History Series / TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete

* BigBad: Oh god, [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant "Endless" Mike...]]

* MassiveMultiplayerScam: [[Recap/PeteAndPeteS3E7LastLaugh "Last Laugh"]] involves a massive prank wherein everyone, including the bullies, were in on a prank to destroy the dreaded dental hygiene skit the principal loved so much.

-->--''[[OpeningNarration Narration that preceded every Pete & Pete short]]''

-->--''[[OpeningNarration Narration that preceded nearly every Pete & Pete episode]]''

** [[Film/{{Halloween}} "Halloweenie"]]

* AmbiguousSyntax: It's probably unintetional, but near the beginning of "Tool And Die" Endless Mike says "You need a tool? You come to me." Which makes it sound like he's saying ''he's'' a tool (in the slang sense of "a jerk or idiot").

** The early special "Space, Geeks and Johnny Unitas" ends with the revelation that [[spoiler:Joe Jones, a classmate of Big Pete and Ellen's, is in fact an actual space alien visiting from another planet. This is quite the shift from a show that despite very strange and surreal never had any type of supernatural or otherwordly elements outside of this, unless you count Artie's supposed superpowers.]]

* KidsVersusAdults: The International Adult Conspiracy qualifies. Any adult might be completely evil--[=McFlemp=], for example, [[spoiler:conspired with the adult neighbors to get rid off of Artie]]--but not every adult is ''necessarily'' evil. They just live with the rules that adults need to live with.

* SignificantNameOverlap: The main protagonists are a pair of brothers who are both named Pete, because (according ot the shorts), their mother wanted their names to [[RhymeThemeNaming rhyme]].

* AprilFoolsPlot: In "The Last Laugh", Little Pete concocts a simple prank against his principal that has an elaborate strategy of subterfuge and unusual alliances in order to get it past the principal, who is ProperlyParanoid.

* EnemyMine: In "Last Laugh", [[spoiler:Pit Stain]] and Little Pete team up against [[spoiler:Schwinger]].

* MassiveMultiplayerScam: The April Fools episode involves a massive prank wherein everyone, including the bullies, were in on a prank to destroy the dreaded dental hygiene skit the principal loved so much.

** Little Pete's favorite song from one episode is "Summerbaby" (performed by Polaris, who also performed the opening theme), which includes lines like "When I'm alone I do things nobody knows" and "Every drop of sex and every little mess I make".
*** Though the version sung in the episode was altered to "Every time I guess and every little mess I make".

* MeaningfulName: This was applied to many of the bullies. Examples include Open Face (who loved his open-faced sammiches), Papercut (who had an obsession with dealing out papercuts and always threw "paper" during Rock-Paper-Scissors), and Pit Stain (whose problem happened to be glandular...and Little Pete's problem happened to be his fist).

** In a non-bully example, there's Slushmaster Bob Oppenheimer, who even makes his own spin on J. Robert Oppenheimer's famous quote: "I have become Slushmaster, destroyer of brains!"
*** This reaches an even weirder pitch later in the episode when the Slushmaster remarks of his invention: "I wanted to create world peace." J. Robert Oppenheimer prayed that world peace might come about in the years after the second World War. Of course, ''this'' Oppenheimer is talking about a slushie-machine, not revolutionary nuclear power, which makes everyone think he is going a bit too far with his SeriousBusiness.

** Artie once pushed an entire house an inch to the left, jumped across all of town at once, and skipped a rock on Neptune. No one seemed to find any of this odd.

''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'', one of several sitcoms aired by Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} during the early 1990s, followed the misadventures of two brothers named Pete and their oddball family, neighborhood, school, and town in general. Creator/WillMcRobbAndChrisViscardi, two members of Nickelodeon's marketing department, created the series in 1988 as shorts meant to advertise Nickelodeon in a more roundabout way. The commercials became a smash hit with viewers, which led to the production of five half-hour specials from 1991 to 1993. Nickelodeon eventually gave the show a full-series order; it ran for three seasons, ending in 1996.

* SignificantNameOverlap: The main protagonists are a pair of brothers who are both named Pete.

* OneSteveLimit: But of course. Goes the extra mile by including their surnames.

* [[TheFriendsWhoNeverHang The Family Who Never Hang]]: There are surprisingly very few scenes featuring just Big Pete and his mother, even though Little Pete gets ample alone time with each parent throughout the series.

''Pete and Pete'' earned a devoted audience while airing alongside other live-action successes such as ''Series/SaluteYourShorts'' and ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll''; it also garnered a PeripheryDemographic in college-aged young adults--a demographic that Nickelodeon would not attract again in such large numbers until ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' in 2001--who enjoyed the show's oddball quirkiness. It also pioneered a new style of sitcoms shot both on location and without a laugh track, which would become a common practice in the 21st century.

''Pete and Pete'' earned a devoted audience while airing alongside other live-action successes such as ''Series/SaluteYourShorts'' and ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll''; it also garnered a PeripheryDemographic in college-aged young adults--a demographic that Nickelodeon would not attract again in such large numbers until ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' in 2001--who enjoyed the show's oddball quirkiness. It also pioneered a new style of sitcoms shot on location and without a laugh track, which would become a common practice in the 21st century.

%%* BaseballEpisode: "Field of Pete"

%%* BigBad: Oh god, [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant "Endless" Mike...]]
%%* BigDamnHeroes: Little Pete saving Big Pete from the Pumpkin [[XtremeKoolLetterz Eters]] in "Halloweenie".

%%* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Pretty much anything and everything that either Pete tries to pull off ends up biting them on the butt later on.

