The third episode of the third season of Tiny Toon Adventures, and the eighty-first episode overall.
Buster and Babs are being chased by the FOX Network Executives, a pair of hungry foxes.
Short One: "My Brilliant Revenge!"
Hamton destroys Plucky's bagpipes since it made him miss his annual TV show, Swine Search. Plucky plans revenge but Hamton settles the matter with an apology.
Short Two: "Can't Buy Me Love"
A new neighbor called Rhoda Queen arrives in town. Elmyra's eager to become friends with her, but Rhoda is a spoiled brat who threatens to break up with Elmyra unless her demands are met.
Short Three: "Phone Call From the 405"
Babs gets a phone call from Steven Spielberg, who isn't happy with the scene's progress. Buster and Babs and attempt to get the scene right, but in the end, they get tired of Spielberg and include him in the chase.
This episode provides examples of:
Overall:
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: Following the show's Channel Hop from syndication to FOX Kids in fall 1992, the wraparounds feature Buster and Babs being chased by a pair of hungry foxes, which Babs flat-out states are the FOX Network executives. One of the earliest FOX-related examples of this trope.
- Credits Gag: Steven's Car Phone #: - 555-5555 ($1.95 Per Minute).
- Foul Fox: The FOX Network executives are depicted as a pair of hungry foxes who chase Buster and Babs throughout the episode.
- Take That!: After Babs knocks out the FOX Network Executives, Buster comments that they could have been stuck on the Peacock Network, a direct insult to NBC for shutting down its Saturday-Morning Cartoon block at the time of the episode's broadcast.
- Three Shorts
My Brilliant Revenge!:
- Actor Allusion: When Hamton misses Swine Search, he says, "Darn, darn, triple darn!", referencing a catchphrase said by the famous Hanna-Barbera villain, Dick Dastardly. Although Don Messick did not provide Dastardly's voice, he did provide the voice for Muttley, his canine sidekick.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Hamton destroys Plucky's bagpipes in a fit of rage when they make him miss Swine Search.
- Everything's Louder with Bagpipes: Plucky's loud bagpipe playing overpowers Swine Search on TV (which Hamton has been waiting all year to watch). After missing the entire show due to the noise, Hamton rips up Plucky's bagpipes.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Plucky willingly throws Hamton out of his chair and lets himself fall victim to his own trap.
- Incessant Music Madness: Plucky practices his bagpipes for the Acme All-Bagpipe band outside Hamton's house. Hamton tries to watch his favorite show, Swine Search, and can't hear it over Plucky's bagpipes. At first, he politely asks Plucky to stop, but Plucky ignores him and continues practicing. When Hamton misses the entire show, he destroys Plucky's bagpipes in a fit of rage.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Plucky feels guilty about planting the radio at Hamton's house after an Imagine Spot where Hamton apologizes to him and gives him a new set of bagpipes.
- Never My Fault: Hamton ripping Plucky’s bagpipes to shreds was perhaps an overreaction. But Plucky completely ignores the fact that Hamton had politely asked him not to play so loudly, and he deliberately did so out of spite.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: At the end of the short, it is revealed that Hamton taped Swine Search.
- Taking the Bullet: When Hamton returns to his house just as the radio is about to go off, Plucky throws him out of his chair and becomes the victim of his own trap.
Can't Buy Me Love:
- Aesop Amnesia: At the end of the short, Elmyra tells Furrball that friends should like each other without having to give up anything if they don't want to. Rhoda then tells Elmyra that she'll be her best friend again if she got her mom's car keys and drove her to Utah, which Elmyra agrees to.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Rhoda pulls a sweet girl facade in front of her mother, while showing her nasty side to Elmyra.
- The Bully: Rhoda clearly bullies and takes advantage of Elmyra, forcing her to surrender a lot of things she loves in life so she can be friends with her.
- Bullying a Dragon: Rhoda trying to bully Montana Max goes about as well for her as you'd expect.Montana Max: (dumps cherry cola on Rhoda and pushes her away) Nobody calls me a dumb-butt geek and gets away with it!
