The Slide (1991 episode)/Transcript

(Scene opens up to the sandbox panning across a playground until Tommy slams down the sandcastle bucket. Camera focuses onto Chuckie. Determined, he walks towards the slide, unaware that he stepped on Phil and Lil's rubber duck toy. He looks up towards the slide and gulps. His hand shakes as he tries to grab onto the rail. As he climbs up his first step, he freaks out and screams. His father, sitting on a nearby bench, was startled by his son's cry of fear.)

Chas: Oh, no! Chuckie!

(He races across the park towards the screaming Chuckie. Closeup of Chuckie's mouth as he continues screaming. Fades to Tommy, Phil, and Lil playing in the backyard sandbox.)

Tommy: Poor Chuckie. I never seem him like that before.

Lil: Yeah, he always loved going down the slide.

Phil: It's about the only thing he wasn't scared of.

Tommy: I wonder what happened to him.

(Backyard door opens.)

Betty: Hey, kids! Look who's here to play? (As Chas takes Chuckie outside to where Tommy, Phil, and Lil are) It's the Chuckster!

Tommy: Don't say nothing about you-know-what.

(The twins nodded in agreement. Chuckie walks sadly towards the sandbox.)

Tommy: Hi, Chuckie. Wanna play "dig the hole in the sand"?

Phil: Wanna play "Throw the Mud at the Tree"?

(Chuckie shakes his head sadly.)

Lil: Wanna play "Eat the worms from the grass"?

Chuckie: I know what you guys are doing. You're being real nice to me so I don't have to feel bad about...the slide.

Tommy: Um... we don't know what you're talking about, Chuckie.

Phil: Yeah, we don't know no slide. Do you know a slide, Lillian?

Lil: Nope. No slide.

Chuckie: Sure you do. You guys saw what happened at the park. (As he puts his hands in front of his glasses, he starts tearing up in the process) You saw how I... I can't do it anymore! (starts Leica crying)

Tommy: It's okay, Chuckie. It's just a dumb old slide anyway.

Chuckie: No. No, you don't understand, Tommy. I loved my slide. I loved the way the metal felt on my back when I went down. I loved the way the wind blowed back my lips when I was going full-speed. I even loved the way the sand went up my pants when I landed at the bottom. But now, it's gone! All gone! I will slide no more forever.

Tommy: But why, Chuckie? Why?

Lil: What happened to make you so scared of going down the slide?

Chuckie: Well, it all started the other day when me and my dad went out to dinner at the pizza puppet place.

(Flashback to when Chuckie and his dad were at a pizzeria as the camera pans across the ball pit.)

Chas: I think this jalapeno and bubble gum topping was a mistake.

(He yanks his teeth at the tip of the large pizza slice, but to no avail.)

Chuckie: (narrating) That's where I saw it - the funnest-looking slide in the whole wide world!

Chas: Okay, Chuckie. I'm taking you to the ball room.

Chuckie: (narrating) And I knew that if I just get up there, I'd be the happiest kid alive. (As Chuckie climbs a ladder out of the ball pit...) But I was wrong, you guys. I was really, really wrong. I looked up at the tunnel. It looked like a long ways up, but I didn't care. I just kept crawling. I crawled and I crawled and I crawled. Finally, I made it to the top of the slide. I was so happy I didn't know what to do. I crawled over to the edge, and I looked over the side and I- (Chuckie screams as a little girl slides down the chute) I was on the big slide - the big, big slide! I was so high up I was almost touching the ceiling, and there was a bunch of kids pushing me behind saying "Go, little kid! Go!", and I would saying "No, big kids! No!", and finally, I did the only thing that I could do. I, I, I cried! (Chuckie then grabs onto one of the big kids' ankle and starts crying in fear.)

(Flashback ends.)

Tommy: But, Chuckie, that wasn't your slide. That was a big kids' slide. There's no reason you can't go down your slide.

Chuckie: I tried, Tommy. I really tried, but it's no use. Now I am a-scared of every slide in the world.

(Camera pans to Angelica, who was hiding behind a tree. She cackles and has heard the whole thing.)

Angelica: Oh, Chuckie. You made me laugh so much.

(Chuckie turns around and gasps.)

Angelica: First, you were scared of putting your feet in your shoes.

Chuckie: Well, it was dark in them shoes.

Angelica: And then you were scared of eating green jello.

Chuckie: Well, it coulda been alive. It really coulda.

Angelica: And now you're scared of going down the slide. What are you gonna be scared of next? Puppy dogs? Kitty cats? Puffy pillows with pink frills?

Chuckie: Um, no, I don't think so.

Angelica: Face it, Chuckie. You're a scaredy cat! (As she points her finger and pushes Chuckie down) A big, fat scaredy cat!

Chuckie: It's true! It's true, I am a scaredy cat! (He breaks down crying and sobbing)

Tommy: Angelica, you made him cry.

Angelica: Hey, you know what they say. If the truth hurts, word. (She leaves the sandbox)

Lil: Now, what are we gonna do?

Tommy: There's only one thing we can do.

Tommy, Phil, and Lil: Go ask Susie.

(Scene fades to the living room, with Susie sitting in the chair like a guru as the kids look up to her.)

Tommy: And so you see, Susie, that's why Chuckie's a-scared of going down the slide.

Phil: Do you think you can help him, Susie?

Lil: Can you make him not afraid?

Susie: Well, it's a tough case... (She jumps down from her chair) But I'll take it.

Phil and Lil: You will?

