Western Animation / The Oblongs

"Oblongs! Oblongs!
Down in the Valley where a chemical spill
Came from the people living up on the Hill
There's a family by the landfill with hazardous foam
In their happy, glowing home
Oblongs!"

— Opening Theme

So the gist of The Oblongs is this: there's the eponymous family living in the extremely poor half of the town — in this case, the Valley portion of Hill Valley — where the air is toxic and the land befouled^note This is the phrasing used verbatim by Mr. Klimer in the first episode. There's Bob, the father, who has no arms or legs yet somehow hops his limbless torso around from place to place, handle things with his mouth, and drives a car; Marie Kay "Pickles" Oblong, the alcoholic, chain-smoking mother with a huge beehive wig who used to live in the Hills; Biff and Chip, the oldest and Siamese twin brothers; Milo, their heavily medicated little brother with a myriad of mental and social illnesses; and Beth, the youngest and only daughter, who is possibly the most "normal" of the family despite the large pinkish tumor growing out of her head.

The series covers the family's day-to-day lives, e.g. Bob working at Globocide, Milo, Biff and Chip getting mocked by the popular people, and Pickles stumbling in and out of intoxication and the occasional lusting over of her husband. It's intended to be a dark satire of class division in America, and caricatures the "Keeping up with the Joneses" mentality prevalent in society.

This show was originally part of The WB's crop of shows back when the WB first started out and modeled itself after Fox Network (which explains why the network had that Married... with Children-esque sitcom, Unhappily Ever After). This show, along with Mission Hill and Baby Blues were also a part of the second wave of animated adult sitcoms dueling with The Simpsons (and then-newcomers Family Guy, South Park, and Futurama). This show (and the other two) failed (mostly due to Executive Meddling and low ratings), but have since attained cult classic status, thanks to [adult swim] airing the episodes and the entire series being released on DVD (though Mission Hill was edited to remove the copyrighted music on its soundtrack and Baby Blues hasn't been released on home media due to rights issues and general audience apathy).

The Oblongs was loosely based on characters from Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children by Angus Oblong. Despite rumors that he was frozen from the creative process and hated the show, Oblong himself thought the show was all right, but stressed that this show was an adaptation of his book rather than a direct retelling.

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Tropes:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Helga on "Milo, Interrupted"^note The episode where Milo secretly takes care of Helga after Helga reveals that she's been abandoned by her parents and Hill Valley hires a Bible-thumping old lady named Mrs. Hubbard to act as the town's Moral Guardian following a minor act of vandalism.
• Ambiguously Bi: Biff is frequently implied to be attracted to men, but has on occasion been shown joining his brother Chip in lusting after women.
• Ambiguously Gay: The bullies Jared and Blaine seem rather close. Milo says what everyone's thinking in "Get Off My Back": "Everyone says you have sex with each other!"
• Ambiguous Syntax: In "Disfigured Debbie", Milo shouts out to Debbie "You can't do it!" when she's about to jump off a bridge in the Valley. It turns out he was being quite literal - she can't do it, as "we've all tried", but the pollution in the water is so thick that it just cushions the fall.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Used in the first episode with Milo when his father asks him if he has really gotten over his ADD.
• Audience Murmurs: Subverted in "Heroine Addict": Pickles keeps saying things that cause the audience to gasp. However, it's revealed that the gasps are actually coming from Milo's friend, Mikey, who has asthma.
• Balls of Steel: Painfully subverted in "Father of the Bribe" when Mayor Bledsoe, whilst doing a number of macho exercises, dares Mr. Klimer to hit him in the testicles with his golf club. Once the blow is made, the mayor stands perfectly still before saying, in an even voice and with expression unchanged, "That hurts more than I thought it would."
• Bathroom Control: In "Misfit Love", Milo states to his teacher that he has to take a dump. She says he'll have to do that after class.

  Milo: You may control my mind, but you'll never control my ass!

• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Bob lacks limbs and is unbelievably naive, Pickles is an alcoholic, Biff and Chip are bickering conjoined twins, Milo has tons of mental disorders, and Beth has a growth on her head.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Beth shows a nastier side in "The Golden Child" and "Father of The Bribe".
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: In "Flush, Flush, Sweet Helga", Helga encounters a frog with a top hat caught in a spider's web, which is clearly a jab at Looney Tunes character Michigan J. Frog, who was at one point the mascot of The WB, the channel the show originally aired on.
