Pit Boss

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Shorty and his crew, doing what they do best.

Pit Boss is a show on Animal Planet that has been airing since January 2010.

This show stars Shorty Rossi, an ex-con little person who runs a Hollywood California talent organization called Shortywood with his equally little employees Ashley, Ron, and Sebastian. Along with managing talent, Shorty also runs Shorty's Rescue, which is an organization dedicated to rescuing pit bulls and lessening their reputation as a "vicious" breed.

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Tropes used in Pit Boss include:

• Angry Guard Dog: Completely averted by Hercules, who doesn't have a mean bone in his body and is probably one of the most mellow dogs ever. For example:

On his first day as a service animal, Hercules traveled by train. From the start, he acted as if he’d doing this for years. Switching trains, Hercules encountered his first challenge. The train system had delays due to technical problems, which led to overcrowding. Hercules was completely surrounded. As he could do nothing, he sat still and slept the entire ride.

• Bald of Awesome: Despite being a little person, Sebastian wrestled in high school and works out regularly to keep in shape, and can kick some serious ass when the need arises.
• Berserk Button: Claiming that all pit bulls are vicious around Shorty is a bad idea. One photographer who attempted to make Hercules look vicious in a shoot got both barrels when Shorty found out.
  • And it probably goes without saying that you shouldn't abuse an animal in front of him or allude to the fact that you abuse one.
  • In one episode, Shorty appears on a radio call-in show to promote his pit bull rescue organization. Needless to say, it wasn't long before someone called claiming he knew a guy that got attacked by a pit bull. Shorty was not pleased to say the least and managed to call the caller out on his lies (Turns out the caller had never met anyone who was attacked by a pit bull).
  • Similarly, if you work for Shorty and wish to continue working for him, do not say that helping pit bulls is not part of your job or that you've got better things to do. Not only will you get the mother of all ass-chewings, but a pink slip to top it off.
• Big Friendly Dog: Shorty's own service dogs Hercules and Geisha. Many of the other pit bulls count, too.
• The Cameo: Lou from Operation Repo makes an appearance in one episode.
• Clip Show: A special episode consisted of segments from previous episodes, with Shorty, Ashley, Ronald, and Sebastian talking about themselves and their co-workers.
• The Dandy: Ron is very concerned about his appearance.
• Dumb Blonde: Amanda, a girl hired on as a casting assistant who played the blonde stereotype practically to the hilt, trying to tell everyone what to do behind Shorty's back and refusing to participate in any of the grunt work. Finally came to a head in Vegas when Shorty had her watch Hercules while he took a call, Amanda's ineptitude resulting in her losing Hercules who ended up running out on-stage during a live performance and Shorty having to chase after him. When Shorty confronted Amanda she stated that dogs weren't part of her job. BIG mistake!
• Girls Love: Ashley has a girlfriend who is also a little person.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Not surprising given the nature of the show.
• Heroic BSOD: Shorty at the second season finale.
• Heterosexual Life Partners: Sebastian and Ronald, good friends and roommates until Sebastian moved out.
• Hollywood California: Where the show is set.
• Houseboat Hero: Shorty lived on one until he moved into a new apartment.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Shorty, despite his rougher aspects, is a genuinely nice guy underneath who tries to do right by people and the dogs.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Ronald.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Sebastian and Ronald.
• Little People Are Surreal: Not surprisingly, this trope is something of a Berserk Button for Ronald, who hates having to play characters like Oompa Loompas.
• Nice Hat: Shorty has an entire wall of fedoras in his office.
• No Indoor Voice: Shorty, particularly when calling the others into his office. Shorty himself even lampshades it during the Clip Show episode mentioned above.
• Parental Abandonment: Ronald was left in a police station by his mother in Korea when he was 2 years old, and was eventually Happily Adopted by a family in the US.
• Parental Issues: Shorty has had this for a long time.
• Plucky Office Girl: Ashley.
• Poor Communication Kills: The entire situation concerning Sebastian and his working extra jobs so he can buy hearing aids and get his dog certified as a service animal is built on this, coming to a head when Shorty found out about his working a gig behind his back and threw him out.
• Precious Puppies: Naturally, given the subject matter.
  • In the fourth season, a pitbull puppy named Athena becomes a regular fixture for several episodes as they try to find a forever home for her.
• Product Displacement: Done with a case of assorted beers and a giant bag of (very obvious) Pedigree dog food.
• Real Song Theme Tune: A hip-hop remix of Keith Mansfield's "Funky Fanfare" (as heard in those "feature presentation" bumpers in Kill Bill and Grindhouse) is used as the theme song.
• Redheaded Hero: Ashley again.
• Samaritan Syndrome: Shorty has a bit of this, and often gets chided for putting himself (and his staff) in harm's way, along with putting his health at risk since he has a family history of back problems that might leave him crippled if he doesn't take care of himself.
  • This stretched the team to the breaking point when he tried taking on more dogs than they could reasonably take care of.
• Season Finale: The second season ended with Ron leaving a stakeout despite Shorty threatening to fire him, then Shorty winding up in the hospital after injuring himself during the chase.
  • The third season ended with the Poor Communication Kills issue exploding and Sebastian leaving the team.
• Share the Male Pain: When trying to convince a pit bull's owner to have the dog neutered, the guy noticeably covers his groin with his hands.
• Sixth Ranger/Temporary Scrappy: Amanda. Reasons for this are neatly outlined under Dumb Blonde.
  • The fourth season has added more typical sixth rangers as they expand the crew.
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Shorty took in too many dogs at once and expected his crew to completely sacrifice all their time to take care of them, including sleeping on the floor in their office. Sebastian called him on this first, then stormed out when Shorty didn't get it. Ashley followed suit soon after.
• Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: Ronald, when he was fired from Shortywood.