Episode 407: Those Bitches Tried To Cheat MeCast:
Brendon Small/Traffic Instructor/Perry/Junior Addleburg - Brendon Small
Jason Penopolis/Coach Jon McGuirk/Walter - H. Jon Benjamin
Melissa Robbins - Melissa Bardin Galsky
Paula Small - Janine Ditullo
Josie Small - Loren Bouchard
Penny - Mary Lynn Rajskub
Mr. Lynch - Ron Lynch
Synopsis: In a Hitchcockian episode about cheating, Brendon finds the answers to a difficult test after Lynch drops them, leading to a blackmail. Jason is stalking a girl named Penny, but a miscommunication leads her to think Brendon is stalking her (and subsequently starts stalking him). McGuirk uses Melissa when his license is revoked.
Lawn Gnomes:
· A "bum" gnome can be seen in the dumpster where Brendon attempts to throw away the test.Brendon’s Filmography:
· "Cheaters" - A man who has been cheated on turns out he has been cheating on the very person who cheated on him.The Movie-Episode Connection:
· The entire "cheating" theme of the episode goes well with the cheating theme of the movie.
Random Observations & Facts:
· Fink and the soccer referee are both in line for coffee.
· The coffee house's name is "Coffee House". Clever.
· The girl who voiced Penny is probably best known for playing Chloe on season 3 of "24". She was also on Mr. Show with Bob & David, Punch-Drunk Love, and a bunch of other stuff.
· McGuirk's license:
Number S43934680
D.O.B. 4/1/65
Expiration 4/1/88
[cutoff] McGuirk
[cutoff] on J
[cutoff] Lonely Ave
[cutoff] niware, IM
[cutoff] 1812
Ht. 5'10''
Sex M
· McGuirk's license reads "O YEAH".
· Lynch's Test (bracketed parts are a total guess as to what it says):
Science Test
Key1) Name 3 members of the Perdix family.
Shirlus Perdix Laurus Perdix Dannix Perdix2) Where does the red fern grow?
Over the meadow and through the woods3) Describe the function of the waterlily used to promote frogosis.
The waterlily acts as shelter, food [& ar (refreshers] for the frog during this traumatic time. Also, it is pretty
· Brendon gets a "Purr-fect!" sticker on his test, complete with a cat.
· The traffic teacher's welcome board: "Welcome to Driving for Morons!" and then shows a picture of the Statue of Liberty which says "Break the Law...Break her heart"
· On the chalkboard in the traffic school is a heart which says "JS + EM".
· Jason drew at least 6 pictures of him and Penny in his room, once of which says "Just Married".
· Penny gives Brendon the exact same "secret admirer" letter Jason sent her, just crossed out.
· Answers for the driving test:
1 C
2 B
3 C
4 C
5 D
6 A
7 D
8 F
9 C
10 A
· Cheating off the wrong test: Left column is the correct answer, right column is the answer that Walter/Perry/Junior put down (a question mark means I couldn't make it out):
1. C - A
2. D - C
3. A - D
4. ? - C
5. C - D
6. D - B
7. A - B
8. B - ?
9. D - B
10. C - B
11. B - C
12. C - D
13. D - A
14. A - D
15. B - A
16. A - ?
17. A - B
18. B - C
19. C - A
20. B - D
21. D - A
22. D - C
23. A - D
24. C - B
· Driver's license on the student driver car: "LUK OUT"
· Dwayne's van drives by before McGuirk crashes.
Past Episode References:
· The waiter at the coffee shop was part of 'We're Just People Too!' from Episode 304 - "Sensitivity".
· The school where McGuirk takes traffic school seems to be the same place Paula once taught creative writing.Movie & Other References:
· Lynch's test references The Patridge Family. Perdix is Greek for Partridge, so the Perdix family = The Partridge Family.
Dannix = Danny, Laurus = Laura, and Shirlus = Shirley.
(Thanks to amylin for clarification on the reference)
· Lynch's 2nd test question is a reference to the novel "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls.
· Jason has a poster in his room, "Vanil-lat", a reference to "Chocolat".
· The cheaters movie is a big Woody Allen parody (namely Annie Hall); Melissa even has Diane Keaton's style of clothing from the movie.
· A lot of the stuff going on in the episode seemed reminescent of Vertigo to me.
(i.e. the contra-zoom when brendon meets up with the angry trio, and the imagery
that replaced backgrounds when people freaked out.) I was thinking that the whole
episode was a (or a series of) hitchcock references, with the "camera" angles used
and some of the suspense-building scenes we had. Of course, the next episode is a
much more obvious hitchcock theme. (Added by Arben)To add, the episode background theme (one of the few episodes to have one) is pretty Hermann-esque.
End Credits: "Test Paper Falls"
Reviews:
Samurai Karasu: My only problem with this ENTIRE episode was the fact I wanted Jason and Penny to keep going out as so we could keep some continuity and Jason would have a chick to keep him company.I found Mcguick having Mellisa cheat for him and continuisly go too fast was rather funny but it wasn't as good as when Mcguick was acting out the car crash. Penny was an intresting character without being a tad too intresting for her own good and as stated above was a total babe : O. Ok maybe I had a few more problems listed below.Positives: Jason's constant love trips,Paula (My favorite of her moments),Lynch (My favorite of his moments too ),Mcguick and his driving classes, Brendon's constant indifference to Penny.