• Black Comedy: The show features lots of dark humor, some of it including a parachuter in "Heroine Addict" gloating that he cheated death immediately before he crashes into power lines and is reduced to ashes, James learning that his Mail-Order Bride suffocated to death in her packaging in "Please Be Genital" and how the inhabitants of the Valley generally have to put up with undergoing grotesque mutations and nightmarish health problems because of the pollution caused by those living in the Hill region.
• Black Comedy Rape: The apparent implication in "Pickles' Little Amazons" when Pristine Klimer is persuaded to take a ride from a trucker, the trucker joyfully yells "Party!" after letting her in his truck and Pristine is last seen banging on the door window with a look of terror on her face.
• Bloodless Carnage: In one episode, a man gets his head cut off with a jump rope, but there is absolutely no blood.
• Brain Bleach: Two examples from "Bucketheads".
  • Seems to be what people need when they witness Bob's method of playing the piano or organ, considering that he has no arms or legs.
  • Also when the Hill kids saw Helga naked ("Please, God! Someone poke my eyes out!").
  • And in a different episode, this was Biff and Chip's reaction to catching their parents in the kitchen.
  Biff: I CAN STILL SEE THEM!
  Chip: SCRUB YOUR CORNEAS!
• Brick Joke: In "Heroine Addict", Milo decides that playing Velva with his sister Beth is lame and says that he'd rather drink brake fluid. Later, Bob crashes his car and states that he was certain he changed the brake fluid.
• Bring My Brown Pants: In "Heroine Addict", the family is disturbed to discover Pickles wrecking the house late at night upon realizing how smelly everything is after she quit smoking. Bob subsequently comments on a smell, which Milo admits came from him and implies is because he soiled himself from being freaked out by his mother's behavior.
• Butt-Monkey: Mikey Cheeks for one, but really all the Valley people.
  • Bob and Helga usually get it much worse than any of the other characters in this show, whether they come from The Hills or The Valley, except for maybe Mikey.
• Casting Gag: Biff and Chip are voiced by Real Life identical twins Jason and Randy Sklar, who are ironically more closely related than the characters they play (who are fraternal twins that are only conjoined because of the Valley).
• Cats Are Mean: "Father of The Bribe" had the city unleash a shipment of cats in heat when Biff and Chip refused to give back the bribe money.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Wonderfully subverted in "The Golden Child".
  Bob: How could I have been such a fiddly-faddly fool? [aside to Pickles] Excuse the string of F-words.
• Comically Oversized Butt: Mikey Butts has such a huge butt that he has to wear his grandmother's bras as underwear because it won't fit in any other underpants.
• Companion Cube:
  • Beth's "doll", Chloe, which is actually a redecorated bondage whip.
  • In "Narcoleptic Scottie", Creepy Susie reveals that she has a pet clam, only to be informed by Peggy that it is actually a coin purse.
• Composite Character: Some of the characters are combinations of different characters from the book.
  • Bob is Bean the legless and tailless dog (he has no limbs) combined with the owner of Scottie the dog (in addition to owning Scottie in the series, he smokes a pipe and has the same hairstyle).
  • Pickles is Waldo's mom (she's an alcoholic) combined with Rosie's mom (beehive hairdo, though it's a wig).
  • Biff and Chip are Jenny, Jenny, Jenny & Babette the Siamese quadruplets (conjoined siblings) combined with Waldo (Chip has his appearance).
• Conjoined Twins: Biff and Chip, especially awkward because it's implied one of them is gay.
  • It has to be Biff, since Chip had already fallen in love with a girl in one episode where he temporarly attached to Milo.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: George Klimer runs a poison company called Globocide and, much like everyone else in the Hill part of Hill Valley, is a colossal dick.
• Crapsack World: The Valley is heavily polluted and pretty much everyone there gets the short end of the stick.
• Crazy-Prepared: In "Father of The Bribe", Beth finds a switch and starts swinging it.
• Creepy Child: Beth can come off as rather creepy because of how sneaky and not-so-innocent she is.
• Deadpan Snarker: Pickles owns this trope (particularly when she's dealing with her old friend, Pristine, who hates her for marrying Bob and giving up her life of being rich, pretty, and popular). Milo has his moments too. Creepy Susie does it in her own morbid way.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Pristine in the first episode says to Pickles "Well, gotta run. I don't want my daughter and her friends exposed to a drunken hosebag. Oh my gosh! Did I say that out loud?"
