So, I Binged Zack & Cody… 

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One of my favorite running gags is Mosby doing something strange and a hotel guest seeing it without any context, prompting Mosby to desperately try to explain his behavior to the guest

“We were a poor family. We could only afford one name” was my favorite line in the show and prompted me to use it on adults who thought I was an insane child

I won the Disney Channel sweepstakes they did in 2005 when Suite Life was first premiering, not first prize but like third prize… I won a mini fridge with a big Suite Life sticker on it & almost 20 years later it’s now in the living room of the grownup house I share with my husband, holding all my beers. Life is weird & I’m kinda amazed it still runs.

I forgot how pleasant this show was. All of the characters are genuinely likeable and the tone isn't too cartoony like later Disney sitcoms fall into.

Estaban mimicking Mr Moseby and giving himself a raise is ICONIC, twas a good time to be a canadian kid

Mosby is like Squidward. As an adult you feel bad for these two just trying to live their life and dealing with utter insanity

Apparently iCarly and Suite Life have conspired to create my entire childhood personality because I have watched multiple hours long breakdowns of both shows and realized I remember most of the episodes in surprising detail.

i’m happy you mentioned the “man speaking japanese” but also kinda disappointed that no one was able to identify what language he spoke. so he’s speaking a chinese dialect/language from the southern part of china called taishanese. from what i can hear, he says in literal translation, “help me help me!” right before the beard rips. he then says, “you two make me so angry!” as he storms off

So in the haunted suite episode: the couple checked in for their honeymoon, the husband went off to war for 3 years and never returned, and then the wife died in the hotel room. 3 year stay in the Tipton? Thats an expensive honey moon.

The reason why shows would get rebrands (like Suite Life becoming On deck) was because it artifically meant a show wouldnt go past a certain number of seasons and legally force Disney to pay more. So by making Suite Life a "new show" they restarted the clock and could still pay the actors season 1 salaries even though they had been working for liek 4 seasons.

I gotta say as an engineer, them saying Arwin lives at home but he's always sleeping at work is pretty spot on lmao

Having the Finnish nun's names be Huuskonenen is so funny to me, because Huuskonen would be a fairly standard name, but some writer went the extra mile and decided to make a pun that almost nobody would get. A large majority of Finnish last names end in -nen, so somebody decided to look up "Finnish names", noticed a pattern, and decided to run with it. Somewhat similar to seeing a character named John Smithith or Erik Larssonson representing England or a Scandinavian country respectively.

From the season 2 food critic episode, the Chinese guy is actually speaking Taishan/Toisan/Hoisan dialect (which is similar to Cantonese). It's the dialect of the early Chinese migrants to the West Coast. I speak the dialect, and I'll try to translate what he says, but some of it is difficult to understand cause of the way he speaks and my ability to translate it into English. "Since I was 12 years old, I've never shaved/cut my beard!" (he says it weirdly but i think it lines up with the way other American born taishanese people speak) "aiyaaaa!" Zack's dialogue then the Chinese guy basically curses them out (the phrase is a common thing said when you're angry and cursing someone out, but i dont know what the English translation for it is) to the best of my ability, he says "(unknown translation of way of dying) die the two of you" The way he delivers the lines in Taishanese is a bit awkward now that I'm actually listening to what he's saying. I never noticed that he was matching the English vibe rather than how it would actually sound in the language. Especially with the cursing of the twins line. The way he emphasizes each of the words doesn't really convey anger to me, and reminds me more of a 10-year-old me imitating what my parents said to my sister when I was trying to express anger.

I've gotta say, this is probably the funniest Disney Channel show of all time. The supporting cast is legendary and they are genuinely hilarious

Tbh Arwin is a catch. Steady job, good with kids, smart guy, endearingly dorky; I get that Carrey just isn't into him bc attraction is random, but on paper he's a great date.

"well then take off the dress cuz I can't hit a woman" Zack's trans-inclusive stance on violence we have no choice but to stan

The dedication to finding the commercials for each episode is insane

Him describing Caroline Rhea as the mom from Phineas and Ferb and not as the utterly iconic Hilda Spellman from Sabrina the Teenage Witch made me feel so old.

rewatching the baseball one recently made me sad, moseby is trying so hard to connect with zack and cody and he's genuinely being so vulnerable with them and it goes terribly for him

Phil Lewis is a master at making exasperated, done with life, "please kill me" faces.

