Naturally, Sadie is a Family Channel tween comedy, with Sadie Hawthorne (Charlotte Arnold), a friendly zoologist and cool nerd/Granola Girl, as the main character with her two friends Margaret and Rain join her. It was rather short-lived and a borrowed a few tropes from fellow Canadian Series, like Life with Derek. The series lasted from June 2005 to August 2007 and aired on Disney Channel in the United States
Tropes used by the series:
- Accidental Pervert: In one episode, Rain has dental work that turns his speech into an unintelligible mumble. Every time he tries to talk to a girl, his mumbling gets interpreted as something filthy. He ends up getting sent to the principal's office, where he runs into exactly the same problem.
- Adoring the Pests: In one episode, Rain ends up with a family of bats roosting in his locker. Although he initially wants to get rid of them, he decides to let them stay as a way of impressing girls.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted; even Mallory, who likes the closest thing to a 'bad boy' on the show, isn't interested in him for behaviour. Also of note Arden Alcott falls for Rain
- Almost Kiss: Sadie and Ben had a total of eleven almost kisses, and when they finally have their First Kiss, it is one of two possible scenarios and it isn't clear which one happened (until the third season.)
- Audience Monologue: Sadie does this in every episode, when she goes to her "Sadie Spot" and tells her thoughts to the audience. Other characters also do this in "Rashomon."
- Bad Impressionists: Taylor. Her 'impersonations' consist of her describing the person she is 'impersonating'.
- Better as Friends: In "Home Alone", Margaret and Rain Test Kiss and realize that they can't be a couple.
- Catchphrase: Sadie is fond of adding "in theory" to the end of sentences. Ben always says "chimo" (an ancient Inuit greeting) instead of goodbye.
- Character Development: Arden starts off as a stereotypical Alpha Bitch but by the end of the third season, or the school year, she is even nice to Sadie.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Tad, a friend of Ron Yuma and Rain, is a recurring character during season 1; he's never seen or heard from after the Retool.
- Class Pet: In "Coma Chameleon", after convincing her teacher that she's the most qualified to take care of the science class's pet reptile, a bearded dragon, Sadie accidentally loses it.
- Enemy Mine: While not enemies per se, some of them don't get along. The show uses no less than five of these examples, and that's not including when Hal taught Sadie painting; that went in another direction.
- Episode of the Dead: The series has the Halloween Episode "Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun" where Hal's new girlfriend distributes bracelets that turns the kids at school into zombies.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Mall cop.
- Fanboy: Ben is one for, of all people, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. His catchphrase "Chimo" was promoted by Trudeau in The '60s as an alternative salutation that could be used by all Canadians (as it was neither English nor French) that never caught on.
- Fell Off the Back of a Truck: In one episode, there's a tie that makes the holder incredibly lucky. Margaret is holding it when a delivery truck passes by, and a box of cute shoes in her size falls off right at her feet. But no one asks her where she got them, so she never has to drop the trope name.
- Halloween Episode: "Ghouls Just Want To Have Fun", which doubles as a
Bizarro Episode as it resembles nothing else in the show's run. Fans still debate if it is supposed to be in continuity or not. - Happily Married: Walter and Jean Hawthorne
- High-School Dance: When Sadie planned the school dance for komodo dragons. The end product was a room festooned in blue-and-white streamers, a refreshments table complete with punch bowl, and dancing so G-rated the teens barely touched hands.
- How Unscientific!: "Ghouls Just want To Have Fun" has Hal's girlfriend distributing wristbands that turn people into zombies. See the Bizarro Episode above.
- I Am Spartacus: In "Unusual Suspects", Sadie and Dr. Finch both confess to being the one who broke into Finch's store, each trying to protect the other. Ultimately, the police decide no crime has been committed and let them go.
- I Broke a Nail: Sadie says this in "Advanced Girl Lessons" when she is attempting to become more feminine. Played With when she then admits that she has no idea what she is supposed to do about it.
- Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: Mallory begins copying Margaret for part of an episode; she then moves on to Sadie, and later becomes a huge fan of Hal's band. She doesn't copy him, though.
