Drake and Josh

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Part of a series on Nickelodeon. [View Related Entries]

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About • History • Premise • Reception • Online Presence • Fandom • Related Memes • Notable Examples • Search Interest • External References • Recent Images • Recent Videos

About

Drake and Josh is a teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider that aired on Nickelodeon from 2004-2007. The show, which focuses on the life and antics of step brothers Drake Parker (Drake Bell) and Josh Nichols (Josh Peck), enjoys an active fan base on Tumblr.

History

The show's two stars Bell and Peck where both regular performers on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy show The Amanda Show (1999-2002).^[2] Drake and Josh^[1] was created by Dan Schneider, the creator of a number of teen sitcoms for Nickelodeon. The series premiere aired on January 11th, 2004, and the season finale aired on September 16th, 2007. The series launched two television movie, Drake and Josh Go Hollywood (2006) and Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008).

Premise

Spoilers Related to Drake and Josh

Drake Parker (Bell) is a popular and attractive, yet lazy and academically unintelligent aspiring musician. He can easily date any girl he wants and is idolized by his peers. Josh Nichols (Peck,) on the other hand, is an eccentric and awkward, yet intelligent and nerdy student. He usually has poor luck when it comes to dating and popularity. He works at the local movie theater, The Premiere, and is obsessed with Oprah Winfrey. Megan Parker (portrayed by Miranda Cosgrove) is the younger sister of Drake. She enjoys tormenting Drake and Josh with manipulative and sometimes injurious practical jokes and pranks while pretending to be innocent in front of her parents. She plays the oboe and has many secretive, technological devices that she uses to antagonize her brothers.

Audrey Parker-Nichols (portrayed by Nancy Sullivan) is the mother of Drake and Megan Parker and the stepmother of Josh Nichols. Although her profession is not officially stated in the show, it can be implied that she is just a stay-at-home mother. Walter Nichols (portrayed by Jonathan Goldstein) is the father of Josh Nichols and the stepfather of Drake and Megan Parker. He works as a meteorologist for their local news program.

Reception

The show was well received by critics and audiences. The show earned a rating of 7.4 on IMDB and the season finale brought in 4.2 million viewers.^[4] The show was nominated for several awards including three Kids Choice Awards, winning two in 2008 for Favorite TV Show and Favorite Television Actor (Drake Bell).

Online Presence

As of April 2014, Drake and Josh's Facebook page^[5] has gained over 9.5 million likes. The official Nickelodeon page^[6] for the show includes clips and quizzes. Fans can also access episode guides and character sketches at the Drake and Josh Wiki.^[7]

Fandom

There are numerous fan-run Tumblr blogs dedicated to Drake and Josh including fuckyeahdrakeandjosh^[8], joshanddrake^[9], and drakeandjoshgifs.^[10] Popular Tumblr tags fan use to tag their content include josh-and-drake^[11] and drake-and-josh.^[12] As of April 2014, there are over 790 Drake and Josh fanfiction submissions on Fanfiction.net^[13] and more than 1,500 fan art submissions for the show on DeviantArt.^[14] Fans gather on the Drake and Josh page of FanPop^[15] and the /r/DrakeandJosh^[16] thread on Reddit.

The fandom also focuses on the show's stars Peck and Bell. Both have active Vine accounts. Peck has over 4.4 million followers on Vine^[17] as of April 2014, and Drake Bell^[18] has over 600,000. They frequently reference each other and collaborate in Vines, acknowledging the friendship that carried over from the show.

Hug Me, Brotha

Hug Me Brotha! was a phrase commonly used throughout the series moments after Drake and Josh successfully handle a situation or settle an argument. The phrase is often used in image macros of one character hugging another in an assertive way.

Emphasis

Throughout the series, and as a part of Josh's eccentric personality, Josh would sometimes repeat certain words to create emphasis, usually expressing the emphasized word louder.

Logo Photoshops

In November of 2017, photoshops of the Drake and Josh logo began growing very popular on /r/me_irl. Most of the edits involved editing the characters and turning the logo into a pun. One of the most popular edits on the subreddit was posted by royeab^[19] and made fun of the Star Wars Battlefront II Unlockable Heroes Controversy, gaining over 26,900 upvotes (shown below, left). Another popular edit that showed Josh petting a dog gained over 3,500 upvotes (shown below, right).

After the surge of posts on /r/me_irl, the photoshops began appearing in other subreddits. On /r/dankmemes, a slightly-edited photoshop of the Star Wars Battlefront joke gained over 2,200 upvotes (shown below, left). On /r/MemeEconomy, a post using a "Snake and Josh" pun gained over 160 upvotes (shown below, right).