The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

Six thousand dollars an hour might not sound like much, but it adds up!
—London Tipton

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (2005-2008) is a Disney Channel Kid Com about a couple of twins named Zack and Cody who live in The Tipton, a hotel in Boston. Their divorced mom is a singer at the hotel who has a secret admirer in a rather dorky janitor named Arwin. Also at the hotel are two teenage girls, London, the moronic heiress to the hotel chain, and Maddie, a candy-counter girl who struggles to make sure she completes school as well as juggling very degrading jobs. The hotel is run by Mr. Moseby, who rarely tolerates the twins' antics. It was chronologically the second series in the DCLAU.

After that the show ended in 2008, it continued with a Spin-Off called The Suite Life on Deck, putting two-thirds of the cast on a luxury liner. Meanwhile, reruns of the original show have popped up on Disney XD. A Suite Life movie has aired, set in Season 3 of On Deck, focusing on the twins entering a "Gemini Project", a study on the interaction of twins.

After 3 seasons, On Deck ended in 2011 with the twins celebrating their graduation. If the original series and the Retool are counted as a single series, it's had the longest original run of any series on the Disney Channel, at six seasons and 162 episodes total.

Now has its own Getting Crap Past The Radar page.


Tropes used in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody include:

Carey Martin: You're a heartless woman.
Miss Klotz: Didn't bother me when my four ex-husbands said it; Doesn't bother me when you say it.
Carey Martin: You've been divorced four times?
Miss Klotz: Oh, no, no, widowed.

Carey: I was mad when you came home from the playground with the wrong twins.
Dad: It was an honest mistake.
Carey: They were girls!

  • But Not Too Black: Played with. Flashbacks show that Moseby became progressively less black as his career advanced. Occasionally, however, he'll say or do something to indicate that there's still a Soul Brotha in there somewhere.
  • Butt Monkey: Moseby.
  • The Cast Showoff: Maddie, Carey.
  • Code Name: Zack and Cody use code names when pulling off some of their more elaborate pranks. Usually Zack picks the code names and gives Cody an embarrassing one and himself a flattering one, such as "Better Looking Twin". This does, however, lead to a Beware the Nice Ones moment in one episode. After Cody was stung on the nose by a bee, Zack gives him the code name "Red Schnoz", then asks him if he's ready. Cody glares at him and says "I'm ready, Soon-To-Be-Fat-Lip!"
  • Continuity Nod: In the episode "Hotel Inspector", Moseby is seen building a model of the Tipton in his apartment. Later in the episode "Risk It All", the same model can be seen briefly in Moseby's office.
    • Cody mentions being in a beauty Pageant in Suite Life On Deck. That happened alllll the way back in the second episode of season 1 in the original Suite Life.
  • Comically Missing the Point:
    • In their review of Pride and Prejudice, London and her book club identify with Caroline Bingley and lambaste Darcy for "marrying beneath him".
    • The twins once enlisted Arwin's assistance in removing the parental controls on their mature-rated video game. Arwin did so, but also removed all of the violence and gore.
  • Crossover: That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: London sometimes. Seriously. She works out, and turns into a volleyball fiend if sufficiently pissed off.
    • Also, if you break her purse, she will beat you up.
  • Dawson Casting: Not so noticeable in the beginning when 17-year old Brenda Song was playing 15-year old London Tipton, but by the end of Suite Life On Deck in 2011, London was a high school senior and Brenda was 23. Ashley Tisdale played 15-year old Maddie in 2005 when she was 20 but it's unclear if Maddie aged as slowly as London or if it just took London a few tries to make it through high school. It was worse for minor character Mary Margaret, who was the same age as London and Maddie but played by Monique Coleman, who is five years older than Ashley.
    • It's pretty clear that London has been held back. In "On Deck" Tutweiller mentions that London had been voted Prom Queen her last 3 senior years confirming she had been held back. Plus the twins who are three years younger graduate with her. So In the final Season of Zach and Cody, London and Maddie are seniors and Zach and Cody are freshman At the start of "On Deck" London is still a senior and Zach and Cody are sophomores. So London Doesn't really fit this Trope too much. So London was 21 while Brenda was 23.
  • Deadpan Snarker: This is a Disney Sitcom. Everyone fits this trope. Maddie and Carey being the most prolific snarkers. So London Can't really be counted too much for this trope.
    • Zack has his moments, too, especially when directed towards Cody.
  • Defictionalization: Yay Me! starring London Tipton became a series of webisode tie-ins on the Disney Channel website.
  • Different As Night and Day: Two different pairs. Lazy, sloppy Zack compared to his twin neat, hardworking Cody, and also poor, down-to-earth girl Maddie with her frenemy airhead rich girl London.
  • Dirty Old Man: Leo, a rich, lecherous, certifiably-insane old-timer, played by Rip Taylor, who took lessons at Esteban's dance school. He was constantly hitting on Shannon, his private nurse, and Carey.
  • The Ditz: London, due to Flanderization.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: London, who is dressed as a mermaid, is trading insults with a similarly dressed girl who tells her, "Well at least my seashells aren't fake!" Think about it and it should come to you.
  • Don't Explain the Joke: Max embarrassed herself repeatedly during student body presidential elections by trying to get people to laugh at her burns against Cody by explaining them.
  • Dyeing for Your Art:
    • Ashley Tisdale, a natural brunette, was asked to dye her hair blonde for the role of Maddie as a possible aversion of the Dumb Blonde.
      • However In the Alternate Universe of "The Suite Smell of Success", Maddie is one to hers and London's lives being switched.
    • In the episode "Romancing the Phone", in Maddie's day dream a guy asks her if she's a real blonde and she replies "I dye my roots brown."
  • Early Installment Weirdness: The episode "Grounded on the 23rd Floor" was originally the pilot episode of the entire series and it shows, as the episode style and layout was that of a pilot episode and many of the props used in the episode (such as Maddie's uniform or some furniture in the Martins' suite) were not used in future episodes. Additionally, Maddie has brown hair instead of blonde hair in this episode.
  • The Eeyore: Haley.
  • Egg Sitting: The baby doll London and Maddie have to take care of for an episode.
  • Eighties Hair: Moseby explains the arrangement of photos on his office wall in "Risk It All":

Moseby: And by the way, it's afro, Jheri curl, then fade.