• Distinction Without a Difference: In "My Name is Robbie", the Oblongs are told by two men representing Globocide while discussing the conditions of Bob's workman's compensation for his jaw getting injured that they shouldn't talk to any lawyers. When Pickles addresses that the men are lawyers themselves, they reply that they're actually attorneys.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Beth's growth caused a lot of speculation until the creator had to finally say on his website "It's not a penis, guys."
• Dogged Nice Guy: Milo's feelings for Yvette are never returned.
• Dork Horse Candidate: How the "Disfigured Debbie" episode kicks off. Needless to say, it does not end well.
• Driven to Suicide: Attempted, and, thankfully averted, by one of the Debbies by jumping off of a bridge, but, as Milo put it, everyone in the Valley has tried.
• Dr. Jerk: Dr. Hofschneider is pretty condescending and insulting to his patients. Notable examples of his assholishness include callously asking Bob if he knows what an idiot he is after he misinterprets his suggestion to neuter Scottie as neutering Milo in "Narcoleptic Scottie" as well as photographing Bob's injured groin so he can use the picture to freak other people out in "Please Be Genital".
• Dumb Blonde: The Debbies have blonde hair and are clearly not intelligent. In "Bucketheads", a background gag shows Debbie Klimer proudly showing off a D+.
• Edible Theme Clothing:
  • In "Bucketheads", when Milo tries to make his own line of clothes, he has Helga wear a dress made of bacon. Naturally, Helga can't stop herself from eating it, resulting in her dress falling off in front of the Hill kids, much to their disgust.
  Jared Climber: Someone poke my eyes out!
  • If foods eaten by other animals count, in the same episode, Milo also makes Peggy wear a dress made from eucalyptus leaves, which gets her attacked by a koala that some Australian guy brought to the fashion show for some reason.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Creepy Susie has pale skin and dark hair and pretty much lives up to her name.
• The Eeyore: Creepy Susie tends to be very pessimistic.
• Elephant in the Living Room: Bob's lack of limbs is rarely pointed out.
• Even Nerds Have Standards: In the pilot episode, Peggy is explaining to Milo the social hierarchy at school and notes that not only are they behind the dorks, geeks, and dweebs, but the wild dogs on the soccer field and the boy who lactates as well.
• Evil, Inc.: Globocide, Bob's employer, is a company that produces poisons and run by very corrupt people.
• Evil Lawyer Joke: In "My Name is Robbie", the Oblongs are told not to talk to any lawyers when they're discussing the conditions of Bob's workman's compensation. Pickles points out that the men are lawyers themselves, to which they reply by insisting that they're actually attorneys.
• Expository Theme Tune: The theme song mentions that the titular family live in the polluted part of town and infers that it is polluted because of the corrupt and rich people who live on the other side.
• Fun with Acronyms: In "The Golden Child", Biff mentions that he prefers the manly side of sports and gives "Heart, Obedience, Motivation, and Opportunity" as an example. Beth points out that the statement spells "homo", to which Biff replies by insisting that Beth can't spell.
• Gaia's Lament: The Valley is heavily polluted.
• Girl Posse: The Debbies have nothing better to do than pick on the Valley children.
• Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Bob Oblong, constantly.
• Goth: Creepy Susie seems to be a parody of the Gloomy Goth subtrope.
  • More like Existentialist French i.e. Sartre.
• Groin Attack:
  • In "Please Be Genital", Bob went to a strip club to celebrate a co-worker's bachelor party, and wound up on stage with a dancer. Despite warnings that "My boys are on the ground floor", the dancer stomps on Bob's groin. As a result, Bob has to abstain from sex for the next two weeks in order to properly recover.
  • Invoked with the Mayor in "Father of the Bribe", see Balls of Steel above.
• Hairball Humor: In the first episode Lucky literally coughs up a lung which is mistaken for a hairball.
• Happily Married: Bob and Pickles have to be if they've had sex every morning and night ever since they first got hitched.
• Here We Go Again!: In "Flush, Flush, Sweet Helga," Helga causes one of the Debbies' lockets to fall into the sewer, and gets stuck attempting to retrieve it. Once she's freed at the end of the episode, she causes Debbie to drop the refurbished locket into the sewer again and dives in after it.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: In the first episode, Bob encourages his daughter to tattle on others, only for her to tattle on him.
  Pickles: Beth, honey, nobody likes a tattletale.
  Bob: I do. They're an essential part of any family. You keep right on tattling, sweetie pie.
