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  • Alternative Character Interpretation: The entire show is this due to the fact that it is a narritive of events through the eyes of one kid writing about these events into his journal. As a result, his opinions on a person will affect how they are portrayed in each episode.
    • One theory is that Doug is crazy.
    • Roger is a Tsundere for Doug. See Ho Yay lower down on the page.
  • Big Lipped Alligator Moment: Doug's Quailman fantasy in Doug's 1st Movie. Then again, it's a Doug movie, and it wouldn't be complete without Quailman.
  • Broken Base: Disney's Doug.
    • Same with the movie. Some love it, some really don't like it.
  • Cliché Storm: Doug's 1st Movie is a slight example.
  • Designated Villain/Unknown Rival: Often Guy from Disney's Doug. While he may be egotistical, Guy's actually a nice person who's even helped Doug out on occasion, but he has feelings for Patti. This causes Doug to see him in a negative light, as he's been crushing on Patti since day one.
  • Ear Worm:
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Mr. Dink, Roger, and Judy.
  • Fanon: The Dinks are childless due to fertility issues, or Tippi having had a miscarriage back in the day before they gave up. This is why Mr. Dink is so interested in Doug, seeing the boy as a substitute son.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Doug insisting that "It's a journal, not a diary!"
    • In one Nick episode, Patty worries she got her hair cut too short. (Actually, it really looks no different, so it's essentially an Informed Flaw.) Regardless, fast-forward to the Disney years and... well, Patty didn't seem to mind her short hair then.
    • In the pilot episode, "Doug Can't Dance", one of the kids at the costume party is dressed like Mickey Mouse. Fast forward a few years, and the mouse owns Doug.
    • Also, this wouldn't be the only former Viacom property to fall under Disney's ownership...
  • Ho Yay: Roger seems almost...obsessed...with Doug.
    • This is ALL from "Doug's on TV."
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 Roger- "Oh, and Funnie, if I were you, I'd bring a saddle to school tomorrow... because the kids are gonna be RIDING YOU ALL DAY!!!"

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      • Then there's this exchange between the two, sitting on the couch watching the burning of embarrassing tapes. Yeah, THAT has no subtext these days...
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 Doug- "This bowl of popcorn ain't big enough for the both of us, "Rowdy Roger."

Roger- "Watch it, 'Hoss!' I may have to rope and hogtie you. Don't forget, I've got the record!"

Doug- "Well, rooty-toot-toot to you too!"

Roger- "Well, yippie-ti-yo-ti-yay to you!"

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      • And after an oh-so-appropriate pause, when Doug notes Roger is eating all the popcorn...
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 Roger- "Look, 'Hoss,' don't make me ride you around the room."

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  • From another episode: "Looks like everybody's paired up but us, Funnie. Guess that means we're partners."
    • Doug even seems to imagine this as a possibility. In his imagine spots, Roger has dressed as a girl and put a love note in Doug's locker, kissed Doug on the head, and said such things as "Ooo, I think I'm in loooove. Isn't he just darling?"
    • Roger was the one to organize an anniversary party for Doug, and when Doug is flattered, quickly proclaims, "Yeah, uh, well, it doesn't mean we're getting married or anything...!"
    • After Roger gets over his rather short-lived crush on Judy, he promptly gives Doug the bunch of flowers he was carrying.
    • "My Fair Lady" has Roger butting in to join Doug's group and pretty much adhering to his side. He even wants to sit next to Doug on the ferris wheel, and Doug has to try pretty hard to convince him not to.
    • We get a bit of Les Yay in "Doug's a Big Fat Liar" when Patti goes to the dance with "cousin Melvin"...aka Judy in disguise. When Judy's cover is blown, Patti doesn't mind one bit and continues to dance with her all evening.
  • Hollywood Pudgy: Connie. While she was a bit thicker than the other girls in the Nick series and not particularly popular with the boys (despite being close friends with Patti and Beebe), she wasn't the "wide load" she was hyped up to be. In "Doug Tips the Scales," she says she is big-boned.
    • However, averted in the Disney series.
    • Played with in an episode about Doug himself. He came back after a couple weeks eating junk food at his grandmothers and had clearly gained a good amount of weight. He managed to lose weight for an upcoming pool party with his friends, but his pot belly did not disappear despite the weight loss. Judy points out that Doug has always had a bit of a paunch.
  • Memetic Mutation: "There's a bomb in the lasagna!"
    • "You broke my grill!? You broke MY GRILL!? YOU BROKE MY GRILL!?"
    • Beeyoouuu
  • Mis Blamed: There are a number of fans who whine about Disney's changes to the series. Actually, the only thing Disney did was buy the rights to the series (and Jumbo Pictures, the show's production company), produce it, and air it on ABC. Pretty much everyone who worked on the Nick series worked on Disney's series as well. Also, all of the changes were Jim Jinkins' own ideas.
  • Nightmare Fuel: The camping episode featured a creepy, surreal imaginary sequence of monsters lurking in the woods.
    • The "YOU BROKE MY GRILL?" scene, in which Mr Dink transforms into a monster.
    • An in-universe example (though the episode probably freaked out some viewers as well). The episode with the movie The Abnormal. Of course it turned out to be Nightmare Retardant at the end...
  • Older Than They Think: Listen to the opening title song. Now listen to John Denver's Dancing with the Mountains released in 1980. Just sayin'.
  • Periphery Demographic: The show was pretty popular among adults, especially among parents who wanted their kids to watch it.
  • The Problem with Licensed Games: A game based on the Disney show was released for Game Boy Color, and featured Doug and Porkchop searching for Patti while wandering around Bluffington and doing tasks for various characters (collecting stuff to beam to aliens for the Sleech brothers or running errands for Judy, for example). Unfortunately, the whole game was an extremely dull fetch-quest, and the only action - minigames featuring Quailman - left a lot to be desired.
  • Retroactive Recognition: People tend to forget that Billy West originally voiced Doug and Roger. Likely has to do with the fact that another show with West premiered at the same time and gained greater recognition.
  • Ship Tease: Doug's crush on Patti may not be entirely one-sided...
  • Tear Jerker: Doug's Christmas Story.
    • Doug Says Goodbye. Especially the scene in which Doug goes to Skeeter's house to say goodbye, sees a car pulling out of the driveway and thinks he's missed his chance.
    • Patti's Dad Dilemma.
    • The scene in Judy's Big Admission where Judy's in tears because she thinks she didn't get admitted into Vole University. She really needs a hug, which Doug gives her.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: While Disney's Doug lasted three years, some fans were simply turned off by the change. Of course, others did enjoy it (especially those who didn't have cable, or had never heard of Nickelodeon's version).
    • Ironically, the first episode of the Disney show had Doug suffering from this reaction to all the changes going on around him.
  • Toy Ship: Doug and Patti, both in sixth grade at the start of the series and only just finished seventh grade in the final episode.
  • Ugly Cute: Herman Melville, the Lucky Duck Lake monster from The Movie.