History WesternAnimation / TheWeekenders

* AnAesop:
** When Tino's fear of clowns becomes ridiculous, the gang attempt to help him get over it - by enrolling him at a nearby circus clown school. By the end of the episode, he says he hasn't gotten over his fear but he can at least live with it now. The lesson here is that being afraid of something is okay, as long as you don't let it take over your life.
** One episode has the gang arguing about whether or not Tino's memory of a childhood hang out spot is real. Tino is convinced it is, while the other three aren't. They go along with him anyway just to prove themselves right. After they fall out, Tish realises MyGodWhatHaveIDone and points out exactly how stupid the fight was. Lor had been arguing through the whole episode about how if being right wasn't important, what was the point of tests. Tish responds "If we'd just taken a friendship test, we would have failed." They reconcile with Tino at once and, despite Tino turning out to be right, does not say he found the hangout.
** "To Be Or Not To Be" - Friends don't become friends just because they have the same interests. It's perfectly fine for friends to have their own personal interests and hobbies. Tish abandons her friends when they make fun of her for being in a Shakespeare play. But the other cast members of the play ignore her and she realizes how miserable she is. And her friends still go to the play to support her anyway.
** "Super Kids" - There is plenty of time to achieve greatness but your childhood is only going to last so long, so it should be enjoyed while you can. Trip Nickerson, the so-called 'super kid' is bitter and lonely despite his bestselling book. Additionally, fame or recognition does not equal success. And likewise, success does not equal happiness.
** "Murph" - Not everyone will like you and you won't like everybody and that's okay and that you shouldn't obsess over the people that don't like you.
** "Grow Up" Enjoy your childhood and don't be in a hurry to get older just because you feel like you're too old for certain things.
** An in-universe example in another episode has Tish deciding to conduct a study on human behavior. She acts horribly to all her test subjects, eventually causing them to walk out on her. She's learned her lesson by the end of the episode and announces to her friends that - in a touch of {{Irony}} - she ended up the subject of her own study: that when you need someone to help you, they respond better to positive reinforcement. Tino then points out that it took three days for her to basically learn "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar". Still a good lesson though.

An animated series from Creator/{{Disney}}, aired from 2000-2004 as part of the ''Creator/OneSaturdayMorning'' block on Creator/{{ABC}}, the ''One Too'' block on Creator/{{UPN}} and Creator/ToonDisney; created by Doug Langdale (previously of Creator/{{Universal}}'s ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' adaptation, Sony's ''WesternAnimation/ProjectGeeker'' and later Disney series ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian''), and ran for four seasons. It followed the lives of four friends: DeadpanSnarker Tino Tonitini, {{Tomboy}} Lor [=MacQuarrie=], not so cool Carver Descartes and {{The Smart G|uy}}irl Petratishkovna "Tish" Katsufrakis. Oddly enough, despite having four school-age children in the main roles, the show hardly (if ever) touches on aspects of school life, since stories nearly always begin on Friday afternoon and end on Sunday evening.

-->- The theme song, sung by Creator/WayneBrady

** An in-universe example in another episode has Tish deciding to conduct a study on human behavior. She acts horribly to all her test subjects, eventually causing them to walk out on her. She's learned her lesson by the end of the episode and announces to her friends that - in a touch of Irony - she ended up the subject of her own study: that when you need someone to help you, they respond better to positive reinforcement. Tino then points out that it took three days for her to basically learn "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar". Still a good lesson though.

Noted for its surprisingly good writing, averting the LimitedWardrobe (unusual for an animated show) and for [[NoFourthWall often breaking the fourth wall]]; the audience is addressed directly by (usually) Tino, as a Narrator of sorts, with other characters also taking on this role or even {{lampshading}} it on occasion. Also has quite a set of OnceAnEpisode recurring gags, such as the seemingly indecisive [[LocalHangOut pizza place]] (never having the same name or theme twice), Tino's Mom serving highly questionable food, and of course "[[CatchPhrase Later Days!]]" One other reason this show stands out is the aversion of the AdultsAreUseless trope - showing that adults ''can'' be useful and ''still'' have a good show.

* CatchPhrase:

* CelebrityLie: ''"Band"'', where Carver blurts out that Chum Bukkit would dedicate their upcoming show to the four of them.