  Beth: Daddy has a magazine with naked ladies hugging.
  Bob: Ehh, criminy.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • In "Milo Interrupted", Bob and Pickles state that their son Milo knows better than to be a slave to an addictive substance. Shortly afterwards, they and Lucky all start smoking and exhale with glee.
  • "Bucketheads" has a bit where Peggy complains about how disgusting it is for Jared and Blaine to be spitting at them, all while spitting into Mikey's face because of her lack of a jaw.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Helga's parents were forced to eat the other passengers of their plane after it crashed and the food ran out. Her mom even made Helga a necklace from their teeth. Helga gets noticeably freaked out when her dad mentions she "looks good enough to eat".
• The Immodest Orgasm: Pickles, to the point that her and Bob's son, Milo, literally can't sleep without hearing it.
• Informed Attractiveness:
  Helga: "I'm here to have tea with my friends, the Debbies." [beat] "I'm beautiful and popular."
  Mrs. Klimer: "Come in, come in!"
  • Not to mention the Hill people in general. If it weren't for Valley people being mutants with obvious deformities, you would not be able to tell.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: In "Disfigured Debbie", Debbie Klimer refers to Milo as "it" while complaining to the teacher that Milo won't stop talking to her.
• Jerkass: Pretty much everyone from the Hill is a complete dick to those who live in the Valley.
• Jerk Jock: Jared Klimer, and his little friend Blaine.
• Joke of the Butt: Mikey's shtick is that he has the unfortunate deformity of having a big, saggy rear end.
• Karma Houdini: Due to the show's short run, we never really see those stuck-up Hill people get what they deserve, which may have been the point.
  • Though, in "Disfigured Debbie," one of the Debbies got shredded up in the thresher after beating Milo in student council elections. She did get what she deserved (even though she later got plastic surgery to fix her face, returned to her circle of friends, and learned nothing from the experience).
  • "Pickles' Little Amazons" has a Debbie mauled by a bear during a nature hike through the city.
  • In addition, the Hill people occasionally get humiliated while trying to shove their success in the Valley people's faces.
• Lady Drunk: Pickles is an alcoholic.
• Little Miss Snarker: Beth is this on occasion.
• Living Prop: Granny Oblong, who according to Pickles hasn't spoken or moved in twelve years.
• Logic Bomb: In the first episode, we get this fun exchange.
  Jared: Stay away from Yvette, or we'll beat you crapless! Comprende?^note  Spanish for "understand"
  Milo: Everything but "comprende".
  Jared: *Beat* If you don't know what... aw, screw it, push him down!
• Man of a Thousand Voices: Billy West (of course).
• May Contain Evil: In "The Golden Child", Milo's Manic energy drink was popular because it contained morphine from discarded medicine bottles found outside a hospital.
• Meaningful Name: Hill Valley, which has the "hills" section and the "valley" section.
  • Also, Helga Phugly = Hella' fugly. The other Valley kids look at least presentable when compared to her.
  • Creepy Susie lives up to her name because of her obsession with death, among other things.
• Mobile-Suit Human: Bob for the Beach Episode "My Name Is Robbie", then a shark.
• Multiboobage: The Nurse. No, it's not sexy at all. Conversely, Peggy, who has one breast. It's still not sexy.
• Mutants: The Valley people are mutated by the chemical spill from the Hill.
• Naked People Are Funny:
  • "Narcoleptic Scottie" shows Milo running around naked with Scottie and some other dogs after Bob catches them eating from the garbage.
  • "Bucketheads" has Helga unable to restrain herself from eating her own bacon dress during Milo's fashion show, resulting in the Hill kids being grossed out from getting an eyeful of her naked body.
• The Napoleon: Sometimes Beth.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Creepy Susie, as befitting her name, has a fondness for what others are horrified by. In the first episode, she states that drowning is her third favorite way to die, "but they are all good".
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Willy the exercise instructor in "Heroine Addict" is an obvious stand-in for Billy Blanks, founder of the then-trendy Tae Bo.
• No Mouth: Beth has no visible mouth, except when she's talking.
• Non-Natural Number Gag: When Pickles' youth group is one member short of the minimum, Pristine snidely comments that Beth being "at most one half" cancels out Helga being "at least one-and-a-half".
• Noodle Incident:
  • In "Narcoleptic Scottie", Milo was suspended from school for doing something "unspeakable" with a fish stick. Pickles was about to spank him, but somehow it turned into a Hawaiian lu'au.
