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Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide: Difference between revisions
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (view source)
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A [[Nickelodeon]] [[Post Modernism|post modern]] live-action series with [[No Fourth Wall]] and no [[Laugh Track]] set entirely in a [[Middle School]] full of [[Anime Tropes]]. Now that we have your attention...
Ned Bigby (Devon Werkheiser) is the clever but [[Book Dumb]] protagonist who is dedicated to completing an all-encompassing guide "to help '''you''' survive school," covering every issue from tests and dodgeball to puberty and relationships. Each episode is split into two parts with a "[[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming|Guide to...[Topic]]]," that has Ned and his two best friends ([[Gadgeteer Genius]] Simon Nelson "Cookie" Cook (Daniel Curtis Lee) and tomboy Jennifer "Moze" Mosely (Lindsey Shaw)) each having [[Two Lines, No Waiting|their own storyline]] that requires his advice on the subject.
At least [[Once an Episode]] when the moment for giving tips comes: the theme music starts, Ned turns to the audience, and begins, "If you're [someone] who's confused about [something], check out these tips." Despite customary [[Genre Blindness]] and Moze being the voice of reason, Ned seems permanently aware of the [[Fourth Wall]], with other characters occasionally acknowledging it, to some surprise. In solving the current dilemma and Tip Subject, Cookie tries outlandish theories, Moze goes for the more practical solution and Ned usually applies a scientific rigor.
Originally the primary emphasis was delivering the tips and focusing on school matters such as homework, lockers and school clubs. But soon the stories expanded to focus on the [[Love Dodecahedron|complex relationships]] between the maturing characters and the tips focused on how to deal with social situations. A brief synopsis of these relationships would be:
* The nerd Lisa Zemo had a huge crush on Cookie, who accepted her [[Just Friends|as a friend]] but was oblivious to her affection. When she came back from summer break [[She's All Grown Up|changed]] and [[Beautiful All Along|stunningly beautiful]], he found himself in competition with a fanclub of her new admirers. Meanwhile, he developed a rivalry and potential romance with [[Tsundere|loud, scary,]] [[Yandere|and slightly-psycho]] Evelyn Kwong.
* Ned pined after his lifelong crush Suzie and they soon became a couple. But within literally weeks, she moved out of state, leaving him at the mercy of his [[Stalker
* Moze has several boys she is interested in as well as others who could be considered [[Stalker
While [[Official Couple|Ned and Moze]] are trying to work out their feelings for each other and their other [[Love Interests]] (which they have ''plenty'' of), they're surrounded by a cast of quirky students and teachers who will always ensure that [[Hilarity Ensues]].
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* [[Almighty Janitor]]: Gordy. As incompetent as he is, he tends to get a lot accomplished when he works with Ned and company.
* [[Alpha Bitch]]: Missy
* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Mr. Monroe, which isn't helped by the fact that he's played by IRL openly gay actor Jim J. Bullock.
* [[Animal Nemesis]]: Gordy vs. the Weasel; the madness has spread by the [[Grand Finale]] to the point where most of the school staff joins the hunt, which culminates in [[Trash the Set|practically tearing the school down]].
* [[The Artifact]]: Ironically the Guide itself. With the second season the focus on the show shifted more to the relationships of the characters instead of "Helpful Guides" for fellow middle school students. The actual guide was seen and updated as the tips were added, while it was rarely seen later on. Seemingly [[Lampshaded]] in "Boys," where Ned is so hung about Suzie moving away that he gets tips writing block.
** Cookie's glasses as well. Originally, Cookie was supposed to be a cyborg, with quite a few early episodes even referring to him as such. However, as time went on, this aspect of his character was dropped, and his glasses (with what appears to be a full working operating system installed in them) were the only remnant of this.
* [[Asian and Nerdy]]: Evelyn. But the trope is played with since she is also scarily insane.
* [[Aside Glance]]
* [[As Long
** An unintentional funny moment in the Dutch dub, where the obvious Dutch stereotype referee becomes German.
* [[Awesome Yet Practical]]: All of the tips, despite how goofy the show can be, have real value.
** Aside from the [[A Day
* [[Bathroom Stall Graffiti]]: The "Hottie List"
* [[Beautiful All Along]]: Lisa Zemo
* [[Beware the Nice Ones]]: Inverted with Mr. Sweeny in "Gross Biology Dissections." After his frogs are stolen, he goes into his usual angry mode to scare Ned, Cookie and Gordy into giving them back. When that doesn't work, he does "something different": politely asking them, which has this effect:
{{quote|
* [[Big No]]: Lampshaded.
