Basic Trope: A story teaches An Aesop that it's important to get enough sleep.
- Straight: In Mary and Spencer, an episode revolves around Spencer staying up late every night. In the morning, when he has to get up to go to work at Mary's Eatery, he's tired and makes poor decisions. Mary advises Spencer to get his sleep schedule back on track, which boosts his performance once he does.
- Exaggerated: Spencer has gotten into the habit of not letting himself sleep until 3 AM and he wakes up at 7 AM. He has trouble functioning throughout the day, sometimes crashing and needing Mary to wake him up.
- Downplayed: Spencer has become addicted to Phonýmon cards. He starts staying up late to organize his card deck, making him a slightly less competent player. The moral focuses more on not getting addicted to stupid trends, but the importance of sleep is an undertone.
- Justified: Truth in Television. Sleep Deprivation in real life can impair your cognitive abilities, make you more tired and irritable, and lead to mood swings.
- Inverted: Spencer is a Workaholic. He finds that he loves working at Mary's Eatery instead of sleeping, and asks for overtime so he can stay there longer instead of needing to go to bed.
- Subverted: Since Spencer's being slower and sloppier at work, you think he's tired. It turns out he's drunk, rather than having missed out on sleep.
- Double Subverted: Mary tells Spencer that he needs to stop drinking... and getting to bed at a reasonable hour wouldn't hurt, either.
- Parodied: When Spencer goes to bed just ten minutes later than usual, he becomes a sleep-deprived wreck who can barely muster the energy to stand up.
- Zig-Zagged: Spencer gets to bed early on days when he has to work, but on weekends and holidays, his favorite hobby is pulling all-nighters.
- Averted: The story does not teach a moral about sleep.
- Enforced:
- The story is a plug for E-Z Sleep-brand melatonin. Taking E-Z Sleep becomes a part of Spencer's nightly routine and has him in bed earlier.
- Sleep Deprivation PSA.
- Lampshaded: "I need to get to bed earlier!"
- Invoked: An online influencer starts a trendy challenge involving staying up for as long as you can. Spencer wants to participate, and ruins his sleep schedule in the process.
- Exploited: Jones, a spokesman for E-Z Sleep, gets into contact with Spencer and has him try out the melatonin.
- Defied: Spencer stubbornly refuses to get to bed because he has fun when he stays up late.
- Discussed: Mary asks Spencer if he's tired because he's not getting enough sleep.
- Conversed: "Sleep is good, huh? What an obvious moral, even for a kids' show."
- Implied: Spencer is The Ghost, but Mary mentions that he's been texting her later than usual and isn't doing as good at his job.
- Deconstructed: Spencer's lack of sleep leads to his immune system weakening and him getting sick.
- Reconstructed: Spencer resolves to put sleep first, getting to bed earlier instead of staying up late.
- Played for Laughs: Now that Spencer's learned the importance of sleep, he's started oversleeping and is comically late to work.
- Played for Drama: Spencer has a Bad Boss who overworks him, and a large family to take care of at home. His lack of sleep severely and negatively impacts his life.
- Played for Horror: It turns out that Spencer is being forced to stay awake as part of a Sleep Deprivation Punishment by a threatening criminal.
Have some sweet dreams at Sleep Aesop.