- I've Got an X, and I'm Not Afraid to Use It!: When Rain thinks someone is breaking into the diner, he yells, "I've got frozen pitas and I'm not afraid to use them!"
- Janitor Impersonation Infiltration: Rain does this to get proof that a famous designer is ripping off Margaret's designs.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: In "Advanced Girl Lessons", a customer at Dr. Finch's mistakes the tomboyish Sadie for a boy. This causes her to undergo a crisis of confidence and attempt a Girliness Upgrade, only to suffer a Femininity Failure. By the end of the episode, she has managed to find a happy median between Tomboy and Girly Girl.
- Laugh Track: Thankfully averted, much like Phil of the Future.
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Margaret runs a Greek newspaper story about Rain through an internet translator. The page she gets back is entirely My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels.
- Nature Lover: This is one of Sadie's major personality traits. Her ambition is to become a famous naturalist.
- Naughty Birdwatching: A variant occurs in "Forest for the Trees". Sadie is sitting in her favourite tree spying on her crush Owen Anthony. Owen spots her and thinks she is sitting there as a protest to the tree being cut down. Rather than admit what she was actually doing, Sadie goes along with this, leading to a Protest by Obstruction.
- Office Sports: While cleaning the corridor during detention in "Life Cycle", Hal and Rain start playing chair hockey using rolling chairs, brooms, and an aluminum can.
- Once an Episode: Sadie will compare what's going on to something, in first season this would be nature themed, in seasons 2 & 3 this was anything.
- Protest by Obstruction: In "Forest for the Trees", Sadie is upset when her favourite tree is going to be cut down. She is up the tree spying on her crush Owen Anthony when Owen spots her. Owen thinks she is occupying the tree as a protest to prevent it being cut down. Rather than reveal the actual reason she was in the tree, Sadie stays in the tree as an actual protest.
- "Rashomon"-Style: In "Rashomon," Sadie, Margaret, Rain, Ben, and Arden each tell their own version of how the food fight at Acropolis Wow got started, and each is an unreliable narrator. (Some examples: Sadie gives Arden fangs, Rain gives himself a mustache, Margaret claims to have written a self-help book, and Arden gives Ben a French accent and recounts him flirting with her.) Played for Laughs and repeatedly lampshaded.Arden: Hawthorne, why did you give me fangs?Sadie: I dunno. Creative license?
- Retool: The second season resulted in multiple changes to the show, new romantic interest for Sadie, new characters and even partly changing Sadie's character (she was a lot more of a tomboy in the first season, and her interest in nature and animals was downplayed).
- Rough Overalls: Prior to the Retool of the second season, Sadie often wore overalls to show her Tomboy nature and interest in studying nature, mostly wearing a pair when she volunteers at a zoo or collect samples in a swamp. This became a plot point in "Best of Breed", when an Alpha Bitch volunteers to mentor her on a speech contest but critique Sadie's overalls. Sadie in turn, learn some manipulative tactics and has the popular girl trade away her trendy clothes for her own overalls.
- Smitten Teenage Girl: Sadie is this towards Big Man on Campus Owen Anthony in the first season. She is too shy to ever actually approach him, and her friends keep pointing out that the two of them have nothing in common and he barely knows that she exists.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Arden replaced Chelsea as the Alpha Bitch for seasons two and three.
- Take Our Word for It: Sadie's brother had been giving his sister a Wax On, Wax Off training for her to become an artist...only to reveal that he wasn't really being serious about it. Sadie gets so pissed off that she lashes out on a nearby canvas and ends up making a magnificent work of art. The viewers never see what it is, but those who saw it are impressed.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The outdoorsy, animal-loving Sadie and fashionista Margaret.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: Every episode of season one would have one 'Sadie' plot and one 'Rain' plot, except one where the plots merged. This was less common for the second and third season
- Two-Timer Date: In "Double Jeopardy", Sadie goes to the homecoming dance with both Ben and Owen.
- Victorious Childhood Friend: Taylor comes back into Rain's life in season three, and they are going out within a couple of episodes.