Can we talk about how weird of a character Mr. Tipton is, sometimes they treat him like he forgets about London and is kind of a deadbeat who only cares about how London makes him look, but sometimes the joke is he is the opposite of what you expect, he loves London and he’s out of his way to attend her school plays

48:14 Can we just give credit to what would become the famous Tisdale Scream? From Zack and Cody, to the HSM Trilogy, to Phineas and Ferb, Ashley's scream is one of the most recognizable screams in Disney Channel history.

I choose to believe that Arwin specifically calibrated his dimension swapper for one where Carrie is as down bad for him.

Brenda Song and Macauley Culkin are now married with kids, and I gotta say that beats any FanFiction anyones ever had for this show. Can you imagine how AMAZING that Ep would’ve been in the day? A “late teens” Kevin McAllister arrives at the Tipton and is Zac/Cody’s new role model/bff all the while having a love interest with London? It would’ve been 👏🏻 ICONIC! 👏🏻

theory: bob never found out zack was faking dyslexia. he sides with him out of solidarity.

To answer your question of what the "old Chinese man" said, he was speaking Cantonese, saying something along the lines of "What the heck are you doing?! I'm fed up with you two brats!". Hopefully this was helpful, I'm from Hong Kong, big fan od your video essays! :D

One thing I'll note is that, due to Carey being a performer, she probably has either a reduced rent or she's allowed to stay there for free. Most hotels and resorts that have a performer move to perform there full-time (as rare as it is) will help to accommodate said performer and any family

I literally heard the original name of the show for the 1st time in this video. In my country they translated it into „there’s nothing like a hotel” and “there’s nothing like a boat”. the confusion is real.

Can I just say how incredibly genius it was to replace every instance of the words Lab Rats with the first three notes of it’s theme song? It literally just gets funnier every time.

The “up next” transitions with other shows from the time that I’ve literally never heard of made me realize just how many shows didn’t stand the test of time

Not only was the That's So Raven/Hannah Montana/Zack & Cody crossover one of the last That's So Raven episodes aired, but, at least according to the production code, it was the final That's So Raven episode filmed. This crossover would be the last time that Raven-Symoné would play the character for over a decade. That's kinda neat

2:23:24 I think the reason there is more paranormal things in later seasons (and in the wider Cody in the House cinematic universe) is because the 2nd coming of Christ happened in an elevator in holiday episode in The Suite life of Zack and Cody. I bet *that's* a sentence you didn't think you would hear today.

The concept of a super hopeful ghost hunter who just like.. misses all the possible evidence in front of him because he just zones out or forgets to pay attention is one of the funniest things i can think of

Saying chinchillas are ugly has got to be the hottest take you've ever had man. Those things are adorable and absurdly soft.

"And remember, a vote for Bob is a vote for Bob." Fuck that unlocked some memories

Fun fact: the banned dyslexia episode wasn’t banned in Egypt where I grew up. It aired like any other episode. I remember the scene with Esteban mimicking Mosby so well that I knew most of his lines in the clip you showed. I imagine it wasn’t banned in a lot of countries if it wasn’t in Egypt 🤷🏻‍♀️ also, from what I’m aware, none of my friends and other avid fans of the show have dyslexia, so it didn’t really have a negative affect here. I actually imagine it may have the opposite effect, getting kids to be more aware and to seek help for something they’re going through. Kids with dyslexia don’t get added perks, they get materials that cater to the way their brain processes information better. It’s not just a free pass for extra time on tests…

While most hotels don't have what is explicitly called a "candy counter," many that I visit have a sort of mini-convenience store type area, with frozen/microwavable meals, snacks, drinks, etc. which kind of fills the same general role as we see in this show.

