Awesome Music: The theme song is quite catchy, even 40 years later. And what makes it even better is that it's actually Holly Robinson, one of the lead actors of the series, who sings it (Johnny Depp and Peter DeLouise are the ones who shout "JUMP!" during the refrain).
The series itself was also notable for licensing a lot of good popular music to use within the episodes, including The Rolling Stones (Band), R.E.M. and others. Unfortunately, this licensing did not cover home releases and the soundtracks were stripped from most DVD/Streaming options; see the Trivia tab for more information.
Bizarro Episode: "Back from the Future", a Clip Show episode where the framing device is a rookie officer in the 2040's interviewing the original team members, now in old age. It introduces a science fiction element into the series which had none previously.
Ioki's addiction to Morphine (after having survived a shooting and having been in a coma) was treated as something relatively minor in the 1980's, when the focus was much more on addiction to hard drugs. However, since opioid addiction became a big crisis in the late 2010's and it became known to the general public that addiction to legal drugs can be as bad as to illegal drugs, this became harsher to watch...
When Hanson (undercover) is trying to get into an illegal car race, another competitor (who doesn't know him) tries to taunt him with "What, did your Daddy buy you this car?". Harsher when you realize Hanson inherited the car, that used to be his father's, because, as revealed two episodes later, his father was murdered.
In "Woolly Bullies", Hanson recounted the time he was being bullied and harassed by a girl when he was younger, and it was Played for Laughs with a heartwarming ending. It might not be as funny anymore in regards to Depp with the revelations of what his ex-wife Amber Heardhas done to him.
The end credits, which entirely consist of a hand flipping through a high school year book. It was probably meant to make viewers feel nostalgic about their own high school time, but because nothing more was shown of the unidentified person looking through the book other than the hand, it looked and felt like a dismembered hand; and no pictures shown in the book had any relevance to any character or event ever appearing in the show, eliciting a "WTF do these credits have to with the show?" reaction from many.
At least three actors from Twin Peaks: Sherilyn Fenn in "Blindsided" (also notable for her dating Depp at the time), Robin Lively in "Mike's POV", and Dana Ashbrook in "Whose Choice is it Anyway?".
Bridget Fonda in "Blinded by the Thousand Points of Light".
Stoic Woobie: Tom Hanson is pretty stoic by nature, and goes through so much that you really feel for him. He's particularly stoic in season 2's "Orpheus 3.3" in which his girlfriend, Amy, is shot and killed during a convenience store holdup, and he initially suppresses any sadness he might feel.
The Film
Awesome Music: Back Together, the opening theme and Leitmotif of the movies is a swooning orchestral score that can either pump a person up or act as a somber backing track depending on how its tuned.
Schmidt tries to shut up a family friend at the store who almost blows his cover in front of Eric by shoving her against a table of shoes, and then saying she tried to grab his dick.
When the coach got his dick shot off. After he stops complaining a bit, they go "is that it?!" and point to half a hot dog. He then tries to grab it with his mouth. Also brings this certain quote to mind: "You shot him in the dick! That's not cool, Butters!"
He Really Can Act: Prior to this film, Channing Tatum was in danger of being typecast in bland action and romance roles. Playing Jenko gave him the chance to show the world that he can be outright hilarious and got producers wondering what else he was capable of as an actor.
Jenko and Schmidt; they both frequently "wrestle" with one another in the film, and the movie makes a point of how Schmidt is unable to ask anyone to the prom without screwing up or chickening out. Him asking Jenko is the only time he does it without error.
The Ho Yay from the series gets taken up to eleven in the movie when Hanson and Penhall get shot and as they lay dying, they both profess their mutual admiration for one another.
Humor Dissonance: The trailer for the movie has a scene where the police captain, played by Ice Cube, asks the two officers played by Tatum and Hill if they're autistic, intending it as an insult. It's supposed to be seen as very funny. That didn't go over very well with the autistic community.
Jerkass Woobie: Eric Molson. He's a smug, condescending jerk who brushes off those who he considers beneath him under a veneer of open-minded progressiveness, and seemingly has no moral qualms about selling dangerous and addictive drugs to his classmates. But, after it's discovered that he was actually forced into evil because Mr. Walters caught him smoking marijuana, and that he fears prison because he would be a likely target for rape, his fate in the second movie, it's hard not to feel bad for the guy.
Memetic Mutation: The top comment under the HFS video is "I can't masturbate to this". In some circles of the internet that reference has become an all-purpose expression of a WTF reaction.
Johnny Simmons as Billiam, the student who first shows just what the HFS drug does. It's hilarious.
Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise reprising their roles from the show.
Popularity Polynomial: Played with. Using both backpack straps = desperately uncool in 2005, simply how you carry a backpack in 2011.
According to a surprisingly in-depth investigation done by Slate, the shift was already well underway by 2005. But the movie's putting it out there was what led to the article in the first place...
At the climax, Schmidt shoots off Mr. Walters' dick, and the latter tries to pick it up with his mouth.
Schmidt's romance subplot with Molly can be this if you're put off by the 7-year age difference, because even though the film goes out of its way to specify that Molly is 18, she's still in High School being courted by a fully grown man.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: A Jerk Jock bully running into his former victim while they're at a police academy and becoming friends while they help each other overcome their weaknesses would be a pretty good film on its own.
became a big crisis in the late 2010's and it became known to the general public that addiction to legal drugs can be as bad as to illegal drugs, this became harsher to watch...