  • Milo brings up in "Father of the Bribe" an incident involving panda bears getting into a Dairy Queen and that it is apparently why he needs a lawyer.
  • In "The Golden Child", when Bob wakes up from a nightmare and declares "The truth must be told," Pickles freaks out assuming he's referring to her and abruptly confesses "I was the one who farted and ruined Christmas!"
  • Whatever happened in "Pickles L'il Amazons" during the taxi ride to the jamboree. When the girls and Milo arrive, Pickles emerges out of the taxi on a massive wave of empty beer cans and announces "That was some road trip! Where's the crapper?" Milo immediately starts kissing the ground once he gets out of the vehicle.
• The Noseless: Fitting with Angus Oblong's art style, none of the humans have noses, though some of them at least have nostrils.
• Ominous Pipe Organ: Debbie Klimer plays one like the Phantom of the Opera after being disfigured in "Disfigured Debbie".
• One-Steve Limit: Averted with all six of the Debbies. All of them are referred to as "Debbie" and that somehow doesn't confuse anyone.
• OnlySaneWoman: Beth is the most normal of the Oblongs, both in personality and appearance.
• Our Slogan Is Terrible: From "Bucketheads": "The Restaurant That's Too Cool For a Sign." <—- "That sign doesn't count."
• Opening Theme: By They Might Be Giants.
• Paper-Thin Disguise:
  • All you need to do to infiltrate the Debbies is dress exactly like them. Helga is short, fat and ugly and she had them fooled completely — until Helga scarfed down a platter of tea cakes and belched her wig clean off her head.
  • Same with Yvette, the alien girl, who was able to completely hide the fact that she was a Grey by wearing sunglasses.
• Passive Aggressive Combat: Pickles and Pristine share a few barbs at a basketball game.
  Pristine: Pickles! Fabulous to see you! Love your hair - where'd you buy it?
  Pickles: Off some whore - I think it was your mother!
  Pristine: Well, gotta run. I don't want my daughter and her friends exposed to some drunken hosebag. Oh my gosh! Did I Say That Out Loud?
• Parental Abandonment: Helga's parents went on vacation and were stranded on an ice floe for a year (until Milo rescued them to save Helga from being adopted by Mrs. Hubbard).
• Politically Incorrect Villain:
  • Pretty much every Hills resident is this by default due to looking down on the denizens of the Valley region for having deformities and being lower class, though Pristine Klimer takes the cake by making racist statements peppered with pseudo-Spanish towards a maid who isn't even Hispanic.
  Pristine: Consuela, how do you say, "You're not cleaning mi casa bueno enough." There is el spot-o on el floor-o!
  Maid: Mrs. Klimer, my name is Kathy. I'm from Ohio.
  • One-shot character Miss Hubbard is a racist old woman whose book on parenting advice includes a prayer for the "white male God" to destroy the "mud races" and remarks to Pickles' snarking on her needing to wear a chastity belt by replying that there are a lot of immigrants around, implying that she believes all immigrants have a predilection for rape.
• Punny Name:
  • Anita Bidet's name is a play on "I need a bidet", befitting the character's Drag Queen qualities.
  • Also, Bob — namely the old joke about "What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs in the water?"
• Quiet Cry for Help: In the episode "Milo Interrupted", when Helga is discovered to be living without parents, she is given to Ms. Hubbard to care for. She then appears at the Oblongs' door with Ms. Hubbard shilling bibles and acts outwardly upbeat and cheerful — but when she blinks, she has "HELP ME" written on her eyelids.
• Running Gag: At least Once per Episode Milo's friend Mikey ends up getting into a horrible accident.
• Racist Grandma: Miss Hubbard from "Milo Interrupted" is an old woman who demonstrates racism and xenophobia, as her book on parenting advice includes a prayer for the "mud races" to be destroyed by the "white male God" and she is shown to wear a chastity belt, replying to Pickles' snarking over whether anyone would want to have their way with her by stating that there are a lot of immigrants around.
• Sadist Show: Pretty much everyone who lives in the Valley goes through all sorts of humiliation and hardship.
• Sadist Teacher: Principal Davis.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: The credo of everyone living in the Hills.
• Shout-Out: The Debbies
  • Also, Hill Valley.
  • Milo dreams of his mother rapidly selling tickets to a screening of Oh, God! to coincide with her repeatedly moaning "Oh, god! from the other side of the wall.
