Chuckie is Rich

"Chuckie is Rich" is a Season 3 episode of Rugrats.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Angelica
 * Howard (cameo)
 * Betty (cameo)
 * Didi
 * Stu
 * Drew
 * Chas
 * Pat Sajak
 * Pat Sajak's Son (cameo)
 * Rich Kid
 * Marvin (mentioned)
 * Shirley (mentioned)

Synopsis
''The Finsters become instantly rich after winning $10 million in the "American Dunderhead" magazine contest, presented to them by Pat Sajak himself! Chas starts living it up and invests his fourtune in an ear wash device called the "Ear Whizz" (on the advice of Drew), while Chuckie wishes he and his dad were just regular people again. Will the Finster fourtune last?''

- Description from Klasky Csupo

Summary
After spending days in their house with a leaky roof (which Chas could not afford to fix), Chas and Chuckie become instantly rich after winning $10 million in the "American Dunderhead" magazine contest, the one with "TV personality" Pat Sajak's face on the envelope; Chas started living it up and investing in an ear wash device called the "Ear Whizz" (on the advice of Drew), while Chuckie wishes to be just a regular person again.

Plot
Chas and Chuckie have fallen on hard times; at the moment they have very little furniture left, and the roof is leaking badly in the rain. Phil and Lil are visiting, and notice that it's raining in the living room. Stu and Tommy come to visit, and Stu and Chas talk about the poor shape of his house as Chas checks his mail. It turns out that he's a finalist in the American Dunderhead sweepstakes, a local contest where contestants win $1 million, $5 million, or maybe even $10 million. Chas licks the winning stamp on the "yes, I want to win" part of the application.

Six weeks later, TV personality and Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak visits the Finsters' house, where he informs Chas that he has won the $10 million prize in the American Dunderhead sweepstakes. Two weeks pass, and Chas has bought a mansion with the money he won. He and Chuckie move to the mansion, vowing that he doesn't have to worry about leaking roofs or bill collectors anymore, and, best of all, that Chuckie can have all the toys he wants.

At Tommy's house, Tommy is worried because he doesn't know where Chuckie is. Angelica explains that he's rich now, and explains what being rich is to the babies.

At the mansion, Chuckie tries to play with the large Thorg doll Chas bought. When Chas returns from his tennis match, he asks Chuckie if he wants anymore toys from the toy store before noting he already has just about any toy from there. Chas then says about inviting their friends over to come visit, which makes Chuckie happy.

While on the way to Chas' new mansion, Stu is worried about what to do or say since the Finsters are rich now, believing that money could have changed Chas for the worst. When they pull up, they note the plaque says "C. Norbert Finster, esq" and Didi remarks she didn't know Chas had a middle name. Stu says he could have bought one. Chas' butler, Jenkins, welcomes the Pickles to the mansion (for a moment, Stu mistakes the butler for Chas) and takes Tommy into Chuckie's room were Phil and Lil are already at. Chas shows the Pickles' and the DeVille's his new (and presumably very expensive) glass elephant. During this time, Drew comes over with Angelica and a new invention called the Ear Whiz, which Drew urges Chas to invest money in so Chas can grow wealthier. Chas is unsure, but agrees to trust Drew's judgement.

Meanwhile, when Tommy and the DeVille twins are interested in playing with Chuckie's new toys (including a video game console and video game starring the Dummi Bears), Chuckie gets offended because they're interested in the new toys instead of his favorite ball. When Angelica arrives in Chuckie's room she agrees to play the ball with Chuckie. When Chuckie wonders why Tommy and the twins are acting strange, Angelica says that they're jealous that he has all these new toys in order to turn Chuckie against his friends. Angelica promises she's his true friend, and Chuckie turns his back on Tommy, Phil, and Lil.

When the Pickles head home, Stu voices his dislike in Chas' new attitude. Didi tries to tell Stu that Chas is having difficulties adjusting to his new lifestyle, but Stu ignores what she says and insists that money changes people for the worst. In the back seat, Tommy nods in agreement.

The next day, Chas takes Chuckie to his new daycare, where many famous celebrities bring their kids there to play. On the ride to the daycare Chas is on the phone with Drew, who advises Chas to invest even more money into Ear Whiz. Chas is reluctant, but continues to trust Drew's judgement.

At the daycare, Chuckie doesn't seem to fit in with the other rich kids. Since he only recently became wealthy the other babies and toddlers aren't interested in becoming his friends (dubbng him "new money"). So Chuckie just keeps to himself, though more uncomfortable than lonely.

Sometime later, Drew and Angelica visit the mansion with some unfortunate news about the Ear Whiz company. It turns out that the invention increases waxy buildup in the ear canal, and the company has gone bankrupt. When Chas asks how much money Drew invested, Drew reluctantly admits nearly all of it. Chas is horrified and begins to panic. He begs Drew to help him, and Drew tells Chas to sell the mansion and all his new furniture. Chas does so, but refuses to give up his beloved glass elephant. During this, Chuckie seeks out Angelica and asks if she wants to play ball with him. Angelica overheard their fathers' conversation and informs Chuckie that he's dirt poor again so she's no longer his friend, because Angelica only liked him for being rich. She also tells him that he would have to move back to his old house and all of his new toys would have to go back to the toy store which surprises Chuckie, but he doesn't really mind.

In three hours' time, the Finsters move back to their old house. Stu and Tommy come by to visit once again. Chas apologizes for his behavior while he was rich, and Stu forgives him explaining that he was just jealous that Chas won. Stu says he's sorry to hear about Chas losing his fortune, but Chas states that he didn't lose all it because he managed to get enough left to fix the roof (and presumably refurnish it as well), and he got to keep his glass elephant. Meanwhile, Tommy apologizes to Chuckie as well, who says it's fine because he said that being rich wasn't that great and missed being his regular self. Both of them are happy everything is going back to normal. Stu admires the glass elephant and finally admits it really is nice. Unfortunately, he accidentally knocks it over a moment later, and Chas screams.

Trivia

 * Current  host Pat Sajak guest stars as himself, with his son Pat Jr. making a cameo.
 * In early April 2001 on Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak paid back the Rugrats in a form of a puzzle, which, when solved, said "THE RUGRATS". After the contestant solved it, he named the characters.
 * This is the second episode where Angelica explains to the babies what "rich" means, the other episode is "Tooth or Dare". Only this time, Phil asks the question.
 * Chas' middle name is revealed to be Norbert.
 * Giant, mechanical Thorg and Reptar toys like the ones seen in the episode "Toy Palace" make an appearance in this episode, in this case purchased by Chas for Chuckie. Presumably he bought them (and the rest of Chuckie's new toys) from Toy Palace, though he doesn't refer to it by name.
 * American Dunderhead is the company where Pat Sajak works.
 * "Dunderhead" is a synonym of "dunce", meaning a dull-witted person.
 * A similar plot would later be used in the Danny Phantom episode, "Livin Large".
 * Beginning with this episode, Renan Tolon took over for Syd Kato as color stylist. This was also the last episode where Becca Ramos served as animation checking supervisor and the last episode where Peter Carlstedt was the foley mixer.
 * Morals:
 * Manage and save your money; because you may need it for keeping your home until you pay off all of your mortgage and paying your bills and other important things like buying food and clothing. Be careful with your money, including using it and investing it. Even celebrites have gone broke from mismanaging and wasting their money on things they don't want and/or need.
 * Rich life is not what it seems.