother, who then retorts that Katie hasn't needed her since she learned to win at Five Card Stud.
    • Let's not forget Green Time Rush; she used Puppy Dog Eyes to its fullest.
    • How about Big Time Live? In that episode she drives a tanker truck and knocks out an evil producer with it.
  • Little Miss Con Artist: Katie fakes her Mother's resume to get her a job at the Palmwoods.
    • Also, Mollie from the episode Big Time Bad Boy.
  • Little Miss Snarker: Again, Katie.
  • Liz Lemon Job: Kelly. She is ostensibly Gustavo's assistant, but really her job is to corral the boys whenever they're needed, and also occasionally be Gustavo's Morality Pet.
  • Loophole Abuse: In "Big Time Fever" when Bitters tells Katie that she can't operate her snow cone stand on Palmwoods property, she places it on a platform suspended over the ground so that she's technically not on it.
    • Big Time Beach Party - The boys try to cash in on Griffin saying that if they ever had a number one record, he'd let them use his beach house, but he points out that it was in Keplankistan. James immediately invokes this by pointing out that Griffin never said where the record had to be number one.
    • Likewise in Big Time Wedding, James—having accidentally given a marriage proposal—is thought to be safe since it wasn't on Kerplankistan soil... Then the king reveals exactly why he has a dirt boy on him.
  • Love At First Sight: Used twice in the episode "Big Time Love Song", as well as in the pilot episode when the boys first meet The Jennifers.
  • Magic Pants: In "Big Time Prom", despite the height difference between James and Camille, the clothes fit when they dress as each other in order for James to avoid his prom date's bodyguards.
  • Mama Bear: In Big Time School of Rocque, Mrs. Knight starts fighting another girl's mom when she insulted Katie.
  • Married to the Show: The guys usually bring this up when asked about their love lives during interviews. An interviewer actually called them out on this answer.
  • Merchandise-Driven: The show is part of a strategy to launch a new Boy Band.
  • Moment Killer: Kendall comments on how nice it is to finally be alone with Jo...and then Logan runs in.
  • Mooks: The yellow-jacketed security guards that seem to be everywhere.
  • My Beloved Smother: James' mother in Big Time Moms. Subverted because she's really lonely and she never gets to see her son. At the end of the episode, the band plans to make sure the two saw each other.
  • Never Say "Die": Averted during Big Time Guru - Carlos thinks he has 24 hours to live, and explicitly refers to death and dying during the episode but it's subverted cause the parrot he got his advice from loves listening to hospital dramas; whilst a chilled out Gustavo writes a song so bad that Kendall and Kelly hire an insult comic to pose as a TV producer and insult the song by saying it was so bad that it made him want to kill himself.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: The series makes regular references to real life celebrities and creates celebrity caricatures for parody (such as Belgian action Jean Luc Varn Darn, a clear parody of Jean Claude Van Damme).
  • No Indoor Voice: Gustavo, tends to mix this with Angrish.
  • Noodle Incident: "Man, I told him not to buy clams from that guy on the freeway!"
    • In "Big Time Fan", the boys refer to their best friend's destructive and clumsy habits (like busting an elbow during a game of marbles)
    • In 'Big Time Beach Party':

Kendall: Do you remember the deal we made?
Griffin: You guys catch and destroy my clone and I give you all jetpacks?

