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Meet the Carmichaels Gallery Transcript


"Meet The Carmichaels" is a Season 2 episode of Rugrats.

Characters Present[]

Characters Introduced[]

Synopsis[]

The Pickles get new neighbors: The Carmichaels! As Didi meets Lucy (a doctor) and Stu chats with Randy (who works on The Dummi Bears cartoons), Tommy gets to know their youngest daughter Susie. Will Tommy and Susie be able to find where her room is located in the Carmichaels' new house? - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot[]

The episode begins in Tommy's front yard, where Tommy, Phil, and Lil are all pulling grass and throwing it at each other while Didi is trimming the hedges. They all stop when they hear the sound of a man hammering a SOLD board over a FOR SALE sign in the house across the street from the Pickles' house. Didi tells Betty, who is lifting weights, that somebody just bought the house the Peytons used to live in. Betty tells Didi that whoever bought the house must not have known about it being built on an ancient Indian burial ground. Didi assures Betty that what she said is just a myth. Betty doesn't believe it's just a myth and thinks it's the reason why the Peytons moved out.

Tommy tells Phil and Lil that someone just bought the Peytons' house. Phil and Lil tell Tommy that it's terrible, and they have to stop whoever bought it, then ask Tommy who the Peytons are, as they don't know them too well. Tommy admits to the twins that he doesn't know who the Peytons are, either.

Inside Tommy's house, Tommy watches as a moving van stop in front of the Peytons' house. Didi is on the phone with Betty, who tells her who bought the house. After Didi hangs up the phone, she tells Stu, who is working on a new invention, that the new neighbors have just moved in, and that they should introduce themselves to them. Stu asks Didi if they really have to, as he doesn't really know what to say to people when he first meets them. Didi asks Stu if he knows what the husband does, and Stu nervously asks her, "What?" Didi then tells him that the husband is the head writer for The Dummi Bears. Upon hearing this, Stu exclaims that The Dummi Bears is his favorite cartoon, and that they have to meet the new neighbors right away. Didi makes a Jell-O mold for the new family.

A few minutes later, Stu and Didi, the latter of whom is carrying the Jell-O mold, walk towards the Peytons' house. Stu tells Didi he isn't sure that a Jell-O mold is a good housewarming gift, but Didi says that it is a tradition to give Jell-O molds to the new neighbors. When they arrive at the Peytons' house, Didi calls out to the new neighbors. Didi compliments the new house, and Stu, believing the same myth Betty believes in, tells Didi it's too bad the house is cursed, which Didi is quick to take offense to. Two workers who are carrying a box into the house rudely tell Stu, who is still standing in the doorway, to get out of the way. Stu does so, and Lucy, the mother of the new family, mistakes him for the plumber. Didi walks up to Lucy and tells her that they're the Pickles, their neighbors from across the street. Lucy laughs nervously as she turns to face Didi and Stu. Stu tries to tell Lucy about her new house being built on an ancient Indian burial ground, but Didi interrupts, saying the house was actually built on a very strong foundation. She then looks over at a lamp sitting on a box and compliments it, until one of the workers knocks it over and breaks it. Stu tells Didi that the house is indeed cursed, and Didi glares at him. Lucy tells Didi that she can always make a new lamp to replace the broken one. Didi asks her if she really made the lamp, and as Lucy vacuums up the pieces, she tells Didi that she got into making old Tiffany lamps several years ago, as a hobby. Didi tells Lucy that her lamp is perfect, and Stu adds on, "or at least it was." Lucy thanks them and says that the Tiffany company said the same thing. She tells them her name and decides to introduce them to her family.

As Lucy introduces Randy, who is putting up curtains, Stu is very excited to meet him in person and tells him that he loves his show and it's an honor to meet him. Randy thanks him, and as Stu sets down Tommy, he tells Randy his favorite episode was the one where Zippo, the pink Dummi Bear with the bow, gave a valentine to Mongo the Bat. Lucy then mentions to Stu that Randy prefers not to talk about the show. Stu promptly ignores her and asks Randy who came up with the idea to give the Dummi Bears heart-shaped faces. Randy tells Stu that right now he needs to bring in some stuff from the moving van. Stu follows him, asking him if he remembers the episode where Gummo and Binky saved all the Mopey Boys from Depression Valley, saying that episode was pure genius. Didi and Lucy look at each other and chuckle upon hearing this.

Lucy's children then run through the room, and she introduces them to Didi: her 8-year-old son, Buster, her 15-year-old daughter, Alyssa, her 6-year-old son, Edwin, and her 3-year-old daughter, Susie. Susie is crying for her sucker as she runs through the room, Lucy then tells her that she knows that crying isn't the way to get what she wants. Lucy then compliments Didi's gelatin mold and tells her they can put it in her fridge.

