Jessie

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Jessie is a Disney Channel original situation comedy, which debuted on September 30, 2011. The series stars Debby Ryan as the title character Jessie, an 18-year old who moves from Fort Hood, Texas to New York City and ends up haphazardly (after getting thrown out of a taxicab because she couldn't pay the fare, landing on the sidewalk of a posh New York apartment building) becoming the nanny for the Ross family, a film director and his business mogul wife who have four children: the oldest and the only biological child 13-year old Emma (Peyton R. List) and three adopted children: 12-year old Luke (Cameron Boyce), 10-year old Ravi (Karan Brar) and 7-year old Zuri (Skai Jackson). The butler, Bertram (Kevin Chamberlin), and the doorman Tony (Chris Galya) help her from time to time.

The series, created by Pamela Eells O'Connell (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Suite Life on Deck), is notable for having its lead character be in her late teens (roughly around college-age) from the start of the series (a first for Disney Channel); whereas Disney Channel comedies typically center around lead characters of middle/junior high or high school age.

Not to be confused with Jesse, the short-lived NBC show starring Christina Applegate.


Tropes used in Jessie include:
  • Actor Allusion: Jessie's father is in the military, so was Debby Ryan's father.
  • Affably Evil: Dale Davenport, the bully at the kids' school. Very mean and tough, but requests healthy snacks for himself and his victims.

Dale: Tomorrow you better bring me some carrot juice.(in a nice voice) )And bring some for yourself too. Your body is a temple, (in a mean voice) don't make me knock it down!

Jessie: My boyfriends have to be at least 18 (Beat) and human.
Emma: Wow Luke, you're 0 for 2.

Ravi: Luke has the personal hygiene of a wolverine.
Bertram: That's an insult to wolverines, At least they occasionally lick themselves clean!

Ravi: (aside) I love you, 'Go-Go'!

      • He later states that they are one of the hottest peppers in the world. Which further explains the comparison.
    • In the same episode, Mrs. Chesterfield says the peppers are hotter than Anderson Cooper.
    • In "The Princess and the Pea Brain", Bertram says that his Butler's Association will be holding a roast for their colleague, Alfred Pennyworth.
  • Sitcom Villain: Agatha is shaping up to be this.
  • Spiritual Successor: The Nanny, due to the fact (like Fran Fine in that series) the main character is hired as the nanny to a wealthy family through pure happenstance; coincidentally, Jessie creator/executive producer Pamela Eells O'Connell was one of the original writers for The Nanny.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Connie to Luke, in the episode "Creepy Connie comes a Callin".
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial:

Landlady: What's going on?
Tony: Whatever it is, it does not have to do with a giant lizard.

    • While Jessie is talking to Creepy Connie, she accidentally reveals that Luke sleeps with a stuffed animal.

Jessie: I didn't know Luke could go sleepy-by without Kenny the Koala, which certainly is not a stuffed animal that he still sleeps with, because that would be a inappropriate thing to reveal!

  • Take That:
    • In the episode "Star Wars", when Jessie and Jordan are hounded by the paparazzi, she says "... that they might not be after him, there is girl downstairs that looks like Justin Bieber." YMMV on whether its a true Take That or Played for Laughs, but his fans sure thought so.
      • It could be a reference to Dani Shay, a real life girl who indeed looks like Justin Bieber.