Basic Trope: A contest is held where large quantities of water are poured on to young, attractive people, typically wearing white T-shirts.
- Straight: Alice, Claire, Rosita, and Anjali all participate in a wet T-shirt contest on the beach.
- Exaggerated:
- The entire series takes place over the course of a massive wet T-shirt contest tournament, with contestants representing countries from around the world.
- The contestants are expected to go topless, dance erotically for the judges, or strip entirely nude to win, all in front of a massive spring break crowd and aired on a jumbotron.
- Downplayed: For the sake of local public decency laws, the contest is just a "wet swimsuit contest," and all of the contestants are wearing modest one-piece swimsuits, made from materials that don't become sheer when wet.
- Justified:
- The summer brings record-breaking heat, so dousing the women with water is doing them a favor.
- The story takes place in a world where wet T-shirt contests have somehow gained credibility as a legitimate sport, as opposed to just a lewd party activity or spring break event.
- Alice is actually an FBI agent, looking to infiltrate a gang of young drug dealers. Unfortunately for her, this contest happens to be the closest way to get to them.
- Inverted: The contest is a race to see who can put on the most layers in a given time, with the contestants already starting out fully clothed.
- Subverted:
- On the day of the contest, the weather is stormy and hailing.
- The white T-shirts ordered for the contest never show up.
- Double Subverted:
- They simply hold the contest indoors, in an arena venue.
- The contestants don't seem to mind about the lack of T-shirts, as they all decide to go topless.
- Parodied: The announcer asks the women if they're ready to get wet, get wild, and take home the gold, and then lets out a very bro-like "Whooooo" to the audience. The camera pans over, and it's revealed he's merely an official for a women's swim meet. One of the other officials takes him aside and explains why that's inappropriate.
- Zig-Zagged: Whether or not the contest will even happen is a long, drawn-out debate between the organizers and the beach staff over the course of an episode. Finally, the beach staff gives in.
- Averted: The wet T-shirt contest is planned, but then no contestants show up on the day of the event.
- Enforced: "We need more fanservice, but don't want the female characters to look like sluts. Let's rely on an already established practice for getting women to show their boobs!"
- Lampshaded: "Wow, these contests are really just for pure titillation, huh. Not so terrible. Hey, check out Alice!"
- Invoked: It's too hot at the beach, and there's a ton of attractive young women lounging around. "What more excuse do we need?" Bob asks, as he starts setting it up and asking women if they'd be interested.
- Exploited: Bob has lusted after Alice for months, and somehow manages to convince her to join the nearby wet T-shirt contest as a participant.
- Defied: Bob asks the beach staff if it's okay to set up a wet T-shirt contest. They turn him down.
- Discussed: "Wet T-shirt contests are awesome. Let's get this on tape!"
- Conversed: "It's a wet T-shirt contest episode. You believe they can get a whole episode out of that?" "Yes, somehow, I can believe that."
- Implied: Bob is inspecting Alice's various trophies for different sporting events, and sees a smaller one off to the side, with a placard that reads "Senorita Camiseta Mojada, Cancun." Bob says he knows "Senorita" means "Miss," but asks about the rest of it. Alice replies that, well, er... it's like a beauty pageant. Kind of.
- Deconstructed:
- A representative from the beach staff office shuts the event down before it can get really going, citing public indecency laws.
- One of the contestants steps forward, and asks introspectively why do her and all of the other women partake in this. Is it out of a need for acceptance, to be loved, to be viewed as beautiful? The contest pauses eerily, as the crowd contemplates her questions.
- Reconstructed:
- The contest organizers tell the representative that if he lets them continue, he can be a judge. Before he can even respond, a pair of especially attractive, especially buxom contestants swoop in, rip off their tops, and sandwich his head between their breasts. He pulls his head out for a moment to say he agrees to the deal, and the crowd cheers as he puts his head right back in.
- Suddenly, one of the judges shouts "Because it's HOT," and blasts the asker of the questions with his hose. She immediately reverts to her former bubbly state and bounces around joyfully for the spectators amidst riotous cheering. Everyone quickly gets back into a party mood.
- Played for Laughs:
- The contest is an actual sporting event, televised internationally with announcers and full-length ads.
- The judges act like Olympic judges, watching and evaluating the contestants bouncing, twerking, and stripping with careful attention, and while maintaining calm, serious expressions. Their scorecards have spaces for categories like "Creativity," "Style," "Technique," and "Titties."
- The announcers discuss the contestants' moves and strategies as though it was a sport:"And now Rosita from Troper State U is going with the hands-crossed-over-front pulloff, followed by some cartwheels. That's gonna be hard to top, for up-and-comer Claire. Oh wait, never mind, Claire has removed her top and is now motorboating the judges. That'll do it."
- In between segments, the TV broadcast details certain contestants' paths to the championship:"Bethany got started at Josh's mixer, worked her way up through a gauntlet of frat parties, and took First Place at the Miami Semifinals to be here today. What's your secret weapon, Bethany? ... Thanks for sharing your huge, jiggling secret weapons with us, Bethany. Best of luck out there."
- Alice coincidentally happens to be wearing a white T-shirt on the day the contest is happening, and is mistaken for a contestant by one of the organizers. Before she has the chance to explain herself and the mix-up, Alice finds herself on stage and blasted with ice-water from a hose. She is crowned Miss Wet T-Shirt Universe (not that she appreciates it), but one of the other contestants insists that the contest was rigged, and rips the trophy from Alice's hands. The trophy handle snags on Alice's already soaked shirt, tearing it clean off of her, and the crowd falls silent as Alice finds herself completely topless before the spring break crowd, on the nearby jumbotron, and on the internet livestream. The crowd goes wild as Alice has her Naked Freak-Out.
- Played for Drama:
- The contestants of the wet T-shirt contest form a tight web of relationships that are explored throughout the rest of the story.
- Alice's boyfriend finds out she participated, and now feels as though a sense of intimacy has been lost between them.
Ready for things to get wet and wild? Head back to Wet T-Shirt Contest.