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Furrball looks directly at the audience, giving a "Well, whatcha gonna do...." shrug when Elmyra once again is under Rhoda's sway.
- Devil in Plain Sight: Rhoda. She abuses, manipulates, belittles and uses Elmyra seconds after they first meet, and never treats her with any kind of respect or kindness.
- Establishing Character Moment: Rhoda is first shown with an ominous crash of thunder
- Evil Versus Evil: In this case, Evil Vs. Obliviously Evil, in the respective forms of Rhoda and Elmyra.
- For the Evulz: Rhoda. Justified, in that she was based on Rhoda Penmark from The Bad Seed.
- Girlish Pigtails: Rhoda has them.
- Laser-Guided Karma: For bullying Elmyra throughout the short, Montana Max dumps a cherry cola on Rhoda and pushes her away when she calls him a "dumb-butt geek". Elmyra also gives her a "The Reason You Suck" Speech when she wants her to give Furrball to her. Unfortunately, due to Elmyra's Aesop Amnesia, the latter doesn't last too long.
- Pet the Dog: Near the end of the short, having previously put up with everything Rhoda put her through, Elmyra refuses to give Furrball to her when she demands that she do so. Elmyra may cause a lot of pain to Furrball and the other Tiny Toons, but this short proves that they mean a lot to her, and she would do anything to protect them.
- Piggy Bank: Rhoda forces Elmyra break open her piggy bank so she can spend all her money at the movies. The bank sheds a single tear before meeting its end with a hammer.
- Pink Means Feminine: Rhoda wears a pink dress.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Elmyra gives one to Rhoda, telling her she'd rather lose a friend like her than give Furrball up to her, having previously put up with everything she put her through.
- Shout-Out:
- This short's title is a reference to the 1964 Beatles song "Money Can't Buy Me Love".
- Rhoda's design is based on the character from The Bad Seed (1956).
- Talking with Signs: Furrball holds up a sign that says, "LUCKY ME!" when Elmyra refuses to give him to Rhoda.
Phone Call From the 405:
- Beware the Nice Ones: Sneezer does not like being tricked into having to calm Spielberg down.Sneezer (in a demonic voice): Don't you ever do that to me again! NOT EVER!
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: When Spielberg requests a night scene with many shadows, paintbrushes paint the scene black until all that can be seen are the eyes of Buster, Babs, and the FOX Network Executives.
- Cliché Storm: Spielberg sees the "falling-off-the-cliff" gag as being done to death, so he requests something more original. Buster and Babs improvise by painting train tracks at the end of the hollow log the FOX Network Executives chase them through.
- Creator's Pet: In-Universe, Sneezer is so well liked by Spielberg, he can get him to calm down when Buster and Babs get him really angry.
- Disney Villain Death: The FOX Network Executives fall off a cliff at the beginning of the short, and Buster and Babs also fall victim to this after their handcar falls off some unfinished tracks.
- The Dog Bites Back: After having put up with everything Spielberg put them through, Buster and Babs pull him out by his car screen and near the FOX Network executives when he criticizes that their fall off the cliff was all wrong and needs to be done over.
- Handcar Pursuit: After the FOX Network Executives get run over by a train, Buster and Babs run over them again on a handcar from the opposite direction.
- The Other Darrin: While Spielberg provided his own voice in "Buster and Babs Go Hawaiian", Frank Welker provides his voice in this episode.
- Prima Donna Director: In-universe, Steven Spielberg, as he re-writes pretty much everything about a skit Buster and Babs just finished, and even after they do everything he tells them, Spielberg criticizes that their fall off a cliff was all wrong and they should just do it over.
- Sneeze of Doom: Sneezer sneezes himself away after calming Spielberg down and telling Buster and Babs off for making him do so.
- Thick-Line Animation: Parodied briefly.
- Track Trouble: Buster and Babs' handcar falls off some unfinished train tracks at the end of the cliff.
