Youth of Australia TV Tropes Page

A work in progress... because I am bored and in denial.

Above the Influence: Andrew to Katy, but it turns out to be ex-issues.

Accidental Pervert: Dave's attempts to tell Phoebe he loves her are undermined as he keeps stumbling across her naked. Katy and Lucy later wonder why he's so depressed given he's seen more of Pheobe than her own boyfriend.
Dave later becomes a fan of the comic book The Unintential Adventures of Rob The Peeping Tom...

A Date With Rosie Palms: In Actually, I Asked For Decaff... Nigel tries it in an art gallery, only for all the alarms to (co-incidentally) go off. "How did they know! CURSE YOU, BIG BROTHER!"

A Hero Is Born: in Verkoff: A Terrible Ego.

Alls Well That Ends Well: Shifts according to the rule of funny. Six months of physical and psychological torture from Parker is instantly forgotten, while Nigel's descent of madness isn't tidily sorted out. Summed up in In Whom We Trust where Nigel discovers the whole business is a misunderstanding and they can be the best of friends again... except Andrew refuses and announces he intends to kill him. Sooner or later.

All Women Are Lustful: Well, that's what Nigel likes to think...

Am I Just A Toy To You?: Nigel's girlfriend Heather, definitely.

Anyone Can Die: In Identity Crisis: Time Comes to Death Nigel and Andrew are Killed For Real when an insane Dave has them executed, but the duo annoy Satan so much he expells them back to the land of the living to be free of their humiliation.
In the Youth of Australia Apocalypse Trilogy, the entire cast are all killed - first by ravenous unseen space monsters, the second when God destroys the Earth, and the third when civilization ends.

Art Evolution: All of them, Nigel has evolved the most - originally he looked far more oriental with spectacles, but in later appearances had huge round glasses, longer bangs and a beehive hairdo. Lampshaded in The Zeitgiest of Indecsion, where Nigel's cult worship a stain-glass window of his earliest look.

Assexual: Jadi, but arguably Andrew.

Beach Episode: Subverted, as the gang wear all their usual clothes and when Eve dresses up it's in a leather goth suit.

Bedmate Reveal: Dave and Eve in SlipBack, Eve, Ashley and her friends in A Holiday Is As Good As A Change.

Beginner's Luck: Dave is brilliant at first tries of driving, dating, interviews... usually putting Nigel to shame as he's been bigging himself up beforehand.

Bezerk Button: Dave has one best left unpressed when it comes to mocking or threatening people he cares about. When Nigel mocked Phoebe's sex life in Isolated Incidents, Dave jammed his head in a storm drain and walked off, "absent-mindedly" leaving him to drown. When Magnus actually beat up Phoebe, he assisted Nigel in what he believed would be a murder attempt
Nigel discovers he has one when deprived of chocolate for months on end. He literally gets a bezerk button, complete with thrash metal soundtrack, flying off the handle and trying to kill people until a violent (painful) shock snaps him out of it. Eventually the button stays pressed and Nigel shaves his head, renames himself Injiltiprajura and becomes a vigilante criminal known as the Ninjitsu Nutter... until Andrew and Dave dunk him head-first into a fish-tank full of chocolate milk, restoring him to normal.
Andrew's mood swings mean it's hard to gauge if he has one, but in Too Clever By Far, demonstrates that he is quite capable of killing people in cold blood if his button ever were pressed.

The Big Board: Nigel tries to set one up, but Dave's lack of interest means that instead of a detailed geographic plan there's a picture of two teletubbies having a gunfight. Amazingly, Nigel doesn't notice.

Bindle Stick: Andrew uses a hatstand for one in Hell With Flourescent Lighting.

Bishonen: Nigel's nickname by his siblings.

Blind Leading the Blind: Too many examples to list, but A Holiday Is As Good As A Change demonstrates the entire gang doing it to each other and ending up with Eve waking up in bed with three other girls (after taking advice from Andrew), Nigel dead (after getting Eve to 'help him drown'), Dave comatose (after Nigel's advice on beachwear) and Andrew... having the time of his life.

Bonus Material: The gang regularly appear as reviewers, writers and sometimes stars in An Alternative Guide to Doctor Who - most notably Nigel Verkoff playing Adam Mitchell/Lavros the Second in the Christopher Eccleston era.

Bondage is Bad: Subverted, as Nigel is into it and is impressed Andrew (who isn't) once got tied up with cheese wire and fluffy rabbits. When he was seven.

Brother Sister Incest: Nigel and Bernice. That is all.

