Original air date: September 25th, 1992
Teddy is running away with Sweetheart's picnic basket, but screeches to a halt at the lake, causing the basket and its contents to spill out of his mouth and into the lake. Sweetheart angrily instructs him to go in and get everything back, but Teddy, being afraid of the water, won't do it. To try and get back into her good graces, Teddy claims he's good at farming, and invites her to the farm his cousin Corny lives on.
At the farm, Corny is about to show Sweetheart how to collect eggs, but Teddy jumps in, wanting to show her himself. This only results in the hens pecking him repeatedly in retaliation for his rough treatment of them, and the eggs getting smashed up in Teddy's escape from the hens. Corny then introduces the two to Yorkie, a pig who is expected to win a blue ribbon at tomorrow's fair. Corny's father then introduces them to the combine harvester, and a day filled with chores follows.
That night, Sweetheart and Corny take an interest in each other while Teddy can only look on in jealousy as they stare into each other's eyes. Teddy later confronts Corny while he's washing Yorkie and tells him to back off from his girlfriend. Corny warns Teddy that Sweetheart may dump him if he continues his behavior. Yorkie jumps out of the tub and shakes himself dry, getting Teddy wet in the process. Teddy kicks a bucket that lands on Yorkie's head as he storms off.
Later that night, Yorkie enters Teddy's bedroom and grabs his teddy bear. Teddy tries to take it back in a tug-of-war, but this ends up tearing the bear in half. Corny's family and Sweetheart enter, and to not have to admit he owns a teddy bear, Teddy claims it was a gift for Corny's younger sister Daisy.
The next morning, Teddy returns to Yorkie, enraged with him for tearing his teddy bear, and scares him away. When Sweetheart and Corny enter and ask where Yorkie is, Teddy claims he was coming to tell them that Yorkie is missing. While Corny goes to look for him, Sweetheart realizes Teddy's involvement, and coldly rebuffs him, much to Teddy's shame.
Meanwhile, Corny is chasing down Yorkie, who ends up in a river, trapped under a thick branch. Corny jumps in after him, and while Yorkie is able to run to safety, Corny gets trapped under the branch himself. Teddy shows up and sees, and Corny begs for help. Although Teddy is initially scared, he jumps in and sets Corny free. Sweetheart arrives and commends Teddy for saving Corny.
Later at the fair, Teddy is playing at a booth when his teddy bear falls out of Sweetheart's bag. Daisy remembers it was a gift for her, and Teddy is forced to let her have it, although he wins a stuffed pig at the booth. Later, after Yorkie has won first prize, Teddy convinces Daisy to trade the teddy bear for the stuffed pig he won. Sweetheart admits Teddy has a good side after all, and they get onto the back of the pickup truck which drives away.
"Blue Ribbon Blues" provides examples of:
- An Aesop:
- It is unwise to pretend to possess knowledge you don't.
- You risk pushing away your loved ones by being mean.
- Alliterative Title: "Blue Ribbon Blues".
- Blatant Lies:
- After fleeing from the enraged hens, Teddy claims he "just wanted some exercise".
- Teddy enters the barn containing Yorkie and scares him away. When Sweetheart and Corny enter to find Teddy laughing his head off and ask where Yorkie is, Teddy claims he was coming to tell them that Yorkie is missing, then denies he did anything to scare Yorkie away.
- Brainy Pig: Yorkie is evidently intelligent enough to understand Teddy's insults toward him, then come to his bedroom seeking revenge for kicking a bucket onto his head.
- Cock Fight: Teddy is angry with Corny for liking Sweetheart and getting her interested in him, and warns him to back off.
- Covered in Gunge: Yorkie the pig kicks mud in Teddy's face for calling him "the fattest and the ugliest".
- Deadpan Snarker: Teddy shows Corny the eggs he collected from the hens, but they're broken, prompting Corny to say, "Thanks, but we really didn't want them scrambled."
- Face Your Fears: Teddy overcomes his fear of water to save his cousin Corny.
- Foreshadowing: Teddy ends up accidentally losing an entire picnic basket and its contents into the water which gets washed away and no one ever retrieves them. This seems just to be the inciting incident for the episode, but the Season Finale focuses on the fact the townsponies being careless with their trash and throwing it away recklessly clogs up the river and floods the town, with several ponies doing that exact thing during the episode.
- Flying Flightless Bird: The hens fly after Teddy, which real hens don't do.
- Hard-Work Montage: "Harvest Time" shows Teddy, Sweetheart, and Corny assisting with the various chores on the farm.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: Teddy's cousin Corny becomes trapped underneath a tree branch in a rushing river. Teddy saves him after hearing his cries for help.
- Implementing the Incomplete: To impress Sweetheart, Teddy claims he's good at farming, and invites her to his cousin Corny's farm to "prove" it. It doesn't go well.
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Teddy proves to be this when it comes to farming, getting attacked by the hens for being too rough with them while collecting their eggs.
- Lazy Bum: Teddy spends a good portion of "It's Harvest Time" relaxing while everyone else is busy working.
- Lost Food Grievance: At the beginning, Sweetheart is angry about Teddy running off with their picnic basket and losing it all in a river.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: A small example, but being pecked by a hen causes Teddy to fall over backwards onto the floor.
- Off-into-the-Distance Ending: The episode ends with Teddy, Sweetheart, and Corny riding on the back of a truck driving away from the screen.
- One-Episode Fear: Teddy's fear of water is new to this episode. He conquers it to save Corny, which justifies him swimming in water just fine later in "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart".
- One-Shot Character: The only appearance of Corny and his immediate family.
- Pursued Protagonist: The episode opens with Sweetheart chasing Teddy to get back a picnic basket.
- Reluctant Gift: To avoid admitting to having a teddy bear, Teddy claims it was a gift for Corny's younger sister Daisy. Fortunately, he convinces her to trade it for a stuffed pig he wins at a fair.
- Revenge Myopia: Teddy threatens Yorkie for tearing apart his teddy bear, never mind that Teddy had earlier insulted Yorkie and kicked a bucket onto his head.
- Skewed Priorities: Once Teddy has jumped into the water, he's focused on how fun he's realized it is. While that's well and good and all, Corny still needs help, as he points out.
- Something Blues: The episode's title is "Blue Ribbon Blues".
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Once he's done running away from the hens, Teddy shows Corny the eggs he put in his bag, only for Corny to point out the eggs are broken.
- Tear-Apart Tug-of-War: Teddy and Yorkie fight over Teddy's teddy bear, tearing it in half.
- Vacation Episode: Teddy and Sweetheart go to visit Teddy's cousin Corny on a farm.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sweetheart calls Teddy out after he threatens Yorkie and scares him away.If this is your good side, I'm really truly sorry you show it to me.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Teddy is established at the beginning of the episode to be afraid of water and later has to face his fear when his cousin becomes stuck in a rushing river.
- You Are Fat:Corny: Yep, that's Yorkie! He's gonna win a blue ribbon tomorrow at the fair.Teddy: For what? Being the fattest and the ugliest?
(Yorkie kicks mud into Teddy's face)