{{quote|
** Then there's the episode where they're all trying to break bad habits. Ned finally learns to say no to people, and unfortunately unintentionally denies a chance to go on a study date with Suzie. After being informed of this, he does the standard "drop to knees [[Skyward Scream]]" version.
* [[Billy Elliot Plot]]: The episode where Cookie joins the cheer squad.
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* [[Chekhov's Gag]]: In "Guide to Crushes," Cookie's computer identifies Lisa as his perfect match. Cookie and Lisa get together in the grand finale.
** Not to mention the number of times that Moze or Ned are mistaken to have done something to get the other one jealous.
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Bitsy from season one, Suzie Crabgrass's best friend.
** Shandra Taylor, one of Moze's few female friends who disappears without a word before season two.
** Also Mr. Munroe, who was listed in the opening credits in season one and appeared in every episode; he [[Demoted to Extra|made only a few token appearances]] in season two, and vanished without a trace in season three. This is very glaring because Munroe was originally intended as the mentor figure for the protagonists; on the other hand, as his prominence decreased, the other teachers became more developed.
*** A bit of [[Truth in
* [[Clingy Jealous Girl]]: Missy
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Many characters, but [[Brainless Beauty|Seth]] in particular.
{{quote|
* [[Compressed Vice]]: Setting tables to collapse, "a Ned Bigby classic", seen ''only'' in the ''Guide to Records''.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: In "Math," Ned tries to help a classmate, but wrongly answers that two negatives multiplied together make another negative. This ends up coming back to help him in "Positives and Negatives" in an [[A Worldwide Punomenon|unexpected way]] when he cheers up two [[Emo Teen|emo teens]] by introducing them to each other.
* [[Credit Card Plot]]: In "[[A Worldwide Punomenon|Extra Credit,]]" Cookie's B-story involves him running up a massive debt on his "emergency" card, buying everything from pizza to a pony from an instant-delivery company.
{{quote|
'''Cookie:''' DUH! [[Logical Fallacies|I'LL JUST PUT IT ON THE CARD!]] }}
* [[
* [[Dawson Casting]]: The characters are supposed to be 13 (7th grade) and for the most part they aimed to get actors in the realm of 12-15 to play those kids (at the start Devon Werkheiser was 13, Lindsay Shaw was 15). But the series progressed [[Webcomic Time|slower than real life]] and the actors ended up pushing 17-18 when they were supposed to still be 14.
* [[A Day
* [[A Day in
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: The [[Genre Savvy]] Moze
* [[The Ditz]]: Seth Powers
* [[Dodgeball Is Hell]]: But Moze is good enough to nearly single-handedly beat Loomer's team after [[Came Back Strong|Coming Back Strong]].
* [[Double Standard]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] when Ned loses to Moze in martial arts:
{{quote|
'''Ned:''' What do you mean?
'''Gordy:''' Well, if you ''lose,'' *starts laughing* then you got beat up by a girl! But if you ''win,'' *sounds horrified* then, dude, you just beat up a ''girl!'' }}
* [[Elaborate University High]]: They seem to have a lot of free time for middle school kids, although the short episode lengths mean that "today"'s action can easily take place within not much more than 10 minutes' worth of real time.
* [[Emo Teen]]: "Mark Downer", who was so emo that flowers wilted in his presence.
* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]]: Coconut Head and Backpack Boy
* [[Everybody Hates Mathematics]]: Averted. While [[Book Dumb|Ned]] hates math, Moze and Cookie both love it.
* [[The European Carry All]]: Ned's experimental "School Survival Cushion Protector" (an ordinary bedroom pillow). Also the "Guide to Volunteering", which is about community service as a school requirement, not actual ''volunteering''.
* [[Evil Twin]]: Ned planned on using this trope to explain away him kissing Moze.
* [[Exactly What It Says
* [[
* [[Failure Is the Only Option]]: Gordy's eternal pursuit of The Weasel.
* [[Finger in
* [[First-Name Basis]]
* [[Free the Frogs]]
* [[Gasshole]]: "Timmy Toot-Toot;" his incredible flatulence is always accompanied by a betrayingly tiny "Toot toot!" sound effect.
** He even "passes on" the fame to Ned at one point.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: In a fake parenthood class experiment, Ned and Cookie are partnered together. Mr. Monroe even pushes two male dolls together to represent the relationship.
