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My Babysitter's a Vampire is a TV movie and then later a TV series developed for Canadian television that was later brought to the Disney Channel. It's made by Fresh TV, the same people behind Sixteen, Total Drama Island and Stoked.
The series follows the adventures of a geeky fourteen-year old boy named Ethan (Matthew Knight), his best friend Benny (Atticus Dean Mitchell), and his vampire babysitter Sarah (Vanessa Morgan).
The show has similarities to Nick's The Troop, but My Babysitter's a Vampire is Darker and Edgier in terms of content matter and what is shown.
- Action Girl: Sarah.
- Action Survivor: Ethan.
- Adorkable: Ethan, Rory and Benny
- Adults Are Useless: Averted with Benny's grandmother.
- Afraid of Needles: Ethan, and verging into Rule of Funny with it.
- All Guys Want Cheerleaders: Ethan and Benny are more than happy that Sarah's the only one who can wear a cheerleader's uniform. The happiness fades, though, when the guys have to go along and 'Suit up!' just like Sarah - when Rory shows up, and likes what he sees...
- Anti-Villain: Two of the main characters:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "Most troublemakers clog toilets. You two rewire PAs, break office windows, talk about space demons..."
- Ascended Fangirl: Erica.
- Asshole Victim: The kid trespassing on the Morgans' property at the beginning of the movie.
- Audience Participation: The official website currently has a Fighting Game Web Game called Humans vs. Vampires, where you pick a side and battle against opponents on the other team. The ending for the next season will be determined by whichever team gets the more wins; if the human side wins, the season will end with a Happy Ending, but if the vampire side wins, the bad guys will win.
- By the looks of things, the final season will have a Happy Ending.
- Badass Boast: Ethan's promise to Kurt in "Friday Night Frights": "Prepare to get Ethan-ized!"
- Badass Damsel: Erica. Brie, and the two girls from the martial-arts club in "Smells Like Trouble", also qualify.
- To be honest, after the pilot movie Erica immediately starts to suffer of Badass Decay and ends up being useless most of the time: she bares her fangs to the Monster of the Week and the next thing we see is that she's been knocked out, trasnformed into a doll or hypnotized. Or trapped in a van. Said decay is probably a consequence of The Worf Effect though. Rory is equally useless too, most of the time.
- The Blind Leading the Blind: Benny trying to give Ethan advise on how to ask Sarah out. It's pointed out by both, and played with by the bordering-on Dangerously Genre Savvy Benny, who mentions that he's got access to info because his dad's getting back into the dating scene.
- Break His Heart to Save Him
- British Brevity: The first season only has 13 episodes.
- But Not Too Black: Soundly averted, and in fact, is never, ever brought up.
- Canada Does Not Exist
- Casanova Wannabe: Ethan, Benny, and Rory all fit here. Though Ethan is generally much calmer, Benny and Rory play it pretty straight.
- Cat Fight: Two good ones in "Smells Like Trouble", when the two girls from the martial-arts fight to see who gets to kill Benny - and then, the still entranced Erica and Sarah show up to beat them down before they move on to the boys...
- The Cheerleader: Played with. The head cheerleader is kind of bitchy, but it has more to do with the fact that she's an immortal witch planning to suck the souls of the student body then her being a cheerleader.
- Child Mage: Benny - and although his antics may border on Inept Mage territory, he's actually quite competent but for the fact that his thoughts are somewhere else.
- In both The Movie and "Guys and Dolls", Jane showed that she has an affinity for casting magical spells and performing magic.
- City of Adventure: Whitechapel. Justified by its history, events that have happened there, and the current and former residents.
- Cool Car: Sarah's car. Played with in "Double Negative", with Benny's go-cart.
- Cool Big Sis: Sarah, for Jane.
- Cursed with Awesome: Sarah.
- Cute Little Fangs: Erica, and she knows it.
- Dangerously Genre Savvy: Benny, who hides water guns filled with holy water in various places around the neighborhood.
- Both Ethan and Benny, who jury-rig the fire sprinklers at the theater with holy water.
- Darker and Edgier: Than most of the shows aired on Disney Channel.
- Dating Catwoman: Benny's goal concerning Erica.
- Deadpan Snarker: In this show, everyone gets a turn on that carousel.
- Deal with the Devil: Ethan offering a pint of his blood to the nurse vampires, in exchange for Rory and Erica.
- Demonic Possession: Sarah ends up this way in "Three Geeks and a Demon".
- Designated Girl Fight: between Sarah and the vampire nurses, in "Blood Drive", and in "Smells Like Trouble", between the girls who were attracted to Benny/Ethan and Erica/Sarah. Guess who won.
- The Doll Episode: "Guys and Dolls".
- Downer Ending: "ReVamped".
- More like a Bittersweet Ending, because even though Sarah is a full vampire, the last shot (as she flies away) shows that she may get used to some of the benefits, and there's no doubt that both she and Ethan realize how much she cares for him. Also, it's not as if it'll change her life in the immediate future (she can still do the things she has before, like Rory and Erica still do), drink the blood substitute or animal blood as before...