Cody: Let's go to the Pawtucket Aquarium. I hear they just opened their Swim With the Jellyfish attraction. They won't sting you if you cover yourself in whale urine.
Zack: I'd rather get stung!

Arwin: So I was leaning over a toilet, plunging...in and out, in and out, in and out...

  • Instant Birth, Just Add Water: A couple had this in the Christmas Episode, a shout out to the birth of Jesus Christ.
  • Inter Class Romance:
    • In one episode Maddie falls for a rich guy and attempts to look and act rich so he will like her.
    • In another episode, London falls for a delivery boy, and seeks Maddie's counsel on how to act poor.
  • I Was Quite a Looker / Identical Kiosk Girl That's Not Related To Me In the Slightest - In her younger years, Muriel was played by Ashley Tisdale.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In a subversion of the Rich Bitch trope, London gives every indication of being a genuinely good-natured person who simply doesn't understand that you're not supposed to treat people the way she does.
    • For all of his frustrations at the twins' antics, Mr. Moseby does show that he cares about them.
  • Jerkass: A lot of one-shot characters in opposition to the main cast are this, being insulting, demeaning, or just plain rude. Zack and London also have their moments with this.
  • Karma Houdini:
    • Muriel often gets away with petty theft. She's also seen numerous times lounging around during work hours. Once when she interrupted a date, London asked her "Aren't you supposed to be working?" Muriel's response - "What's your point?"
    • A more extreme example would be Mr. Tipton. See Screw the Rules, I Have Money.
  • Kick the Dog: Zack and London do this a lot, though one of Zack's more notorious examples is when he caused a French girl that liked Cody to break up with him because he couldn't believe that a girl would like Cody voluntarily.
    • Ilsa Shickelgrubermeiger-Von Helsing der Keppelugerhofer seems to do almost nothing but this in all three of her appearances.
  • Kidanova: Zack, though to be fair, his attempts failed just as often as they succeeded.
  • Kids Shouldn't Watch Horror Films: The twins take their dates not to see the kiddie film Doggie Came Home but the horror film Zombie Mom. Zack ends up having nightmares and sleepwalking in the hotel, stacking the lobby furniture against the door to stop the zombies.
  • Kirk's Rock: Appears in a prehistoric setting when the twins travel a bit too far back in time.
  • Kitsch Collection: Arwin's mom's incredibly spooky collection of owl figurines.
  • Mama Bear: Carey who even lampshades it in "Cody Goes to Camp":

Carey: Esteban. Do you like nature films?
Esteban: I love nature films.
Carey: Did you even see the one about what a mother bear will do to protect her cubs?

  • Modesty Towel: Played straight when one of the title characters spent a good part of an episode wearing a towel that reached from his ankles to his ribs. Was it a towel or a carpet??
  • Mother Penguin: Sister Dominick.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Dumb hotel heiress whose first name is a famous capitol of an European country. Hmm. Who could that possibly be a reference to? It's even Lampshaded at one point:

Sister Dominick: No, the spoiled hotel heiress!
London: Is Paris Hilton in this class?
Sister Dominick: No, I'm talking about you.

  • Non-Identical Twins: The episode "Twins at the Tipton", where Maddie and London make plans to date twins, unfortunatly they realise that the twins are faternal when they see that the second brother is short, skinny and nothing like his handsome and charming brother.
  • "No Respect" Guy: Maddie and Mr. Moseby.
  • Not So Different: Although the Martin boys appear, at first glance, to be Different As Night and Day, they're much more alike than either would care to admit. Zack is, in many ways, as much of a nerd as Cody, enjoying comics books and online fantasy games. Cody, likewise, is as big of a perv as Zack, such as when he encouraged Barbara to pursue cheerleading based on the realization that she'd be showing a lot more skin than he was accustomed to seeing.
  • The Obi-Wannabe: When Esteban unexpectedly becomes opulently wealthy, London gives him lessons how to be a snooty, condescending spendthrift. As a result, he finds himself back in the same old rut when his assets are frozen.
  • Only Sane Man: Moseby, Maddie, Carey and occasionally Cody trade off who gets to hold the Sanity Ball, though on occasion they manage to share it.
  • Overly Long Name:
    • Madeline Margaret Genevieve Miranda Catherine Fitzpatrick, but you can call her Maddie.
    • Esteban Julio Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramirez.
    • Ilsa Shickelgrubermeiger-Von Helsing der Keppelugerhofer.
  • Owl Be Damned: Whatever you do, don't make eye contact with the owl collection.
  • Panty Shot: Maddie's panties can be seen in "Commercial Breaks". Male fans went nuts.
    • Actually, it's a black slip on, but it resembled boyleg panties.
  • Poorly-Disguised Pilot: The episode "Let Us Entertain You" pretty much is a back-door pilot for The Suite Life On Deck.
  • Playing Cyrano: Maddie for London when she tries to date a smart guy.
  • Prayer of Malice: In "Volley Dad", one of the nuns in Maddie's Catholic school prays that their volley ball team will viciously crush the opposing team.

Nun: Okay, before we stomp these losers right into the ground, let us pray. Lord, please help us stomp these losers into the ground. Amen.