Susie: Sure. It's better than playing house all afternoon.

Chuckie: Don't waste your time on me, Susie. I'm a loser.

Susie: Now see, Chuckie? That's your problem. The first thing you gotta do is stop feeling sorry for yourself. This happens to a lot of kids. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

Chuckie: Has it ever happened to you?

Susie: Well... No. But I know a lot of kids it did happen to, and I liked them anyway

(Chuckie bangs his head low on the television counter.)

Chuckie: Oh, great. I'm gonna be a liked loser.

Susie: The next thing you gotta do is stop saying you're scared. You're big, and you're brave... like a big brave dog! Say it.

Chuckie: I'm a big brave dog.

Susie: Keep saying it over and over.

Chuckie: I'm a big brave dog. I'm a big brave dog. I'm a big brave dog. (He repeats this mantra throughout the rest of the scene)

Susie: Good.

Tommy: What now, Susie?

Susie: Well, it's like my dad always says. When you get throwed off the horse, you gotta get back on, and when you got knocked out of the ring, you gotta get back in.

Phil: What if you fall in a pit?

Susie: (Confused) Huh?

Lil: Or a big potty?

Susie: (Stil confused) What?

Phil: Or a bucket of mud?

Susie: Well, I didn't mean-

Tommy: I know what Susie's saying! Even though Chuckie still can't go down the slide, well, he's gotta do it anyway.

Susie: Exactly! And we gotta get Chuckie ready. By this time tomorrow, Charles Crandall Finster will be the bestest slider in the whole wide park.

Chuckie: I'm a big brave dog. I'm a big brave dog.

(Scene cuts to the first method when Susie has piled up several large books to resemble a slide with Chuckie blindfolded. She removes his blindfold and he screams. Next, Susie turns the air conditioner to high, causing Chuckie to shiver. We then see Chuckie screaming as Susie pushes him face down on a tire swing. Finally, we see Chuckie riding atop a chair mounted on a push wagon. Tommy grabs the handle and pushes the wagon. Chuckie screams as the wagon accelerates until he fell face first onto the sandbox. The twins approach him.)

Phil: Well, I guess it's no use.

Lil: I don't think Chuckie's never gonna stop being scared going down that slide.

Angelica: Of course not. That's what I've been saying from the beginning. (She jumps down from the tree's branch) Doesn't anybody listen to me anymore? (Chuckie lifts his head up from the sand) Chuckie is a scaredy-cat!

Susie: He is not! He's-he's a big, brave dog!

Angelica: Yeah, right. He's a scaredy cat, and you know it.

Susie: He's a big, brave dog!

Angelica: Scaredy cat!

Susie: Dog!

Angelica: Cat!

Susie: Dog!

Angelica: Cat!

Chuckie: (Cuts off the two girls' arguing) STOP!!!! I am not a aminal! I am a human bean! (Tommy smiles in admiration) And tomorrow morning when we go to the park, I'm not gonna be a scaredy cat! I am going down that slide! (fearful) I hope.

(After Chuckie's speech, the scene fades to black as we see the same slide from earlier. The scene then pans across towards Chuckie between Susie and Angelica.)

Susie: You can do it, Chuckie. Remember, it's just a slide.

Angelica: You can't do it, Chuckie. Remember, it's a slide.

(Regardless, Chuckie remains determined as he walks towards the slide while Tommy gaps. Chuckie gulps, then sighs. Reluctantly, he proceeds to climb not one, but two steps.)

Chuckie: I'm a big brave dog. I'm a big brave dog. I'm a big brave-

Angelica: I bet you a pudding pop if he chickens out.

Susie: You're on.

Chuckie: I'm a big brave dog. I'm a big brave dog. (He cries out for a moment as he felt the ladder growing higher)

Angelica: (To Susie) Make that two pudding pops.

Chuckie: I'm a big brave dog. I'm a big brave dog. I'm a big brave- (He realizes he successfully climbed up to the top of the ladder, triumphant) I-I-I made it. I made it, you guys! I made it! Look, I'm on top of the world!

Tommy, Phil, and Lil: Hooray!

(As the other kids started cheering and laughing, Angelica got two chocolate popsicles while Susie slyly tries to snatch them away from her.)

Angelica: Hey, wait a minute. He's gotta go down first.

(Chuckie's confidence quickly dissipates as he stares down the end of the chute.)

Chuckie: Oh, no.

Tommy: You can do it, Chuckie. You can do it.

Chuckie: Okay, here goes nothing.

(He crawls and sticks his feet towards the edge of the chute. He pushes himself down the chute as he screams. Finally, he lands off the chute and lies down on the sand. His viewpoint as he slowly opens his eyes.)

Tommy: Chuckie? Chuckie, are you okay?

Chuckie: (He regains consciousness and gets up) Am I okay? Am I okay? Are you kidding? That was the funnest slide I ever had!

(Susie then proceeds to take the two chocolate popsicles off of Angelica's hands, meaning Angelica lost the bet. She growls as she follows Susie with the popsicles.)

Phil: How'd you do it, Chuckie?

Lil: Yeah, how did you overcome to your fear?

Chuckie: I just did it, that's all. My teeth were clicking and my hands were shaking and my pants was wet, but I knew I had to do it, so I just let myself go. And you know what? It was fun! Come on, you guys! Last one down's a scaredy cat!

(He goes down the slide triumphantly again.)

Tommy: There goes one big brave kid.

(Chuckie grunts as he landed at the bottom. The kids follow Chuckie to join in on the slide as the episode ends.)