  • Not What It Looks Like: Poor, poor Kendall...
  • Older Than They Look: Katie's actress, Ciara Bravo, is 14.
    • Sadly, this troper knows that in Big Time Photo Shoot, Katie mentions that she's 11.
    • BTR should count too. James and Kendall are 21, Logan and Carlos are both 22.
  • Only Sane Employee: Kelly.
    • Only Sane Man: Kendall is more down to earth than the rest of the band. Somewhat.
  • The Other Darrin: Spencer Locke was replaced by Kelli Goss as Jennifer 2 (the blonde one) when the former was filming Resident Evil: Afterlife. While Locke whould return for the Jennifer role and Goss gets another background character role, the positions were reversed for the second half of Season 2.
  • Overprotective Dad: Jo's dad, in Big Time Prom. He's with the CIA - and Jo has been told not to talk about it.
  • Papa Wolf: In 'Big Time Girlfriends', James states to Kyle—the boy who's taking Katie to a movie (which James thinks is Kiss and Tell)--that Katie is 'like a sister to him' and does not want Kyle to be making out with her.
    • In Big Time Break, Carlos' dad staples Bitters' tie to the desk while they try to find Carlos' hockey helmet when Bitters won't let them see the security tapes. Also take note that the father is a policeman.
  • Pass the Popcorn: In Big Time Songwriters, the musicians are eating popcorn while the guys were fighting in the recording studio.
    • Also in "Big Time Girlfriends" as Katie and Bitters observe the various Palm Woods romances as a soap opera.
  • Playing Against Type: Liz Gillies appears in "Big Time Secret" and her character is actually really nice, which is unexpected considering her other roles.
  • Porn Stache: In Big Time Beach Party, Kendall's fantasy has him with one.
    • Although this was a parody of Magnum, P.I., with Kendall posing as Tom Selleck.
  • Power of Friendship: Big Time Terror has the boys realize that they're stronger as a group than as two duos or four individuals.
  • Promoted to Love Interest: Sooner or later, Kelly is going to be a love interest for the boys.
    • Seeing as she's in at least her mid-20s and the boys are barely 16, this has a 98% chance of not happening. Children's show, after all.
    • One of them could have an unrequited crush on her, though.
      • From recent episodes, this will probably be Carlos.
      • Or James. In Big Time Love Song, James' first reaction to seeing the oversized needle on the shot he was supposed to get was to pull Kelly to his chest and bury his face in her shoulder. Kelly doesn't shove him away as comedy would demand or, really, seem at all fazed by it, implying that this could very well be normal behavior for him.
        • Or just something she's used to, from working with pop stars for a while.
    • In case anyone's forgotten, she's still a minimum of ten years older than the boys and is portrayed the same as Gustavo (in regards to being their manager, not their friend).
    • From the looks of the boys' performance of "All Over Again" at the end of Big Time Move, Lucy will be this for Kendall, and Jennifer Number Two for Carlos.
  • Promotion to Opening Titles: As of Season 2's Welcome Back Big Time Tanya Chisholm, who plays Kelly.
  • Psychic Dreams for Everyone: In Big Time Movie, Carlos's dream of saving the world comes (mostly) true.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Half of everything Gustavo says.
  • Puppy Dog Eyes: Katie is a master of this trope, specifically in Green Time Rush.
  • Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud: James.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: Jennifer 2's departure (which was also a plot point in an episode) was due to Spencer Locke reprising a role in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife.
  • Rich Bitch: Mercedes. Her dad is the fourth most powerful CEO in America.
  • The Rock Star: Lucy Stone, but in a subversion, she's fairly level-headed.
  • Rousing Speech: Kendall, in almost all of the episodes whenever something goes wrong. He even does two or three in Big Time Bad Boy.
    • In all the episodes where "something goes wrong" meaning every single episode.
    • Lampshaded by Logan in Big Time Concert

Logan: I smell a speech coming on.