- Dueling Shows: With The Troop.
- Eighties Hair: Doug Falconhawk is rocking that mullet (even though it's only a wig).
- Evil Costume Switch: Erica's clothing choices after she's bitten in the pilot movie. She even lampshades this as a reason for wanting to become a cheerleader and wear the uniform.
- Even Evil Has Standards: In Friday Night Frights, Coach Ed specifically states that he isn't willing to get Ethan killed in his quest for a new trophy for the school.
- Everyone Can See It: Played straight with most of the cast in relation to Ethan and Sarah (and possibly the reason Jesse bit Ethan in the season one finale, in order to force her to become a full vampire).
- Specifically used by Coach Ed in "Friday Night Frights" to get Ethan to wrestle, as he shows him a Bad Future where Sarah is Happily Married to Kurt ;The Hurt' Lochner.
- Eye Scream: The reporter in 'Lawn Of The Dead', when Tiberius attacks him on-camera.
- Family-Unfriendly Violence: At times it's like this. It's rated TV-PG-V for a reason.
- At times?
- Fake Ultimate Hero: Doug Falconhawk.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: In the pilot movie, Jesse actually sucks an Innocent Bystander's blood dry and collects her soul in a Soul Jar, with most of the act being shown onscreen.
- Fan Girl: Erica, over Dusk - and as "Smells Like Trouble" showed, even becoming an Ascended Fangirl hasn't lessened her Squee moments over anything associated with the franchise.
- in "Three Geeks and a Demon", it's revealed that Sarah is a Justin Bieber fan.
- Five-Man Band:
- The Hero - Ethan
- The Lancer - Benny
- The Big Guy - Sarah
- The Smart Guy - Rory
- The Chick - Erica
- The Mentor - Benny's grandmother
- Alternatively:
- The Hero - Ethan
- The Lancer/The Big Guy - Sarah
- The Smart Guy - Benny (sort of)
- The Chick - Rory
- The Sixth Ranger - Erica
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Sarah. Also played with in Rory's case.
- Freudian Excuse: Before being turned Erica was a Hollywood Nerd who took a lot of crap. Afterwards she decided that this justifies her being a bitch.
- Fully-Embraced Fiend: Erica.
- Fur Against Fang: Werewolves and Vampires are ancestral enemies, they have an almost instinctual dislike of each other. Erica subverts this by trying to imitate a Twilight expy.
- Gaia's Vengeance: in "Die Pod".
- Genius Ditz: Rory is a complete buffoon in common sense, but he has his moments of intelligence such as in "Three Geeks and a Demon."
Rory: Did you try the on switch? |
- Genre Savvy: Ethan, Benny, and Rory, especially given that all three are nerds. Benny's grandmother also qualifies, and Sarah is starting to pick up on things.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: There is now a page for this.
- Glory Days: Benny's Grandma touches upon this in the movie, when she says that after living in Whitechapel for almost a century, one learns a few things.
- Hair of Gold: Definitely Benny's preference in girls.
- Heartbroken Badass: Sarah, as of the end of the season one finale.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: Ethan and Benny.
- Hollywood Nerd: Ethan and Benny of the Type 2 variety.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The usual outcome of many of the boys' misadventures, and the way a surprising number of the bad folks end up in the show. Subverted by Jesse, who's now Back From the Dead - although, although being already undead, counts more as a Ten-Minute Retirement.
- I Hate You, Vampire Boyfriend: Sarah's attitude toward Jesse.
- In Medias Res: "The Brewed" begins this way.
- Innocent Bystander: plenty of them in the pilot movie, not so many in the series.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Sarah is Marion Hawthorne and Amanda Pierce.
- The heroine in Dusk is Manny Santos.
- Jesse is Truman - with his trademark Smug Smiler.
- Jesse's second-in-command in The Movie is 'Question Mark', and Erica is 'Shady Lane'.
- Craig's a werewolf.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: The reason Sarah sucked the venom from Ethan. She chose to become a full vampire so that Ethan could have a normal life.
- I Will Protect Him: Sarah's feelings towards Ethan, when danger arises. Subverted in the ghost episode, when she tells him that she can't fight a ghost.
- The Jailbait Wait: Implied, and a rare male example (although since the age of consent in Canada is sixteen, it's only two years). Come season three, when Ethan turns sixteen...
- Jumped At the Call: Benny. Arguably Erica (because Evil Feels Good, makes you one very hot babe, and lets you upgrade to a better wardrobe.
- Kill It with Ice: how the boys stop the zombie epidemic in "The Brewed".
- Kissing Cousins: Ethan apparently, but he didn't know.
- Laser Hallway: one is set up at Ethan's house in "Doug The Vampire Hunter".
- Living Forever Is Awesome: Erica, Rory, and Jesse's view on being Vampires.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Erica.
- Love Potion: In "Smells Like Trouble", Benny creates one to make Erica and Sarah fall in love with him and Ethan, but ends up having all the girls in the school be affected as well... before going Ax Crazy on them moments later.
- Meaningful Name: Kurt 'The Hurt' Lochner is a championship heavyweight wrestler.