{{quote|
** This gets even more evident when, a year latter, Loomer, his posse and Martin [[A Worldwide Punomenon|Qwer]]ly join the class and become other two "alternative couples".
** There is also a rather interesting moment during the first episode of season 3:
{{quote|
'''Gordy:''' Ummm, I can't answer that, due to the fact that I'm 40. }}
** There is Suzie's habit of wanting to share lockers with whoever her current boyfriend is, which is treated akin to moving in together as adults.
** No mention of that Seven Minutes In Heaven scene in Valentines day? It certainly looked like the Huge Crew were having fun...
** In ''Guide to Dismissal'' at the beginning of the episode:
{{quote|
** In "Guide to Crushes" Ned not only pretends to be so enamored with Susie that he pours fruit juice on her shirt while they work together on decorating for the school dance, he then tries to get a bottle glue open which [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|sprays all over her]].
** One episode that talks about how to ask someone out has Ned unintentionally get a date with Seth while he's trying to tell him that Moze wants to ask him out.
** From "Guide to Gym":
{{quote|
** An ''entire'' episode was spent around Ned painting a picture of an orange ''naked lady''.
*** And yet another entire episode was focused on Ned trying not to scratch his pubes in public. We're never outright told where the "embarrassing itch" is, but the placement of Ned's hands (and the massive amounts of itch-relief powder that eventually resolves the issue) make it pretty clear.
** In one of the first episodes, mention is made of a "Hottie List" in the girl's bathroom. We get a brief view of some of the names on the list, one of which is Greg ''Secsay.''
** In the last episode, Ned has a lot of...issues with his clothes. In the last maybe 15 minutes, he's pretty much running around in just a hula skirt.
* [[Girlfriend in Canada]]: In one episode, Cookie pretends he has a girlfriend to make Lisa jealous. Unfortunately, the only person he makes jealous is [[Yandere|Evelyn]]...
* [[Glove Slap]]: Leads to a duel over Moze between Faymen (who she was currently going out with) and Seth (who had broken up with her in the previous season). [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Moze:
{{quote|
* [[Goggles Do Something Unusual]]: Cookie's glasses have something very much like a full-function Windows PC built into them. He seems to ''see'' perfectly well without them, and Ned doesn't seem to suffer any ill effects while wearing them for a full episode.
* [[Gossip Evolution]]: " 'Moze' is a great nickname! I like 'Moze' " turns into "Ned is in love with Moze and he wants to ask her out" in "Guide to: Rumors."
* [[Grand Finale]], including:
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** [[Trash the Set]]
* [[Headphones Equal Isolation]]: In the study hall episode, one of Ned's tips is that a good way to prevent people from distracting you is to wear headphones. You don't even have to plug then into anything.
* [[Held Gaze]]: In the episode "Guide to: Positives and Negatives", Sarah Gothman and Mark Downing have this before they kiss. {{spoiler|[[A Worldwide Punomenon|It's electrifying]].}}
* [[Happily Ever After]]: A running gag, usually used at the conclusion of the explanation of whatever scheme's been cooked up this time. Also, the final words of the series, as everything's tied up once and for all with more-or-less everybody being satisified with what they end up with.
* [[High Hopes, Zero Talent]]: Cookie's attempts to get on the cheer squad.
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** And Moze, even despite the fact that she and Ned are the official couple.
* [[Mistaken for Murderer]]: Cookie sees a body dressed in Faymen’s clothing fall past the window, and becomes convinced that Moze killed him because he’s a bad kisser. Eventually he starts to think that Ned, Mr. Monroe, and Gordy are in on it too. Naturally, it's just an old CPR dummy they want to get rid of.
{{quote|
'''Mr. Monroe:''' Yeah, he was really disgusting.
'''Gordy:''' [[Comedic Sociopathy|I just did it for the fun of it.]] }}
* [[Monster Is a Mommy]]: {{spoiler|Weasel is a Mommy, only without the defeat and death.}}
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* [[No Name Given]]: Many people are only known by their nicknames: Coconut Head, Backpack Boy...
* [[Noodle Implements]]: Subverted, along with [[Noodle Incident]], in "Procrastination." Moze and Ned bet "[[Noodle Incident|the usual]]" over whether Ned will put off his social studies project and fail, and she gathers a ton of odd costume parts and props (clown shoes, a toilet plunger, fairy wings, etc.) throughout the episode for the bet itself. Ned passes and we get see what the bet entailed: dancing in a circle in the school's foyer, wearing all the costume parts and yodeling into the plunger while a whole crowd of students looks on.