I feel Arwin lives both with his mother and in the basement. He stays at his mother’s house when he needs stuff like cooking and cleaning done for him and he stays at the Tipton to have some sense of independence

At one point Disney considered making a Spin Off focusing on Arwin. And even shot a pilot with Brian Stepanik and Selena Gomez as his niece. And considering that Selena Gomez plays a character in the “Midsummer Nights Dream” episode of Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and Mikaela on Hannah Montana, and the fact that Suite Life, Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place all take place in the same universe, Selena Gomez would have like, 4 doppelgängers in this universe.

The acting in this show is so good for a kids show. Also London had the best fashion.

The 2000s was undoubtedly the golden age of Disney Channel! The theme songs, the catchphrases, the running gags, the celebrity guest stars, the crossovers, the movies, the RATINGS!!! All great things we just don't see anymore with Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. And even now, when they have legitimately good shows, they treat them like they don't even exist! Here's hoping The Villains of Valley View changes things. This show was got me to watch Disney Channel regularly instead of just Playhouse Disney and Toon Disney and I had been obsessed since then. And it's so rare for a show you were obsessed with when you were only single digits hold up incredibly well when it comes to characters, jokes and life lessons!

My dad was a trouble making kid in Boston in the mid 1980s. So he loved this show. He'd watch it alone without me or my little sister. He really related to Zack. He felt like they made a show about his childhood. I always thought that was cool. Disney Channel melted that Gen Xers heart

I love how Mosby's two brothers are so different height-wise. We get a tiny man here and a tall man in on Deck. It's super funny, and even more so how they never reference each other.

Something you forgot about the London plagiarism episode is London ends up being the one who has to pay a million dollars in damages: Maddie explains she did just speak the lines while London actually wrote them in her story, the lawyer asks “which one’s richer?”, everyone outs London and she’s given the lawsuit. Mosby is pissed at her too after she confesses she stole the idea from Maddie musing about it.

as someone who went to catholic private school maddie getting in trouble while london doesnt isnt even unrealistic to me sometimes theres just that one old religious teacher that has hated you for years, and theyre probably letting london get away with bs because theyre hoping her family will make a large donation to the church.

The Candy Counter is probably an old thing London wanted when she was a kid, that just continued as she got older.

I genuinely had no idea other people remembered the ghost episode as fondly as I did. It's my most vivid memory watching this show as a kid.

I never watched this show, but I have seen some of the funniest sitcom jokes of all time from clips of it. It also has a spin of Yo Momma jokes that I love: "Let me explain it again: "Your Mother" doesn't work as an insult when I'm your TWIN!"

i dont know if this was just me but watching these shows growing up made me genuinely terrified for the rope climbing test. so many shows i remember had this test and made me think this was going to be a common thing in my gym class in middle and high school. maybe it was just my school, or by the time i was older they were out of fashion, but i never ended up having to do it. the relief i felt is equivalent to the quicksand fear relief.

Mr Moseby is clearly suffering from some sort of stockholm syndrome or deranged descent into insanity through this entire franchise and Phil Lewis just nails it every time.

I contend to this day that the "mom said not to run with scissors" line at 3:10:30 is one of if not the best jokes in z&c, regardless of the awfulness of the scene as a whole

Rewatching all these clips just made me realize Mr. Moseby’s the funniest character on the show, all of his facial expressions and cartoony slapstick movements are hilarious. Just his reactions at 3:52:32 made the scene 10x funnier/

As someone not from the US I remember that dyslexia episode very clearly, so it might not be banned in other countries.

I'm curious if the reason older shows had more named speaking characters is because of changes with Union protections. Like, maybe the increased rate for named background characters is semi-recent and back then they were able to get away with paying them less. I have no clue tho, just a guess

4:45:15 Also a trivia fact: This woman is played by Tiffany Thorton. Who would also star on the shows Sunny With a Chance with Demi Lovato, and it’s sketch show sequel “So Random” after Demi Lovato quit due to her mental health problems. Tiffany also appeared in the Disney Channel Original movie Hatching Pete, and guest starred on two episodes of Hannah Montana.

Fun fact as weird as it sounds there really were "Kids Clubs" back in the early 2000s it was literally just a kid version of night clubs. It was weird but for us kids at that time it was the best place to go.