Susie stops crying when she sees Tommy and introduces herself to him. She then asks him if he'd like her to give him a tour of her new house, and Tommy asks about her lollipop. Susie realizes that it's what she was crying over, and decides it isn't important right now. She then decides to show Tommy around her new house.

In the kitchen, Lucy throws away her broken lamp and tells Didi that all their new neighbors have been really nice to them, and she opens the fridge, revealing that it is filled with Jell-O molds given to her by them. She reveals a weight-shaped one that Betty gave her, a clover-shaped one given by Mrs. O'Reilly, and one made by Mr. Fillibuster, which gives a new meaning to the word, "Jell-O mold". Lucy tells Didi that they may not eat that one right away. Didi sees one shaped like the Eiffel Tower, and is very impressed with it. She asks Lucy who made it, and Lucy says it was herself. She says that she learned how to make it at the Cordon Bleu. Didi asks Lucy if she really studied at the Cordon Bleu, and Lucy says that she didn't actually study there; rather, she was the guest lecturer-- but it's never too late to learn anything from there.

Meanwhile, Susie shows Tommy her family's living room, where she explains to Tommy that movers came to their old house and moved everything from it into their new house. Tommy is impressed, and Buster, Alyssa, and Edwin all run past him and Susie. Susie tells Tommy that Alyssa is her older sister, and Buster and Edwin are her older brothers, and they moved into her new house with her. As they follow them, a mover carries a box marked, FRAGILE, and sets it down on the floor carelessly, breaking its contents. The mover then asks another mover what "Frageel-eh" means.

Susie then shows Tommy the den, telling him the movers moved it from her old house as well. Tommy asks her if they even moved the floor, and she tells him, "Even the floor". Tommy, who is impressed, tells Susie that she has a fun new house. Susie tells Tommy that he still has yet to see the best room in it: her room. As she leads Tommy to her bedroom, Susie tells him about all the great stuff in it, including her bed, toy box, rocking horse, circus lamp, balloon wallpaper, and window where she can see the backyard. When she gets there, she is shocked to find it is completely empty. Susie, believing the movers forgot to move her room, begins to cry. Tommy tries to comfort her, telling her that the movers must have put her room elsewhere, and Susie stops crying upon hearing this. They decide to look for her room. They look in the closet, and Tommy tells Susie it looks kind of small. They then look in the attic, and Tommy tells Susie that that room leads to a staircase. They then look in the bathroom, with Susie believing it to be her room for sure. Tommy asks Susie, "your room is a potty?", and Susie slams the door and walks away angrily upon hearing this.

Back downstairs, as Lucy tries to hang up a new lamp, she tells Didi about the time she got her commercial pilot's license. Didi is impressed with how many adventures Lucy went on before she moved into her neighborhood and asks her how she found the time. Lucy replies that after graduating from college, the peace corps, medical school, getting married, and raising a family, earning her wings was easy for her. Susie then runs in and tries to tell her mom that she can't find her room, but Lucy, still believing Susie wants a lollipop, tells her that she and Didi are busy. Susie tries to tell Lucy again, but Lucy reminds her that she already told her that yelling isn't the way to get what you want. She then tells her to take Tommy and go find somewhere else to play. Susie, realizing it's no use trying to argue with her mother, decides to do as she tells her.

Susie walks to the doorway and sees Randy and Stu carrying a box. As they do this, the latter asks the former if he remembers the scene where Daffy Bear dances the dance of the Lemon People. Susie tries to tell Randy she can't find her room, but he tells her he is busy. One of the workers, who is on his lunch break, tells Stu and Randy they have to lift with their knees. Susie tries to tell her father again, but Randy tells her that now isn't a good time to talk to him.

Susie walks into the living room and tells Tommy that she just has to find her room. Tommy says he has an idea, and she asks him what it is. Tommy suggests she could just go to sleep. Susie stares at him in confusion, and he tells her that lots of times, when he sleeps elsewhere, he wakes up, and he's back in his own bedroom. Susie tells Tommy that, as crazy as his idea is, it just might work.

Tommy and Susie both go to sleep, but Susie suddenly wakes up. She tells Tommy that his plan isn't working. Tommy wakes up and realizes that Susie is right. He then has another idea; they could leave one of her toys in the middle of the room. Susie asks Tommy why they'd want to do that, and he explains that many times, when he leaves one of his toys in the middle of the room, he comes back later to find it missing. As he talks to Susie, the two workers, still on their break, are playing with cup-and-ball toys. Tommy then tells Susie that when he comes into his bedroom, he finds his toys there. Susie asks Tommy if they'll really find her room by leaving a toy in the middle of the floor and watching it. Tommy replies, "Maybe".

