Suburgatory

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

ABC sitcom from Emily Kapnek, formerly of Parks and Recreation. The show revolves around sixteen-year-old Tessa Altman and her father, George, who have just moved from New York City to the affluent suburb of Chatswin.

The series takes place not long after Tessa's father does a search and seizure of her bedroom. He searched her room, found an unopened box of condoms, and promptly had a seizure. He decides to get them both away from New York City so he can give her a better life. And what better place to get away to than suburbia?

Tessa takes this as well as you might expect.

First aired on ABC September 28, 2011.

The title is rather obviously a Portmanteau of suburb and 'purgatory.

The series took some inspiration (mostly the title) from a memoir by Linda Keenan, Suburgatory: Twisted Tales from Darkest Suburbia.

Now has an incomplete character sheet.

Tropes used in Suburgatory include:

Dalia: "Is Tessa showing you around Losertown?"
Josh: "Well, if this is Losertown, wouldn't that make you a loser?"
Dalia: "Oh, wow. Logic."

Dallas: "Friends, family...Steven"

  • My Beloved Smother: Sheila attempts to be this for Tessa (and, when his back gives out, George). Ironically, she doesn't seem to give a crap about her own daughter
  • One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Tessa, with Josh, the undercover narc investigating steroid use in the school. Tessa interprets his secret he's keeping is that he's still in the closet, which Josh think she's knows he's a narc.

Josh: Oh my God, you do know. You can't out me. Nobody's ever figured it out before.
Tessa: Wouldn't it be better if everyone knew and it was out in the open?
Josh: Are you kidding? That would ruin me. So Ryan is not my guy, is there anybody else worth checking out?
Tessa: I do have the sneaky suspicion of Dave Donsky, school quarterback.
Josh: Got it, I'll sniff around, see what he's into.

  • Only Sane Woman / Only Sane Man: Tessa. George also qualifies.
  • Parental Neglect: Sheila with Lisa
  • Parental Substitute: Sheila attempts to be this to Tessa, much to George's annoyance.
    • Dallas also tries, much to Tessa's annoyance.
  • Popular Is Dumb: Dalia, Kaitlyn, Kenzie, Kimantha, Ryan, pretty much everyone popular in the whole thing.
  • Psychologist Teacher: Brutally subverted; the guidance counselor is as chirpy and clueless as everyone else in town.
  • Redheaded Hero: Tessa.
  • Rich Bitch: Dalia.
  • Running Gag: Tessa and her "lesbian boots" in the pilot episode.
  • Ship Tease: Fred reads his wife's diary, where she wrote down an erotic dream of hers involving George. turns out she was referring to George Stephanapoulous
  • Shout-Out: While Dalia is showing Tessa around school, they walk past the Glee club. One of the members is in a wheelchair.
    • The Tessa/Dalia interaction rings very similar to Mean Girls.
    • Tessa's narration in the third episode is also similar to Cady's narration, where the two of them compare the high school and Suburbia to the Animal Kingdom.
    • Mr. Wolfe's reference to undercover narc Josh's presence being "just like 'The Wire'!" is a twofer SO: first, to 21 Jump Street; second, Maestro Harrell (who plays Malik) is a real-life Wire alumnus.
      • Malik is a snitch. Chalk up one more Randy Wagstaff reference.
  • The Snark Knight: Tessa.
  • Sound Effect Bleep: Subverted in the episode "Thanksgiving":

Tessa and Dallas: That son of a...
(car horn as both pause)
Both: BITCH!

Dalia: You're like Tyler Perry. You're joking, but you're not funny.
Tessa: I'm not joking! Although you are right about Tyler Perry.

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