  • Pun-Based Title: The titles of both shows, and many episodes thereof.
    • Lampshaded in "The Suite Life Goes Hollywood", wherein the host had to bribe the audience with food to laugh.
  • Put Off Their Food: In "Twins at the Tipton", Maddie and London double date with twins and Maddie goes out with the nerdy twin. He starts talking about gross trivia at the dinner table, including that it takes "3 hours for meat to move through your intestines so the bile can churn up the gastric acid." Maddie then replies that she'll have a salad.
  • Retooled to become The Suite Life on Deck (see below). The latter may also be considered a spin-off.
  • Rich Bitch: When she's not sweet, London is extremely mean and nasty to most people and takes sadistic glee in hurting them. This is most evident in the Spin-Off's episode Mean Chicks when she has something done so it hurts when she insults Bailey after winning a bet. After she wins the bet she insults Bailey a million times despite it hurting her, at the beginning declaring it's Worth It.
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense
  • Running Gag: Someone always manages to save the vase in the center of the lobby when it gets knocked over. It finally gets destroyed in the final episode.
  • Sassy Black Woman: Nia Moseby.
  • Scary Black Man: Moseby is his own proprietary brand: a short, fussy, pretentious, effeminate milquetoast who nonetheless instills fear and trembling in his subordinates. Coach Little is more of a straight example.
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: Moseby, when startled, which he gets quite easily.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money:
    • Many of Tipton Industries' business practices have been either implied or stated outright to be highly unethical, and at times, outright illegal. Numerous things London has said strongly imply that her father has left her with the impression that rich people are above the law.
    • Played straight with this example: When Carey was giving London singing lessons, she recommended London think of something that reminded of her of each note on the musical scale to remember them.

Carey: La.
London: "Law" is something you get to break if you're rich. *points to herself and mouths, "Me"*

London: Daddy says there are two things a Tipton never does: Apologize, and pay taxes.
Chelsea: My daddy told me the same thing...the last time I visited him in prison.

    • In "I Want My Mummy", Mr. Tipton used his money to hire an over-glorified grave robber to steal archaeological artifacts from Estaban's Peruvian village and brought them to the Boston Tipton. What's really scary here is that Mr. Tipton, showing a complete lack of morals, lied to London that he was not stealing.

Maddie: London, you can't just steal another country's cultural artifacts.
London: Daddy didn't steal them. He bought them from a guy named Dakota Smith. He delivered them in the middle of the night, then we left really, really fast on the jet. I barely made it off the steps!
Maddie: ...Well, as long as they weren't STOLEN!

    • There's also the "Fung Shwei" craze that London goes through in one episode. After Esteban's family accidentally drills a hole in a Tipton pipeline, she announces (happily) that they're going to bulldoze the family's house and build a resort. Esteban bursts into tears at the news.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Cody plays the former and Zack the latter each to perfection.
  • Show Within a Show: Yay Me! starring London Tipton, a webshow within a show.
  • "Shut Up" Kiss: In the episode "Sleepover Suite", Zack gives one of these to Stacy's friend Betsy, inducing Post-Kiss Catatonia to keep her from revealing to London what they've really been up to in her suite. He attempts this again with another of Stacy's friends, which earns him a slap from her and from Betsy for two-timing her.
  • Silent Bob: Norman the Doorman. The number of times that he talks can be counted on two fingers. He says "Thank you boys!" in one episode and "Doors without doormen hurt people!" in another.
  • Slap Slap Kiss: The smart guy London tries to date turns out to be Maddie's polar opposite on the political spectrum. Not only does this cause her to blow her cover as Playing Cyrano, but also results in a shouting match, name-calling...and making out.
  • Sound Effect Bleep: There are two episodes where a loud noise prevents the audience from hearing Zack and/or Cody being cussed out. The first is sound of a bus horn while Zack's miniature golf date Ella cusses him out for being a poor sport. The second is when the ship's horn drowns out the sound of Carey cussing the boys out for shanghaiing her into doing practically every bit of entertainment on the ship.
  • Spoiled Sweet: London, at the cost of losing most of her brains.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: London and Todd St. Mark, son of the proprietor of the rival St. Mark Hotel, in the episode "Cookin' with Romeo and Juliet".
  • The Stateroom Sketch: Actual Closet variant, completes the homage by having their mother open the door so that everyone tumbles out.
  • Stereotype Flip: Maddie and London are the inverse of the Dumb Blonde, Smart Asian stereotype.
  • Straw Feminist: Maddie, early in the show's run.
  • Straw Loser: Millicent.
  • Swallow the Key: In one episode Mr. Blanket, the school's insane Guidance Counselor, handcuffs Moseby and Zack together and swallows the key.
  • Tomboy: Max, a running gag features Mr. Moseby constantly mistaking her for a boy.
  • Took a Level In Dumbass: While London was always flighty and slightly dim, in Season 1 she was fairly competent and able to do things for herself, as well as astute and quick witted. Over the course of episodes, however, she progressively became almost Too Dumb to Live until she is who the character has become today. See Hidden Depths under 'On Deck' as well.
  • Twin Switch
  • Two Lines, No Waiting
  • Twofer Token Minority: Cody's girlfriend Barbara, who is both Japanese and Jewish.
  • Upper Class Twit: London.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds:
    • Maddie and London, Type 2.
    • Also, Zack and Cody.
      • London with Zack and Cody too.
  • Visit by Divorced Dad
  • What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: The Christmas episode has a couple named Mary and Joseph who couldn't get a room in the Tipton but are stuck there thanks to the snow. Later Mary goes into labor and has a child in the elevator on Christmas eve. The cast Lampshades how similar it is to the birth of Jesus.
  • Yiddish as a Second Language: Barbara likes to throw the occasional Yiddish word or phrase around to show off her Judaism.
  • Your Costume Needs Work: In "Not So Sweet 16", lots of girls pretend to be London Tipton in order to get to her party, and the real London Tipton gets mistaken for one of those pretenders.
  • Your Mom

Wayne: Hey, it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings...oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring your mother into this.