Susie leaves one of her rabbit roller skates in the middle of the room, and she and Tommy watch from behind a box. Tommy tells Susie that her toy isn't going anywhere, and Susie agrees with him. She then begins to lose hope and walks away, telling Tommy she'll never find her room. Tommy follows Susie, telling her to wait. As soon as they leave, Randy, who is carrying a painting of a bowl of fruit, trips over Susie's roller skate and crashes, with his head now having gone through the painting.

Meanwhile, Susie tells Tommy that she had her room this morning, and now it is gone. Tommy says that her parents must have forgotten to bring it. Susie tells him that they had to have brought it, as they packed it up and put it in the moving truck. She then suddenly has an idea. She thinks that her room must still be in the moving truck and decides to lead Tommy to it. Tommy stops her, telling her that he isn't allowed to go into the front yard without an adult. Susie then points out that there are adults on the front yard: the two workers, still on their break. The workers are sitting on the couch, and as Susie and Tommy run past them, one of them asks the other how the tiny "M"s is put on M&M's. Susie and Tommy arrive outside the moving truck, and she tells him that her room must still be in it. They run into the truck, only to find one cabinet in it. Susie realizes her room isn't here, and as she walks up to the cabinet, crying, she worries that she'll never see her room again, and has nowhere to sleep and play; she worries that she'll have to live in the laundry room. As she and Tommy get into the cabinet, Tommy tries to calm Susie down, telling her that she could come over to his house and play in his room. Susie says it wouldn't be the same, as a kid has to have her own room. Just then, they gasp when the cabinet begins to move. The two workers, having finally decided to get back to work, carry the cabinet out of the truck. Tommy asks Susie what's going on, and Susie replies that she isn't sure. The two workers carry the cabinet into Susie's bedroom and set it down on the floor. After they walk away, Susie and Tommy open the doors, and Susie is glad to see her room, and that her parents haven't forgotten it after all. She and Tommy then begin playing with her toys.

At the end of the day, Didi says goodbye to Lucy, and Stu says goodbye to Randy, telling him he'll see him tomorrow, as he wants to talk about the lost episode of The Dummi Bears. Randy then asks Lucy if she remembers what the realtor told them about their new house's ancient Indian curse. Lucy nods her head, "Yes", and Randy asks her if Stu is part of the curse. Lucy is shocked that Randy would say such a thing about Stu. Susie says goodbye to Tommy, and thanks him for helping her find her room. Tommy waves goodbye to his new friend, and the screen irises out on him, ending the episode.

Trivia[]

  • This is the first ever time in Nickelodeon history, (if you do not count You Can't Do That on Television, which was not directly produced by Nickelodeon, but Nickelodeon aired it and has full rights to it) that African American/Black main characters are introduced on a scripted television series.
  • Susie's first appearance was actually in the Rugrats 3D board game called "Rugrats Turn the House Upside Down" because it was made in 1992, and this episode was aired in 1993.
  • This is the first appearance of Susie Carmichael in the TV show, and she later becomes a regular character. Susie is the only one out of the three main characters introduced after the beginning of the series who was not introduced in a movie (Dil was introduced in The Rugrats Movie and Kimi was introduced in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie).
  • Susie was the first regular African American character.
  • Susie cries thrice in this episode.
  • The Carmichael family were all designed by Antoine Guilbaud and John Holmquist.
  • Phil, Lil and Betty only appear in the beginning when they see the Peytons moving out.
  • Though Lucy Carmichael is revealed to be a successful pilot, chef, and surgeon when she's talking with Didi, her actual profession (doctor) is not revealed until The Rugrats Movie.
  • The mover's mispronunciation of "fragile" is a reference to the Old Man doing the same thing in A Christmas Story.
  • Morals: If you are lost in a new home after moving into it, don't panic.
  • Ask your mom or dad to show you where every room in the house is.

Goofs[]

  • When Lucy is trying to hang a lamp while talking to Didi, the close up of her hand shows the wrong complexion.

Video Clips[]

Susie's_First_Scene_"Meet_the_Carmichaels"_Rugrats_Nick_Animation

Susie's First Scene "Meet the Carmichaels" Rugrats Nick Animation

Susie_Carmichael_Is_an_Icon_Rugrats_NickSplat

Susie Carmichael Is an Icon Rugrats NickSplat

First_Cry_&_Last_Freakout_😆_Rugrats_Original_Series!_NickRewind

First Cry & Last Freakout 😆 Rugrats Original Series! NickRewind

Times_Rugrats_Was_Really_Progressive!_NickRewind

Times Rugrats Was Really Progressive! NickRewind

How_Many_Times_Did_Susie_Carmichael_Cry?_-_Part_1_-_Meet_The_Carmichaels

How Many Times Did Susie Carmichael Cry? - Part 1 - Meet The Carmichaels

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