When Cricket overhears Gramma blabbing an unusually offensive word, he starts using it all over the Community Center and it becomes a hit with the children, despite Bill's objections.
"Bleeped" contains examples of:
- Aesop Amnesia: Subverted. It seems as if Cricket didn't listen to Bill's advice about his cussing, but when he gives the big finish, he sees Bill in the audience, causing him to sputter and remember if this is the kind of person he wants to be. As a result, he chooses not to cuss and finishes the song normally.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Bill realizes he can't stop Cricket from cussing no matter what and gives him the ultimate decision, which in turn eventually causes Cricket to stop.Cricket: Fine! You got me this time, but you're not always gonna be around to police me! And the second you're not, I'm gonna say whatever I want!!
Bill: ...You're right, Cricket.
Cricket: I am?
Bill: Yup. I can't control what comes out of your mouth any more than I can control the wind.
Cricket: I can control the wind! Watch! (blows)
Bill: What I'm tryin' to say is that, well... you're your own person, and it's time you made your own decisions. So, from now on, you can say whatever you want. I won't stop ya.
Cricket: Wow, really?
Bill: I hereby give you full permission to cuss; you've just gotta decide if that's the kind of person you want to be. - Bait-and-Switch: Cricket returns to the concert, ready to drop the B-bomb... but then he sees Bill, remembers what he said to him, realizing he can't do it and finishes the song normally.
- Be Careful What You Say: Cricket learns this in the end.
- Big "NO!": When Cricket removes the wire Remy is wearing so he can curse, we cut to Vasquez in a surveillance van yelling "Master Remy! NOOOOO!"
- Blank White Eyes: Bill when threatening Cricket.
- Book Ends: Alice was the one who said the swear word at the beginning of the episode and she's the one who says it at the end.
- Bottle Episode: Most of the episode takes place inside the community center, with a short scene in the zoo in the climax.
- Break the Haughty: Cricket decides to stop cussing once he remembers Bill's words if being a potty mouth is the kind of person he chooses to be.
- Censored for Comedy: The bad words used in this episode are covered up by random G-rated nonsense vocabulary sounding near similar to how they actually sound (Blort, swip, cret, cuft, etc.).
- Comical Angry Face: Bill's "disappointed face" returns, not having been seen since early Season 1. He somehow alters it into a Nightmare Face when he goes "Full Dad" on the kids and threatens them into not cussing anymore.
- Cluster Bleep-Bomb: Cricket and the children except Tilly all burst into this, repeating this universe's (kid-friendly) swear word "Blort" nonstop.
- Death Glare:
- Bill gives Cricket and his friends a very, very scary one, when he goes "Full Dad", at one point he stares to Remy, causing him to shut up and stop swearing.
- Bill also gives one to Officer Keys after the kids are gone, although it wasn't as threatening as the first one.
- Cricket gives an early one to Bill when he demands he stop cussing which he furiously refuses.
- Defensive Feint Trap: Invoked; when Bill goes "full-dad" and frightens the choir children into no longer cussing, Cricket only pretends to be scared so he can save a big B-bomb for the very end of the concert. Unfortunately, Bill finds out and pulls him behind the bleachers.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Officer Keys threatens to arrest a guy for leaving his sweat all over a treadmill. In real life leaving your body fluids in a public place is considered a crime, specially because many people had contracted serious illness that way.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Despite Bill's objections, Cricket won't stop cussing no matter what, and he can't control anything he says. Bill takes this to heart when giving him the lesson in the end.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: In the end when Bill realizes he can't control what Cricket says and he is going to say whatever he wants, which includes cussing, he willingly gives Cricket full permission to cuss, along with a reminder he has to decide if that's the person he wants to be; thus Cricket has to choose whether or not to deliver the cussing in the big finish as he planned. He ultimately chooses the latter, as he realized he cannot do it for Bill's sake and being a foul mouth is not the right thing.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: When Bill calls "Cricket Ernest Green", you know he's not kidding around.Bill: If you won't stop swearing, then you leave me no choice. Cricket Ernest Green, I hereby forbid thee from cursing ever again!