- Also, 'Whitechapel' is the name of a Victorian London district where a certain fellow used to do business...
- Meganekko: Both Erica and Rory start out like this, then both quit the glasses after they're bitten.
- Ms. Fanservice: Erica, again after she's bitten. Sarah is made of this trope.
- Mistaken for Gay: Ethan, after his dad walks in on his web chat with Benny.
- Muggle Best Friend: soundly averted, as both of Ethan's best friends have powers, too!
- My God, What Have I Done?: The look on Sarah's face in "ReVamped", after sucking the venom from Ethan.
- Never Say "Die": Averted.
- No Export for You: In it's native Canada, series-wise. Only a few episodes of Season 1 aired there (the US got it first), now the show is stated for a 2011/2012 release there, despite the cast now filming Season 2.
- Not What It Looks Like: Subverted.
Sarah: Whatever you guys thought you saw, it's not what it looks like! |
- Played straight in "Smells Like Trouble", when Ethan's father listens in on Ethan and benny's webchat.
- Oh Crap: Ethan's reaction when he realized that Doug knows Sarah's a vampire in "Doug The Vampire Hunter".
- One of Us: EVERYBODY in the main cast (as they're all Genre Savvy) - even though Sarah tries to pay lip service to being a Cool Loser. Erica and Sarah call each out on it in the vampire hunter episode, when Erica mentions that Sarah made a Star Trek reference - and Sarah shoots back that Erica recognized it for what it was.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: The deceased Whitechapel wrestling coach acts as a Ghostly Advisor to Ethan, in order to win a sports trophy for the school - and shows him a Bad Future in order to make him comply.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Partially subverted. The vampires are sensitive to sunlight (for example, they usually need sunglasses when outside, and UV lamps can force them back), wood stakes work, holy water can hurt or kill them, they have enhanced senses, strength, and super-speed (resembling teleportation). They have to be invited inside, and can eat normal food (although it's not as good for them as blood).
- Our Zombies Are Different: Zombiefication works here in much the way vampirism works in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe: once a person dies, the soul moves on, and a demon enters the revived body.
- Pilot Movie: A Made for TV Movie about how they met Sarah.
- Power Trio
- Seers: Ethan (and it's insinuated in The Movie that that it's a familial trait, so his children might have the same gift).
- Shout-Out:
- Betty and Veronica.
- Turn one goldfish inside-out, suddenly you're Lord Voldemort.
- "Die Pod" has one to the Rickroll.
- The Shaggy Dog.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Ethan. Benny and Rory as well, but they're much more out going than shy little Ethan.
- Spiritual Successor: Arguably, to Wizards of Waverly Place, albeit Darker and Edgier than its TV-G predecessor.
- Super Loser: Rory. Slightly subverted in his 'Vampire Ninja' phase, where he verged into Let's Get Dangerous territory.
- Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious: Ethan, who has a rare blood type that is especially appealing to vampires, as revealed in "Blood Drive".
- Take That: Dusk is a major satire on Twilight. It's even a somewhat-major plot point in the TV movie pilot, which also includes an Edward Cullen Expy.
- Also, during Ethan, Benny and Rory's seiance:
Benny: Will the world end near 2012 as the mayans predicted? No? Dang it. |
- Ethan, when discovering plant material in the school's computer wiring:
Ethan: It's like it's half-alive, half-plastic! Kinda like Heidi Montag! |
- Ten Minutes in the Closet: Rory and Erica, in the bloodmobile. This leads to a "Shut Up" Kiss session that Erica doesn't seem all too angry about, after they are released.
- Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Erica thinks like a Vampire-Werewolf Love Triangle Paranormal Romance novel in "Blue Moon".
- Title Drop: In the TV movie pilot, by Ethan after he and Benny see recently vamped Sarah sucking the blood of an animal.
- Token Evil Teammate: Erica. Technically Rory.
- Too Dumb to Live: Rory sometimes verges into this zone.
- Sometimes? Of course, Rule of Funny applies...
- Weirdness Censor: You'd think that Ethan's parents would have noticed and commented of some of the ongoing weirdness. Also, the local news and the school's administration haven't seemed to catch on to the weirdness.
- Wham! Episode: "ReVamped". Jesse returns from the dead, brain-washes Erica, and bites Ethan to force Sarah to become a true vampire by sucking out the venom.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Sarah's view on being a vampire. Half the season is her trying to find a way to regain her humanity through magical means. Other vampires actually taunt her on this, with one vampire specifically mentioning that she'll probably forget about Ethan and Benny after a couple of centuries, and Sarah herself saying that they will move on, get married and live fulfilling lives, while she will be 17 forever.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Doll-turned-human Debbie Dazzle from "Guys and Dolls".
- Your Vampires Suck: See Take That above.
- Zombie Apocalypse: "The Brewed". Also, the pilot episode, and implied to be the end goal of the Big Bad in "Die Pod".
- Zombie Infectee: Benny in "The Brewed." Luckily, Sarah manages to turn on the school's air conditioning and turn Benny and the other zombies back to normal before he can infect Ethan.