  • Rule of Funny: Fighting it out tooth-and-nail with Zany Scheme as the engine that runs this show.
  • Running Gag: Several.
  • Salt and Pepper: Gustavo and Kelly, subverted.
  • Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Logan and Camille.
  • Serious Business: Hockey. Kendall actually has a spit take when he finds that Jo isn't a fan, Carlos and James do the same thing when Kendall mentions it to them.
    • For Carlos, it's corn dogs. He ends up dumping a girl when she admitted she hated them.
  • Scary Black Man: Freight Train. The man wears size 18 shoes and is 7 feet tall!
    • Subverted, as he is eventually revealed to be a Gentle Giant when he tells the boys how 'touched' he'd be if someone sang him the song they were recording in Big Time Love Song, and by the apparent soft spot he has for Katie in Big Time Jobs. Not to mention that he helps them out on many occasions.
  • Sexy Santa Dress: Miranda's music video outfit in the Christmas episode.
  • Shirtless Scene: James flashes his washboard abs multiple times in "Big Time Break".
    • James and Kendall are both shirtless while swimming in "Big Time Terror", though the water pretty much covers everything up to their shoulders. We do get a nice shot from James, though, after he's propelled out of the pool and clinging to the rafters from Gustavo jumping in.
    • And both James and Carlos are shirtless during a scene in "Welcome Back Big Time".
    • In "Big Time Reality" Kendall is shirtless for several long seconds as he comes out of the pool.
  • Shorter Means Smarter: Subverted. While it's true that James, the tallest, is not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, Kendall is fairly witty, and Logan is supposedly nearing genius level, throw little Carlos into the mix and everything's screwed up. (As you would expect from him.)
  • Slap Slap Kiss: A literal example, as Camille often slaps, then kisses Logan, and is likely to do either one at any time.
  • Slash Fic: The second Nickelodeon greenlit this show... oh it was on. Just check out their fanfiction.net page. (related to Ho Yay)
    • It's around 33% of the total on fanfiction.net. And 51% of all romance fanfics.
  • Smelly Skunk: Gustavo's nemesis Hawk sends him one in "Big Time Sparks" and he spends the entire episode trying to get it out of his studio. The boys show up and capture it in a few seconds (common occurence back home apparently), allowing Gustavo to take his revenge by having it snuck into Hawk's limo. While Gustavo was lucky enough not to get skunked, Hawk wasn't so fortunate.
  • Something About a Rose: James decided to ask the princess of Kerplankistan on her thoughts on which BTR guy she'd marry, all while giving her a white rose (he states that he couldn't get a red one). He learned the very hard way that by doing so, he was giving her a marriage proposal.
  • Spiritual Successor: To The Monkees. Gustavo even calls them this, but as a putdown based on their shenanigans and hijinks.
    • The various television shows that featured S Club 7.
    • 2ge+ther, but only as far as the show being about a boy band.
  • Stage Mom: Poor Tyler, that kid in the juice commercials. He actually hides from his mother. Subverted by Mrs. Knight.
  • Stunt Double
  • Sweetheart Sipping: Invoked by Kendall in "Big Time Break," then subverted.
  • Take That: Possibly with Lolo, the hit-predicting adviser chimp. Having an animal that doesn't know the first thing about music chosen to predict the next hit song seems to be a blatant strike against the music industry itself promoting artists predicted to be big yet doomed to fail.
    • There's also the jab on gurus Kelly makes in 'Big Time Guru'. She states that they were rock 'n roll poison and mentions how bands break up (Directly referring to both Beach Boys and Beatles) once they "latch onto spiritual guidance and go to Tibet".
    • "Big Time Reality" was an entire episode devoted to bashing reality shows.
    • "Big Time Girl Group" could be considered one to fanfics (Written by younger audiences) about girl bands coming to Palm Woods and getting together with BTR...
  • Teen Genius: Logan
  • Tempting Fate: Kelly does this in Big Time Demos.

Kelly: What are you going to do, chimp-nap Lolo?
<Cut to Lolo in the studio, with Logan & James in disguises and Kendall, Carlos and Gustavo all wearing heist gear.>
Kelly: I was kidding!

    • Don't forget this gem.

Kendall: (after learning that Gustavo plans to hire a 'WWE Superstar Super-teacher' to keep an eye on them) Who are you gonna get? Chris 'The Masterpiece' Masters?!
<cut to next scene in the make-shift classroom and Chris Masters has written his name on the chalkboard and ripped his shirt at Big Time Rush>

Kendall: (to Jo) "I don't want to date a hot girl - I want to date you!"
<Jo gives him a Death Glare as Carlos's pose screams 'Oh Crap'.>
Kendall: "Wow, did that come out wrong!"

Kendall: Of course, you realize-
Kendall, James, Carlos and Logan: This means war!