But Liquor is Quicker: Nigel tries to get Melanie drunk enough to sleep with him, but this could just be a lie from Andrew. Certainly Nigel seems suspiciously efficient in the flashback from the unreliable narrator.

But You Screw ONE Goat!: Andrew pranks Nigel by putting a sheep in his bed, this innocent situation compromised by Nigel's passionate "I'll phone you, I promise!" to the animal when he finds out.

Call Back: The gang's bitter argument in The Definition of Insanity features most of them, particularly their respective dysfunctional families.

Chivalrous Pervert: Nigel, towards Eve and his sister Bernice. He's utterly disgusting to everyone else, though.
"Typical. Spend ages trying to hang round with a blonde in a bikini and by the time I manage it... she’s become a person! Why couldn’t she still be an object?"

Comforting Comforter: Often subverted, with the sleeper being rudely awoken by the "comforter".

Coming of Age Story: Verkoff: A Terrible Ego. Also the first episode.

Crazy Enough to Work: Nigel and Andrew could give classes in these... but you'd probably need a parachute and a grasp of medieval French to get to them.
Nigel's Mother Christie Gracelands manages to make the Baby Trap hideously complicated by simply pretending she's not actually pregnant for nine months and hoping no one will notice. And they don't, because no thinks anyone would be stupid enough to try that. Steve later uses such insanity to try and blackmail a businessman, by claiming yowies are stalking him.

Crazy Prepared: In the first episode, Andrew picks a fight with Jadi on the roof, then ends it, then jumps off the roof onto a trampoline he placed earlier on the off-chance. He also writes a novel in Wingdings so no one can copy it (he can read and speak Wingdings fluently).

Crowning Moment of Awesome: Nigel seduces the entire female population of his class in the girl's toilets in one lunchtime by betting them he can kiss them passionately without touching them. He loses the bet. They don't mind.
Andrew effortlessly saving Nigel from the brain drain machine against impossible odds (he's restrained by sadistic enemies and Nigel is trapped in another room, drugged, tied up and being confronted by Kath and Kim).
Dave, when he finds out what has happened to Jadi, and immediately moves heaven and Earth to save his friend.

Crowning Moment of Heartwarming:
The entire gang (bar Nigel) nearly dying to save Dave.
Andrew, Nigel and Dave all separately writing to Eve.
Andrew comforting Phoebe and getting her and Dave to finally sort out their relationship. While she's having a baby.

Cry for the Devil: When Parker claims his wife has had a stroke, it kills the mob vendetta the gang have accumulated. But he was probably lying.

Cultural Cross-References: Too many to mention. Usually to Doctor Who, but there are other ones in there.

Delayed Explosion: At the end of Too Clever By Far.

Delivery Guy: Dave. Andrew could have done it, and would indeed have been the better choice (even though he was drunk), but Dave needed the closure.

Dude Looks Like A Lady: Dave, much to his shame, could easy pass as Eve if he wore a dress and a blond wig. This leads to the titular Identity Crisis.

Dude, Where's My Reward?: Dave lives in this trope. Despite being the least selfish and most generous of the entire cast, he's lost his best friend, the only girl he loved, is estranged from his family, stuck in a dead-end job, unable to drive and often driven to contemplate suicide.

Every Proper Lady Should Curtsey: often done sarcastically. By Andrew.

Exposition Diagram: At a Centrelink Motivation seminar, Nigel walks out when the diagram showing how the speaker got promoted in the service industry rapidly turned into a crude sketch of a Dalek.

Exposition Party: Subverted in It's Always Fun Until They Catch You, where the party has everyone enjoying themselves and never getting round to the numerous declarations and decisions they were all planning to make.

Face Palm: Oddly enough, Dave is the only person ever to do this.

Fate Worse Than Death: Nigel devises one for Magnus - making him think he will die of a long, lingering radiation poisoning.

Fictional Counterparts: "Happy Flappy Burgers" replaces certain burger chains for some unaccountable reason.

Five Token Band: Only Andrew is a typical Anglo Saxon Australian. Dave is Spanish, Nigel Aboriginal/Japanese, Eve Swedish and Katy Euroasian.

Flanderization: An in-universe example, as Nigel's sexual frustration makes him increasingly one dimensional as noted by the characters.