Tropes in The Suite Life on Deck

  • Aborted Arc: An arc began at the end of the second season involving Dante, a pre-teen impostor who had assumed Marcus' old persona of Lil' Little, and continued when Dante stowed away aboard the Tipton, at which point Marcus reluctantly took the youngster under his wing and arranged for him to have a job performing aboard the ship. Since Marcus left, it's unlikely we'll see Dante again. Most fans don't mind.
  • Alliteration:

Moseby: I've been punched and pummeled by a pack of peeved Parisians!

    • Also:

Moseby: Please place the pamphlets properly in the pamphlet podium!

Kirby: I'm a double-extra-large man trying crawl through a medium vent.

  • American Gothic Couple: In the episode "Mulch Ado About Nothing", Cody's re-creation of the Mulch Festival for Bailey includes a couple of passengers posing as the couple from the painting. Lampshaded by Cody:

Cody: More American, and less Gothic.

  • Ass Shove: Zack and Woody land safely on the observation deck. Their pursuer, the gangster Stefane, lands on the spire, resulting in an "Eiffel Tower wedgie".
  • Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: London at least once.
  • Big Eater:
  • Bittersweet Ending: The series finale "Graduation on Deck".
  • Boldly Coming: Just barely Averted between Moseby and a purple skinned version of Tutweiller.
  • Butt Monkey: Emma Tutweiller.
    • Bailey also fills this role at times, especially when she's around London.
  • Camp Gay:
  • Can You Hear Me Now?: The students, crew, and passengers about the S.S. Tipton all seem to have phones that get reception anywhere in the world (including remote locations in developing countries and at sea), are standard models that aren't at all bulky or complex (as one would expect from a satellite phone with such capabilities), and never incur any sort of roaming charges.
  • Canon Discontinuity: In the the first series, London was depicted as being incredibly strong for her size, helping Maddie train for her physical fitness test. In On Deck, Zack had to give similar help to London. Of course, London's competence does vary.
    • Also both Zack and Moseby were addicted to online gaming in "Tiptonline" but play an online game in "Love and War"
  • Captivity Harmonica: In the episode "Parrot Island", London plays a harmonica while imprisoned on the titular island, and plays it quite well to boot.
  • The Cast Showoff:
    • The Beauty Pageant episode was most likely conceived primarily as a chance to show off Debby Ryan's singing.
    • When Charo guest-starred, Disney made sure she could show off her enormous...flamenco guitar skills.
    • Catchphrase: Woody yells "Daaang it" several times during the series.
  • Chained Heat: Mr. Blanket, the school's insane Guidance Counselor, handcuffs Moseby and Zack together, and swallows the key. It helps them understand one another better, but also increases their contempt for Blanket.
  • Character Development: After being an Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist for so long, Zack finally seems to be having development that will stick in Season 3.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Woody's turkey leg-turning device seems like the most frivolous thing he's ever come up with...that is, until it provides the batteries necessary to power the radio to call for help from the submarine.
  • The Chew Toy: Mr. Moseby.
  • Christmas Cake: Ms. Tutweiller.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: London seems to have retreated into her own world in this series.
  • Comically Missing the Point: A lot of characters, major and minor, become guilty of this, but Woody's, well, in a class of his own. For example, in "Boo You", Bailey gets fed up with London and Woody pranking her on "Yay Me! Starring London Tipton" and smashes Woody's camera, which leads to this exchange.

London: Woody, that camera's coming out of your salary.
Woody: * excited* I'm getting a salary?!

    • When Ms. Tuttweiler is trying to help Bailey get over her breakup with Cody:

Ms. Tuttweiler: ...and not think about he who must not be named.
London: Voldemort?! *looks around nervously*
Bailey: She means Cody.

  • Cool and Unusual Punishment: In the episode "Model Behavior", Moseby punishes Zack, Marcus, and Woody for throwing a party without his authorization and encouraging a group of teen models to stay out past curfew by making them don snorkeling gear and fish the floaties they threw overboard out of the ocean.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Implied of Wilfred Tipton throughout both series, and confirmed in "Twister, part 3".
  • Continuity Nod:
    • The "Wizards On Deck with Hannah Montana" episode references to the events of "That's So Suite Life Of Hannah Montana".
    • "Beauty and the Fleeced" contained Cody referencing the epsiode "Fairest of Them All" of the parent series (where he wound up in a beauty pageant). It also referenced the first episode of the spin-off, which saw Bailey pull a Sweet Polly Oliver.
    • The episode "Rock the Kasbah" had Cody wear his Grizzly Bear Scout uniform from "Ah! Wilderness!", which is referenced by Zack.
    • "The Ghost and Mr. Martin" makes a reference to "The Ghost of Suite 613", when Zack mentions the ghost of Irene, who came out of a portrait.
    • In "Lost at Sea", Tutweiller tells Mr. Moseby that she used to be a weather girl for Vermont. In "Seven Seas News", she shows the class a video of one of her segments.
  • Crazy Cat Lady: Emma Tutweiller started off as a mildly-neurotic thirty-something woman who just happened to have a few cats. As of Season 3, she's devolved into a certifiably-insane serial stalker who keeps in excess of thirty cats in her cabin, using them as dress-up dolls and sock puppets. Lampshaded by Moseby:

Moseby: And now the whole world knows that you're a lonely cat lady.

