Dummi Bear Dinner Disaster

"Dummi Bear Dinner Disaster" is the first Season 3 episode of Rugrats.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Lil
 * Phil
 * Spike
 * Angelica
 * Didi
 * Stu
 * Betty
 * Howard
 * Chas
 * Drew
 * Randy
 * Lucy
 * Susie
 * Paul Gatsby
 * Dummi Bears

Synopsis
''Susie Carmichael thinks that every time Paul Gatsby, the creator of The Dummi Bears, has dinner with her parents, that they end up getting a new house and moving away. To stop this from happening, she enlists the help of the other Rugrats to ruin the dinner party as only the babies can.'' - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot
Tommy and Susie are playing with a Dummi Bear doll in the kitchen when they overhear Lucy and Didi. Lucy mentions how Paul Gatsby, creator of the Dummi Bears, is coming for dinner. Susie lamentably explains to Tommy that "the Dummi Bear Man" promoted Randy and bought them their current house after enjoying their dinner and company. With this new dinner, they may have to move again if things go as well as before and risk never seeing Tommy and the others again. Tommy then promises Susie that she's not going anywhere and that the grownups will never make them move before being picked up by Didi. Tommy then cries at the thought of not seeing Susie again as he's carried out of the kitchen while Susie just sadly waves goodbye.

Back at the Pickles house, an excited Stu calls Chas about Paul Gatsby's visit and how he and the DeVilles hope to meet him. Meanwhile, Tommy and the others are trying to come up with a surefire way to keep Susie from moving when suddenly Drew stops by with Angelica. Angelica is paraded around in one of many Dummi Bear costumes made by Stu in his workshop and sold by Drew with the profits split down the middle (Drew gets a bit more cause he quote "thought of it"). Stu takes the other parents down to the workshop while the babies wondered if it was actually Angelica in costume to which she sarcastically replies "it's a real life Dummi Bear from Dummi Bear Land". The babies of course believe this and she angrily says it is her while saying there's gonna be trouble if they say anything else about what she's wearing. The babies inadvertantly mock Angelica's outfit to which she exclaims her hatred of wearing it and will get back at Drew by ruining the dinner. Tommy at first warns her not to wreck the dinner but then remembers the issue with Susie and has an idea. Tommy then explains that if the dinner is ruined then the "Dummi Bear Man" will be mad and won't buy Susie's family a new house forcing them to move. The others are on board with the plan while a confused Angelica replies "did I miss something?". Later that evening, Stu, Drew, the DeVilles, Chas, and the kids are heading over to the Carmichaels with Drew hyping up Stu who is about to meet his idol. Stu nervously says he's not ready and needs to plan a dramatic entrance since he's been waiting his whole life to meet Paul. Betty, annoyed by Stu's shyness, says she didn't come all the way to stand outside and sniff the rhododendrons as she pulls out a set of Dummi Bear earmuffs for her and her family. They finally ring the doorbell to which Lucy answers and says she's suprised to see them all. Betty replies that they were in the neighborhood and decided to "barge in". Lucy politely mentions that they are in the middle of dinner but Betty says they'd love to join and invite themselves in. At the dining table, Paul is eating while Randy proposes his new script for a Dummi Bear episode to which Paul says "sounds remarkably like the last four ideas I rejected". The group then enters, which catches Randy and Paul off guard, and excitedly start introducing themselves to Paul who then asks Randy if "he should know these people". Randy nervously tries to call for Lucy as Drew starts showing off the Dummi Bear costume Angelica is wearing. Drew tells Angelica to say hi to "Uncle Paul" to which she says "My daddy says your show is the biggest gravy train in town" which confuses and annoys Paul. Drew then tells Angelica to go with her friends while he "networks". With Drew continually bugging Paul about Dummi Bear merchandise ideas, Randy continues to lamentably call out for Lucy to come into the dining room. In the living room, Tommy reviews the plan with the others when suddenly a sad Susie comes in with a bag packed with toys. She says that she'll miss everyone including Angelica to which she gives her Mailbu Cynthia Beach House to. Tommy then tries to let Susie in on the plan before being interrupted by Angelica who thinks Susie should move so she can keep the Beach House. Susie mentions that it's too bad she's moving cause she recently got a new Malibu Cynthia Road Racer and that she and Angelica would've played with it together. Angelica then changes her mind and tells Susie that she doesn't have to move to which a relieved Susie takes back her Beach House much to Angelica's dismay. Tommy then brings Susie and the others into the kitchen to discuss their plan; with Angelica taking credit for coming up with it.

Back in the dining room, the grownups continue to annoy Paul with their rabid obsession with the Dummi Bears. Betty goes on to say that she can do a mean impression of Looney Bear. Paul is about to object but then she acts out the line "I'm Looney Bear, here to save Dummi Bear Land from Mr. Gloom". Randy is mortified at the antics of his neighbors and buries his head in the table. Susie and Tommy observe the dinner and see that the grownups are just talking. Tommy is hopeful that "The Dummi Bear Man" is not having fun but Susie argues that grownups love that boring stuff. Meanwhile, Angelica says she'll handle everything with her "Turkey Surprise" which consists of two full bottles of Volcano Brand Hot Sauce. Angelica then spreads the scalding sauce on the slices of pheasant and mutters "now the fun starts". Lucy then unawaringly takes the laced pheasant into the dining room where Drew continues to bore Paul with his sales projections. Lucy then offers Paul a slice with the sizzling sauce soaking it. The kids watch as he eats the pheasant hoping to burn him and ruin the experience. To their surprise, Paul actually enjoyed it as he states "well at least the food's good". Angelica is at a loss that her plan didn't work and Susie wonders if she still has to move away. Angelica reassures that Susie is not moving and that she is just getting started.

