Upon hearing about the latest Billy Blazedale comedy Nitwitz 3, Vince decides that he just has to see it. But his parents won't let him...
Tropes:
- An Aesop: Fads are not worth disobeying your parents over if they forbid you to partake in them. They come and go before you know it and something cool will come around that you can enjoy... but at the end of the day, your parents' trust is far more valuable.
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Vince immediately gets caught by his parents and grounded when he lies to them and goes to see a movie that they forbade him from seeing... because his parents conveniently also decided to go to the movies at the exact moment that he walked out...and walked in on him quoting said movie to everyone in earshot.
- Downer Ending: Vince is grounded for lying to his parents and seeing Nitwitz 3 behind their backs and loses TV for week, leaving unable to see the new TV show everyone talking about and once again he is left out.
- Felony Misdemeanor: Vince ends up grounded for a week after he goes to see a popular new movie that his parents forbade him from seeing. They forbade him from seeing it because it's a brainless screwball comedy. For effect, the writers invent a fictional movie rating (NK-11, as in "No Kid Under 11 Admitted Without an Adult"), just so Vince is actually too young to see the movie.
- Gave Up Too Soon: Unable to stand being left out of the Nitwitz craze any longer, Vince decides to disobey his parents and go see the movie, even lying to his mother that he's going to study at library on a weekend. He gets busted, grounded for a week without TV, and by the time he gets to school on Monday, he finds that the Nitwitz fad has already passed, and a new TV comedy called Moron Patrol that premiered last night has taken its spotlight... which Vince would have seen and been able to partake in this new craze had he not been grounded without TV for lying to and defying his parents.
- Here We Go Again!: Vince sees the movie against his parents' wishes and is grounded when he is caught. By the time he goes to school, everyone has already moved on to the next comedy: a cop show that Vince can't watch because he's grounded.
- "Jump Off a Bridge" Rebuttal:Vince: But all the other kids have seen Nitwitz 3!
Vince's Dad: If all the other kids jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?
Vince: If that's all they were gonna talk about afterwards, yeah!
[Vince's parents both exchange "WTF" looks and then turn firmly towards Vince]
Vince's Dad: Well, it doesn't matter what everybody else is talking about. You can't go! - No Celebrities Were Harmed: Billy Blazedale can somewhat be compared to Adam Sandler.
- Not So Above It All: Throughout the episode, it is shown that Miss Grotke, Menlo, Randall, the Pale Kids, Miss Finster, and quite a few other characters have seen Nitwitz 3 as well.
- Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: Not evil per se, but Vince wants to be seen as cool because most of the kids at school have seen Nitwitz 3. He is ultimately taught that there are more important things than being cool.
- You Are Grounded!: Vince is punished for the entire week without TV privileges as a result of sneaking out of the house to see Nitwitz 3 and lying to his parents about it.
- Worth It: Despite being grounded for a week without TV privileges for seeing Nitwitz 3 behind his parents' back, Vince declares it 'tender' as he can confess to the others that he saw the movie, only to find out later that everyone's already over with the Nitwitz fad.