  • Crossover: Wizards of Waverly Place On Deck with Hannah Montana.
  • Dance Party Ending: The aptly-named "Party On".
  • Deadpan Snarker: Quite a few characters have their moments. Maya, Zack, Bailey (especially around London), and Moseby of course. Even London has her moments.
  • Demonic Possession: In the episode "Can You Dig It?", Bailey finds herself possessed by the spirit of the ancient South American royal Princess Zaria when Zack finds her crown, thereby releasing her spirit from her bust.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Hmm, so Bailey gets possessed by something related to ancient artifacts whose dialog is over-the-top, supremely condescending, and delivered in a voice that's lower in pitch with reverb, casually threatens to kill or torture people, and dons flamboyant period dress. Geez whiz, I can't imagine what!
  • Dogged Nice Guy: Cody toward Bailey in the first season. A mild subversion, as it was pretty clear that Bailey liked him, too. When they got together, the writers shifted this trait onto Marcus, who acts this way toward London, who is too much in her own world to notice.
  • Everyone Can See It: It was pretty obvious from the beginning that Bailey liked Cody the same way he liked her.
  • Everything's Better with Sparkles: During one episode where London was participating with the boys for a fantasy football league, in the ending of the episode, she mentions that she bought the Arizona Cardinals, now called the Arizona Sparklies. She even changed the uniforms to solid black with white piping & solid sparkling pink fronts with a matching pink helmet.
    • Ironically, this episode aired the day after Kurt Warner's (Who guest starred wearing said jersey) final game. Now we know why he retired.
  • Messy Pig: Inverted with Bailey's pet pig.
  • Expy: Dante was pretty much an expy of Stanley from That's So Raven, before his storyline was written out and he disappeared.
  • Fake Guest Star: Matthew Timmons has appeared as Woody in roughly two thirds of all episodes, yet is still billed as a guest star. Made all the more jarring when Doc Shaw who plays Marcus, is added to the credits when joining the show midway through Season 2 and still probably doesn't appear in any more episodes than Woody. And Marcus was recently Put on a Bus.
  • Fan Service: Scenes on the Sky Deck frequently have babes in bikinis in the background. But only in the background. The main characters can't wear bikinis on a Disney show.
  • Fawlty Towers Plot: In the episode "The Defiant Ones", Cody misses a homework assignment due having spent a romantic evening with Bailey the night before. Unable to bear the shame of receiving a single bad grade, he fabricates the excuse that he was caring for Bailey, who'd injured her ankle. This leads to Bailey reluctantly faking an injury, and eventually the entire student body of Seven Seas Highs being drawn into a web of lies that is increasingly complex and ridiculous. It all comes crashing down the next day when Cody misses yet another assignment, having been too busy maintaining the farce.
  • Feathered Fiend: In "Mean Chicks", Cody denies a seagull a french fry that Zack attempted to feed him, and spends the rest of the episode try to escape the bird's wrath.
  • Five-Man Band:
  • Foreshadowing: Bailey and Cody broke up, but in the Christmas Special, London gets a glimpse into her future and finds out that Bailey and Cody got married.
  • Gamer Chick: Maya, as revealed in "Love and War".
  • Gasshole: Woody, who can perform Stairway to Heaven Le Petomane-style after eating the Mexican buffet.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: Now with its own page.
  • Gosh Dang It to Heck: From the episode "International Dateline":

Bailey: Gosh darnit! Where are all the shrimp?

  • G-Rated Drug: In "The Kidney of the Sea", Zack is accused of stealing his wealthy crush's expensive diamond necklace by said crush's "boyfriend" who actually framed Zack. The crush's mother immediately jumps to her own theory for a motive.

Mrs. Berg: One of the diamonds is missing! He must've sold it to feed his bubblegum habit!
Zack: *takes gum out mouth* I can quit anytime I want. Starting tomorrow. *resumes chewing*

  • Purple Skinned Space Babe: Emma Tutweiller's alien future Expy.
  • Groin Attack: Zack inflicted one upon himself with a croquet mallet.
  • Groundhog Day Loop: One episode had the ship getting stuck in a time loop because of lightning striking it as it crossed the International Dateline. Only Cody notices the problem. He believed it was because that he and Bailey were meant to be together, but realizes the truth when wooing Bailey didn't fix things. The loop is solved when Cody manages to slow down the ship's speed.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • London on occasion shows this, along with some Obfuscating Stupidity and Deadpan Snarker moments, most noticable during an episode where the main cast got stuck on an island and had to fend for themselves. London, seemingly in shock from the event, thought they were at a beach resort. That is, until they were safely back on the cruise liner and mentioned off hand that it was her way to get out of the manual labor.
    • In the Christmas Episode London goes through a Yet Another Christmas Carol plot. This episode reveals that London was a good kid until the bitterness about her dad never being around for christmas (or any other time for that matter) got to her.
  • High School Dance: At least two or three a season.
  • Homage:
    • The entire episode "Kidney of the Sea" is a kid-friendly Homage to Titanic.
    • In "I Brake for Whales", some of the characters locked in the wheel room pay homage to Reservoir Dogs with their codenames. Only one is real, one receives a Gender Flip, and two are not characters from the movie.
  • Hufflepuff House: The students at Seven Seas High who aren't the main characters, Maya, Woody or Addison. There are some episodes where other characters come out of the shadows and then are never seen again.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: From the Anvilicious episode "I Brake for Whales": "Shame on you, mankind. Shame."
  • Humiliation Conga: Played with in the episode "Boo You" where Bailey becomes London's target for repeated pranks that get more and more humiliating. After one where she's embarrassed in front of the entire ship, London asks if Bailey "understands" that she's only doing this for viewers. Bailey replies "Understand this!" and then grabs the camera they were using to film the prank and throws it onto the deck, smashing it. It's probably the most embarrassing for Bailey because not only does wake up with her bed on the deck in front anybody watching London's show, but she is also wearing a retainer that she wears on her head and pig pajamas with a pink, curly tail on her butt. Ouch.
  • Hypno Fool: London gets hypnotized to act more like Bailey. When the hypnotist tried to change her back, he accidentally trances the daughter of the dean from Harvard University.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Again used all the time.
  • I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: Moseby wanted to put Zack on permanent detention for detonating a stink bomb in the chemistry lab. Tutweiller's response:

Tutweiller: I'm an educator, not a warden.