Floating Advice Reminder: Andrew has a straightforward one in Live By The Rod, Die By The Grunt (Dave reproaching him), while Eve has a far more interesting one in A Holiday Is As Good As A Change.
Eve: What would mother say?
(Mother appears)
Mother: I have never seen that girl before in my life, Your Honor, this is nothing but slander!
Eve: OK. Bad example. What about Nigel?
(Nigel appears)
Nigel: I can’t believe this Eve! Sleeping with someone who isn’t me! You’re going to have a lesbian romp orgy - and then not even video-taping it for posterity!! WHAT KIND OF MAD WOMAN ARE YOU?!
Eve: Andrew?
(Andrew appears)
Andrew: I THREW MY HAT INTO THE RING! I’ve done all the DUMB things! Oh, sorry, wrong number...

Gainaxing: One of the few times Dave is Distracted By The Sexy, when Eve is forced into the Goth gear.

Geographic Flexibility: Depending on mood, sometimes the gang live in a suburban cottage near a railway line, and in others a renovated gymnasium. They are occasionally part of a social pipeline (of unseen nutters like Nick McShane) and in other times complete outsiders. That's teenagers for you.

Group Hug: Dave gets one with his mum, dad and sister in the first episode. YMMV if Andrew, Katy, Eve, Harry and Maurice stopping him falling off a bridge also counts.

Heroic Rematch: Subverted. After their no-score-draw battle with Parker, the gang never so much as bother to mention the conflict when he is replaced with his identical twin brother - since they aren't neighbors any more.

Hidden Depths: Andrew has these, given a dead brother, a dead junkie girlfriend and an abusive childhood. Not that he cares enough to mention it.

The Hood: Chamber wears one. Permanently. Yet his easily-burned Albino Hetero Life partner does not.

Hollywood Driving: Indulged by the entire cast, and balanced out by the number of car crashes they get into. It's a miracle any of them are still alive.

The Illegible: Andrew, apparently, during the HSC. Mind you, he was completely pissed at the time.

Incredibly Lame Pun: In a brief moment of executive speak, Nigel insists on calling people by their initials and to save time refers to the others as "DRAB" (Dave Restal and Andrew Beeblebrox).

Instant Birth Just Add Water: Averted with Gracie, who is in labor so long Steve can return to Canberra, be overthrown by his buttmonkey, be arrested, escape, join a cult and return to Sydney before Nigel is born. Phoebe cuts to the chase, but she WAS overdue with triplets.

The Internet Is For Porn: Dave threatens to delete Nigel's porn favorites, while Dr. Spoon is shown to have a near nervous breakdown when the "Bodacious Blonde Babes" website crashes apparently forever.

The Ladette: Tegan.

The Milstone: Nigel. So, so much. Most notably in The Storm Before The Calm, where he tells Centrelink that Andrew and Dave are unemployed, steals their benefits, forges more benefits form, spends all the money on worthless crap he bullies the others into making use of, blames Andrew for it when the authorities arrive, abandons the others, returns home and demolishes everything that could possibly have saved his arse. In the next episode he then drives Dave to attempt suicide, and on numerous occasions attempts to kill people. But we love him anyway.

My Car Hates Me: Nigel dives into Wynona for a quick getaway.
Nigel: Sayonara, you kraut bitches! Now to get out of here! Good old Wynona will speedily take me to safety!
The car doesn't start.
Nigel: Oh, you fucking piece of shi—-
Nigel is dragged out of the car just as the engine turns over.
Nigel: Oh, now it bloody works! Only after I’ve been caught! How freaking convenient!

Never Accepted In His Hometown: Nigel finds himself in this situation at the school reunion, where he is an outside. Eve, Dave and Andrew are uncomfortable to be around their homes and families.

No Sense of Direction: Subverted. The characters never get lost, even when they end up in the bush away from anything approaching civilization, and can easily navigate. Dave can even walk home from the CBD, in the pouring rain, without even concentrating in The Centre Cannot Hold.

Obfuscating Stupidity: It's hard to tell, but Nigel does it surprisingly often, usually subverting with obsfuscating genius as he can bluff on a variety of topics and subjects he actually has little knowledge about.

Open Heart Dentistry: Dr. Spoon gets irritated when people come to him for medical advice. The fact he's probably the most qualified of the whole cast is entirely irrelevant.

Panicky Expectant Father: Subverted. Steve couldn't give a damn, and neither Dave, Jadi or Ronald McDonald were that fussed - Nigel was more worried (though maybe because Phoebe was crushing his hand at the time).

Perfect Health: Subverted. The gang are often seen with blocked sinuses or coughs or cold that have absolutely nothing to do with the plot.