"Well then take off the dress 'cause I can't hit a woman" was the moment I knew this would genuinely be one of the funniest shows Disney Channel ever created

Alyson Stoner is nonbinary! So the “I didn’t kiss a girl, I kissed Max!” is kind of iconic now tbh lol

possible answer to the grade dispute: California. the boys have moved around a lot and if they started their education in California, they may have started it a year earlier than Massachusetts. (must attend kindergarten if turning age 6 in MA; must attend the 1st grade in CA if turning 6). i.e. they are always on the youngest end of their grade level maintaining that 3 1/2 year gap outside of normal ages for schooling.

2:18:25 "LITTLE ME, BACK FROM PARIS" this is burned into my memory

Love how Lab Rats is mentioned at least once in practically every deep dive video of yours 💀

Speaking from the perspective of a hotel employee, the beauty pageant contestants would have had a discounted rate for being part of an event group at the hotel. Also the $2000 a night comment could refer to special services guests in certain room types get. I’m sure a standard room rate for that hotel would run around $600 per night but could be lower or higher depending on occupancy.

London is objectively a different character in the suite life than she is in the suite life on deck. I don’t wanna say she was flanderized but she just became more cruel and doubled down on hating poor people. Also just became very misogynistic to every other woman she knew.

I feel like "Max" is one of three names for tomboy-like girls in media including written stories. The two other ones are Sam and Alex. (And yes, I'm aware there are characters like that with other names... but like... Max, Sam and Alex are very common)

I’m incredibly impressed not only by adrian r’mante’s consistent accent, but his ability to do that accent mimicking an american accent.

I remember Maddie saying she'd dance with Zach at his prom. I wish they brought Ashley Tisdale back in Suite Life on Deck as a guest star just for that

1:58:55 genuinely shocked to find out that this episode only ran twice because I remember this scene of Esteban pretending Moseby fired him so vividly

as someone from boston I'm obsessed with you freaking out over the pronunciation of oregon and then completely saying copley wrong. love your energy

I don't think it necessarily costs 2k a day to stay at the Tipton, I think since it's an expensive hotel they assume those guests are going to go to the restaurant, buy room service, etc. so they end up spending about 2k a day when they stay there.

Fun fact: London as a child in flashbacks in later shows is played by Haley Tju, who would costar with Brenda Song in Amphibia.

For the first banned episode it had to have been played more than twice. Cause I vividly remember the chess story, the Mosby mute story, and the dyslectic story. Which only happens if i’ve seen an episode a fair amount

2:28:45 Fun fact: In Dave the Barbarian (can't remember the exact episode), they also had a running joke in one episode where Dave couldn't remember the name of the aglet too. I'm pretty sure this reference even pre-dates this Suite Life reference.

I very distinctly remember the dyslexia episode, I personally always had beef with it because while struggling to read is the most well known symptom, it's not a requirement and that stereotype is what prevented me from getting a diagnosis until middle school. I liked to read, so the spelling, grammar and other symptoms were written off as lazyness. So I genuinely was really upset that the episode used "you can read" as the way to catch Zack's lie, it felt like my friends were going to see that episode and decide I too was faking, and watching this video I still felt that fear for a split second even all these years later, so in a way I'm glad they pulled it

No I won't stand for anything less than Mosby getting the recognition he deserves. He all but raised London from a child until she graduates high school, he took care of her. Made her birthdays special. Gave her advice and generally took care of her for her whole life. Mr Mosby is the underrated hero and father figure to the cast. 💯

For some reason I legit remember Muriel dying at some point. I remember this being a plot point, they were all sad because Muriel died and they didn’t appreciate her enough. Why do I remember this.

I literally started rewatching the series as part of a healing process at the moment. I truly miss shows from the early 2000's and is still top-tier to this day. So glad I grew up with shows from 2003-2006

Why aren't there blimps anymore? Well, the short answer is that they are a logistical nightmare and fell out of fashion. Blimps and airships are terrifying, huge, and silent time bombs and I'm glad they are largely a thing of the past. They're cool to look at and that's why they are prominent in movies and TV, specifically animation, but you may notice dystopian worlds are more likely to feature these terrifying modes of transport.

