Hop Pop takes the place of an actor who looks like him in an attempt to become famous in Hollywood, only to attract unwanted attention from Mr. X and the FBI.
Full Recap
TBA...
Tropes:
- Aesop Amnesia: This episode reuses the same moral from "A Caravan Named Desire" of Hop-Pop learning that he shouldn't put his desire for fame and stardom above the needs of others.
- Alliterative Title: Hollywood Hop Pop
- Balloon Belly: Anne looks noticeably chubbier when eating cereal on the couch.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Hop Pop gives his acting career to Humphrey because the latter showed him nothing but kindness despite not getting his chance in the spotlight.
- Big "WHAT?!": Hop Pop's commercial catchphrase is a dramatic shout of "Say WHAAAT?"
- Breather Episode: A more light-hearted episode compared to the previous one.
- Call-Back:
- Once again, Anne pushes Hop Pop off of a moving vehicle after a comment he makes.
- It turns out, Mr. X kept the 3 frogs the Boonchuys left behind in the theatre from his last run-in with them, and is introduced taking care of them in his kitchen whilst watching his favorite show of Judge Julie.
- Anne once said that Hop Pop's Big "WHAT?!" exclamations were the 'perfect sitcom catchphrase'. She's proven right here, as letting out one of these is precisely what nets him the audition, and it later becomes his Character Catchphrase on the commercial ad.
- The Chase Scene passes through movie studios filming Tarantu-Lad, Suspicion Island, and Frinthistle Manor.
- Continuity Nod: The episode touches on Hop Pop's acting dream only now it ends with the elder frog letting go of that dream to focus on what truly matters. He then claims he wants to direct.
- Crying Wolf: The F.B.I. agents are starting to get irritated with Mr. X crying "aliens" only to be proven wrong when they get there.
- Didn't Think This Through: When Hop Pop took on the role in what he though was a play, he did not realize that this could cause unwanted attention for both his family and Anne.
- Evolving Credits: Starting from this episode, the shot of Marcy in a Healing Vat in the opening credits is replaced with Darcy, now wearing a cape. She's also next to Andrias in the final shot just before the title appears.
- Facepalm: One of the FBI agents does this upon realizing what he believes is another hoax that Mr. X found involving frogs.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus (doubles as Actor Allusion): Mr. X has photos of Ru Paul on his fridge.
- Heartbreak and Ice Cream: Mr.X let's Jenny know he's going to need a lot of ice cream to emotionally recover from this fiasco.
- Horrible Hollywood: Inverted. Anne says actors are treated like gods, and Humphrey happily gives up his audition slot to Hop Pop.
- Identical Stranger: Humphrey looks a lot like a human version of Hop Pop. This again results in Mr. X summoning his F.B.I. squad against the wrong target at the end, once Hop Pop ends up giving Humphrey his audition slot, making it look like he overreacted again.
- Ironic Echo: Anne calls Sprig gullible when he expresses surprise at Suspicion Island not being real. He then throws the word back at her when she meets the Frinthistle Manor cast and learns that none of them are British.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Apparently Sprig believed that Suspicion Island took place on an actual island and not a studio building.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Mitch Harbor's surname and propensity for flashy, explosion-laden sci-fi action movies make him a pretty obvious stand-in for Michael Bay.
- Oh, Crap!: Anne when she discovers that the "play" Hop Pop was auditioning for was, in fact, a commercial, which she knows will give her frog family attention they cannot afford, and that it's possible that attention will be from Mr. X.
- Only Sane Woman: Anne is the only one concerned with how the situation they're in will inevitably draw a lot of attention, including possibly Mr. X. Sprig and Polly are in awe of Hop Pop's newfound fame, Hop Pop is too excited and happy about his attention, and Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy consider charging Hop Pop rent and brush off the possibility that Mr. X will even notice the commercial.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Anne, Sprig and Polly are surprised to discover that the actors from Frinthistle Manor aren't really British—in fact, they have what sounds like Southern American accents.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Hop Pop tells Anne that he successfully auditioned for a play, which Anne considers enough of a low-key event that she doesn't think it'd cause any trouble. It's not until she sees him appearing on every channel on the TV that she finds out the 'play' was actually a commercial ad, which Hopediah didn't realize the difference between.Anne: Hop Pop! That wasn't a play! They were filming you for a commercial!!
Hop Pop: You lost me, Anne. - Promotion to Opening Titles: Darcy now replaces the scene of Marcy in a tank during the opening and she joins Andrias in the splash image at the end.
- The Reveal: Agent Jenners (whom Mr. X refers to as "Jenny") is confirmed to be female.
- Shout-Out:
- Mr. X's favorite show, Judge Julie, is a direct call out to Judge Judy.
- One of the elderly actors looks like Master Roshi.
- The famous director having his office in a water tower on a studio lot may be a reference to Animaniacs, even with any possible Warner Bros. iconography removed.
- The Show Goes Hollywood: A byproduct of having the 3rd season be set in LA.
- Spit Take: Anne does one with cereal and milk when she sees Hop Pop starring in a commercial on television. Mr. X has the exact same reaction, even having the same food.
- Tempting Fate:
- Mr. Boonchuy suggests that Mr. X, as a busy federal employee, isn't going to notice the commercials with Hop Pop in them. Cut to Mr. X doing exactly that.Mr. X: And they said I was crazy for not paying for ad-free streaming...
- Mr. X likewise insists that they got Hop Pop "for real this time", only for Hop Pop to once again elude him.
- Mr. Boonchuy suggests that Mr. X, as a busy federal employee, isn't going to notice the commercials with Hop Pop in them. Cut to Mr. X doing exactly that.
- Villainous Breakdown: Mr. X has a more obvious one at being thwarted this time, in part because the failure also resulted in Mitch promising to sue the F.B.I. for his mistake. He tells Jenners that he's going to need a lot of ice cream to get over his loss this time.
- Villains Out Shopping: Contrary to what Mr. Boonchuy thinks about his role as a busy government federal agent, Mr. X is introduced in this episode doing perfectly normal things around his house, feeding the Earth frogs the Boonchuy parents left behind for him from the movie theater and watching his favorite show Judge Julie in his dressing gown eating cereal.