Perky Goth: Katy, Callisto, Jadi

Pettanko: Nigel's cruel nickname for Katy. Trouble is, it's accurate.

Precision F Strike: Nigel calls Andrew "Mr. Fucking Popularity" after he gets Nigel beaten up, concussed, drugged, and his colon irrigated.
Dave's breakdown is made clear when he brokenly sobs to Nigel to fuck off.

Put On A Bus: Pretty much the entire guest cast, but this is a plot point as the gang often miss them and wonder what they're up to now.
Nigel does this to Andrew, Dave, Eve and Katy in the last episode. Which is a mistake.

Refuge in Vulgarity: Nigel does this to try and get Dave to leave him alone. It works.
"Underage?! They were ALL underage! Candy and Cookie, the blondes, well, I won them in a CARD GAME when they were TEN YEARS OLD! They were mine by right! So what I had them do to each other was..."
"Now, you see, Dave, the curious thing about buggering a five year old girl is that-"
"AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE WORST PART OF IT WAS? DO YOU? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA? IT WAS TRYING TO GET THE DIAPER BACK *ON*, AFTER I’D FINISHED WITH HER!!!"

Ring Ring Crunch: Nigel smashes his alarm clocks whenever they wake him up before going back to sleep. This is because he won a box of six hundred surprisingly fragile alarm clocks and is working his way through them.

Screaming Birth: Gracie, mainly to get attention from the father. Nigel is the only one screaming at Phoebe's birth, demonstrating his inhumanly-low pain threshold.

Sick and Wrong: Nigel's described activities fit here, but it's unclear if they're real or he is making it up in a confused attempt to impress people. He briefly described his lust for his own sister in such terms.

Smitten Teen: Nigel (for his sister), Katy (for Andrew) and Dave (for Phoebe). Harry also had a thing for Lucy.

Social Services Does Not Exist: Subverted. Ben Chatham tries to use them to destroy the gang forever and fails utterly.
"Andrew! I hope you haven’t been defrauding our wonderful government social services – again!"

Spear Carrier: Maurice de Lacy.

Spoiled Sweet: Eve, a most triumphant example.

Standardized Sitcom Housing: Well, bar Andrew living in a homemade wheat silo in the corner...

Stepford Smiler: Parker (Type C), and Andrew (Type A) to a degree (though it's more a "Stepford Feral About To Go For The Neck Grin").

Stout Strength: Subverted. Weedy Nigel is way stronger than Andrew (although he is also chronically lazy).

Straight Man: Dave.

Strip Poker: Nigel and Dave play this (in order to become good at it and then play it with attractive women). Dave wins, since Nigel cracks under the slightest pressure and gives up before he has to lose anything beyond sunglasses.

Strongly Worded Letter: "What I shall do to is... WRITE TO A CURRENT AFFAIR! That’s right, Dave! That’s right! Be amazed at the New... Tough Nigel you see before you! I AIN’T GONNA TAKE NO SHIT FROM NOBODY NO MORE!"

Such a Phony: Lucy is a complete bitch, but acts like no one has noticed.

Suddenly Sexuality: Eve never quite achieves "what happens in Manley STAYS in Manley".

Sue Donym: Nigel calls himself "Sir Nigel Anonymous Esquire" to apply for a job he was sacked from not too long ago.

Suicide as Comedy: Nigel occasionally dallies with this, usually for wangst (he considers slashing his wrists after Andrew ruins a date, or getting a VERY late abortion when he flunks the HSC). Dave too, on bad days.

Surreal Humor: Often around Andrew, when TVs answer back or pouring raw ingredients into the microwave magically turns them into food. The gang also encounter supernatural entities or alien monsters whenever the rule of funny demands.

Sustained Misunderstanding: Numerous.
"Ah... Ah! Here we are... ‘f(x) = 2x – 7’... ‘What would ‘f(5)’ be?’"
"Well it’s a function, isn’t it? Try ‘writes books’."
"The function of an author."
"Yeah. What does the answer say?"
"‘3’."
"Wow. Writing books is like, the third-most important job EVER! I never knew that. Did you?"

Swing Low Sweet Harriet: Bernice on her Wedding Day.

Tagalong Kid: Subverted. Dave's sister Callisto often has much better things to than ever join the gang.

Take Our Word For It: Certain films (either hardcore porn or American Beauty) can perform Jekyll and Hyde transformations on people. It is unsurprisingly never seen.

The Talk: In Sex Education, Nigel often told the teacher "I love it when you talk dirty!" much to the embarrasment of the other students.

Tall Dark And Bishoujo: Lucy Gao.

