"Boy, TV really is fantastic. Hi, I'm Brent, from TV."
When Emma tricks the town into agreeing to participate in "Turn Off Your TV Week", everyone has to find ways to cope, which they do in various ways...
A Plot: Lacey and Oscar start a secret TV watching club in the Leroys' basement, but find trouble trying to hide it from Emma. They also try to rake in the dough, charging money for entry into the club and any snacks they serve.
B Plot: Davis decides to start a jazz radio station where he DJs as "Downtown Davis". He recruits Karen, but she takes the station in a much wackier direction.
C Plot: Brent discovers that watching Hank and Wanda argue is just as entertaining as any television program, so he begins intentionally putting them in heated situations in order to enjoy "The Hank and Wanda Show". Other people check it out too, but Hank and Wanda catch on and try to capitalize via advertisements.
Tropes referenced:
- Amusing Injuries: Hank suffers a few of these, the first when he rides a tricycle down a slide resulting in a crash, and the second when he tries to open a beer bottle with his teeth. In both cases, he was imitating a stunt he had seen on TV.
- The Cameo: Michael Bublé makes an appearance, calling in to Davis's radio station to request his own music.Davis: Oh, come on. Michael Bublé's not jazz.
Bublé: [clearly hurt] He's a gifted vocalist who defies genres.
Davis: I'd rather listen to the weather. [hangs up] - Cut Apart: The DRPD track down illegal TV watching to the Leroy house. Lacey and Oscar panic and try to hide their contraband. Davis then dramatically opens a door, except the door is not to the basement where Lacey and Oscar are. It's to the bathroom where Emma is secretly watching a portable TV. Ultimately subverted when Karen finds the TV in the basement, anyway.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Lacey and Oscar's secret TV club is treated like a speakeasy that would have existed during the United States's Prohibition Era. Oscar even uses an excuse that they're making moonshine in order to cover the TV watching up.
- Don't Try This at Home: After Hank gets hurt doing a stupid tricycle stunt, Brent turns to a nearby group of kids and says this. One of the kids replies, "Uh, doy".
- Dumbass DJ: Karen and Davis start a radio station. Davis wants it to be a jazz station and talks in a smooth voice, but Karen is more interested in being a zoo host on a classic rock station. Eventually, after Davis realizes he's the only one in Dog River even remotely interested in jazz, he becomes an even wackier zoo host than Karen and completely upstages her.
- Fictional Counterpart: Lacey's favorite TV show, So You Think Your Kid Can Dance, obviously calls to mind So You Think You Can Dance as well as any kids' talent program.
- Immediate Self-Contradiction: Lacey claims no TV would be a breeze for her since she doesn't watch much TV, but then she immediately goes into a tirade about her favorite show that proves she's obsessed with it. This comes back a few times, with Lacey claiming she's doing fine without TV only to prove she's not fine right afterward.
- Incredibly Lame Fun: After the TV ban, but before the Hank and Wanda thing, Brent amuses himself by watching a lava lamp:Brent: Whoa! Now it's two pieces of floaty goop!
- Insult Backfire: Hank mentions that without TV he's catching up on reading. Wanda quips that he must mean the backs of cereal boxes, which Hank immediately and gleefully confirms is correct.
- Pass the Popcorn: Brent sets it up so that Hank and Wanda constantly get mad and fight each other while he sits back with popcorn. He even gets other townspeople to enjoy the "Hank and Wanda Show".
- Prank Call: Davis tries one on his radio show, but fails miserably because Brent instantly recognizes his voice.
- Product Placement: Hank and Wanda start plugging local businesses on their fake show to earn perks. Unfortunately, this turns everyone against it. It's also used for a Leaning on the Fourth Wall moment, where Brent chews them out for their blatant product placement, then bends down to put bottles of Cheez Whiz on a shelf, which he makes sure to turn so that the labels face the camera.
- Sarcasm-Blind: Karen is apparently unaware of the existing classic rock radio stations in Saskatchewan:Davis: I got out the old ham radio and I was thinking, we could do a radio show to help people through No TV Week!
Karen: Aww, that is so cool! This is gonna be great! A classic rock station, right here in Dog River!
Davis: [sarcastic] Yeah, 'cause that's what Saskatchewan needs, is another classic rock station. Maybe we could call it "The Bear" or "The Goat" or "The Moose".
Karen: That's good. I like all of those names. - Shout-Out:
- When Hank reveals the stunt he's about to pull is one he saw on TV, Brent exclaims "For the last time, Wile E. Coyote's a cartoon!"
- The secret TV club mentions several old shows, including The Muppet Show, The Flintstones and Punky Brewster.
- Shown Their Work: Oscar mentions his portable antenna TV can pull in a station from Moose Jaw, and it becomes clear that station is owned by CTV, the show’s network; indeed, the only analogue TV station (that is, one that an antenna set could pick up) in Moose Jaw is a repeater of Regina’s CTV affiliate.
- Spiteful Spit: Exploited by Emma:Emma: Those in favor of no TV for a week and sticking it to Wullerton, spit!
[everybody spits]
Fitzy: [bangs gavel] Done!
Oscar: Hey! You tricked us! - Spoof Aesop: At the end of the episode, Brent tells the audience that although the characters in this episode got out of trouble by lying, people in real life should never do this "unless you're in a real bind and telling the truth is just gonna cause a big hassle and make somebody mad at you."
