Suburgatory

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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.

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Tropes found in Suburgatory:

• Actor Allusion
  • "Malik is a snitch."
• Alpha Bitch:
  • Dalia Royce.
  • Sheila has Alpha Bitch tendencies, towards other mothers.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "A siren could mean anything! Arson, murder..." "DOLLS!"
• Artistic License Geography: The show's map suggests Chatswin is either in southwestern Connecticut or the adjacent areas of Westchester County. Yet, culturally, it has far more in common with some parts of Long Island or New Jersey than it does with either Greenwich or Port Chester.
• Bilingual Bonus: While studying for a Spanish test, Tessa asks her dad a question in Spanish. He responds...in French. Neither line is translated
  • really bad French, too
• Black Sheep: Poor, poor Lisa.
• Blondes Are Evil: Dalia. Dallas just avoids this, coming across more as a Spoiled Sweet type.
• Brainless Beauty: Ryan Shay.
• Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Listing the types of sex... "...Pity Sex, Party Sex, Pity Party Sex...."
• Cloudcuckooland: Chatswin
• Dawson Casting: 16-year-old Tessa is played by (as of this post) 21-year-old Jane Levy.
• Deadpan Snarker: Tessa. Lisa has her moments to,, generally aimed either at Tessa or her mother
  • Dalia has her moment, when Tessa introduces her to undercover narc Josh:

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

• The Ditz: Both Dalia and Dallas Royce. Maybe it's genetic?
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: After giving up on seeking approval from her poetry teacher, Tessa ponders why she was so desperately seeking approval from a withholding older woman who obviously wanted nothing to do with her
• Dumb Blonde: A good chunk of the cast.
  • Averted with Lisa. Dallas appears to be this trope on the surface, but she has revealed hidden depths as the series goes on.
• Embarrassing Middle Name: Dalia Oprah Royce. It's also telling about her mother...
• Erotic Eating: By Lisa and Malik in "Down Time"
• Expy: Dalia is Regina George mixed with Karen, Dallas is a less embarrassing Mrs. George, and Tessa is essentially Cady. Tessa also has a striking resemblance to Ginger from As Told by Ginger, which was also created by Emily Kapnek.
  • The entire show could be one for Daria at times.
• Furry Fandom: A bunch of people bodypainted as animals in "The Motherlode".
• Girl Posse: The KKK (Kenzie, Kaitlin, and Kimantha) for Dalia.
• Granola Girl: Eden
• Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Mr.Wolfe, before coming out as gay.
• Hidden Depths : Dallas prefers relative poverty to remain with a man who cheats on her.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Wash moved to the suburbs.
  • So did Billy, it seems.
  • Saturday Night Live alums Chris Parnell, Jay Mohr, and Ana Gasteyer (or Dr. Spaceman, Professor Rick Payne, and Cady's mom) are also suburban parents.
  • Seems Fez managed to escape Wisconsin and is looking *very* well for his age...
  • Randy finally gets out of the group home, even gets a 320i BMW, a new identity and STILL can't stop snitching.
• Hollywood Nerd: Lisa and Malik
• Hot Dad: George Altmen.
• Hot Mom: Dallas Royce.
• Insufferable Genius : Tessa, sometimes. She can't fail class, she's smart ! Got it ?
• Letter Motif: The KKK, Kaitlin, Kenzie and Kimantha.
• Missing Mom: Tessa's mother left when she was very young. Lisa's mom Sheila is physically present (in fact, she's a bit of a My Beloved Smother to Tessa), but obviously doesn't give a crap about Lisa.
• Mistaken for Gay: Everyone assumes Tessa is a lesbian due to her tomboyish demeanor.
  • Tessa and George make the same mistake with the two VERY campy but married guys at the barbecue.
  • Then Tessa does it again with an undercover narcotics officer. Though this is subverted with Mr. Wolfe
• My Friends and Zoidberg: From the Thanksgiving episode:

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!

• Spoiled Sweet: Dallas and Dalia are both cut from the same cloth, though the former honestly does mean well much of the time, clueless as she can be.
• Stepford Smiler: Parodied...
• Stepford Suburbia: ...to hell and back!
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: "Laxatives are not illegal!" ~Dahlia, "The One with the Burbs"
• Take That:

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.

• Token Minority: Malik, referred to as the "diversity student."
  • Mr. Wolfe
• Token White: Dallas was this in her college sorority(which was all black.)
• Trademark Favorite Beverage: Sugar-free Red Bull.