The Stanley Dynamic is a Canadian live-action/animation hybrid sitcom from Nelvana that airs on YTV. It ran from 2015 to 2017.
The series follows the Stanley family, which consists of:
- Lane Stanley, a cartoonist and the father (portrayed by Michael Barbuto),
- Lisa Stanley, the mother and a caterer at a community center (portrayed by Kate Hewlett),
- Lawrence "Larry" Stanley, a junior high aged boy and twin of Luke (portrayed by Charles Vandervaart),
- Luke Stanley, Larry's twin brother, who happens to be a cartoon (voiced by Taylor Abrahamse), and
- Lori Stanley, a Child Prodigy and the youngest child (portrayed by Madison Ferguson).
In each episode, the family does activities that usually end in silly hijinx.
No relation to The Stanley Parable.
Contains examples of:
- Alliterative Family: Lane, Lisa, Larry, Luke, and Lori.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: The main plot of "The Stanley Smothered Brothers" is Lisa being embarrassing while trying to be more involved in Luke and Larry's lives.
- Black Comedy: From "The Stanley Smothered Brothers":Pam: Wait! I've been waiting all night to pull this rabbit out of my hat!(she pokes at the rabbit)Pam: ...never mind.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: Luke. He couldn't keep something under wraps if his life depended on it.
- The Chessmaster: Darnell's sister Mina proves to be this in "The Stanley Crush".
- Child Prodigy: Lori's defining trait.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Doop seems to be one, particularly during his ventriloquist act.
- He uses this to his advantage when Pam spots him in formal wear in "The Stanley Spy".
Doop: I like to sleep in formal wear. I find it gives me fancy dreams.(Beat as the laugh track plays)Pam: The less I know about your home life, the better. - Comically Missing the Point:
- When Lori's bees go missing...
Lori: The entire hive is empty, Larry! Do you know what this means?Larry: That there's no honey for my toast?- When a woman goes into labour during yoga...
Woman: The baby is coming!Luke: To pick you up? A baby shouldn't be driving a car.- When Lisa gets food poisoning...
Lisa: Just the thought of food makes me wanna-(urk)Larry: Cook it? - Creepy Child: Morgan would qualify, considering her tendency to use students at her school as human test subjects.
- Deadpan Snarker:
- Pam is heavy on the snark.
- Officer Vicky fits the bill.
- Larry has his moments:
Luke: Once I join the team, you'll have to admit that I'm athletic!Larry: Or I'll have to admit you to the hospital. - The Ditz: Both twins, however it's more prominent in Larry. Doop and Lane would also qualify.
- Dumb Blonde: Luke. Averted with Morgan.
- Fangirl: Pam clearly has a thing for Buddy Heat.
- Feud Episode: "The Stanley Feud", where Luke is mad at Larry for blowing off planes with him to hang out with Darnell.
- The Food Poisoning Incident: "The Stanley Sick Day".
- Foregone Conclusion: Of course Ronnie was behind the vandalism in "The Stanley Spy"!
- Foreshadowing: In "The Stanley Halloween", Lori's pet spider crawls into Larry's jacket. Later, when he uses Morgan's cellular duplicator, it mutates him into a human-spider hybrid.
- Geek: Ronnie, dear god Ronnie.
- Halloween Episode: "The Stanley Halloween".
- His Name Really Is "Barkeep": In "The Stanley Detective", Luke (posing as a detective) refers to Morgan (who is helping him) as "Watson". At the end, it's revealed that Watson is actually Morgan's surname.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode is titled "The Stanley (insert topic here)".
- Instantly Proven Wrong: In "The Stanley Neighbours", Lisa says that Luke and Lori are responsible enough to stay home alone. Cue Luke and Lori coming in announcing that they're going to install a lightning rod on the roof.Lori: We better hurry, though. There's a major electrical storm coming.
- Lethal Chef: In "The Stanley Games", Pam somehow started a fire while stirring batter.
- Like You Were Dying: Toyed with in "The Stanley Grandpa". The kids think Grandpa Lawrence is dying, so they decide to help him achieve everything on his bucket list. However, his bucket list was written when he was five years old. Hilarity Ensues.Larry: Ride a camel; fill a bathtub with chocolate pudding; eat a cow in one sitting;
become a pirate? Grandpa's into some weird stuff. - Lovable Jock: Larry and Darnell.
- Medium Blending: Luke is a cartoon, while everything else is live-action.
- Mistaken for Dying: The basic plot of "The Stanley Grandpa", where the kids believe their grandfather is dying. Turns out he was dyeing, as in dyeing his hair white, as apparently it made him look "distinguished".
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Buddy Heat seems to be a parody of Gordon Ramsey.
- Noodle Incident: "Remember when {Lori} was three and she crawled into the gorilla cage at the zoo?"
- Odd Name Out: Lane, Lisa, Luke, Lori...and Lawrence.
- Also, Lane's great-great-grandfather is named Mordecai Stanley. However, whether he actually exists or not is up for debate, as his only appearance is in the Halloween story Luke made up to scare some kids.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Larry is only called Lawrence when their grandfather visits.
- Only Sane Man: Larry flips between this and The Ditz, often within the same episode.
- Playing Sick: In "The Stanley Date Night", Larry pretends to have a stomachache and be in the bathroom so he can sneak out to a party.
- Prison Episode: "The Stanley Crime".
- Rubber Man: Luke can stretch his arms to ridiculous lengths (then again, he is a cartoon).
- Samus Is a Girl: The BMX biker from "The Stanley Neighbours" turned out to be a girl when Larry confronted her.
- School Uniforms are the New Black: Lori is often seen wearing her school uniform.
- Screaming Birth: In "The Stanley Sick Day", a woman goes into labour and starts screaming.Luke: Wait, you're having the baby now?! An actual human baby?!Woman: (screaming)Luke: Ah, more of a demon baby.
- Sick Episode: "The Stanley Sick Day". Lane and Lisa both get food poisoning, so Larry and Luke try to mind the community center. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
- Shout-Out:
- In "The Stanley Sick Day", there's a drawing of a Triforce on a chalkboard.
- In "The Stanley Sabotage", when the door to his studio is knocked, Lane answers with "You rang?"
- In "The Stanley Spy", Lisa asks Luke (the titular spy) if he wants his milkshake "shaken, not stirred".
- Slasher Smile: Pam.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Larry loves ketchup.
- Two-Timer Date: In "The Stanley Date Night", Luke and Larry try to attend a party and babysit Lori at the same time.
- Weirdness Censor: No one seems to be bothered that Luke is a cartoon. Even in the theme song, when Larry and Luke are seen as newborns, Lane and Lisa don't seem to care that Lisa just birthed an animated child.
- When She Smiles: Inverted; Pam's smile is utterly terrifying.
- Women Are Wiser: Lori is noticeably smarter than her brothers and father.
- The Workaholic: Doop, to the point where in "The Stanley Grandpa", Pam has to literally order him to take a vacation. However, he's more cheerful than other examples.
