History Series / BostonCommon

* TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised: In what turned out to be the series finale, "Sophomore's Choice" (Season 2, Episode 22), [[spoiler: President Cross announced to a stunned Boyd that he was going to fire Tasha for breaking the nose of the obnoxious son of the university's biggest benefactor (even though the little snot deserved it; he did ''grab her rear end'', after all). Also, Joy got a job teaching in the communications department, which was run by Jack. So, we never got to see how Professor Byrnes would do.]]

* {{Retool}}: A minor one. Roger Rees was added late into the second season as Harrison Cross in order to mix things up when ratings started to decline (mainly due to schedule shuffling by the network)

* OutOfOrder: "Here's to You, Mrs. Byrnes" (Season 2, Episode 18) [[spoiler: airs three episodes ''after'' Joy broke off her engagement with Jack. The reason for Betty's visit to Boston is to meet her future son-in-law. But Jack and Joy never got back together before or after this episode, so it had to have been aired out of order.]]

Virginia-born comedian Anthony Clark played Boyd, with Hedy Burress playing Wyleen, Traylor Howard as Joy, Steve Paymer as Leonard, Tasha Smith as, well, [[TheDanza Tasha]], and, except for the pilot episode, Creator/VincentVentresca as Jack. In the pilot, the role of Jack Reed was played by Creator/PatrickFabian. Creator/SamAnderson played university president Wesley Butterfield until near the halfway point of season two. At the two-thirds mark of the second season, Tony Award-winning Welshman Roger Rees joined the cast as Butterfield's replacement, uppity Harrison Cross, and the role of university president became more prominent in the show, as Boyd and Cross began to clash on just about everything.

Virginia-born comedian Anthony Clark played Boyd, with Hedy Burress playing Wyleen, Traylor Howard as Joy, Steve Paymer as Leonard, Tasha Smith as, well, [[TheDanza Tasha]], and, except for the pilot episode, Creator/VincentVentresca as Jack. In the pilot, the role of Jack Reed was played by Patrick Fabian. Creator/SamAnderson played university president Wesley Butterfield until near the halfway point of season two. At the two-thirds mark of the second season, Tony Award-winning Welshman Roger Rees joined the cast as Butterfield's replacement, uppity Harrison Cross, and the role of university president became more prominent in the show, as Boyd and Cross began to clash on just about everything.

* Call-Back: In the episode "Boyd Gets Shrunk", after Boyd reveals he eavesdropped on Joy's session with school therapist Brenda, Joy confirms that she overheard Boyd's own therapy session by repeating his pogo stick joke about her name using his name.

* JustFriends: Joy uses this exact phrase at Boyd in "Virginia Reeling" (Season 1, Episode 6) when he attempts to ask her to go line dancing with he and a group of friends at a local country & western bar.

--> '''Boyd:''' [''speaking in therapy''] Isn't it beautiful? 'Joy.' But if you say it really fast, it sounds like you're a pogo stick. JoyJoyJoyJoy.
--> '''Joy:''' [''after catching Boyd red-handed eavesdropping on her''] I don't know Boyd. BoydBoydBoydBoyd. You know, when I say your name real fast, I sound like a pogo stick.

* Call-Back: In the episode "Boyd Gets Shrunk", after Boyd reveals he eavesdropped on Joy's session with school therapist Brenda, Joy confirms that she overheard Boyd's own therapy session by repeating his pogo-stick joke about her name using his name.
--> '''Boyd:''' Isn't it beautiful? (referring to Joy's name) 'Joy.' But if you say it really fast, it sounds like you're on a pogo-stick. JoyJoyJoyJoy.
--> '''Joy:''' I don't know Boyd. BoydBoydBoydBoyd. You know, when I say your name real fast, I sound like a pogo-stick.

* CelebrityResemblance: In the ColdOpen to the penultimate episode of Season 1, "Everybody's Stalking" (Episode 9), Leonard wins a $25 gift certificate from Joseph and Sons Market for being their 25th customer on their 25th anniversary. He also has his picture taken for an ad in the newspaper, and on billboards. After the titles, he is seen in the Student Union being recognized by many people. Boyd pretends not to know Leonard, and asks him if he were in the movie ''CitySlickers'', before saying he was thinking of JackPalance. Boyd is making a reference to the ''City Slickers'' character Ira Shalowitz, played by Academy Award nominee (Best Supporting Actor for 1992's ''Mr. Saturday Night'') '''David''' Paymer, younger brother of '''Steve''' Paymer, who played Leonard. If you've ever seen the Paymer brothers side-by-side, you'd definitely think they were twins. And no, at no point in ''Boston Common'''s run did David Paymer make an appearance.

Virginia-born comedian Creator/AnthonyClark played Boyd, with Hedy Burress playing Wyleen, Traylor Howard as Joy, Steve Paymer as Leonard, Tasha Smith as, well, [[TheDanza Tasha]], and, except for the pilot episode, Creator/VincentVentresca as Jack. In the pilot, the role of Jack Reed was played by Patrick Fabian. Creator/SamAnderson played university president Wesley Butterfield until near the halfway point of season two. At the two-thirds mark of the second season, Tony Award-winning Welshman Roger Rees joined the cast as Butterfield's replacement, uppity Harrison Cross, and the role of university president became more prominent in the show, as Boyd and Cross began to clash on just about everything.

