Episode 105: We’ll Always Have Tuesday
AKA YokoOriginal Airdate: May 24th, 1999
Cast:
Brendon Small – Brendon Small
Jason Penopolis/Coach Jon McGuirk – H. Jon Benjamin
Melissa Robbins – Melissa Bardin Galsky
Paula Small – Paula Poundstone
Josie Small – Loren Bouchard
Loni – Laura Silverman
Eugene – Eugene Mirman
Mitch – Mitch Hedberg
Synopsis: A camping trip romance begins between Brendon and classmate Loni, but her old boyfriend Mitch might not have moved on. McGuirk would help, but he's busy tracking down the person who peed in his canteen.
History:
· This was the last UPN episode, billed at the time as the “Season Finale”. Therefore, it is also the last episode with Paula Poundstone as Paula Small. (Liars!)
· This episode is one of “The UPN 5”. Therefore, it has Paula Poundstone as Paula and is 100% retroscripted.Lawn Gnomes:
· Towards the end of the episode you can see a Lawn Gnome in the Small’s backyard
Brendon’s Filmography:
· "Film Noir Detective Story"– Detective Barlow is out to save his girl Loni from the evil mustached man. (Doesn’t have Melissa)
· “Loniblanca” – Loni (Played by Melissa) is forced to make the hardest move of her life when she goes with Mitch (Jason) instead of Brendon.The Movie-Episode Connection:
· A really nice play on the whole event. Brendon takes the situation which didn't work out for him at all, makes himself the one who rejects her, and then makes her drink pee.The Plotline Connection: (TheJazzFighter)
· Hmm...No connection, really, since only Brendon seems to have a storylie that continues...well...McGuirk's small plot continues, but...it doesn't really have a connection...except them both feeling crappy at the end (McGuirk drinks pee...and is called pee-pee breath). As for the name, Loni was to Brendon's group exactly what Yoko Ono was to the Beatles; and though they broke up, Loni and Brendon will always have that day together (which apparently is Tuesday).
Song Lyrics:
· The song Dwayne plays in the second movie is the Home Movies theme.Random Observations & Facts:
· The $20 bill Loni hands McGuirk has the face of Dr. Katz on it. (Dr. Katz is another Tom Snyder Productions show).
· Brendon is in his underwear when McGuirk tries to get someone to step forward and take responsibility.
· Jason’s gun in the first movie is a laser gun.
· On the tree when the show comes back from commercial, it says “L (Heart with an arrow) M” as in “Loni Loves Mitch”.
· The kid in the hall’s math book says “1+1=2”.
· McGuirk has possibly has been to Africa and Australia. And I suppose Antarctica. But probably not.
· After the credits, Mitch is getting a tattoo on his chest of a heart that says “Loni”.
· The book the tattoo guy is reading says “I Love Tattoos”.
Movie & Other References:
· “The girl tied in a chair with an evil villain with a mustache” used in Brendon’s first film is another classic movie cliché.
· Brendon plays Detective Barlowe, no doubt a play on Detective Marlowe, who was the star of countless Raymond Chandler novels (and therefore the star of countless film noir movies).
· Brendon’s second movie is straight-forward Casablanca parody, right down to sending the woman he loves off with another man because he believes it's the right thing to do.
· As if you didn't know, calling Loni "Yoko" is a reference to Yoko Ono, John Lennon's girlfriend who many blame for the breakup of The Beatles.End Credits: “Season One Theme”
Reviews:
RandomGuy: A solid and enjoyable episode whose biggest contribution to the series is the gut-bustlingly funny camping stuff at the beginning. Although the rest isn't quite that strong, Lonnie's character still brings out some interesting qualities in Brendan (a lot of this territory was covered again, only in a worse fashion, with Cynthia in Season 2). All in all, I'd say it's one of television's more realistic depictions of an elementary school romance. And Melissa is damn witty.
Condiment King: Coach McGuirk was great in this episode, similarly to how he was in Art of the Sucker Punch with his advice about a fight. He was great here with his advice about woman, or non-advice. The analogy to "grapes". "I've been everywhere in the world, Brendon, except...Africa and Asia, and South America.."
I wasn't a big fan of the Loni character actually, I thought she was incessantly annoying, particularly the constant screaming in the film that Brendon, Jason, and Melissa were doing. Or the excessive 'really's. I guess she was meant to be annoying or the typical grade school crush type thing, but it truly was just annoying. Mitch similarly wasn't the best character, however at least we had Eugene who pee in Coach McGuirk's canteen. That was a fantastic scene. It was first truly hysterical scene in the series. The entire episode wasn't hysterical, but it remained amusing.
Paula was boring in this episode as the typical mother. There's something about that last scene with Mitch and Brendon that just seemed to go on forever as an attempt to wrap up this episode. At least we got a nice Casablanca reference here. Even in these early episodes, we have references to great directors (in Parent Teacher Conferences) as well as Casablanca here. The joke, "I'm not sure the name of that drink -- what do you call that again, Eugene?" really came out of nowhere.
At the end of the day in reviewing the UPN 5, you can sort of see why UPN wasn't adored with it, seeing all the errors and drawbacks in the first five. However, I can't justify the cancellation since UPN programming is truly terrible. Perhaps they were a little cancel-happy since pretty much every show ended early. This was made to complement Dilbert, and in many ways, at least this UPN 5 Home Movies was very different. At the same time, there are parts of these first five episodes that show what the series is going to be. ****
StrangerAtaru: This really isn't one of my favorite episodes, partially because of the whole Loni and Mitch thing. (Someone once said that the kids started acting like adults in the 2nd season, but I think this episode helps prove that it was probably earlier than that) I really don't see what those two accomplished other than nothing. As for the whole "pee in the canteen" subplot, I actually found that pointless and stupid as well except for two jokes at the end ("What did you say this was called, Eugene?"; McGuirk hitting Eugene with soccer balls) Probably some of the conversational stuff saved this episode from being a complete waste of time. (McGuirk's take on women, probably the part at the end with the last scene of Paula Poundstone as Paula), as well as the movie at the end.
The Landstander: My old review for this episode had me not liking it much, and I can't imagine why. Next to the hilarious "The Art of the Sucker Punch", this is the best episode that aired on UPN.
It's interesting to note that there's a long break between this episode and the next, because it shows some lost potential. Loni doesn't show up again throughout the series, and Eugene makes a cameo in a season 4 episode ("The Wizard's Baker") that feels a lot more like a nod to the hardcore fanbase than really doing anything with the character. But here, both (and Mitch, as well) work great in their roles. As randomguy mentioned, this is a pretty realistic look at elementary school romance; things move fast, rumors get spread, and Brendon, of course, ends up at the bottom. The sequence between Brendon first meeting Mitch at school and Loni breaking up is fast paced, funny and on target. Loni's effect on Jason and Melissa was great as well. Finally, though the idea of Brendon using the movies to reflect his real life was used before, the Casablanca ending to the story was perfect.
Beyond that, McGuirk has a nice standalone plotline with Eugene. I really don't know what caused H. Jon Benjamin to improv something like "Because I drank it before", but I thank him for it. Recommended.
