The Mysterious Mr. Friend

"The Mysterious Mr. Friend" is a Season 3 episode of Rugrats.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Angelica
 * Stu
 * Didi
 * Spike
 * Mr. Friend
 * Lou (cameo)

Synopsis
''Stu creates a clown toy that walks and talks called "Mr. Friend". When it begins to malfunction around the babies, can the Rugrats find a way to stop Mr. Friend from acting so scary?''

- Description from Klasky Csupo

Summary
Stu creates a new toy that mechanically walks and talks, and he is so confident that the kids will enjoy playing with it that he immediately designs a whole batch of them. However, Stu hasn't yet perfected the toy, and its constant malfunctions (when the grownups aren't looking) end up frightening the babies.

Plot
At Stu's workshop, he creates a toy, in an opening similar to Frankenstein's Monster. The toy is a robotic clown with red hair, a blue nose, a yellow jumpsuit, fully-articulated limbs, a heat-in-motion censor, and a voice chip (containing 217 different randomly-accessed phrases) inside its mouth. Didi comes downstairs after hearing Stu say "It's alive!" to see what he's invented this time. Stu introduces the toy as Mr. Friend to Didi. After hearing one of Mr. Friend's rhyming phrases, she thinks that Mr. Friend's phrases could be much better written. Stu takes Mr. Friend upstairs to show Tommy.

The baby in question is playing with his jack-in-the-box, with Chuckie worried that the scary clown will pop out again, and Tommy trying to convince him something different might happen. Stu comes in and shows Mr. Friend to the babies. While waiting for them to play with the toy he hears the phone ring and goes to the kitchen.

The reason that Tommy and Chuckie didn't play with Mr. Friend right away was because they don't know him well enough, so they introduce themselves to the toy. Tommy presses the heart-shaped button on its chest, and after hearing Mr. Friend say one of his rhyming phrases, Tommy and Chuckie run away from him. However, the toy suddenly turns off and falls over. Tommy and Chuckie think Mr. Friend's broken, but the toy moves again, scaring them more. After falling a second time, Mr. Friend's batteries come loose out of the compartment on his back. Tommy and Chuckie cry, getting Stu and Didi's attention.

Stu puts the batteries back inside Mr. Friend, causing it to recite one of his phrases. Didi convinces Stu to hire a writer to come up with some new lines. Stu mentions he'll take Mr. Friend downstairs to fix the cover over the battery compartment, and mutters there might be other bugs to iron out (Tommy and Chuckie gasp at "bugs", believing Mr. Friend to contain literal bugs). After Stu takes Mr. Friend into the workshop to work on the toy, Chuckie believes they've seen the last of Mr. "Fiend", but Tommy isn't so sure.

That night, Stu gives a sleeping Tommy Mr. Friend. Tommy unknowingly turns Mr. Friend on, causing him to say one of his lines while malfunctioning, which makes Tommy cry. Didi comes in Tommy's room, and carries him to the kitchen, thinking he needs a bottle.

The next day, Phil and Lil come over. The DeVille twins think Mr. Friend sounds funny rather than scary. Tommy explains that he talks all night, smells like burning rubber bands, and is full of literal bugs. This delights Phil and Lil, and they tug-of-war over the toy. Mr. Friend gives advice for playing fair and sharing, then accidentally scares Phil and Lil after his head spins and he falls on the background grass. Tommy says that Mr. Friend be put someplace where the toy won't come back. They put Mr. Friend in the clothes chute, unaware that it leads to Stu's workshop.

At said workshop, Didi is about to put some clothes in the washer, unaware that Mr. Friend is in the basket. Stu is busy making more Mr. Friend dolls, saying that he "isn't selling out to any huge, greedy, toy-manufacturing monolith"...yet. Didi starts to put the first of the dirty clothes in the washer when Mr. Friend pops up, humming "London Bridge". Didi urges Stu to hire a writer, and puts it back outside when she comes upstairs.

Chuckie says that Mr. Friend is just a dumb old doll while playing with Tommy's ball, unknowingly turning Mr. Friend back on. The toy once again hums "London Bridge" (this time malfunctioning), scaring the babies to the corner of the fence. Phil "sacrifices" Lil's doll, Rhonda Rags, by throwing her at Mr. Friend which turns him off. Much to Lil's relief, Rhonda survived the encounter (because, as Tommy says, Mr. Friend "wouldn't hurt another doll") and Tommy retrieves the doll for Lil.