  • Incredibly Lame Pun: The title once again, most of the episode titles, and most of Woody's "jokes". Also implemented from time-to-time when Moseby is yelling at Zack.
  • Informed Attribute: We're told Zack's a bad boy. We've never seen it. Unless you count Zany Schemes.
  • It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans: Averted It was three months ago.
  • The Jimmy Hart Version of:
    • The Star Trek theme in "Starship Tipton".
    • The James Bond theme in "The Spy Who Shoved Me".
    • Billie Jean in "So You Think You Can Date".
  • Karma Houdini: London in "Boo You".
  • Kavorka Man: Though Zack is still up to his Kidanova hijinks, surprisingly, Woody is no slouch with the ladies, either.
  • Ladykiller in Love: Early in Season 3, Zack finds himself developing real feelings for the new girl Maya, to the point where he resolves to change his womanizing ways and take the time to get to know her.
  • Make Up or Break Up: Cody and Bailey didn't so much end their relationship as put it out of its misery. (And the misery of those around them.)
  • Married At Sea: Esteban and Francesca in the episode "Mother of the Groom".
  • Married to the Job: "FOR THE LAST TIME, MOTHER..."
  • The Masochism Tango: Cody and Bailey started out as a sweet couple who were well-matched intellectually and very tolerant and forgiving of one another's faults. As the second season progressed, everything became a competition between them, and they seem to generally bring out the worst in one another.
  • Mood Whiplash: Fairly frequent, but most noticeable in Cody and Bailey's breakup scene, which has the heart-wrenching drama of their argument and breakup punctuated by the slapstick of being rained on by shoes, and having Zack and Woody land on Cody.
  • Morality Pet: Bailey occasionally steps into this role for London.
  • Motivational Kiss: Zack gets one from Maddie in "Maddie On Deck".
  • My Friends and Zoidberg: Not referring to people, but this exchange from The Suite Life on Deck.

Mr. Blanket: Don't worry, there's a sound theraputic remedy.
Zack: And then whatever you've got, right?

  • My God, What Have I Done?: Cody in "The Play's the Thing", when he realizes that his play hurt Baliey.
  • Never My Fault: After their breakup, Cody has been putting all of the blame for it on Bailey. At least until "The Play's the Thing".
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Wilfred Tipton would not have known there was piece of prime real estate in Kansas to be had for a mere pittance if Cody hadn't alerted him to the gravity of the situation in Kettlecorn.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: "I Brake for Whales" has the voice of a marine biologist who is Jacques Cousteau in all but name.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Recent episodes suggest that London may be exhibiting such.
  • The Obi-Wannabe:
    • Mr. Blanket, Seven Seas High's guidance counselor, is himself certifiably insane, distracts people when they examine his credentials, and despite having written a book on them, his methods are questionable at best.
    • In "So You Think You Can Date", Cody and Bailey take dating tips respectively from Zack and London. In the end they ruin both their dates because Cody acts too much like a Jerkass and Bailey too much like a Cloudcuckoolander.
  • Orphaned Punchline: In the episode "The Spy Who Shoved Me", Moseby and London, on separate occasions, tell a joke (or perhaps two different jokes with the same punchline) whose punchline is "Nougat!" Apparently, the guests find it hilarious, leaving the audience to wonder what was so funny.
    • Possibly a Brick Joke from "The Suite Life Goes to Hollywood: Part One" from the parent series in which Moseby attempts to tell the producers of the new show a funny story. This is evidenced by the fact that the delivery of the word "nougat" is exactly the same.

Moseby: One time we ran out of pillow mints. (Laughs) So instead, we had to use...NOUGAT!

  • Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: In an episode where the group visits the home of Sherlock Holmes' author, where the original draft of the story is stolen. Cody figures out a supposed British resident is actually Belgian, due to him saying 'fries' instead of 'chips', and it is revealed he was the Gentleman Thief.
    • Bailey is an unusual case. At the start of the show, she had a Southern accent (despite being from Kansas.) Over time this accent disappeared completely. It may have been a case of Not Even Bothering with the Accent as Debby Ryan is from the South.
  • The Pig Pen: Woody's hygiene, or rather, lack thereof, is the source of many of the series' jokes.
  • Ping-Pong Naivete: London gets this a lot.
  • Preppy Name: Several students aside from Zack, Cody, and Bailey. Among them are Holden, Addison, London (obviously), and even Woody whose name is short for Woodrow.
  • Pun-Based Title
  • Put on a Bus:
    • Bailey briefly left the ship in early Season 3 to return to Kettlecorn.
    • Marcus leaves the ship in the aptly named "Bon Voyage" in Season 3 to star on a Broadway show.
  • Red Shirt: Lampshaded, then spoofed in "Starship Tipton". After the main cast goes to the future, they have to change their clothes to blend in.

Zack: (dressed in yellow) Man, I like these outfits!
Marcus: (dressed in red) Speak for yourself! The guys in red always get killed! (At which point another guy in red falls out of an airlock into outer space, screaming.)
Marcus: See?

  • Retcon: Over the entire series, it was clear that Mr. Tipton loved his daughter, London. It was mentioned a few times that she is the sole heir to the Tipton company. Along comes the first episode that Mr. Tipton finally shows himself in (Episode 68), and what happens? Before eh makes his appearance, he has to ask London who she is when she calls, ask which daughter she is, and barely remembered her. Nice continuity ya got there.
    • In the episode "Computer Date", London and Woody approach Zack for tutoring... in gym. They both state that they are lacking in fitness and health. It's not hard to see that for Woody, but in the episode "Dad's Back" of the original Suite Life of Zack and Cody series, London was the one who had to tutor and train Maddie for gym class, using her personal training program, designed around shopping. It is possible that London is just lazy or unable to exercise because of lack of shopping. Even so, there is a gym, so she could use her personal program in that like she did with Maddie.
  • Romantic False Lead: Cody spent the better part of Season One contending with these guys for Bailey's affection.
  • Sadly Mythtaken: "It's All Greek To Me" claims that Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus. Of course, the most well-known story of Aphrodite has her a generation older than Zeus, and her father is technically Uranus, although the way she was conceived is not something they could talk about on Disney Channel. To be fair, there are some later tales that have her as Zeus's daughter.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money: London has a certificate saying she can get rid of anyone she wants signed by the president and Congress. In the same episode she wants to be a model so she gets her Daddy to buy the modeling agency.
  • Sensual Slavs: In the episode "Das Boots", Cody's opponent in a chess tournament is one Sasha Matryoshka, who's so ridiculously hot that he can't concentrate on his game.
  • Series Continuity Error: Though the writers generally have no qualms about ignoring continuity for the sake of getting laughs, a botched attempt at a Continuity Nod occurs when they refer to Medieval Magic Quest, the MMORPG to which Zack and Moseby became addicted in the parent series...except they refer to it by a completely different name.
  • Ship Tease:
    • On-going between Moseby and Tutweiller.
    • In "Silent Treatment":