Tandem Parasite: Nigel treats most people this way, particularly Jason.

Team Pet: Subverted. Pussy-Aeter Jjones, Andrew's dog, only appears in two episodes and regularly referred to as somehow becoming President of the Phillipines.

Testosterone Poisoning: Nigel suffers sporadic bouts.

That Came Out Wrong: Too many times to mention, but usually Nigel. Who doesn't care.

They Just Don't Get It: Everyone, sooner or later.
"You idiot! HOW THE BLOODY HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET THERE? FLY?"
"Why not?"
"Because, you idiot – WE DON’T HAVE WINGS!"
"In a plane, you moron! IN – A – PLANE!"
"We can’t fly a plane!"
"We catch a plane to Canberra!"

This Is No Time To Panic!: "We don’t panic in the face of adversity, Nigel! We face this together!" shouts Dave before panicking in a very violent and destructive manner.
In Frequent Flier Points, Nigel screams, "IF I WANT TO PANIC, BEEBLEBROX, I’LL PANIC!" before diving through a window for no real reason.

THIS! IS! SPARTA: Nigel loses it and screams "MUST! DESTROY! EVIDENCE!" and runs amok with an axe when Centrelink get involved.

This Is Going To Be Huge: Nigel's Dad falls foul of the 80s stock market crash.

Toilet Humor: Dave occasionally suffers this, since his unusual diet leaves him suffering irritable bowel syndrome.
"Err... hello? Whoever’s in there better hurry up, otherwise I’m holding you responsible for the present that’s going to be in the Cornflakes packet!"

Tom, Dick, My Name Is Harry: Nigel often (pretends to?) gets people's names wrong, regularly calling Andrew "Anthony" or "Antione". Andrew, for his part, sometimes forgets his name and assumes it's "Alex" based on statistical probability.

Tomboy: A definite One of the Boys type, Phoebe spent so much time with Jadi and Dave many assumed they were related, given her lack of romantic interest in either of them. Rather subverted when she was the only girl in the school who got pregnant though.

Tomboy and Girly-Girl: Katy and Eve.

Too Fast To Stop: Dave becomes a speed-junkie after driving Nigel's car for an hour.
"SPEED is the KEY! We'll burn up this road faster than a firework in an oxygen tent! A shot of adrenaline into the arteries of a rotting corpse!"
"At least scale it back under 120?!"
"Never! This iron behemoth is for howling headlong into the wild kinetic equations of forward motion, not crawling along like the mewling hoardes of the motorway! WE RIDE LIKE VALKERYIES IN VALHALLA, BABY!"

Too Much Information: Nigel. Even if he's making it up in the belief it makes him look cool.

Tough Room: Andrew claims that he suffered a violent version of this sweettalking millionaire Samuel Markson, who repeatedly tried to kill him every time Andrew spoke. Katy insists he's exaggerating... slightly.

Tranquil Fury: Numerous examples, usually from Andrew but Dave and Nigel are capable once their bezerk buttons have been hit. Parker lives in a permanent state of this.

Trash Landing: Done to Nigel by Magnus.

Trash of the Titans: Andrew's bungalow.

Trick Dialogue: Dave is rehearsing his speech to Phoebe, unaware she's standing right in front of him. It gets worse...

The Trouble With Tickets: Nigel falls hook, line and sinker in The Parking Ticket Legacy.
Nigel: What is this bollocks? It’s parked outside my house! Not on a double yellow line or anything! I’m not paying this. It’s a some mistake, some jumped up traffic warden...
Andrew: [reads ticket] “This is not some mistake or the work of a jumped up traffic warden. This fine is automatically sent to Debt Collection and believe you me they don’t piss about. If the fine is not paid within 21 working days your driving license will automatically be revoked.”
Nigel: You’re saying I HAVE to pay this? I can’t even appeal?
Andrew: Unless the words “there is no right of appeal” mean something else to you.

Truth Telling Session: A very viscious example in the second episode.
"Guys, guys! Settle, just settle ok? As far as everyone else is concerned you’re both idiotic wasters who will never amount to anything - which is why all your friends have abandoned you."

Twerp Sweating: Subverted in The Definition of Insanity when Nigel is left with Dave's embarassingly-brain-damaged mother for company while waiting for Dave to come out of his sulk.

Ugly Guy Hot Daughter: Callisto Restal, and Phoebe Richards.

Un Entendre: Nigel and Andrew discuss these, including
Andrew: "Nigel Verkoff, your entire life has been one big waste of time and effort".
Nigel: ...is that a euphemism?
Andrew: It is to me.