- Fun with Acronyms: Officer Keys' anti-cursing program, "Can't U Speak Sweetly?"
- Given Name Reveal: Cricket's middle name is revealed to be Ernest, the same as his late paternal grandfather.
- Giving Them the Strip: When Bill has him by the shoulder straps, Cricket gets away by taking off his overalls, wearing a second pair underneath. When Bill catches him a second time, he asks if Cricket has a third set of overalls; Cricket responds that he tried, but it made his butt look chunky.
- Glass-Shattering Sound: Tilly practices her high note on a squash court, shattering the glass doors.
- Goofy Suit: Officer Keys makes Bill wear a tongue costume as part of his anti-swearing presentation.
- Incredibly Long Note: Tilly ends the choir's number with an increasingly high pitched one. Her final one during the concert is so high, it attracts a crowd of animals from the zoo.
- Informed Obscenity: Instead of using real swear words (highly unlikely on a Disney show) or even bleeping them out (despite the fact the episode is called Bleeped), the episode uses made up swear words like "Blort".
- Insane Troll Logic: Officer Keys tries to get the kids to stop swearing by… playing a rap song by a popular artist that pretty much uses every swear word, on the reasoning that they can’t avoid swearing if they don’t know what words to avoid. Naturally, this just encourages them to swear even more.
- Jerkass Ball: Cricket totally hits this throughout the episode, given he always wanted to learn cuss words and now that he's learned one, he ends up spreading it amongst the choir, save for Tilly. And no matter what Bill tries to stop him, Cricket refuses to stop cussing, given he can't control what comes out of his mouth, and he'll say whatever he wants, when he wants. He immediately drops it once Bill gives an Armor-Piercing Response over the decision whether cussing all the time is what he chooses to be, causing him to stop and finish the concert the way it should be.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Cricket is actually right when he claims Bill can't control his language and he can say whatever he wants, prompting Bill to give him the lesson of the day which in turn causes Cricket to stop.
- Karma Houdini: Gramma receives no punishments for unintentionally teaching Cricket a cuss word. Even, Cricket pointed that out to his dad.
- Last-Second Word Swap: When Cricket is about to deliver the big finish to the concert, at first it seems he's about to drop the big B-bomb he planned, but then he remembers Bill's words to him and realizes he cannot do it, so he finishes with the regular "best" instead.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": All of the kids have this toward Bill when he goes "Full Dad" and threatens them into stopping the cussing, to the point Cricket and Remy are shuddering in fear once Community Sue arrives.
- Mood-Swinger: After scaring the kids to death after going "Full Dad", Bill changes to his regular voice and asks who wants an sticker.
- Mood Whiplash: The concert's upbeat and peppy song suddenly changes to the "spooky interlude", where the kids hold out candles and the lights go out as they sing spookily.
- Never Trust a Title: Despite the title, the cuss words are not bleeped out, but were altered into near-sounding gibberish to suit the target audience.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Officer Keys was suppoused to teach the kids that swearing is wrong, but he instead ends teaching the kids more swears, believing they should know them so they won't say them. Bill rightfully calls him out on this before and after he does this. Bill also glares to him, after going "Full Dad".
- Nightmare Face: Bill's usual "disappointed face" is taken up many notches when he goes "full-dad" on the kids, his voice even echoes when he talks and has Blank White Eyes which are shadowed.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Cricket is only in this mess because of the bad word he learned from Gramma, and no matter what Bill tries, this won't stop him from saying it. It is to the point Bill realizes he can't control what Cricket says and he has to decide if that's the kind of person he wants to be, which in turn causes Cricket to stop.
- Not Helping Your Case: Officer Keys' presentation on how it's not okay to swear only spurs the kids to swear more. First he just mentions several bad words, inadvertently teaching the kids new swears; then he plays a pop song full of swears so they can identify them and not say them, the catchy music only making them want to swear more.