* [[Noodle Incident]]:
{{quote|
** Not to mention the varying number of times Ned has been trapped in the girl's bathroom...
* [[Not So Different]]: The "Guide to Stress" ends with the three protagonists' frightening realization how they're [[Not So Different]] from their [[Mentors]]: Ned and Gordy, Moze and iTeacher, and Cook and Mr. Wright. Their role models were also a little freaked out.
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* [[Script Wank]]: Ned will recap the lessons from the episode at the end.
* [[Sdrawkcab Name]]: In "Survival Guide to Tests", when Ned decides that, to pass the three tests he will have on the same day, he will have to become "the opposite of Ned Bigby". Gordy then asks "Den Ybgib?", and he goes with it. When he passes, he gets a G.E.E.K. membership card with the backwards name on it.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Several to ''[[The Fairly
** Two were made in "Guide to The New Kid". In the end, a new kid from Britain shows up with a [[Harry Potter (
{{quote|
** Another episode has Ned's gross school lunch [[Better Off Dead|slowly moving off of the plate.]] It helps that both the film and the episode were directed by Savage Steve Holland.
** Vice Principal Crubbs' whole character is a shout out to [[Miami Vice]].
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** Many [[Star Wars]] examples as said before; some are a less obvious bonus ("I don't care if your locker is on the [[Star Wars|ice planet Hoth,]] you're still late!")
** In the later half of Season 2, Episode 17 (Career Week), the show makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shout-out to ''[[Austin Powers]]''.
{{quote|
* [[Single-Minded Twins]]: Nerdy oboe-playing [[Theme Twin Naming|Stacy and Tracy]]. Comically subverted/deconstructed in "Guide to: Shyness" in that Tracy is actually much more dependent than her sister and copies whoever she gets close to... leading to her taking on personas like "Troze," "Treth," "Trisa" and "Tred" throughout the episode.
* [[Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty]]: Not ''quite'' as shiny as contemporary and subsequent [[Disney]] and Dan Schneider equivalents, but pretty darn close.
* [[Spiritual Successor]]: ''[[
* [[Stock Sound Effects]]: and ''how''.
* [[Stuffed Into a Locker]]: Coconut Head, of course, in Guide to Vice Principals
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* [[Troperiffic]]: Playing with many [[School Tropes]] makes it interesting.
* [[Two-Teacher School]]: Magnificently [[Averted Trope|averted]]. There are almost as many teacher regulars as there are student regulars. And they all teach a particular class subject.
* [[Uncanny Valley Girl]]: In "Guide to: Dares," Moze is being dared to wear a flowery dress for a day and meets three girls named [[Theme Naming|May, June and Julie]] that look like [[Stepford Smiler
* [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]: Ned is very slow to realize Moze fits the profile of his perfect girl despite the fact he's "known her forever."
* [[Unwanted Harem]]: "The Huge Crew"
* [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]]: Ned and Moze. About as blatant you can get on a [[Nickelodeon]] show. (of course they're ''middle schoolers'' so it wouldn't be ''sexual'', but you get the idea).
* [[Victorious Childhood Friend]]: Ned and Moze
* [[The Voiceless]]: One of Loomer's
{{quote|
'''Loomer:''' Dude, you haven't said anything since we've known you.
'''[[The Voiceless|Rodriguez]]:''' Everything's been fine up to this point. }}
* [[Voice
* [[Weasel Mascot]]: Gordy's arch
* [[Webcomic Time]]: Sort of; the show was [[
* [[Where's the Fun In That?]]: A variant of this became a [[Running Gag]] whenever Gordy does his [[Zany Scheme]] and someone (usually Ned) asked him the reason for it while [[Stating the Simple Solution]]:
{{quote|
* [[A Worldwide Punomenon]]: Some of [[Two Lines, No Waiting|the B-stories]] (especially a number of Cookie's in Season 3) fall under this. For example, "Positives and Negatives" had Cookie trying to get back at Loomer after a static charge attack, and "Extra Credit" had him [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] the pun when he showed Ned and Moze [[Credit Card Plot|the credit card his dad lent him for the episode.]]
* [[Yandere]]: Evelyn
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:American Series]]
[[Category:
[[Category:TV Series]]
[[Category:Kid Com]]
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