Un Evil Laugh: Nigel is prone to it on occasion.

Unkempt Beauty: It works for Andrew.

Unlikely Spare: Dave's "unique" technicolour dream coat miraculously recovers from its numerous deaths, starting in Too Clever By Far.

Unpopular Popular Character: Harry "Born to Drum" Hill. Despised on principle by everyone except Andrew and Katy, simply because of a Shaggy Dog Story they all know is untrue. Slightly subverted when Andrew blackmails Lucy over said story.

Unpronouncable Alias: Andrew's original (we think) moniker of "Theodore Klyngirophel" made his later nickname "Maddog" easier for teachers to pronounce if no one else.
When he later embarrassed by being chucked out of an art gallery in Why Don't These Girls Ever Listen To Me?, he introduces himself as "Tindell Manx Harpooner Mootie Hubbub Smutch Garris Boker Grubby Martha Baltimore Prudent Forkit Nik Nak Tibbin Bantam Podger Mousepork Geerson Woolmicks." But we can call him "Glove Smuggler", at least until he changed his mind and claimed to be "Rasputin Hornblower"...

Unreliable Narrator: Andrew, with his "multiple choice" view of reality.

Unsatisfiable Customer: In Insecurities Dave gets one - an absent-minded Charlie's Angels fan who destroys the whole shop trying to recreate a fight scene, only to remember it's a completely different movie and wander off without hiring anything.

Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Nigel, but they all have their moments.

Useful Book: Nigel keeps a miniature library in his bedroom, and most of them are fakes containing either comics, porn mags, DVDs or other stuff he'd rather girls not see and instead makes him look well-read and sophisticated. Occasionally subverted with proper books he really does read.

Verbal Backspace: Generally everyone bar Andrew is good for one of these.
"Yeah! I say, ‘For now, we should go with the flow’!"
"Hear, hear."
"‘Tag along,’ I say!"
"Hear, hear."
"‘Be a sheep!’ I say!"
"Hear, he- What?"
"Forget that last part."

Vetinari Paradox: Subverted. Andrew's Legacy starts off like this, but it turns out some passing nutter is causing all their troubles and would have done so anyway even if Andrew had stayed.
Played straight in The Definition of Insanity and The Centre Cannot Hold. Eve's departure leads to another one.

Visual Pun: "I said I was 'adamant!'" says Dave when looking like Adam Ant on the cover of Youth of Australia 2.

Vocal Dissonance: Cuddles the Bodybuilder talks in a baby voice.

The Vodka Is Good But The Meat Is Rotten: Andrew claims "Caveat Emptor" means "Get Stuffed" in Latin.

Wacky Cravings: Andrew often comes up with strange food combinations, apparently just to freak people out. Probably the epitome was him explaining that a chicken nugget was actually the cancer-ridden spleen of a budgie... and then absent-mindedly eating it a moment later.

Wacky Fratboy Hijinks: Often referred to, never seen - usually involving violence against birds (Andrew ate a pigeon, Nigel set fire to some swans, Dave was mauled by a pelican). Nigel often claims any past noodle incidents were simply these taken out of context... often by the authorities.

Wacky Marriage Proposal: subverted, as the girl Nigel is attempting seduce on her wedding day is HIS OWN SISTER.

Wacky Racing: The gang drive backwards chasing an ambulance that fights them off with Kath and Kim merchandise in Unclear Motives.

Wallet Moths: Nigel finds these in the last scene of the last episode... and thus decides to get some prostitutes on credit and hope that works out instead.

Wangst: Nigel often indulges in this. Dave dips in as well occasionally, then realizes he has it better than most people, and gets even more depressed at the realization he'll never be happy.
"I’ve ruined myself! I’ve ruined it all! Why didn’t I tell them how I got all that extra money? God, for an extra $620 a week, I’m looking at massive fines and even more massive repayments! And that’s the best case scenario! The worst case scenario? I’ll get sent to jail for thirty years and never get a shag! Now, that’s depressing! Prison! Oh, Jebus, prison! I couldn’t take it! If I ever got any sex, it’d be all the wrong type of sex! OH, I AM SO FREAKING SCREWED!"
"I’m been a total bitch my whole life and now I have to suffer this isolation for the rest of time or face damnation! Why didn’t I go to church or something instead of just stalking female vicars? WHY?? Oh, Lord, I’m pathetic! DAMN IT, I SUCK! OH, I AM SO FREAKING SCREWED!"