• Show Within a Show: Velva the Warrior, a very Merchandise-Driven parody of Xena: Warrior Princess. With very... interesting names. ("Placentor, no!")
• Stepford Smiler: Pristine Klimer's smile often comes off as forced.
• Suicide as Comedy:
  • In "Disfigured Debbie", Debbie Klimer tries to end it all by jumping off a bridge. Milo pleads that she can't do it, which turns out to be because the pollution in the water is so thick that it's impossible for the impact of the fall to be fatal. Milo even states that everyone in the Valley has tried.
  • "Pickles' Little Amazons" has a bit where Bob is concerned about his son Milo crossdressing to impersonate a girl scout. When Milo demonstrates a passion for crocheting, Bob asks his son to crochet him a noose (though it's a complete mystery how it would be possible for Bob to hang himself when he doesn't have any limbs).
• Superficial Suggestion Box: "The Golden Child" revealed that the company's suggestion box emptied right into the furnace. According to the boss, Bob had single-handily kept the plant warm for years.
• Tag Team Twins: Biff and Chip compete in the same sports at school.
  • Although one episode had one of them competing in a wrestling tournament one-armed while another was bandaged up from injuries he incurred earlier in the episode (remember, they're conjoined...)
• Take That!:
  • Mayor Johnny "The Mayor" Bledsoe, a dig at pro-wrestlers-turned-elected-officials.
  • In "Heroine Addict", the Oblongs are given a selection of backgrounds to pose for a family photo, one of which is described as a family trapped in the seven circles of Hell. They end up choosing that option and the family is shown dressed as The Simpsons, with Bob as Maggie, Milo as Bart, Pickles as Marge, Beth as Lisa, and Biff and Chip as Homer.
• Thick-Line Animation: Just about everyone and everything has a thick outline.
• Toilet-Drinking Dog Gag: "Narcoleptic Scottie" has one of the scenes of Milo bonding with his new dog Scottie consist of Bob walking in on the two drinking from the toilet.
• Toxic, Inc.: Globocide is one. Their legitimate products are poisonous with the nasty byproducts thereof, including the chemical spill mentioned in the theme tune, being responsible for the deformities of the people down in the Valley.
  • This is to such a degree that, in the episode where Milo makes his energy drink, Mr. Klimer and the other executives need to have it explained that they can't keep selling it as-is because morphine's a controlled substance.
• Toxic Waste Can Do Anything: Deconstructed. The residents of the Valley lived beneath the toxic waste produced from a bunch of factories in the Hills and were mutated in odd ways, but still acted more or less like everything was normal.
• Urban Segregation: It is enforced at just about every corner that Valley people aren't allowed to go anywhere near the Hill section.
• Valley Girl: The Debbies. All six of them.
• Vanity Plate: Mohawk Productions, which is an ultrasound of a baby in the womb, giggling after an upbeat drum rhythm plays.
• Vengeful Vending Machine: Plumbing issues leave the entire city save the Oblongs' house without water. In order to cut down on bathroom lines, a hundred-dollar cash slot is installed on the door. When Bob's boss tries to use it and his bill is rejected, another character quips "the great equalizer".
• Visual Pun: Pickles escalating "Oh god, oh god, oh GOD!" as she and Bob have immodest sex next to Milo's room is visualized in his dream as his mother selling tickets to a screening of Oh, God!, with the bed squeaking becoming a rusty turnstile.
• Vomit Discretion Shot: In "Disfigured Debbie" when the kids walk in on the disfigured Debbie making herself puke after binging on candy.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Beth is just a little girl, but at times makes it clear that she is aware of how terrible the world is.
• Workaholic: Bob Oblong enjoys his job even if it's not a good one.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: In "Father of the Bribe", Biff and Chip get in a drag race with the bullies Jared and Blaine. Biff and Chip manage to stop their car just before it careens off a cliff, and breathe a sigh of relief when they exit the car safely and the car's okay. But immediately after that, Jared and Blaine drive up and kick Biff and Chip's car off the cliff.
• You Are the New Trend: The family's lack of funds in "Bucketheads" forces Milo to go to school on a rainy day wearing a bucket on his head and a trash bag as a raincoat. The hill kids make fun of him until the Fonzie stand in says he likes his bucket. Milo shows up at school the next day to find all of the hill kids wearing buckets and accusing him of copying them. The rest of the plot focuses on his mother helping him stay one step ahead of them.

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