- Only Sane Man: Tilly is the only kid who never says the cuss word Cricket learned.
- Out-Gambitted: When the kids start cussing more and more in the C.U.S.S. class, Bill ends up going "full dad" and straight-up horrifies them into not cussing anymore, to the point they exit the room completely silent. However, turns out Cricket only pretended to be scared because he's mad about Bill controlling his language, so he plots to drop a B-bomb at the end of the concert.
- Police Are Useless: Averted and Played Straight. Officer Keys threatens to arrest a guy for leaving sweat all over a treadmill, considering in real life how many people had contracted serious illness for people leaving their body fluids in public places, he had all the right on calling out that guy, and yet, he fails in helping Bill with his issue of the kids swearing.
- Profanity Police: Bill is absolutely against foul language and forbids Cricket from using the word Gramma said, but he doesn't listen. He ultimately comes to the conclusion he cannot control anything Cricket says, so he gives him full permission to cuss, but reminds him he has to decide if that's the person he should be. Cricket takes this by heart and is about to cuss in the big finish, but he remembers Bill's words and chooses not to.
- Scare 'Em Straight: Bill going "full-dad" on the kids, which outright frightens them into silence as he insists they not cuss anymore. However, Cricket only pretended to be scared so he can still cuss during the concert.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Cricket becomes one, thanks to hearing a strange but offensive word from Gramma, which soon passes on to the others.
- Slasher Smile: Cricket often sports some of these before cussing.
- Spelling Song: The kids' community center song.There's a place where kids can be free
C-O-M-M-U-N-I-T
Y settle for anything less?
Community center is the best! - Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Cricket chooses to curse and swear nonstop and Bill doesn't like it, but he cannot control what he says; imagine if you're the one clean mouth in real life and you don't like it when someone else swears, yet you can't control what they say.
- Swear Word Plot: The episode focuses on Cricket getting addicted to a swear word from Gramma and passing it on to the others. The swears are censored by G-rated words.
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: Cricket is delighted when Bill realizes he cannot control his cussing and gives him full permission to do such, but with an Armor-Piercing Response he has to decide if that's what he chooses to be. He goes back to the concert and is about to drop the B-bomb he planned, but upon seeing Bill and remembering his words, he decides not to do it and says the real final word. He tells Bill afterword that although he thought of cussing, it doesn't mean he wants to cuss all the time and be the jerk who ruined everything.
- Take That!: Towards D.A.R.E., Officer Key try to help stop kids from swearing by teaching them all about swears, so they know what to avoid. It of coarse only makes thing worse something D.A.R.E. was often criticized for.
- Three-Point Landing: Cricket does one as he lands on the floor after clinging to the bleachers' underside to hide from Bill.
- Unusual Euphemism: The swear words in this universe are uncensored, but near-sounding gibberish, such as "blort", "swip" "cret", "cuft", and so forth.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Gramma shouting "This is all a bunch of blort!" is what causes Cricket to hear it and kick off the conflict for the episode.
- Very Special Episode: About swearing and profanity, and how to control it.
- Voice of the Legion: When Bill goes "Full Dad", his voice turns into a threatening echoing voice, to match his scary appearance.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: For some strange reason, the only families seen at the choir concert are the Greens and Benny's mom, and it's strange Remy's parents and Vasquez are not there either.
"TROPERS! Buy from Green Family Farms or else we'll go broke!!"
SelloutsWhen the Greens start to lose popularity with their stand, they try various methods to bring in customers.
"Sellouts" contains examples of:
- Big Damn Heroes: Gloria becomes this near the end, as she remembers the picture of the chicken she posted became a hit on the internet, prompting her to inspire the Greens to go social and advertise their stand.
- Blatant Lies: Alice goes around scaring the people at the farmers market with horror stories about eating food other than fruits and vegetables. She even says that bad food will make you all wrinkled and claims to be only 25.