Watch Out For That Tree: Nigel often neglects to do this while driving. Others often have to scream advice to him, ala "Tree! Zebra Crossing! Hump-Back Bridge!"

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties: Gets shown when the gang take over the Mindbender Game Show, beat up the host and steal the prizes.

We Are Struggling Together: Against Parker in Too Clever By Far.

We Named The Monkey Jack: In The Parking Ticket Legacy, the neighbour, a psychotic egomaniac called Devereaux names all his animals after himself - his cat is "Devereaux the Third" and his dog "Devereaux the Fourth".
Andrew once filled a fish tank full of chocolate milk and sardines and told Nigel that he'd named each one of the sardines "Nigel". He then spent the next two weeks announcing when each Nigel was "found dead".

Weather Dissonance: Since moving in together, it seems to rain continuously and Nigel later notes that Australia is now out of its drought.
Nigel: God, bring back the good old drought days, that’s what I say. I mean, when the drought broke, no one was expecting this kind of weather twenty-four-seven, were they?
Dave: What, you mean they were expecting the drought to break by staying bone dry all the time?

We Haven't Learned Anything Yet: Nigel is the living embodiment.

Weird Trade Union: Working at Frontier Videos, Dave is part of Videorama Australis, a quasi-religious cult-like organization that monitors all workers in the retail entertainment industry and is ruled by corrupt and archaic cardinals. No one ever finds this remotely odd.

We Have These Too: Nigel often tells people off by saying things like "Why don't you use what we, in THIS solar system, call a phone?"

Well Excuse Me Princess: Subverted with Eve. Nigel, on the other hand...

We Need A Distraction: Andrew's very good at this.
"Eve, Eve, Eve... When beetles fight their battles in a bottle on a poodle and the poodle’s eating noodles what do we call it?"
"Umm... Give up. What do we call it?"
(Eve realizes he's run away while she was thinking)
Then there's that time he's seen running naked down the street chased by a police car, a few moments after leaving the room...

What Did I Do Last Night?: The entire plot of SlipBack. Dave wakes up in bed with Eve, Nigel wakes up covered in disgusting stains, and Andrew wakes up... in Occupied France 1945, getting drunk in a Parisian cafe.

Who's Driving?: Subverted in Insecurities - "Don’t be so rude, Dave! The car knows what it’s doing..."

Wicked Stepmother: Subverted. Nigel's mother arguably loves him more than his original mother did, and is often worried about him.

Wiper Start: Subverted, as Dave checks which control works the wipers before starting his first driving lesson in Unclear Motives.

With Catlike Tread: A variation in Heatstroke as Nigel performs a brilliant and silent ninja dance down the hallway to land beside the bathroom door... not realizing that Andrew was standing in plain sight, watching him the whole time.
"Dude, you have just redefined the word pathetic."

With Friends Like These: Nigel is very much this to the Happiness Patrol - he bullies, manipulates, insults and belittles them... but they are his friends and he does go out of his way to improve their (in his opinion) pathetic lives.
Andrew repeatedly saves Nigel's life, but usually in the most humiliating way possible - from drowning, heatstroke, mad scientist...

The Worf Effect: No sooner has Nigel changed his entire outlook and personality, becoming the Big N... he meets Magnus, who insults him, beats him up and then throws him into a dumpster. In front of the pretty girl Nigel was trying to impress.

Working Class People Are Morons: Subverted hard. The higher up the social scale, the more gormless people are. The only exception is Dave's mother, and SHE was a highly-respected intelligent woman before being rendered a Cuckoocloudlander in a Noodle Incident involving a combine harvester.

World of Cardboard Speech: Nigel is prone to these, but even finds himself boring when he does these rants, and thus never learns from them.
"I always thought I could make a difference. The world is weak, vulnerable, a mess of breakfast cereals and auto-erotic asphyxiation. It needs a strong, single mind, a leader to deliver it milk and cookies and bathe with it in the glow of happiness and oppression. My happiness! Their oppression! MWAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!"
"What are you on about?!"
"...I read that in my astrology column once."

Wrench Wench: Tegan. In the last episode, Katie reveals she briefly went through the phase - how briefly? The car's still in the backyard with a tree growing through the bonnet.

Wrong Name Outburst: deliberate, as Nigel annoys people by pretending to get their names wrong. When Andrew responds to being called "Antoine" by calling Nigel "Norman", the Big N makes a Suspicious Specific Denial: "THAT WASN'T ME! WHAT WOULD I WANT WITH A DEAD CHICKEN UP MY ARSE?!?!" Dave and Andrew, of course, have absolutely no idea what he's on about.