%%* CharacterAsHimself: Mom's Plate, the metal plate in Mrs. Wrigley's head; Petunia, Little Pete's tattoo.

%%* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Since the show never explains how Artie became "the strongest man in the world", this is the best explanation we have.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Given the changes between the shorts and specials to the series proper, expect this to happen with some characters--especially, and notoriously, with the bullies before the introductions of "Endless" Mike and Pit Strain for the respective older and younger Petes. A sad case, however, and much more present in the series proper is the sudden dissapearance of Nona in Season Three, especially after being promoted in the opening credits.
%%* CloudCuckooland: Wellsville qualifies, though the outside world does not seem any saner.

%%* DriveInTheater: This is used as a setting when Big Pete and Ellen go on a date.

%%* EnemyMine: In "Last Laugh", [[spoiler:Pit Stain]] and Little Pete team up against [[spoiler:Schwinger]].

%%* EscalatingWar: Ellen's father and Mr. Wrigley get into a huge prank war in the episode "Apocalypse Pete".

%%* FleetingPassionateHobbies: This is basically Ellen's defining character trait.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

%%* GuardianAngel: Inspector 34.

%%* HumanAlien: [[spoiler: Joe Jones]]

* KidsVersusAdults: The International Adult Conspiracy qualifies. Any adult might be completely evil--[=McFlemp=], for example, [[spoiler:conspired with the adult neighbors to get rid off of Artie]]--but not every adult is ''neccesarily'' evil. They just live with the rules that adults need to live with.
%%* KidsPlayMatchmaker: "Apocalypse Pete" to the extreme.

%%* {{Metaphorgotten}}: "The Day Of The Dot"

The two titular brothers are named Pete Wrigley for reasons never explained within the series proper[[note]]the shorts mention their mom wanted their names to rhyme[[/note]]; Will [=McRobb=] once noted that, should you feel the need to ask, [[BellisariosMaxim you are probably watching the wrong show]]. This is, after all, the same show where underpants inspectors are guardian angels, a metal detector can find an entire car (still in good condition!) buried at the beach, you can run to the Canadian border in four hours (or use a riding mower), and a mentally challenged man who speaks incoherent sentences and runs around in spandex pajamas is the personal superhero of the younger Pete Wrigley. Two brothers having the same name is arguably the least weirdest thing going on in the town of Wellsville.

* IndecipherableLyrics: The theme song, "Hey Sandy", is made of this. The most commonly misinterpreted lyric was "Don't you talk back" as "Does your dog bite?". The lyrics have long since been published...except for the third line, which, according to the DVD commentary, will remain a mystery. According to the DVD subtitles, the third line is "Can you settle to shoot me?", which fits in with the long-standing rumors that the song is about the Kent State Massacre.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** The show has several examples, most notably "Endless" Mike's dating advice in "Time Tunnel": "No fog, no fun."
** A significant portion of Little Pete's lines are ParentalBonus.
---> '''Dad (to Little Pete):''' Pete, we need to have a talk, as father to son.
---> '''Little Pete:''' Oh, don't worry, dad. Artie already had that talk with me.
---> ''[Mom faints]''
** And again in "Field of Pete":
---> '''Little Pete (pointing to a chart which the camera is behind and therefore the viewer cannot see):''' And that, my friend, is how you turn a colt into a gelding.
** This quote from "Yellow Fever", where the bus has pulled over for its passengers to pee:
--->'''Della:''' It's hard for me to go with everyone thinking about me!
--->'''Bus Driver Stu:''' Nobody think about Della! [to random student] You! You're thinking about her. You disgust me!
** In "Farewell, My Little Viking", when Artie is hawking aluminum siding, he uses the side of the house to give himself a back massage:
--->'''Artie:''' You, too, will enjoy the feeling of the pleasure ridges!
** In "Grounded for Life," Artie visits grounded Pete as if he were in a maximum-security prison (right down to Pete wearing a plain denim button-up shirt and talking to Artie on a phone on one side of a pane of glass). This also involves Dad frisking Artie...and Artie declaring, "You have soft hands for a man, Don! HEH-HEH!"

''Pete and Pete'' earned a devoted audience while airing alongside other live-action successes such as ''Series/SaluteYourShorts'' and ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll''; it also garnered a PeripheryDemographic in college-aged young adults--a demographic that Nickelodeon would not attract again in such large numbers until ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' in 2001--who enjoyed the show's oddball quirkiness. And by being shot on location and eschewing a laugh track, it pioneered a format that later became the norm for many sitcoms in the 2000s.

* PowerTrio:
** TheKirk -- Little Pete
** TheSpock -- Monica
** TheMcCoy -- Nona
* PutOnABus: Poor, poor Artie. (In retrospect, all Toby Huss can remember of his reasons for leaving the show is that he did it "of his own accord", according to his commentary on the DVD.)
** This is lampshaded, though perhaps not intentionally, as Little Pete kept regular company with Bus Driver Stu after Artie left the show.

* ThisIsSomethingHesGottaDoHimself: The climax of "Farewell, My Little Viking". Papercut throws paper in Rock, Paper, Scissors, daring Little Pete to throw scissors and defy him. Artie starts to move in to stop Papercut's wrath, but backs off when he sees that Little Pete is capable of handling this on his own. Which he does, by throwing [[TakeAThirdOption suborbital meteor]]. [[spoiler:This convinces Artie that Little Pete no longer needs a personal superhero, and [[ButNowIMustGo leaves Wellsville]] in search of another kid who does.]]