Doug's Derby Dilemma
The kids are all building soapbox racers for the Mt. St. Buster Downhill Speed Race and they all want to win the secret mystery prize, but Doug and Skeeter are having trouble keeping their design a secret. During the race, there's a disaster on the track and everyone finds out that helping a friend is more important than winning.
Tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Doug's Derby Dilemma
- The Big Race: This episode is based around a soapbox derby that all of the characters are trying to win.
- Chariot Race: Doug’s Imagine Spot shows him and Roger in a neck-and-neck chariot race in ancient Rome.
- Dudley Do-Right Stops to Help: Doug & Skeeter have a chance of winning the race until they stop to help Beebe and Chalky after their airbag goes off and traps them in their car.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: As he and Doug try to convince themselves that Beebe and Chalky didn’t steal their car design, Skeeter says “Yeah, why would anyone want to steal our design just to win the incredible mystery prize that everyone wants?” And then they both go running out of the garage to stop them.
- Faceship: Roger’s car is shaped like his own face.
- Here We Go Again!: At the end of the episode, after Doug realizes that winning isn’t everything, he sees an ad for the annual Bluffington Dog Sled Race and mentions to Porkchop that they should enter to try to win the grand prize: a trip to the North Pole!
- Insecurity System: To guard their car, Doug and Skeeter use Mr. Dink’s new security system which has cameras, screens, radars, and several locked doors. Patti gets in easily though by using the side door.
- Lame Comeback: When Roger tells him and Skeeter that he’s going to beat them at the soapbox derby, all Doug replies with is “Oh yeah?!”Doug: Okay, so it wasn’t my best comeback…
- Limited Wardrobe: Lampshaded as Skeeter wonders if the mystery prize is a new wardrobe and then pictures a rack of clothes exactly identical to the ones he’s wearing.
- Spaghetti Kiss: Doug imagines doing this with Patti when he wonders if the mystery prize is a night on the town.
- Undesirable Prize: The third and second place prizes for the race definitely count as this, what with them being a statue of Mayor White and a slightly larger statue of Mayor White respectively. The mystery first place prize is the one all of the competitors want to win, but it ends up being pretty lame as well, as the winner gets to be Mayor for the day and has to spend the whole time writing letters.
Doug's on His Own
Mr. and Mrs. Funnie go to Judy's school dance as chaperons and Doug plans a night in the house all by himself. But a huge thunderstorm knocks out the electricity and ruins his plan. In order to get the power back in his house, Doug must find the power box in his basement…in the dark.
Tropes:
- Big Storm Episode: Doug’s night home alone seems to be going off without a hitch until a big storm makes the power go out and Doug learns that there are as many disadvantages to staying home alone as there are advantages.
- Creepy Basement: In order to turn the lights back on, Doug has to venture into the basement which has taken on a creepy atmosphere with the scary movie Doug watched and the storm raging outside.
- Fear Is Normal: Doug learns that it’s okay to be scared and, often, other people are scared of the same things you are.
- Fear of Thunder: Mr. Dink definitely has this, though he tries to play it off like he doesn’t.
- Frankenstein's Monster: Doug’s Imagine Spot features him fighting off a Frankenstein-like monster in his basement.
- Kids Shouldn't Watch Horror Films: Doug takes advantage of his parents not being home and watches a scary movie on TV called “Freak Out Theatre.” Unfortunately, this combined with the thunderstorm makes Doug’s imagination run wild.
- Non-Indicative Name:Delivery Guy: Delivery! Speedy Pizza!Doug: Speedy Pizza? I called you guys over an hour ago!Delivery Guy: Yes, they should really change the name shouldn’t they?
- Oddball Doppelgänger: The scary movie Doug and Porkchop watch mirrors their own situation of staying home alone on stormy night. Porkchop’s counterpart, Cutlet, looks nearly identical to him, but Doug’s looks more like Skeeter.
- Power Outage Plot: The storm knocks out the power at the Funnie house and makes Doug realize that maybe staying home alone isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
- "Risky Business" Dance: Of course, Doug’s first night home alone has to feature this.
- Rube Goldberg Device: After ignoring Judy’s warning to stay out of her room, Doug triggers a trap she had set up that plays a tape of her reiterating her death threat.
- Shout-Out: Doug watches a horror movie called “The Evil House on the Prairie”.
- Split-Screen Phone Call: Doug has one with Skeeter right before the phone lines go down.
- Spoonerism: Doug says one when going down to the basement with Porkchop.Doug: I’m not porkous, Nervechop.
- Trapped in TV Land: In an Imagine Spot, Doug uses the remote to zap himself into a scary movie in which a house comes to life and eats people.
