The second episode of the first season of Rugrats (1991).
Barbecue Story
The Pickles are having a Fourth of July barbecue, and when Angelica throws Tommy's ball into the next yard, the babies try to retrieve it while avoiding the scary guard dog.
Waiter, There's a Baby in My Soup
Stu, Didi, and Tommy go to dinner with Stu's business client, but Tommy escapes and wreaks havoc in the restaurant.
"Barbecue Story" provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: None of the adults notice that the babies left to look for Tommy's ball until a frightened Phil and Lil run back to Betty and cling onto her legs.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just as the bulldog was about to attack Tommy, Spike hears him screaming and rushes to save him. Using a tiki decoration from the barbecue he scares the bulldog away, saving Tommy.
- Brick Joke: Early in the episode, Tommy tries to eat a bug, but Didi stops him and tells him, "Don't eat that, you don't know where it's been!". Near the end of the episode, Tommy comes across the same bug, but remembers what Didi told him and sets it free.
- Bully Bulldog: One inhabits the yard that Angelica tossed Tommy's ball into.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Chas would cameo during the BBQ near the start of the episode, though wouldn't get properly introduced until "Touchdown Tommy" near the end of the season.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Chas is with a woman during a pan over of the barbeque. Even if she wasn't intended to be the original design for Chuckie's (deceased) mother, later episodes would establish that Chas wasn't remotely ready to date again until the second movie.
- Both segments of this episode have a shorter and slightly different-sounding version of the Episode Title Card music, which was never used again. The initial airing of this pair didn't even have a title card for the latter episode until it was shown in reruns.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first episode Tommy wears his signature blue shirt in.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Chas is with a woman, presumably Chuckie's mom.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: While looking for Tommy's ball, Chuckie gets stuck in a hollow log.
- Heroic Dog: When Spike hears that Tommy is in trouble, he rushes over to the next yard to protect Tommy from the bulldog. Stu praises Spike for saving Tommy and rewards him with the now-burnt burgers he left unattended.
- How About a Smile?: When Angelica catches Tommy's ball, she tries to make Tommy beg for it to get it back. Tommy's less than cooperative.
- "I Can't Look!" Gesture: When the Bully Bulldog starts approaching Tommy and Chuckie, Phil and Lil cover their eyes.
- Karma Houdini: Angelica receives no comeuppance for throwing Tommy's ball over the fence and into the next yard. This has mostly been averted since.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Tommy when he finds he's unable to get over the fence by himself.
- Didi when she realizes Tommy is missing.
- Security Cling: When Tommy's in danger from the Bully Bulldog, Phil and Lil run all the way back to the backyard and grab onto Betty's legs.
- Survival Mantra: "Please don't eat Tommy! Please don't eat Tommy! Please don't eat Tommy!"
- Tempting Fate: About to reclaim the ball, Tommy says this was easy. Cue the appearance of the Bully Bulldog.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: When saying his famous "A baby's gotta do, what a baby's gotta do!" line, one of the tabs on Tommy's diaper comes undone, causing it to slightly sag below his waist. When Tommy notices this, he hastily pulls his diaper back up with an embarrassed grin.
"Waiter, There's a Baby in my Soup" provides examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: When Didi gets a call from Lou that he needs to be picked up since he and Louise got into an argument, she decides to take Tommy with her, knowing how much trouble he might cause at the restaurant. However, Mr. Mucklehoney talks her into letting him and Stu look after Tommy. Didi does so, but the two are so wrapped up in Stu's presentation of his toy ideas, that neither of them look after Tommy, causing him to escape and wreak havoc in the restaurant. None of the staff in the kitchen even notice Tommy wandering around the kitchen.
- Benevolent Boss: Mr. Mucklehoney turns out to be very jovial and instantly hires Stu after their meeting.
- Crazy-Prepared: Didi lists off a bunch of emergency numbers for Tommy's babysitter regarding incidents that wouldn't likely happen, such as the pipes bursting.
- Dropped in the Toilet: The episode begins with Tommy putting his father Stu's favorite tie in the toilet. Stu is horrified when he finds out, especially since it isn't the first time Tommy's done this.
- Electric Joybuzzer: Mr. Mucklehoney uses one on Stu when he meets him.
- Fire-Breathing Diner: While in the restaurant's kitchen, Tommy spices up a stew with black pepper, garlic powder, and Tabasco sauce. In a Contrived Coincidence, the stew ends up getting served to Mr. Mucklehoney.
- Fun with Flushing: Early in the episode, Tommy puts Stu's favorite tie in the toilet. Fortunately, Stu stops Tommy before he has the chance to flush it, but Stu's still upset with it ending up soaked and wrinkled as a result.
- Lethal Chef: Tommy's contributions in the restaurant's kitchen range from disgusting to dangerous (i.e making a pie out of silverware and whipped cream).
- Noodle Incident: Lou and Louise got into such a bad fight that she took off and left him stranded at the bowling alley. All we know is that it was "over a 7-10 split."
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Based on Stu's reaction and conversation with Didi, Tommy has apparently stuck his tie in the toilet often.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Stu's reaction when Mr. Mucklehoney asks him about their experience at the restaurant.Mr. Mucklehoney: Oh, Pickles, you slay me! You must have gone through a lot of trouble to set this thing up! The Tabasco soup. The flying table. Heck, you even got your kid into the act. What did you do, call the restaurant in advance?
Stu: Yeah. - Throw the Dog a Bone: Thanks to Tommy, Mr. Mucklehoney nearly chokes on spicy soup, and gets a table flipped over onto him. But rather than be angry at Stu, he thinks the entire fiasco was hilarious, believing that Stu set the evening's events up on purpose as pranks. Very entertained by the ordeal, Mr. Mucklehoney pays Stu's bill for him and promptly hires him as a toy inventor for Mucklehoney Industries.
- Tied-Together-Shoelace Trip: Tommy does this to Stu and Mr. Mucklehoney when he ties Stu's shoelaces to the leg of the table and uses a wad of gum to stick Mucklehoney to the underside of the table.