  • Those Two Guys: Abdul and Jessica, Griffin's {nearly) ever-present assistants.
  • Token Minority: Carlos.
  • Tomboyish Name: Jo.
  • Took a Level in Badass: In a villainous example, Hawk. In his first appearance, he sends a skunk to Gustavo in an attempt to stink up Rocque Records. By "Big Time Concert" he pulls off a magnificent Xanatos Gambit that nearly puts Rocque out of business!
  • Trailers Always Spoil: The trailers for Big Time Concert show that the group gets kidnapped and locked in a room before their first big concert. Then shows the four singing with hundreds of fans around them on a stage.
    • It's not like they weren't going to get there in the end. Standard kidnapping ending .
    • Not to mention it also gives away who kidnaps them.
      • And part of their escape.
      • Well, it's not exactly a major plot point, with the majority of the special being about the potential break-up of the band...so, trope averted, until the second trailer is released.
    • Another good one is Big Time Halloween. The announcer asks, "Can they change back...before their big night?" and then it shows Gustavo using his hot boy band machine to transform the boys back to normal, then performing their song at Griffin's Big Night of Fright. Then, in the episode, due to Gustavo not having sufficient energy in his machine, the boys transform back into monsters.
    • I'd say 'Big Time Break-Up' counts as this, considering almost all of the main plot was shown in the promos, and the music video for "Worldwide" was released before the actual episode aired, which showed Jo leaving.
  • True Companions: Big Time Rush. Interesting in that they are this before the show starts.
    • Many of the episodes like to point out that at the end of the day, the four of them are better together. Big Time Terror is a good example of this.
  • Trying Not to Cry: The government man in Big Time Wedding states this during Buddha Bob and Mrs. Knight's wedding.
  • Twofer Token Minority: Kelly.
  • Unusual Euphemism: "AWWW, HOCKEY PUCKS!"
  • Villainous Breakdown: Kennedy, a producer who has it out for Big Time Rush and refuses to have them on her show (bumping them for no good reason, even when the show is running short) finally loses it at the end of the episode. She yells that she'd rather have blank air and be fired than let them be on her show while aiming laser pointers at them.
  • The Voiceless: Just like in his previous work, there's Abdul and Jessica (Griffin's assistants). As usual this is lampshaded when Abdul speaks for the first time in Green Time Rush.

Katie: (after seeing Abdul speak for the first time) So THAT's what he sounds like.
Gustavo and Kelly: Ahhh....

  • We Want Our Jerk Back: Kelly and Kendall invoke this during Big Time Guru, when they realize that a mellow Gustavo can't write a good song.
  • What the Fu Are You Doing?: Carlos, in "Big Time Bad Boy," when he attempts to break a board over his head and knocks himself out. Twice.
  • Why Didn't You Just Say So?: Used by Carlos after Logan and Kelly struggle to get his helmet off for a photo shoot in Big Time Break Up. Kelly—understandably—is pissed off since Logan dismissed the idea of asking.
  • Would Hit a Girl: In the prank episode, when Gustavo and Kelly are pretending to be each other, Gustavo laughs at Kelly's attempting to mock him, but she punches him, and he falls to the floor, followed by this:

Kelly: And you can't punch back, because I'm a girl.
Gustavo: No you're not...you're Gustavo.

    • And even so, Gustavo was playing as the girl, so technically Kelly wouldn't be able to punch him.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: As evidenced in "Big Time Girl Group".

Logan: Well, they're clearly younger than us and girls so beating them up isn't an option.

    • Although that's not to say they don't consider it later, but the girls keep pointing this out to them.
  • Yandere: Camille appears to be this to Logan.
    • Appears to be? The first time she's seen in season 2... Well, Camille breaks down a door, and runs across the room before leaping several feet & glomping Logan to the ground, whilst squeeing.
  • You Need to Get Laid: In Big Time Concert when Kendall, Logan & Carlos return to the Palmwoods, Logan and Kendall are embraced by Jo and Camille, whilst Carlos gets the same reaction from Lightning the Wonder Dog. He immediately remarks that after they get the band back together and get a new record deal, he really needs to get a girlfriend.
  • Zany Scheme: Pretty much every episode.
    • So much so that Gustavo and Kelly actually notice when one of BTR's 'plans' have started up.
  1. ↑ The single was No.1 in Kerplankishtan
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