Wonderous Ladies Room: Nigel makes his crowning moment of awesome on his first visit.
"Sure is nice and tidy in here..."

Worth It: Done completely straight with Nigel "The Russian Kid Incident".

Yaoi Fangirl: Simone.

Yawn and Reach: Nigel does this to Andrew in Complete Moral Outrage.
"But you must admit, the atmosphere was wonderful. The soft light from the candles, the music. And you looked just ravishing tonight, Andrew. Looking at you tonight, Andrew, like that, in that off-the-shoulder cocktail dress and tight stockings... You know, Andrew, tonight could have been the night. The way you were got up really set me going... Oh, GOD ANDREW! Why couldn’t you be a woman?!"

You Are A Tree, Charlie Brown: "[Chamber]’s the front doormat for the Youth Centre’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire."
The gang consider doing a play of Midsummer Night's Dream.
"Would I get a part?"
"You want one?"
"Hah! My elocution skills are the best in the southern hemisphere! Remember that time I sang both verses of the National Anthem? The crowd went wild!"
"Yeah. ‘Incitement to riot’. That’s what the police called it, didn’t they? Still, you could play the part of the lion. Interested?"
"A lion? Hah! Lions aren’t cool any more. Today’s youth stare at the King of the Jungle and what do they think of? Elton bloody John, that’s what they think of! Me growling may turn on lots of girls, but as a lion I just wouldn’t convince."
"...Lions don’t growl. They roar."
"Bloody pedant!"

You Are What You Hate: Often applied to Nigel - who despises cowards, bullies, loneliness, virgins, orphans and losers. Ironic as he doesn't fit most of those factors. His relationship with Andrew sums it up as they are both cynical, lost children who have plenty of regrets and are in total denial about it.

You Can't Go Home Again: Subverted in the last episode.

You Can't Miss It: Subverted in In Whom We Trust.
"Do you know the TAB just down the road, on Vampyre Lane?" "What, the one just behind the haunted tree sanctuary, tucked away beyond the gravel quarry, and just next to the Elephant graveyard?" "That’s the one!"

You Get Me A Coffee: Nigel sends Dave to set up an ambush, and Jadi to lure Magnus... and then gets Jason to do his maths homework. He then goes one further with Danielle:
Danielle: [eagerly] And what do I do?
Nigel: Sit on your hands until they go numb and then give those [points at her breasts] a good fondle under my strict supervision!

You Make Me Sic: Andrew rants on grammer in Dave's novel, ignoring the fact that Dave's plagiarising Shakespeare word for word:
Andrew: It’s a freaking mixed metaphor! And you can’t put mixed metaphors in one of the greatest works of fiction in English literature!
Nigel: Is it? I just thought it was crap.
Andrew: Anyone can justify crap. No one can justify a mixed metaphor.
Nigel: You can’t be serious!
Andrew: You bet I’m serious. Mixed metaphors are very serious things you know.
Nigel: Look, what do you know about mixed metaphors?
Andrew: More than you.
Nigel: You’re a bloody loony!
Andrew: A bloody loony a day keeps the mixed metaphors away.

Your Days Are Numbered: the plot of the Apocalypse specials. Surprisingly, Andrew takes it the worst.

Your Other Left: Katie Ryan: "Turn to the left. No, slightly to the right. My right, your left. No, not my left, your left. That’s right. No, no, not right! RIGHT! I mean, left. Left! Left! THE OTHER LEFT!"
Nigel and Dave do an Abbot and Costello routine on this in The Storm Before The Calm
"Well, let’s move it to the left, then, shall we?"
"Right."
"‘Right?’ Make up your damn mind, Dave!"

Your Television Hates You: Manages to drive the gang back together in The Definition of Insanity (though it takes Nigel a long time to twig any connection between events and the TV he's watching).

You're Drinking Breast Milk: Nigel's Dad considers this when he's rather thirsty in the middle of a prank.
"I think we’re risky enough hiding in bushes trying to blackmail a powerful businessman WITHOUT having to explain why you’re sucking my tits!"

Zettai Ryouiki: Seemingly mandatory at the gang's highschool, and again usually by Andrew. What is it with that guy?!

Zero Approval Gambit: Phoebe tries this on Dave, insisting they stop being friends when she finds out she's going to be a teenage mum and so she won't mess up Dave's life as well. Doesn't work, and simply drive Dave into despair.