London: Look, Bailey, I know you loved Cody, but... You don't need a boyfriend to be happy! You're young, you're smart, you're pretty, you're not some fifty-something cat lady who's been dumped time and time and time again and that's one ice-cream cup away from a heart attack!
Bailey: London, you called me pretty... And didn't add "annoying" after it. Do you really think all those things about me?
London: Of course I do! Why do you think we're friends?
Bailey: London, thank you. Boyfriends come and go, but girlfriends are always there for ya.

Ms. Tutweiller: And that's Napoleon Bonaparte. Just give yourself an F right now if you wrote about Napoleon Dynamite.

    • The name of the episode ("The Defiant Ones") is also a shout-out to the 1958 film that, like the episode, features a white guy and a black guy who hate each other learning mutual respect as a result of being handcuffed together.
    • The name of the episode "Model Behavior" comes from a 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie which also starred Kathie Lee Gifford.
    • One episode had a few arcade machines displaying Cave Story. Really.
    • In "Silent Treatment":

Ms. Tutweiller: Okay, now, did you bring pictures of you and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named?
London: Voldemort? (looks around worried after saying it)
Bailey: She means Cody.

    • A very subtle one in "Starship Tipton": Even though the episode is a Star Trek parody, the transporter effect looks more like an Asgard beam.
    • From the episode "My Oh Maya":

Zack: So Gina, thanks for agreeing to go out with me at the last minute.
Gina: How could I say no? You blast off a 0600 to destroy that asteroid and save the world!

Woody: *to Cody* C'mon, we gotta catch that movie. Y'know, 2001, about that freaky computer that takes over the ship and kills everybody on board?
Callie: That's my favorite movie. Though the beginning was kind of slow.

Moseby: Enough is ENOUGH! I have HAD IT with these *ship's horn blows* SNAKES on my *ship's horn blows* BOAT!

Woody: Oh, that one. Cute, blonde, nice legs. And, carrying a textbook. Repressed bookworm badly in need of good time.
Zack: That's Cody!

    • In Woody's defense, he lost his glasses, and is nearsighted.
  • Stalker Shrine: Cody's footlocker contains one dedicated to Bailey.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Blanket, towards Emma Tutweiller.
  • Starfish Aliens: The Antareans from the episode "Starship Tipton" seem more insectoid than humanoid, having four arms, antennae, and nothing that could really be called a face.
  • Stealth Pun: In the episode "When In Rome", Zack mentions cowboy-ghetti, presumably a kid's pasta dish. No one brings up how this makes spaghetti western.
  • Survival Mantra: In the episode "Senior Ditch Day", when Maya is too sick to accompany Zack to the beach club, and he finds himself surrounded by beautiful, exotic woman, he tries to garner strength by chanting "I do believe in relationships...I do believe in relationships..."
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: An episode features Zack, Cody, Woody,...and Moseby as part of an online game team. The latter's role would have liked been filled by Marcus if he was still around.
    • Also, Bailey could be considered this to Maddie. At least early in the show, she filled the role of the poor smart but pretty girl.
  • Take That: Cody's response in "Starship Tipton" when he hears Bailey will receive eight Nobels... for peace:

Cody: I thought they were the real kind.

    • Considering the fact that the entire Curie family won five Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry for such feats as discovering the elements between Bismuth and Thorium and discovering nuclear transmutation, he should have seen that coming. No single person has ever won more than two Nobel Prizes.
    • Just because you don't got a brain doesn't mean you don't got a lot to say. Don't you watch reality TV?
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Cody has been known for most of the franchise as a socially-awkward, loveable nerd, whom Bailey liked just for being him. As of Season 2, he's constantly fighting with Bailey for dominance in the relationship, not just showing off his knowledge but lording it over people every chance he gets, and is even arrogant enough to assume that Bailey and former love-interest Jessica are jealous of one another, despite a total lack of evidence thereof. His jerkiness got so out of control at the end of "Break Up in Paris" that Bailey and Cody broke up. What an Idiot!!
    • On the episode of said break-up though, as Bailey, who saw him on a practice run through of their anniversary with London, assumed he cheated and stood him up until she learned otherwise. The fight though, did bring up all of his new jerkass tendencies.
    • Really Bailey seems more of the Jerkass she constantly belittles Cody and always tries to upstage him. She gets extremely angry at him for teaching a cooking class and giving his students pointers. She almost breaks up with him because she has to take care of him during an assignment. Finally she goes to a sleazy guy for comfort, who pretty much admits he is just trying to get into her pants. After she sees Cody with a an unknown girl that just so happens to have the same hair extensions as her best friend, instead of asking Cody or London about it.
    • Once you see the episode, "The Play's the Thing", I think you'll see who the bigger jerkass is.
  • Tonight, Someone Leaves The Ship: Invoked by the preview commercials for the episode, "Bon Voyage". Subverted at the end when no one gets kicked off the ship. The situation then turns into a double subversion when Marcus leaves the ship anyway for other reasons.
  • Totally Radical: Invoked deliberately by Emma Tutweiller to promote the 80s dance.
  • Trailers Always Spoil: The promo for the Season 3 episode "My Oh Maya" completely gave away the main plot that Zack would develop real feelings for a girl, and would resolve to change his womanizing ways.
    • There was also Bon Voyage, where simply hitting info in the guide would tell you:

Marcus Leaves.