Negatives: Jason and Penny's lack of involvement (I didn't find it that hilarious at all.=( ),Brendon's movie lasting so shortly and not all that amusing.
Final Grade: A
Delthayre: "Those Bitches Tried to Cheat Me" was...
Every attempt at a review thus far has been insipid and idiotic, all that needs to be said is that this episode was damned funny.
***** out of *****
Heh, I bet this piece of crap doesn't make Landster's capsules. [WRONG]
King of PAQ: So like it comes out like that Jason like has this like crush on like this girl, named Penny, but like he's like in that awkward getting to know her phase aka "Stalking". He like tries to ask Brendon for like help, but like Brendon is like "I dunno" and like Brendon ends up cheating on like the test, and like passes with like flying colors so like these guys catch on to his like cheat and like decide to blackmail Brendon.. Meanwhile McGuirk gets like a ticket for speeding, and like gets his license suspended so he has to like take driving school and like he's having trouble so he like asks Melissa to like cheat for him and pretend to be like his daughter.. Brendon then like decides to study, and like the kids end up getting caught and get detention.. Meanwhile Penny like thinks Brendon likes her, so then Jason thinks like Brendon stole his girl and is all upset, and tries to kill Brendon but like McGuirk crashes his car to like avoid them and like Jason meets like Penny but then like he decides to break up with Penny, sorta like the grass ain't always greener on the other side.. And like that's it.. I like give this episode an A-.
HomeMoviesFan: That was funny, great even! It could've been funnier if Penny was drawn extremely pretty, giving a damn good reason for Jason liking her. (he's always fallen for babes on the show [Nurse Kirkman, chick in improv seminar])...but, then the Brendon plot wouldn't work. (it sounded like it would end up an entire different direction because of the grade difference, but seemed like she didn't care, seemed like she was happy that anyone liked her at all!)
But, Jason's obsession is so hilarious, because I could relate, since that's where I was at a few years ago. Just stalking a pretty girl, and addicted to thinking about her. Good ol' days...before having a girlfriend... I miss those days.
Coincidence about McGuirk's traffic school...my cousin is here for his spring break, and I'm teachin' him how to drive! We did the "invisible car" thing yesterday, but it didn't end up with him driving into a gas station and creating an atomic BOMB! So funny. Melissa helping McGuirk cheat and then freaking out has been done a little before (same reactions)...though it was funny.
Then comes the final plot (which seemed like a tiny subplot among all three, but with three in 22 minutes, what can you do?)...Brendon being blackmailed by Walter, Perry and Junior made NO ABSOLUTE SENSE. What could they blackmail him WITH?! The answers? They have no exact proof! So Brendon should've never been worried in the first place. But, besides that, Walter & Perry acting sneaky, mean and evil was extremely out of place and embarressing looking. (seemed like they did not know what do to with it at all [in other words, time to get a few more supporting kid characters, HM])
Overall, it's a great/good episode, the general theme having been done before last season, but better than last week's crapfest for sure. A-
Fone Bone: This was so funny. Walter and Perry acting evil was great as was Lynch's taunts at them and Junior when they failed. McGuirk and the male stripper line was funny as was his performance in traffic school. Crashing his imaginary car into a gas station was hilarious. I also loved Melissa going insane from cheating. After Walter and Perry she's my fave. I loved the conversation about cheating and "friends" between Brenden and Paula. She just doesn't seem too care too much does she? Wouldn't it be awesome to have a mom like that? Jason's stalking of Penny was funny as was his continually spitting on Brenden. "Brenden you're my best friend. I hate you!" It was funny that he and Penny broke up after a few seconds. It was just so ambivelant in the best Home Movies fashion. Brendan as Woody Allen had me rolling on the floor. This was an awesome episode. *****
MovieGuy: So in conclusion, good one, not the best of the season, but good. I felt like they were doing it too much like a fairy tale. McGuirk in driving school was fun. I wish we could of had some more comedy from the lifeguard.
The music was great. I knew it would be a fun episode when the paper falls. The scene where Brendon was confronted by Junior, Walter & Perry was a little too odd. BTW, I hope they never team Junior with Walter & Perry again.
Jason stalking Penny could've been funnier. A little more of him watching her, you know. Melissa's cheating scenes were short, but funny. Probably the best scene is where she reveals they've been cheating while Brendon and Jason fight in the climax.
My positives were Brendon, Jason, McGuirk driving the car (real and fake), The music
My negatives were NO PAULA (pratically), Penny, Junior, Walter & Perry, too strange of a design
Grade: A-The Landstander: Watching this episode and "Amy Lee" in one sitting is appropiate. Both are a lot more plot-based than usual, including a lot of characters outside of the usual. But while one nails it, one just falls flat.
This one nails it.
The Hitchcock portion of the episode plays out well; I liked the "score", the visual references and the general plotline. The plots are focused and funny, and though the inevitable "every plot connects" thing is a bit of a cliche it plays out well. The show doesn't forget it's center either, as most of the comedy is character-based. More importantly, the plots are all linked by theme and logic. Lying, cheating, miscommunication.
Mary Lynn Rajskub is very funny and she did fine on the show. I actually wish her character got a bit more screentime. Melissa and McGuirk getting their own plotline was a big plus; McGuirk's fake crash into the gas station was a highlight of the episode.
Highly Recommended.