As the dinner continues, Chas goes on to mention how he couldn't sleep for days when he first saw Happy Bear get taken by the Taxidermist. Paul then wonders if Chas has spoken to a psychiatrist about this, but Chas in a melancholily manner said that he didn't understand. Randy then hushly tells Lucy that they should check on the scalloped potatoes. Lucy points out that they're already on the table but Randy frustratingly says they need to check on the "other" scalloped potatoes right away. As they leave, Chas then worryingly asks Paul "you'd never let anything bad happen to Happy Bear, would you?". Paul of course doesn't respond and just rests his head on his hand. In the kitchen, Randy vents to Lucy saying that the dinner is a disaster and that he may never work in the business again thanks to their nutty neighbors. Lucy says not to blame her and that she only let them in because they were in the neighnorhood. Randy then exclaims "of course they were in the neighborhood, THEY'RE OUR NEIGHBORS!!". Back in the dining room, Betty starts to sing "Sing a Happy Happy Song" while the kids get ready for their next plan to ruin dinner. Angelica then instructs them to pull the tablecloth, but unfortunately they all pull both sides and don't move it. Susie says it's no use and that the plan will never work with Lil doubting Angelica's expertise at ruining dinners. Angelica then angrily says she is an expert and goes on to pull the tablecloth herself. Unfortunately for her, everything on the table remained and then says that she has one more idea left. As Betty finishes off her singing, Paul has finally had enough of their antics and bursts into a fit of rage. He angrily exclaims "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY REAL LIVES, OUTSIDE OF THIS MINDLESS CARTOON?!" A shocked Betty retorts that she thought he would want to hear from a few of his fans to which Paul shouted that he didn't. Chas in disbelief mutters "How can the creator of Happy Bear be so cruel?". Paul finally shouts for Randy to come out of the kitchen, to which Randy walks out and tries to explain everything. Angelica then grabs two handfuls of food and utters "Now if this one doesn't work then I quit". She balls up the food and proceeds to hurl it at Paul's face; which in turn reveals and knocks off his toupee having it land in a bowl of soup. Randy frantically apologizes and offers to fish the toupee out, only for Paul to calmly and quietly get it out himself. Paul's expression then shifts from angry to happy as he grabs some food himself and throws it at Drew's chest. Paul is now laughing hysterically as a food fight erupts.

Everyone except for Randy join in on the action with Lucy coming out of the kitchen with more food, only to have some thrown at her who then retreats back into the kitchen. Paul then exclaims how much fun he's having and thinks Randy was behind everything and goes on to say that he's a "comedy genius". The kids observe the food fight in the corner and wonder what they are doing now. Tommy then goes on to say that it looks like everyone is having fun. Susie realizes this and breaks down crying to which Paul asks what's the matter with her. She says her family will have to move again cause her dad is gonna get a new house. Paul laughs and says that he wouldn't think of having them move, saying that the neighborhood is a gold mine of wild characters for Randy's writing. Paul then happily invites the kids and their parents to take a tour of the Dummi Bears Studio. Angelica was about to lament but Drew silences her by putting his hands on her mouth and he accepts the offer. Randy, full of disbelief, goes on to pour a full plate of gelatin on his head. Outside, Randy walks Paul to his car and mentions how he would love to have him over again. Unbeknownst to them, Stu erupts from the bushes and stares at the two with a big smile on his face. Paul is dumbfounded and Randy just says that he'll meet Paul at the office. As the two leave, Stu is filled with joy that he got to meet his idol face to face and how his life is forever changed. Back inside, Tommy exclaims "WE DID IT!" as Susie says how grateful she is to have friends like them. Angelica, brushing it off, just tells Susie to get her Malibu Cynthia Road Racer. Unknown to her, however, is a piece of remaining food from the ceiling which falls directly on top of Angelica's head, immediately causing her to cry out "DADDY!!" as we zoom into her mouth, thus ending the episode.

Trivia

 * Paul Gatsby is named and modeled after Paul Germain.
 * When Betty sings the words "Sing a happy song", it's a reference to the '80s TV show, The Smurfs.
 * This episode includes all the main characters that were in the series at the time but Lou and Charlotte Pickles.
 * Paul Gatsby was designed by Antoine Guilbaud.
 * Paul Gatsby was voiced by Phil Proctor, who also voiced Howard.
 * This is the only episode where Lisa Dinkins understudied as the voice of Lucy; all other appearances featured Cheryl Carter as her voice.
 * This is one of the few episodes where Angelica teams up and works together with the babies.
 * When Susie was coming into the den with her suitcase, she was going to give Angelica her Malibu Cynthia Beach House. At the end of "The Santa Experience", Angelica already has one.
 * Moral: Make sure your kids feel comfortable with new visitors and they are not dangerous to them or your family.

Goofs

 * In the scene where Stu and Drew are showing the Dummi Bear costume, Drew for a moment has Stu's 5 o'clock shadow facial hair.
 * When the guests greet Lucy with a "Howdy!", Phil appears to say it as well, even though he is not ready to talk to adults yet.