Recap / Animaniacs Episode 77

Airdate: November 4th, 1995

This Pun For Hire: A film noir parody starring the Warners.

Star Truck: The Warners meet the cast of Star Trek.

Go Fish: Wakko plays "Go Fish" with himself.

Multiplication: Yakko sings about multiplication.

This Pun For Hire contains examples of:

• Anachronism Stew
• Biting-the-Hand Humor: Yakko takes on Hello Nurse's case, but under one condition.
  Hello Nurse: What's that?
  Yakko: Never put us on against 60 Minutes. We'll get creamed.
  • For context, both Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain were scheduled at the time on Kids' WB for Sundays at 7pm, up against the highly rated newsmagazine. This partially contributed to their decline and ultimate cancellation.
• The Cameo: Freakazoid! shows up near the beginning. Also, the bird statue is Squit from "Goodfeathers".
• Creator Cameo: Steven Spielberg shows up near the end alongside Jeffery Katzenberg and David Geffen. According to Yakko, they're "the stuff that DreamWorks are made of".
• Hurricane of Puns: Try counting the lines that don't involve puns in this short!
• Lame Pun Reaction: A couple:
  Hello Nurse: Why do I always get the booby prize?
  Dot: I'm not touching that one.
  • Later:
    Minerva Mink: Stay back! I'm packing a heater!
    [her suitcase opens up, revealing a miniature radiator]
    Dot: Can't argue with that one. It's too stupid.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Bette Midler keeps showing up as a Running Gag.
• Noir Episode: Mainly a parody of The Maltese Falcon.
• Porky Pig Pronunciation: When Ralph tries to steal the statue, he says, "Dahhh, by gad sir, I claim it in the name of Matushi— dah, Matushi—, dahhh, for Seagrams!"
• Rhymes on a Dime: Yakko, once he's got the case figured out:
  Yakko: The mink is workin' for Fox, the pair of legs is workin' for Paramount, and the guy who needs rehearsal is workin' for Universal!
  Dot: Thank you, Dr. Seuss.
• Running Gag:
  • "That is absolutely correct!" "Tell her what she's won!"
  Wakko: A date with me!
  • A caricature of Bette Midler bursting into scenes and randomly singing before getting shoved out of the way for Hello Nurse.
• Shout-Out: Somebody slips a Mickey into Yakko's dish.
  Yakko: Nice try, bub, but I work for Warners.
• Think of the Censors!: In a repeat of a joke from "Turkey Jerky", Minerva asks the Warners to "give [her] the bird".
  Dot: We can't. It's a family show.
• Two Decades Behind: Hello Nurse, working for Paramount, claims the statue in the name of Gulf+Western. But Gulf+Western had ceased to exist by the time the episode aired. It stopped operating under that name in 1989, becoming Paramount Communications after the movie studio it owned. It was under that name that the company was acquired by Viacom (the owner of Nickelodeon, which eventually reran Animaniacs and spin-off Pinky and the Brain) in 1994. On the other hand, Minerva and Ralph did namedrop the correct owners of the studios they worked for (at least they were correct in 1995; Fox being owned by Rupert Murdoch through News Corporation, and Universal being controlled by Seagram, who had just acquired Universal from Matsushita, who retained a minority stake at the time).
  • In 2006, Viacom split into two compaines; the Paramount film studio became part of a new Viacom while its TV arm became part of CBS Corporation; the two companies reunited in 2019 to form what is now Paramount Global.
  • News Corporation also split into two companies in 2013, with 20th Century Fox becoming part of 21st Century Fox, most of which was bought by Disney in 2019, and the studio is now 20th Century Studios.
  • Universal was bought by Vivendi in 2000, then by General Electric in 2004 to merge with GE's NBC, and is now owned by Comcast since 2011.
• Waxing Lyrical: At one point, Yakko says, "Tell me your story, sister." Dot responds by quoting lines from Cher's "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves".
• Whole-Plot Reference: While the short parodies film noir in general, the main plotline is taken from The Maltese Falcon.

Star Truck contains examples of:

• Crossover Punchline: Pinky and the Brain beam onto the ship at the end.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Dot proposes doing Uhura's infamous fan dance to distract the bad guy. Yakko vetoes the idea.
• Shout-Out: The ship has a third bathroom for Xenomorphs.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: The Spock parody as a result of mind melding with Wakko.
• Weight Woe: Wakko introduces the Scotty parody to donuts and he can't stop eating them, gradually getting fatter throughout the short until he's too big to reach the control panel.
• Where No Parody Has Gone Before

Go Fish contains examples of:

• Shout-Out: Dot tells Yakko that she's "worried about the Beaver".

Multiplication contains examples of:

• Berserk Button: Don't take Dot's cookies unless you want a broken hand.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Even though Yakko teaches the steps of doing long multiplication problems, he ultimately sings that you should "buy a calculator / and study this stuff later".