Baby Commercial

"Baby Commercial" is the first segment of the fourth episode of season 1, and the fourth Rugrats segment overall.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Jonathan Witt
 * Bob 2
 * Betty
 * Didi
 * Cameraman
 * Snow
 * Steele
 * Trickum

Summary
Betty tells the story of how Phil and Lil got placed in a diaper commercial where the twins preferred exploring and destroying the set rather than sticking to the script.


 * - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot
Tommy, Phil, and Lil are watching a diaper commercial the twins were in along with Didi and Betty. Didi points out the commerical and comments that the twins look adorable. Betty agrees, but admit the whole ordeal was a headache. As the two adults leave, Tommy asks the twins how they could be in the television and in the living room at the same time, to which the twins respond that it is a commercial (or "mercial" as Phil pronounces). Tommy asks what that is, and Lil corrects them both by saying COM-mercial, and tells him its when they take you to a big room, shine bright lights, and shoot you. Tommy gulps at the shooting part, so the twins explain more, and they have a flashback of it.

In the flashback, Phil and Lil are seen riding on a stroller an excited Betty pushes into the director room. The studio is busy. As the diaper pyramid is being built, an assistant comes by and simply sneezes, causing the pyramid to fall over. Betty meets Bob, the assistant director, who introduces them to the clients Mr. Snow, Mr. Steel, and Mr. Trickim. Betty tries to say hello, but Bob tells her theyre advertising execuvites-they can't hear her. Soon, Jonathan Witt, the director, arrives with a group of people as he finishes a joke they all laugh to. Phil and Lil wonder who he is, assuming he's some kind of clown. He calls Bob by the wrong name- "Bud", forgetting who he is, and Bob reminds him of his name and that he's the husband of Johnathan's sister (making them brothers in law). As Bob tries to introduce the Deville's, Bob completely ignores him and admires the diaper pyramid, astounded and mesmerized, saying how it looks exaclty how he dreamed. As he gushes over the pyramid, Phil and Lil assume he's not potty trained by his love for the diapers. Bob tries again to introduce the family, with Johnathan seemingly forgetting the twins were supposed to be in the commercial. Johnathan scolds the twins for being "late" saying its "very unprofessional", possibly forgetting they are just one year olds, and when he takes a look at the twins, he has them go into the trailer and the other employees put make-up on their faces. The twins look at each other in horror as they wipe off the makeup. As soon as they do, its just re-applied.

When the twins are put on camera, Mr. Witt tells Phil to crawl to the box, look left, and smile at the camera. But as the camera rolls, Phil just stares blankly at it and remains static. So Bob gets Betty (who gives Lil to a fat guy she was having a discussion with) to get Phil to do his act. The camera is rolled once again, and Betty tries to encourage Phil to do his part. But Phil continues to sit without reacting. So Bob decides to get Lil in front of the camera instead, only to find out that she has meandered off (due to chasing after a toy car after the fat guy set her down on the floor). Betty angrily demands to know why the fat guy wasn’t looking after her and the latter responds that she is crawling up an overhead catwalk, much to Betty's shock. As she helps the other workers get the toddler off the catwalk, Phil uses the camera and turns it on. As one of the workers almost reaches to Lil, Phil ends up taking a ride on the camera cart. The other worker finds out and runs to it, tipping the ladder down in the process as Lil ends up hanging from a crane. As the camera heads to the diaper pyramid, Mr. Witts jumps on the camera and narrowly stops it before it hits the pyramid as Lil lands on top of a cloud cushion unscathed.

Betty gets her twins back, and Mr. Witt demands the Devilles to get off of his set, stating that they almost destroyed a his beloved pyramid, cause he's been in his business six years, and further chastise the family. But before Mr. Witts could finish his sentence, Lil's toy car lightly taps one of the diaper boxes, causing Mr. Witt's praised pyramid of diaper boxes to collapse. Mr. Witt emerges from the piles of boxes and furiously yells at the twins they'll never work in show biz again. The executives, who have not been paying attention, call for a playback. The camera had in fact been rolling the entire time and caught the twins acts (Phil looking into the camera winking, Lil flying around on the crane and landing on the clouds, and the twins smiling and waving at the camera, watching the pyramid fall and claping). The execs, unaware that this wasn't scripted, love it and decide to take the footage, causing Mr. Witt to break down crying.

As Phil and Lil conclude their story, Tommy then knows how they end up in television. Mr. Witt shows up at the Devilles house, begging for another commercial. But Betty refuses and slams the door, leaving Mr. Witt pleading incessantly as he asks the toddlers to remind Betty how much fun they had, offering candy to them, not realizing they're babies and cannot talk yet. The toddlers crawl away, leaving Mr. Witt outside begging.

Trivia

 * This is the first episode focusing on Phil and Lil.
 * This is the first and only appearance of Jonathan Witt.
 * This is the third time Chuckie and Angelica are absent.
 * This is the first episode where Tommy doesn't have a major role.
 * This is the first episode where Stu is absent.

Goofs

 * Phil and Lil are dressed in pajamas at the TV studio but when the scene cuts to them sitting in the stroller as Johnathan walks in, they're wearing their clothes they normally wear almost in any other episode.
 * When Phil is crawling towards the camera, his shoes and parts of his pajamas are colored pink like Lil's.