* HypocriticalHumor: In "Grow Up", Tino refers to "Later Days!", his CatchPhrase, as ridiculous slang and then gets in an ArgumentOfContradictions with his mom which he then loses because she uses the "times infinity" trick.

[[CatchPhrase Later Days!]]

** Carver's mom uses the words "Hug hug, kiss kiss" as a farewell to her kids whenever she leaves the house, without doing any actual hugging or kissing.

* ButtMonkey: Tino on occasion.

* CreepyChild:
** ''Never'' put Carver's brother Todd and his friend Quinty together.
** Also Frances, the girl who's always saying that she likes pointy things and giggling.

* DumbBlonde: Pru; as well as Bluke, sort of.

* IneptAptitudeTest: ''"Careers"''

* SarcasmBlind: Bluke.
** Carver occasionally.

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: In "Diary", the gang take Tish to a play that turns out to be...strange, to say the least. In the few seconds we see of it, the actors speak very slowly, and they begin playing shuffleboard every time one of them asks a question. Even Tish thought it sucked. [[invoked]]

An animated series from Creator/{{Disney}}, aired from 2000-2004 as part of the ''Creator/OneSaturdayMorning'' block on Creator/{{ABC}}, the ''One Too'' block on Creator/{{UPN}} and Creator/ToonDisney; created by Doug Langdale (previously of Creator/{{Universal}}'s ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' adaptation, Sony's ''WesternAnimation/ProjectGeeker'' and later Disney series ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian''), and ran for four seasons. It followed the lives of four friends: DeadpanSnarker Tino Tonitini, {{Tomboy}} Lor [=MacQuarrie=], not so cool CoolLoser Carver Descartes and {{The Smart G|uy}}irl Petratishkovna "Tish" Katsufrakis. Oddly enough, despite having four school-age children in the main roles, the show hardly (if ever) touches on aspects of school life, since stories nearly always begin on Friday afternoon and end on Sunday evening.

* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: A variation in "Best" when Tino is upset about not getting on the yearbook.

** Tish also shows signs of ambiguous aromanticism or UsefulNotes/{{Asexuality}}, being the only one of the group never to develop a crush in the show, even having an episode devoted to her failed attempts to 'force' herself to fall in love, with the Aesop being that it isn't a bad thing not to have romantic feelings, even at the 'right age'.

%% * 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.

* BareYourMidriff: [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lor_4653.png Lor's pink-and-white-striped shirt does this.]]

* IronicInversion: ''"Talent Show"''. Lor is a finalist, while Tish is conspicuously absent.

* VignetteEpisode: "The Worst Holiday Every" is mainly comprised of the main four describing their worst holiday experiences, with flashbacks of each.

* ConstantlyChangingName: A RunningGag is the pizza place constantly changing its name and its theme. Characters actually don't have a difficult time finding the pizza place though, because the only changes to the exterior are the sign on top.

* ConstantlyChangingName: A RunningGag is the pizza place constantly changing its name and its theme. Characters actually don't have a difficult time finding the pizza place though, because it's a building.

An animated series from Creator/{{Disney}}, aired from 2000-2004 as part of the ''Creator/OneSaturdayMorning'' block on Creator/{{ABC}}, the ''One Too'' block on Creator/{{UPN}} and Creator/ToonDisney; created by Doug Langdale (previously of Creator/{{Universal}}'s ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' adaptation, Sony's ''WesternAnimation/ProjectGeeker'' and later Disney series ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian''), and ran for four seasons. It followed the lives of four friends: DeadpanSnarker Tino Tonitini, {{The Smart G|uy}}irl Petratishkovna "Tish" Katsufrakis, {{Tomboy}} Lor [=MacQuarrie=], and not so cool CoolLoser Carver Descartes. Oddly enough, despite having four school-age children in the main roles, the show hardly (if ever) touches on aspects of school life, since stories nearly always begin on Friday afternoon and end on Sunday evening.

* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The group as a whole is a mixed example: [[FieryRedhead Lor]], [[BrainyBrunette Tish]], [[DarkSkinnedBlond Tino]], and Carver.

* DarkSkinnedBlonde: Tino

-->- The theme song, Creator/WayneBrady

* SliceOfLife: For the most part, it's about average kids doing average things.

-> ''I'm livin' for the weekend!''