--> '''Boyd:''' Isn't it beautiful? (referring to Joy's name) 'Joy.' But if say it really fast it sounds like you're on a pogo-stick. Joy. Joy. Joy. Joy.
--> '''Joy:''' I don't know Boyd. Boyd. Boyd. Boyd. Boyd. You know, when I say your name real fast, I sound like a pogo-stick.

Virginia-born comedian Anthony Clark played Boyd, with Hedy Burress playing Wyleen, Traylor Howard as Joy, Steve Paymer as Leonard, Tasha Smith as, well, [[TheDanza Tasha]], and, except for the pilot episode, Vincent Ventresca as Jack. In the pilot, the role of Jack Reed was played by Patrick Fabian. Creator/SamAnderson played university president Wesley Butterfield until near the halfway point of season two. At the two-thirds mark of the second season, Tony Award-winning Welshman Roger Rees joined the cast as Butterfield's replacement, uppity Harrison Cross, and the role of university president became more prominent in the show, as Boyd and Cross began to clash on just about everything.

* LineOfSightName: When asked what will be the first play shown at the school's new theater, Cookie de Varen stalls for a bit before seeing President Cross' tea set and picking up the teapot.

In addition to the principals and supporters, recurring roles were played by actors and actresses that already were or had not yet become well-known. In season two, Margot Kidder was cast as Cookie, the head of the university's theater department and Wyleen's drama teacher, while Zach Galifianakis, in his first television role, was cast as stoner student Bobby.

* EverybodyKnewAlready: Tasha pretty much figures out Boyd has a crush on Joy from the beginning ("Looks like love's found {{Forrest Gump}}."). Boyd also doesn't mind telling Wyleen and Leonard about it, either.

* CurseCutShort: In the ColdOpen to "The War Room" (Season 2, Episode 5), Boyd brings a TV and a VCR on a cart to Jack's classroom. Inside the VCR is a VHS of the first debate between JohnFKennedy and RichardNixon in 1960, which also happened to be the first-ever televised presidential debate (as well as the moment the election turned in JFK's favor for good). Jack begins playing the tape for his class; at first, things are fine, as Nixon is seen speaking about farmers. Suddenly, the audio changes into a GagDub done by Boyd and Tasha, with Boyd's audio appearing over Kennedy, and Tasha's over Nixon:

* TheFoodPoisoningIncident: In the Season 1 finale, "A Streetcar Named Denial" (Episode 10), Boyd receives his great-grandfather's (also named Boyd) recipe for tuna sandwiches, which were popular back in Virginia. Boyd decides to start a side business selling the sandwiches, with Tasha and Wyleen acting as his partners, and Leonard doing the grunt work. With the first batch of sandwiches done, Leonard is to put them in the refrigerator in the school's cafeteria, as the Pritchett siblings' fridge is nowhere near big enough. As he walks through Boston, he gets sidetracked by an IngmarBergman film festival (the phrase "Twelve Hours of Abject Human Suffering" appears on the bottom of the theater's marquee). He goes into the theater ''with the sandwiches'', '''''AND STAYS FOR THE FULL 12 HOURS!''''' He goes straight from the theater to the Student Union, where Boyd and Tasha await for the sale of the first batch. They sell like hotcakes; even Joy and Jack buy some. Later that night, everyone who purchased the sandwiches goes to the theater for a show featuring different scenes performed by members of the drama department, Wyleen being one of them. Leonard confesses to Boyd and Tasha what happened when everyone is complaining about not feeling well. They leave before the first scene, which Wyleen is a part of. Everyone else stays, and ends up running out to vomit, right when Wyleen and the actor she's performing with, Wade, kiss.

** The next day, Jack and Boyd apologize to each other.

* JerkAss: Jack, until he and Boyd found common ground following [[spoiler: Jack and Joy's breakup]].
** Also, President Cross.

* LoveHurts: Boyd being unable to win Joy away from Jack, [[spoiler: although, he gets ''incredibly'' close to doing so in "Mercury Retrograde" (Season 2, Episode 4).]]
** [[spoiler: Joy breaking off her and Jack's engagement towards the end of the series.]]
* LoveInterest: Joy (for Boyd).
** Towards the end of the series, [[spoiler: Cookie for Leonard.]]

* SmallNameBigEgo: Jack.

* TheStoner: Bobby. Also, Bobby's friend Eskowitz.
* TheStoryteller: Boyd almost always had a story about one of his and Wyleen's strange backwoods relatives in Virginia.[[note]]'''Joy''': Is there a family member you ''don't'' have a story about?[[/note]]
** At least one of these stories was taken from [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QOuU30FabM Clark's set at the 1995 HBO Young Comedians Special]]. [[spoiler:Boyd tells Joy about how his parents forced him to give up his pet cow because he tried to make it eat hamburger. This was a part of Clark's set. Too bad the series didn't last any longer; it would've been interesting to see how the writers could make Clark's story about reporting an Irish girl who wasn't a U.S. citizen to Immigration and Naturalization Services as revenge for dumping him into a Boyd tale.]]

* TeacherStudentRomance: Jack and Joy.

* HypocriticalHumor: In "Everybody's Stalking" (Season 1, Episode 9), Wyleen becomes obsessed with a fat-free cookie called a Crack 'Um; meanwhile, Boyd and Joy have decided to take a break from one another, but he ends up becoming more obsessed with her than ever; this is no more evident than the following exchange between the Pritchett siblings at their apartment:

* IAmVeryBritish: President Cross.