Episode 14: The Steven Spielberg Show/Dexter's Date

"Dexter's Date" is Episode 14 of Freakazoid! and the second season premiere. It aired on September 7, 1996. It was written by Paul Rugg and Alan Burnett and directed by Jack Heiter. Tom Ruegger wrote the cold open.

Cold Open: The Steven Spielberg Show

A parody of the theme from Bob Clampett's 1960s cartoon series Beany and Cecil. Freakazoid, The Lobe, Booger Beast, Cobra Queen, Cave Guy, Steven Spielberg, and Steff (in puppet form) appear. This song is a parody of Sailing Sailing.

Lyrics:

Sleeping, creeping, leaping down the street

Freakazoid's the humanoid who simply can't be beat

He'll fight day and night to defeat a fiendish foe

So let's freak in as we begin the Steven Spielberg Show!

Synopsis

Dexter finally gets a pity date with a reluctant Steff. His family drives them to the Washington Gardens. Unfortunately, he has to rush out to stop a scheme by the Lobe to pirate every TV broadcast in history. Although he defeats the Lobe, he receives a shock from the video sapper which causes him to transform into popular television personalities whenever he tries to turn back into Dexter. Meanwhile, Lobe escapes the police and is disgruntled that Freakazoid was too busy to give him a proper chase. He decides to improve his mood by going to his favorite restaurant, the Washington Gardens. There, Freakazoid begs Lobe for help in turning back into his secret identity so that he can continue his date. Lobe agrees to give him the answer -- on one condition.

Characters

• Announcer
• Sergeant Mike Cosgrove
• Debbie Douglas
• Dexter Douglas
• Douglas Douglas
• Duncan Douglas
• Francois (the maître’d’ at Washington Gardens; really loves the Lobe; voiced by Rob Paulsen)
• Freakazoid
• Paul Harvey
• The Lobe
• Medulla and Oblongata
• NCB Tech (works at TV station; held hostage by Lobe; voiced by Rob Paulsen)
• Emmitt Nervend (in top hat outside the Washington Gardens; seen three times)
• Steff
• Waiter (tries to find Dexter for Steff; voiced by Larry Cedar)

Other

Main Title Version: Chimp with coyboy hat

Gag Credit: One time a spaceship full of aliens came down and kidnapped our writing staff. The aliens threatened to blow up the Earth with a Solonite bomb unless the writing staff wrote a big, splashy musical number for the Lobe. The writing staff worked for days on the song. The aliens were so pleased with it they agreed not to blow up the Earth. So the next time someone says, “I don’t know why they did that real long musical number in Freakazoid,” you can tell them. You can tell them of the time a rag-tag group of cartoon writers saved the Earth from destruction. And that each new day that dawns over this great, big blue planet of ours is due to these brave individuals.

Tag: Debbie saying, “Have a good time now!”

Trivia

• The elaborate "Bonjour Lobey" sequence is a painstaking parody of the title song from the 1969 film version of Hello Dolly! Louis Armstrong (who had had a huge hit with the song during the run of the Broadway show) briefly appeared in the film to sing a few verses; hence, Freak's transformation into Satchmo (complete with Paul Rugg's vocal impersonation). Freakazoid previously appeared as the star of the film, Barbra Streisand, in a parody of this scene during the "Quantum Freak" sequence in "Freakazoid Is History!"
• A caricature of Streisand is also seen entering the Washington Gardens. Streisand has previously been caricatured on Freakazoid! in "Freakazoid Is History!" and "Deadpan."
• Alan Burnett wrote this as a shorter cartoon meant to air in season 1. Paul Rugg then expanded the script by adding the long musical number to the middle of the episode. The episode was delayed because the original storyboards failed to effectively parody Hello Dolly!
• Freakazoid transforms into Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman, Michael Jackson, Barney the Dinosaur, Alan Hale Jr. (the Skipper from Gilligan's Island), Judge Ito (from the O. J. Simpson trial), Bette Midler (a la the 1993 TV adaptation of Gypsy), and Louis Armstrong.
• A Seinfeld episode can be seen on screen in the NCB studios. Caricatures of Jerry Seinfeld, George Costanza, Cosmo Kramer and Newman are seen. Rob Paulsen voices Kramer; Googy Gress voices Newman.
• The woman in the black and white "screaming" footage seen during "Bonjour Lobey" is Carol Ohmart in the film The House on Haunted Hill. This exact same shot was previously used for Scream-O-Vision in "Candle Jack."
• At one point during "Bonjour Lobey," names and dollar amounts scroll across the bottom of the screen like a PBS pledge drive. The following donations are listed: "Mrs. Agnes Hack $25…Edgar De Pus $150…Mrs. Guy Fustler $45…Vic Burma $100…Yakko Warner $1…" Note that Vic Burma was the fictional director of The Cloud.
• Series composer Richard Stone's original demo tape for the song "Bonjour Lobey" is available on the Season 2 DVD set.
• Solonite, mentioned in the gag credit, is a reference to Battlestar Galactica.
• The shot in the cold open of Freakazoid bouncing down a city street is lifted from "Freakazoid and Friends."
• "This Old Man" can be heard as BGM when Freakazoid transforms into Barney.

"Bonjour, Lobey" Lyrics

Waiters:

Bonjour, Lobey

Oui, bonjour, Lobey

We're so pleased that you've come back, we have to scream

We see your veins, Lobey

And your brains, Lobey

Undulating, calculating, formulating schemes

Let's throw a big party

For the big smarty

We're just pleased as punch to see your big fat head

Lobe:

Wow wow wow, waiters

Lobey wants a bowl of chow, waiters

Don't forget a big old plate of bread

As a criminal, I shouldn't show my face

So years in seclusion I've spent

But now I realize it's OK to show my face

If anyone squeals, I'll entomb them in cement!

Waiters: In thick cement!

Just smell the food baking

And the salt shaking

Lobe: Lobey's back and feeling higher than a kite!

Give me food, waiters

Baked, fried, broiled or stewed, waiter

Lobey's got a hearty appetite!

Voice Credits

Paul Rugg as Freakazoid

David Kaufman as Dexter

Tress MacNeille as Debbie Douglas

John P. McCann as Douglas Douglas

Edward Asner as Sgt. Cosgrove

David Warner as The Lobe

Tracy Rowe as Steff

Googy Gress as Duncan

Larry Cedar as Oblongata

Rob Paulsen as Francois

Randy Crenshaw as Waiter #1 (Singer)

Jeff Glen Bennett as Medulla

Jess Harnell as Singer

Joe Leahy as Our Announcer