Recap / The Fairly Odd Parents S 3 E 5 Micro Phony

Original air date: 8/1/2003 (produced in 2002)

Episode number: 23a

Timmy and friends are excited for summer vacation, but Vicky advertises her babysitting services on the radio, and the parents fall for it. To avoid having a lame summer, Timmy starts his own radio station as "Double T", using a magic microphone to disguise his voice and convince the parents not to hire Vicky. Eventually, Vicky takes over the station and uses it to get her babysitting services running again.

This episode contains examples of:

• Big "NO!": As Vicky is arrested by the F.C.C. and taken to federal jail at the end of episode, she screams no from the back of the police car.
• Body Sled: During the montage, Timmy and his mom ride the waves with Mr. Turner as a human surfboard, winning first place in a surfing competition.
• Cobweb of Disuse: Vicky’s Babysitting Service becomes overrun with cobwebs, wall cracks, and a tumbleweed after Double-T effectively puts her out of business.
• Felony Misdemeanor: The F.C.C. ultimately arrests Vicky for saying the word “moron” on the radio.
• Good-Times Montage: One of these depicts Timmy, his friends, and their families out having summer fun together as Timmy’s radio show draws the parents away from Vicky’s influence. To boot, the song playing during the montage is entitled, “Vicky Free Summer.”
• I Am Spartacus: At the climax, some of the kids (emphasis on some) try to claim Double-T’s identity as their own to protect the real Double-T, each speaking into the magic microphone to deepen their voice.
  A.J.: (deep voice from the microphone) But that kid up there isn’t Double-T. I am!
  Sanjay: [grabs microphone from A.J.] No, me! I am Double-T in the Morning! Ground me if you dare!
  Chester: [grabs microphone from Sanjay] Luke, I am your father! [stops speaking into microphone] Man, this thing is cool!
• I Can See My House from Here: Cosmo’s reaction upon seeing Timmy’s house while transformed into a traffic copter.
  Cosmo: Hey, I can see your house from here! Man, your house is tan!
• Laser-Guided Karma: Vicky gets several satisfying Butt-Monkey moments throughout the episode. After tricking parents to drop their kids off under her "care" and treating them as slaves, Timmy starts his own station to put her out of business. Then, when she plots to anger the adults into destroying Timmy, the kids band together and save him. Finally, when the F.C.C. get involved, the kids discredit Vicky by claiming she's Double-T and get her arrested for using "moron" on the radio.
• Made a Slave: Vicky makes the boys fan her and do other chores in the hot sun all day. She later has chained kids answer phone calls for her babysitting service.
• Rise of Zitboy: Vicky develops acne on her face as a result of stress from her failing babysitting service.
• Saying Too Much: Cosmo’s live report on the state of Vicky’s Babysitting Service (and her acne) leads Vicky to question how he knows all this information – before turning and seeing the Cosmo Copter peering in from the window.
  Cosmo: And now I think I should go! [flies away]
• Secret Identity Vocal Shift: To prevent Vicky from uncovering the true identity of Double-T, Timmy wishes for a magic microphone that deepens the speaker’s voice.
  Timmy: (as Double-T) I’m not a ten-year-old boy — I’m a man. A big, strong man!
  • This backfires on him later when Vicky gets control of the microphone, which she not only uses to expose Timmy’s identity, but completely tarnish his image by claiming “all parents are morons” for wasting time with their kids (in addition to saying that he likes ponies and unicorns with long eyelashes). This also backfires on Vicky when Timmy uses his microphone to prove the F.C.C. that she's Double-T and called parents "morons".
• Seven Dirty Words: Of a sort. Apparently, no one can say the word “moron” on the radio, only on TV — unless they want the F.C.C. involved.
• Shout-Out: At one point while the kids try to masquerade as Double-T, Chester grabs the mic and says, “Luke, I am your father!”
• Slave Collar: Timmy and the other kids left in Vicky's "care" wear these at one point, held to leashes like pets. Later, it's revealed that everyone working at Vicky's Babysitting Service are wearing these as well.
• Soft Glass: Subverted and Played for Laughs. At her place of business, Vicky attempts to smash a window with her radio when she sees a group of kids outside praising Double-T. Not only does the window not break, the radio rebounds off the glass and hits her back, plunging and trapping her in a tiny ship’s bottle.
  • Later played straight as she kicks the magic microphone through a window of Timmy’s studio.
• Tempting Fate: As Cosmo tries to escape from an enraged Vicky, the episode cuts back to Timmy’s studio:
  Timmy: [to Wanda] You don’t think Cosmo would be dumb enough to come straight here with Vicky following him, do you?
  Cosmo: [appears in the window] Actually, yes. Hide!
  [Vicky bursts through the door]
  • Then there was when Timmy tried to accuse Vicky of being the one to say "moron" on the radio. Vicky thinks she's gotten off scot-free, until she taunts Timmy to prove it, cuing the arrival of the Feds, and all the kids saying she's Double-T, with Timmy putting the nail in the coffin by holding up the magic mic so Vicky ousts herself.
    Vicky: But I'm not Double-T! (leans down to accuse Timmy, but he has the mic out to protect himself, so Vicky sounds like Double-T) He is! (Oh, Crap! look) Ah, oops...
    FCC Federal Agent 1: You can't say "moron" on the radio. You can only say it on TV.
    FCC Federal Agent 2: Let's go, punk!
• Throw the Dog a Bone: One of the rarest times one of Timmy's selfless wishes gives him and everyone else a happy ending. He wishes to start a radio station to put Vicky's "babysitting service" out of business and allowing families to spend time free of Vicky. Even when she catches on Timmy's plot and tries to frame him, she ends up getting herself arrested for using "moron" on the radio. In the end, everyone, including Timmy, go to the beach together for their "Vicky-Free Summer".
• Torches and Pitchforks: An angry mob of parents, triggered by Double-T (actually Vicky)’s “all parents are morons” remark, show up to the studio carrying these.
• Walking Swimsuit Scene: At the start of the episode, Vicky is wearing a two-piece bathing suit while she babysits.