- Call-Back: On the stand's new sign, Bill is portrayed as a watermelon, similar to Cricket's dream in "Breaking News".
- Chekhov's Gun: Halfway through the episode, Gloria takes a picture of one of the Green's chickens and posts it. At the end, when things seem lost, Gloria looks at the post and sees that it's trending, giving her the idea to use her social media savvy to make people aware of the Greens' produce stand and save the day.
- Close Up On Head: When Bill wonders if Cricket's literal publicity stunt will bring in customer, we get a close-up of Cricket before zooming out to reveal he's in a roller skate.
- Deus ex Machina: Gloria seeing her cool chicken photo went viral, which in turn allows her to save the Greens' stand by teaching them how to go social.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Officer Keys rightfully calls out Alice for harassing people in the Farmer's Market.Alice: Stay out of this Keys! It ain't illegal to sell tomatoes.Officer Keys: Well no, but it is illegal to harass all of these people.
- Epic Fail: Cricket's spectacular stunt fails when one of the chickens knocks over the stick holding up the jump on the ramp, causing Cricket to plow onto the pavement. He knocks over the bucket he was supposed to land in, which falls on and drenches him, causing the bath bombs in his back pockets to spray suds out his pant legs.
- Fish Eyes: Cricket has these briefly as he answers positively to his stunt going to work.
- For Want Of A Nail: If Gloria hadn't posted a picture of one of the Greens' chickens, this wouldn't have given her the idea how to save the Greens' stand by teaching them to go social.
- Hopeless with Tech: The Greens' lack of electronic devices becomes very poignant in the climax, as Gloria discovers the family has very little experience with modern technology and never gone social and they should, thus she teaches them how and their stand becomes a bigger hit.
- Hypnotic Eyes: Tilly's approach to getting people to buy is to connect with them by staring into their eyes. She does this to a young woman, along with a Compelling Voice, and succeeds in putting her on a trance. The poor woman snaps out of it when Tilly leans too close and the two touch eyeballs, which freaks the woman out.
- Limited Wardrobe: Bill is shown to keep extra pairs of his everyday wardrobe in the truck, which the Greens use as uniforms.
- Non-Protagonist Resolver: The Greens' stand is saved by Gloria, thanks to teaching them to go social and make their stand popular.
- Police Are Useless: Averted. Officer Keys calls out Alice for harassing people at the Farmer's Market and arrests her, when she kicks him, yet he fails to realize that Alice escaped.
- Publicity Stunt: Cricket takes this trope literally and sets up an elaborate, highly dangerous stunt to drum up publicity for the stand. He sets up a rickety ramp that will send him flying into a billboard, landing on a water bucket precariously standing on the top of a long pole, while bath bombs on his pockets will simultaneously bathe him... and he's doing it all while covered in honey. Unfortunately, it fails miserably.
- Spanner in the Works: If Gloria and the chickens hadn't arrived to the Farmer's Market, Gramma Alice would had been in jail by now, as one of them helped Alice to escape from Officer Keys' car.
- Take a Third Option: Really a fourth. After the Greens' ideas (Cricket's publicity stunt, Tilly's personal connection, Gramma's fear-inducing rants) all fail, Gloria comes up with the one solution they never even thought of: going social.
- Team Hand-Stack: The Greens do one as they prepare to round up customers to save their business.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After barely selling anything in the last appearances of the Greens' stand, the Greens finally have a successful business thanks to Gloria teaching them to go social.
- Tranquil Fury: In the very moment Gramma Alice kicks Officer Keys, his characteristical cheerful voice changes to a dry voice while still keeping his happy face, while telling her that attacking a police officer is a serious crime.Officer Keys: (Dry Voice) Attacking a police officer is a serious offense. (Serious Voice) You're coming with me!
- Wham Episode: The Greens' stand has now gone viral and more popular thanks to Gloria teaching them how to go social.