Chuckie thinks of an idea to get rid of Mr. Friend for good by pushing him off the "Entire" State Building after watching "King Krong". Tommy says it's a perfect idea, only they're going to bury Mr. Friend instead. The babies bury it behind the bushes.

Back at the workshop, Stu tries out the Mr. Friend dolls he recently made, only to be surprised when they malfunction and bump into each other. This prompts Stu to turn them off, realizing there are still a few kinks to work out. After going upstairs to take a break, another Mr. Friend doll comes out from behind the water heater, saying advice to look both ways when crossing the street. He turns on another Mr. Friend doll, and both dolls begin to turn the rest on.

Back at the back yard, the Mr. Friend the babies buried says that worms are dirty and are full of yucky germs. This prompts Spike to dig him out, but he yelps after Mr. Friend says a different phrase and malfunctions. The babies are playing, but notice Mr. Friend and prepare to run away from him. Chuckie says that Mr. Friend is going to be with them for a very, very long time. Tommy then says that they can't spend the rest of their lives running away from a dumb old doll, because they wouldn't have time to do anything else. The babies push aside a loose board in the fence (not the one to the DeVille's backyard) and shove Mr. Friend out onto the sidewalk, where he wanders into the street.

Meanwhile, the new batch of Mr. Friend dolls climb up a pile of books, open the workshop window, and go out into the back yard. This prompts the babies to fight off the dolls, and after rolling balls, ramming a toy vacuum, and kicking them, the dolls are finally broken. Stu and Didi go into the back yard, only to be horrified that the Mr. Friend dolls he worked on are all broken. Didi says to Stu that maybe the world just isn't ready for Mr. Friend, and encourages him to think of a better, new toy.

The babies are happy until Angelica comes over, showing them the Mr. Friend doll the babies got rid of earlier. The babies run away screaming in terror, leaving Angelica utterly confused. However, she still thinks he's a neat toy.

The End...?

Trivia

 * Lil gives one of the Mr. Friend dolls a swift martial arts-style kick after bludgeoning two others with her doll. Mr. Friend has a cameo in "Angelica Orders Out", shown to be locked in a safe. Presumably he's the original prototype Angelica found after the babies pushed him into the street. Mr. Friend also appears in "Cuffed" as Angelica is looking for something to break the handcuffs off her and Chuckie.
 * In the episode "When Wishes Come True", when Drew asks how Angelica is, Stu responds, "Just as sweet and perfect as lovable as ever". Ironically, in this episode, he would have been in more of a position to say this of her.
 * Stu shouting "It's Alive!" harkens back to the 1931 Frankenstein movie.
 * Mr. Friend, including the "The End...?" at the end has elements based on The Terminator series.
 * A book in the Pickles' laundry room is called "Nuclear Power Made Easy -- Fusion, Not Confusion".
 * Mr Friend's phrases include:
 * "Oh, boy; a brand new friend to meet. Let's wash our hands before we eat."
 * "Hey, little pal; it's time to play. We're going to have a happy day."
 * "You can call me Mr. Friend. You'll never, ever be bored again."
 * "Hello, kiddies; rise and shine. I'm your friend and you are mine."
 * "A word of caution, if you please: don't kiss the cat when it has fleas."
 * "Rise and shine, you sleepyhead. It's no fun to stay in bed." (after this line, the toy glitched out and added, "in bed, in be-e-e-e-e-e-e-...")
 * "Here I am. Don't be blue, and I will sing a song for you." (To the tune of 'London Bridge') "La, la la, la la la la...".
 * "Here's advice that can't be beat: look both ways before you cross the street."
 * "Stay away from squiggly worms. They're full of dirt and yucky germs."
 * "Obey your parents, stay out of danger, take daily naps, don't talk to strangers."
 * "Do your homework, study hard, and don't eat food that's cooked in lard."
 * "Let's all think of happy things, and laugh, and skip, and dance, and sing."
 * These were 15 phrases out of 217, causing Didi to insist that Stu hire a writer to come up with better lines.