Lady Luck

"Lady Luck" is a Season 5 episode of the show Rugrats.

Characters Present

 * Tommy
 * Chuckie
 * Phil
 * Lil
 * Lou
 * Stu
 * Didi
 * Spike
 * Mrs. Holkin
 * Mr. Gump
 * Mr. Dworzak
 * Fabulous Lady
 * Bingo Caller
 * Man 3 and 4
 * Aerobics Instructor

Plot
''The Rugrats look for "Lady Luck" after Grandpa starts losing at Bingo...and find a heap of trouble! - Description from Klasky Csupo''

Summary
Stu and Didi are getting ready for a date. Grandpa Lou excitedly enters the house, talking about bingo night at the senior center. He tells Tommy he has a date with Lady Luck. Stu protests this, saying that he already agreed to watch the babies. Lou says he will and insists Stu and Didi have fun on their date. Once they leave, Lou starts loading the babies into his car, and heads to the senior center. Once there, he goes to sign in for the bingo tournament.

Tommy sees a pair of old men playing checkers. Mr. Dworzak beats Mr. Gump by jumping his checkers, but the center's manager, Ms. Horkin, stops him from doing so. Tommy watches as she approaches with two cups of milk for the old men. Ms. Horkin adds that she wants the seniors to engage in quiet, relaxed activity at all times, citing her guidebook for senior care. She suggests that the two men go to the pottery class, and they do so. Tommy walks up to the table and tries to get the cups of milk, but Lou grabs him and brings the babies to the bingo hall. The babies are under the table where Lou is and notice a box full of multicolored bingo markers. They decide to play with the "fiddlywinks." Lou listens for one of his bingo numbers to be called, saying that Lady Luck will visit him soon. He talks to other competitors at his table about how back when he was in the service, members of his squad joked that he and Lady Luck were dating, recalling the time he fell into a USO tent. He was given milk and cookies, and he danced the cha-cha all night.

Later, none of Lou's numbers have been called. Lou is a little upset, saying that Lady Luck probably won't be coming. Tommy tells the babies that Lady Luck must be Grandpa's friend, and he is sad that she didn't come to bring him milk and cookies, or dance with him. Chuckie guesses that Lady Luck doesn't know Lou is there, and Tommy decides that they should go find her. They head to the door, but Chuckie asks what they should do to not lose their way. Tommy suggests that Phil and Lil can put a bunch of "fiddlywinks" into their clothes, then leave a trail to follow. Phil and Lil do just that, and the babies explore the senior center. They head toward a room where they can hear a voice singing "cha-cha-cha." They go to investigate. But, Ms. Horkin notices the trail of bingo markers and starts following it.

The babies enter the aerobics room, where a very slow workout session is taking place. They notice a record player is playing the cha-cha music. Tommy climbs onto the counter to inspect it further, but accidentally turns the speed dial all the way up. The music's tempo increases and the ladies start dancing around, eventually forming a conga line. Ms. Horkin enters, and tries to get the ladies to stop dancing, but they drag her into the conga line. The dancing ladies approach the babies, so they all back into another room to avoid getting trampled. They end up in a shuffleboard room and see the seniors playing with "big, chocolate cookies." One of the seniors pushes a puck too hard, and it glides into the ceramics room. The babies follow it, but the conga line enters the shuffleboard room soon after. Ms. Horkin breaks free and pulls out a walkie-talkie, requesting backup to find the babies and stop the other seniors from going crazy. Meanwhile, Lou has not had any of his numbers called yet. He feels his luck has finally run out.

In the ceramics room, the instructor is showing the seniors how to make vases with a pottery wheel. The other seniors are bored to tears. Phil and Lil notice the pedal the instructor is pushing with her feet, and decide to play with the foot pedal on Mr. Dworzak's wheel. This makes his pile of clay fly apart and splatter nearby people and surfaces. The other seniors do the same with their wheels, covering the whole room with clay. Ms. Horkin enters and pleads with the seniors to stop, but she gets hit with blobs of clay. The babies remember that Ms. Horkin was in the same room as the cha-cha dancing, and the "big cookies." Tommy recognizes her as the lady who gave milk to the seniors earlier. The babies take all of this to mean that Horkin is Lady Luck. They toddle up to her and give her hugs. Ms. Horkin wonders where the babies came from, but gets her answer when bingo markers fall out of Phil and Lil's clothes.

Ms. Horkin starts making her way back to the bingo hall with the babies. At that moment, the bingo caller starts calling out numbers that Lou has on his card. The seniors see Horkin passing by and applaud her. One of the women thanks Horkin for loosening up, and Mr. Gump agrees, saying that this was the first night in a while they had any fun in the center. Horkin is confused and tries citing her policy of "quiet and relaxation are the keys to happiness." Mr. Dworzak insists that having fun is the key to happiness. The seniors all agree. Horkin understands, but needs to return the babies before she can address anything else.

Lou managed to get 4 in a row, and needs one last number to win. At that moment, Ms. Horkin arrives, asking if the babies belong to Lou. Lou is smitten, and asks if they caused any trouble. Ms. Horkin, also attracted to Lou, simply says the babies were lots of fun. Lou offers to take the group for ice cream, and they can talk about it more. Then, the bingo caller calls out N-16. Ms. Horkin points out that Lou won, and Lou agrees, having won something more than bingo. Lou, Ms. Horkin, and the babies drive off together while the rest of the seniors conga the night away.

Trivia

 * This was David Doyle's final episode as Lou Pickles. David Doyle died the same day as Andy Houts. This episode was dedicated in his memory. After this episode, Joe Alaskey takes Doyle's place as the voice of Lou Pickles for the rest of the series.


 * Since David Doyle died on February 26, 1997, this episode was produced at least a year and a half before it aired and was released posthumously.


 * During the bingo match, listen closely to the numbers; they aren't the same as the actual bingo formation, which is 1 to 15 under the B, 16 to 30 under O, etc. The announcer drew the numbers as "N-2", "O-2", etc. (At first, I though this was one of the center's techniques to keep the patrons "quiet and relaxed" by not winning and yelling out "Bingo!", but I later found out that Grandpa later won with the erroneous numbers.)


 * When Grandpa has 1 more square to go, the bingo board already has a bingo diagonally.


 * When the bingo caller says "O7", Grandpa puts it on an I square.
 * Ben Stein guest stars in this episode as the Bingo caller.


 * The bingo numbers we hear throughout the episode are O-2, I-2, B-8, O-2, B-45, G-4, O-7, B-12 and N-16.
 * Alice Ghostly, veteran character actress, does the voice of Ms. Horkin.
 * Charlotte and Drew were credited despite not appearing in this episode or the companion episode.