I miss when Disney shows actually made you care for the characters and made the wacky sociopathic adventures highlight them as they were characters in a tv show. A lot of shows later on to now have characters almost always appear apathetic towards anyone not in the main cast and you'll rarely get any serious moments unless it's at the end of the episode or within a serious storyline. Watching Maddie and London grow close throughout the series naturally and seeing them even share struggles was so beautiful.

I think theres a charm in this era of disney channel shows that cant be replicated again. Obviously I speak with nostalgia but ironically my parents are the ones that speak with more fondness towards these shows. I spent most of my childhood watching Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana, Waverly Place, So Raven, etcetc. My parents were kinda forced to watch most of these but they actually liked them a lot. If you can appeal to both kids and parents, I think your show is successful

About Zach and Cody's mother having the lesbian cut but being transphobic, you would not BELIEVE how many cis gay dudes and lesbians are transphobic

The candy counter is analogous to a concession store, something large hotels often have

2:26:28 Small error, but it was Zack (Dylan Sprouse) who was going on a date with Max (Alyson Stone) in the episode. It was Cole Sprouse (Cody) who dated Alyson in real life.

I cannot hear London without immediately thinking of Anne Boonchuy. Brenda Song brought so much charm to the character that I'd love to see her do more voice acting in the future.

perhaps the hotel doesnt cost $2000 a night but Mr. Moseby was insinuating that guests at the Tipton were the type of people to spend $2000 a day

maddie "WE NEED TO HELP THE POOR" also mattie a homless man finds something NEAR AND DEAR to her heart she goes for a hug sees hes homeless "ew" 3:23:18

Suite Life exists in such a weird time of the channel’s history. The perfect bridge between the comedy focused sitcom era and the pop star mill era. It’s weird that I remember the hype for That’s so Suite Life of Hannah Montana and I also remember my child self being immeasurably disappointed by it. I’m glad that was a shared experience. Also MoBrosStudios coined the term “Squidward Torture P**n” not MrEnter

the bowling episode has permanently stuck with me and my family since it aired. literally *any* time we play bowling, real or wii, and get a split someone will inevitably say "you cannot get zem both"

At 39:30 when Zack wakes Cody up and he immediately asks if they're moving again, I thought that Carrie had previously been in some abusive relationships after the divorce from Kurt necessitating frequent late night escapes. I think it would explain some of the kids behavior of finally being around adults who are strict but care versus prior abusive adults.

This show was amazing and the mix of adult and kid humor meshed even better than other kid aimed shows at the time. The main cast being 2 talented brothers, 2 talented teens and a swarm of adult talent really really worked in the shows favor. The jokes tend to hold up too

I’m now an adult and a hotel manager myself and I relate so much to Mr. Mosby

I think this is the most "Nickelodeon" show of the 2000s Disney Channel sitcoms, kinda mean spirited and with a designated "punching bag" character.

I gotta say i love the use of the promos between episodes. On a moment to moment level its nice having a buffer between episodes so they dont blend together, and on a larger level it really helps to ground the viewer in the era so they get the idea of what watching the series as it came out was like.

I’m SO GLAD you prefer London Tipton in season 3 over season 1. Like I know she got flandarized, but this is the only time I love it. Brenda Song’s comedic timing/delivery got better and better

One thing I remember some one pointed out to me was how they broke the cliché of dumb blonde girl and smart Asian girl by flipping it . Breaking stereotypes !

To answer the blimp question Blimps aren’t too practical so the only few remaining in the us are all light year blimps

I like how he keeps calling Alyson, Addison, it is very funny how he corrects himself from the correct name, to the wrong one.

I love how Wizards of Waverly Place allowed Harper to grow passed her crush on Justin, that show allowed the characters to evolve well, and found humor in new ways. Zack and Cody just tried to see what’s the funniest things we can get from each character, so they kept Zack and Arwin’s crushes (which I’d argue aren’t the funniest, but it’s memorable)

2:03:15 Funny you mention how no one brought up potential concerns about the banned dyslexia episode, because when I did a full video on the episode for my channel, I noticed that in the credits, there was TWO Educational consultants for the episode, one even specializing in dyslexia! Really weird that even they didn't speak up about any possible concerns

1:48:30 honestly not sure why youd ever say that chinchillas are adorable theyre like real life pokemon