O'Connell, P. (2008). The Suite Life on Deck. Disney ChannelDisney's The Sweet Life on Deck, a spin-off of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, is an overacted slapstick that takes place on a cruise liner. Bailey Pickett and Cody Martin may have broken up, but they sure haven't gotten over each other. Bailey's roommate, London Tipton, tries to cheer her up by taking Bailey to talk to their teacher, Miss Tutweiler, about break ups. Miss Tutweiler leads them to her room-- a pink frilly suite with dozens of cats crawling throughout. Cody, on the other hand, joins the Brotherhood of the Hooded Brothers monastery. Cody's brother, Zack and his roommate Woody Blend, go to the monastery to rescue him.
The main theme of the show, being the different ways girls and guys deal with break-ups, encourages viewers to behave in absurdly dramatic ways. The stereotype is that guys, after a break-up, should swear off girls. Girls, on the other hand, should eat ice cream, get mani-pedis, and dress cats up in frilly pink dresses. Neither character came to any real resolution, leading me to believe that this depressing break-up theme will last for a few more episodes. The characters are all complete stereotypes; there is the smart boy with the cool, trouble-making brother, the nerdy sidekick, the token African American boy, a farm girl, a rich girl, and a quirky teacher. This is an immensely popular show, and many tweens will be emulating the histrionics of the characters from The Suite Life on Deck.
I watched one of these shows last week and still need to post on it; the slapstick is so corny and stereotypes are quite pronounced.
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