  • Trash of the Titans: Woody can "produce" enough gas to create an explosion and to "teach" Cody to hold his breath for 6 minutes. In the episode "Splash and Trash", Cody gathered a mountain of trash on the deck to teach a Green Aesop

Moseby: Right, now take this garbage back to the trash room.
Cody: Trash room? I got this from Under Woody's Bed.
(Moseby look at Woody astonished.)
Woody: (smiling ) I'm Filthy.

  • Trickster Twins: The eponymous twins.
  • Two-Teacher School: One, actually, unless you count Blanket.
  • Unlimited Wardrobe: London has a private submarine following the boat with her wardrobe...and a blimp, and a barge, and she still doesn't have enough closet space, which is why she resorts to underhanded tactics such as opening a fake boutique and booking an extra cabin under a false name.
  • Unusual Euphemism: "What the Feathers!?"
  • Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Zack.
  • Very Special Episode: "I Brake For Whales" where the kids lock themselves in the engine room and turn off the boat to prevent it from hitting a pod of endangered blue whales.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: London and Bailey. Type 2.
  • Visit By Divorced Parents
  • Vomit Discretion Shot: Something of a Running Gag. To wit:
    • In the episode "The Wrong Stuff", Woody's off-screen projectile vomiting is implied to be quite profuse when Cody holds up an umbrella at the edge of the frame to protect himself and London, having to reposition the device several times.
    • In the episode "International Dateline", in each iteration of the Groundhog Day Loop, a different person ruins another person's personal affects by vomiting into/onto it:
      • Round 1: Bailey vomits into Haggis' hat.
      • Round 2: Woody vomits into Addison's purse.
      • Round 3: The Romantic False Lead vomits on Bailey's shoes.
    • In the episode "The Spy Who Shoved Me", Smith must manipulate Zack and Cody into doing his bidding, being stuck in the head in Zack's cabin. The noises he makes in there are horrible.
    • Even carried over to the Hannah Montana portion of the crossover, in which Robbie Ray spends most of the cruise relegated to the head.
    • Happens twice to Zack in the span of three minutes in the episode "Rock the Kasbah". Though actually the first time it's not off-screen.
  • A Worldwide Punomenon: In the episode where Cody is trying to become international chess champion.

Zack: (talking on the radio) I can't read it, it's all in Russian.
 Cody: (moves a piece) Check.
Zack: I did check. It's in Russian.

    • Earlier in the same episode:

London: I can't read any of this!
Maya: You can't read it because whoever wrote it was Russian.
London: I don't care how fast they were writing!

  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Parodied in the episode "Starship Tipton", it itself being a parody of Star Trek. All of the background characters, except for London's great x12 grandson, have odd hairstyles and colors, including Zerg, Zack's identical descendant, who has blue hair in the style of a Roman helmet.
  • You Meddling Kids: The obnoxious socialite Ashton delivers the classic line almost verbatim in "Kidney of the Sea" when Ivana literally sniffs out evidence that he had tried to frame Zack for stealing the eponymous necklace.


Tropes in The Suite Life Movie

  • Always Second Best: Dr. Olsen's motivation for creating the Gemini Project. Zack sympathizes.
  • Assimilation Plot: To a certain extent. In fact, Dr. Olsen wants to merge twins together into a single entity once they have bonded well enough. He appearently wants to end suffering from differences in individuals the world over, but primarily he aims to end his suffering from being the "inferior" twin to Dr. Spaulding.
  • Berserk Button: Cody presses Zack's the movie when he says this:

Cody: Well, I may not be interesting, but at least I have a car!
(Zack then begins to scream his head off as he tries to beat Cody to a pulp)

  • Broken Aesop: Zack and Cody are saved from merging together into one personality and joining the twin hive mind by arguing with one another. They are essentially saved by the power of how much they can't stand each other.
  • Canon Discontinuity: Zack's girlfriend Maya is never mentioned, and he is back to his old self.
  • Creepy Twins: Some of the twins partaking in the Gemini project are rather... peculiar. They act and often talk perfectly in synch. Turns out this derives from the first three stages of the Gemini project: a physical connection with the twins sharing the same sensations, a emotional connection with the twins feeling empathy, and the twins become almost exactly alike (i.e. copying each other's sentences perfectly.)
  • Darker and Edgier
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Hurting each other, hurts each other.
  • Dramatic Unmask: Multiple times during a flashback montage.
    • To clarify, Dr Olsen disguised himself as a janitor to easily infiltrate Dr. Spaulding's facility and steal and research, and most importantly to conceal the fact that he is Dr. Spaulding's twin brother.
  • Hive Mind: Dr Olsen merges together sets of twins into a single personality and eventually creates a hive mind.
  • Hot Scientist / The Vamp: Kellie and her twin Nellie, who discreetly goad Zack to ride the submarine that helps cause destruction and get Cody kicked out of his first internship with Dr. Spaulding, and later, convince Zack to not leave the Gemini Project. Of course they are doing it specifically under Dr. Olsen's orders.
  • Incredibly Lame Pun: Just after Zack and Cody find out about the merge and hive mind.

Dr. Olsen: Well, well, well... well.
Zack: That's a really deep well.

  • The Movie
  • Shout-Out: Dr. Olsen is obviously named for the Olsen Twins.
  • Stargate City: Where the movie was filmed.
  • Synchronization: The plot. The two are so at odds with each other that it is effectively Chained Heat.
  • Twin Telepathy: One of the stages of the Evil Plan.
  • Woman Scorned: Holy cow, Bailey. After hearing Cody would rather do an internship over Spring Break than be with her, she begins to ignore him after a bout of fury, even going as far to "delete" him. After learning he was trying to earn a scholarship to Yale, she softens up and reconciles with him.
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