The first episode of the third season of Rugrats (1991).
Dummi Bear Dinner Disaster
Susie's dad, Randy, has a Dummi Bear executive over for dinner, and Susie fears that if the dinner goes well, they'll have to move.
Twins' Pique
Sick of no one being able to tell them apart, Phil and Lil decide to imitate Chuckie and Angelica, respectively.
"Dummi Bear Dinner Disaster" provides examples of:
- Author Avatar: Paul Gatsby, the creator of The Dummi Bears is a caricature of the series' co-creator, Paul Germain.
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: One of the various ways that Angelica tries to ruin a dinner between Randy and Paul is by spiking the main course with "Volcano Brand" hot sauce. This plan backfires when it turns out that Paul loves spicy food and applauds the cooking as delicious.
- Dinner with the Boss: Randy Carmichael's boss, Paul Gatsby comes over for dinner. The kids try to sabotage things when Susie becomes convinced that her dad will get a promotion and they'll have to move again if the dinner goes too well.
- Dodgy Toupee: Angelica knocks Paul's toupee off his head by throwing food at him.
- Eat the Camera: When Susie starts to cry when everyone seems to have fun, the camera zooms into her mouth but swerves behind her uvula turning the shot into a Mouth Cam.
- The episode ends this way when Angelica screams for her father after food falls from the ceiling and lands on her head.
- "Eureka!" Moment: When Angelica gets upset over having to wear the Dummi Bear costume that Stu made for her, she says that she's going to wreck the dinner at Susie's house as retribution. Tommy objects at first, but then he realizes that may be just what he needs to keep Susie from moving away.
- Food Fight: One of the kids' attempts to ruin Randy's dinner is by starting one of these.
- From the Mouths of Babes: All the adults are trying to impress Paul Gatsby, a cartoonist and creator of the Dummi Bears cartoon, who's having dinner at the Carmichaels' house. Drew in particular is attempting to become business partners with Paul, and when he introduces Angelica...Drew: Angelica, honey, say hello to Uncle Paul.
Angelica: My daddy says your show is the biggest gravy train in town!
Paul: I beg your pardon? - Gone Horribly Right: When Angelica starts a food fight in an attempt to ruin Randy's dinner, the adults have a lot of fun throwing food at each other. Susie then believes that because the adults are having fun, she's going to have to move away after all. Fortunately for her, Paul tells Randy that he wants him to stay in Tommy's neighborhood because of how fun his neighbors are.
- Goofy Suit: Drew has Angelica model a Dummi Bear children's costume he co-developed with Stu, completely covering Angelica from head to toe (though the rubber mask can be removed from the rest of the suit), at the dinner in an attempt for Drew and Stu to let Paul allow them to make more official Dummi Bears merchandise. Angelica doesn't enjoy wearing the costume, and this inspires her to wreck the dinner, getting the main plot underway.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Paul spends the dinner frustrated and grumpy by everyone nonstop talking about the Dummi Bears but he doesn’t hesitate to console Susie when she starts crying about how she doesn’t want to move away.
- Irony: Chas points this out when Paul ignites a shouting match with Betty.Paul: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY REAL LIVES OUTSIDE OF THIS MINDLESS CARTOON?!
Betty: Well, really? We just thought you liked to hear from a few of your fans!
Paul: WELL, I DON'T!
Chas: How can the creator of Happy Bear be so cruel? - Mouth Cam: There were two: the first was when Paul ate the hot sauce-covered pheasant and the second was when Susie started crying, coming in from an Eat the Camera moment.
- Nightmare Fuel: In-universe example. A Dummi Bears scene where Happy Bear escapes from a taxidermist kept Chas up for days. An unconcerned Paul asks if Chas spoke to a psychiatrist about it, to which Chas says he didn't understand.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Angelica originally decides against wrecking the dinner when Susie gives her her Malibu Cynthia beach house, but when Susie reveals that she also got a Malibu Cynthia road racer and wanted her and Angelica to play with it together, Angelica decides to go through with wrecking the dinner.
- Sarcasm-Blind: When Angelica walks in dressed full-body as a Dummi Bear:Tommy: Angelica, is that you in there?
Angelica: Gee no, Tommy, it's a real life Dummi Bear from Dummi Bear Land.
Chuckie: Phew! For a second, I thought that really was Angelica.
Angelica: OF COURSE IT'S ME, YOU BABIES! - Tablecloth Yank: In an attempt to ruin Randy's dinner, Angelica yanks the tablecloth, but nothing on the table falls.
- Toilet Humor: This exchange after Tommy decides to go with Angelica's idea about wrecking dinner;Chuckie: Uh-oh, I smell trouble!
Phil and Lil: Where?
(Phil and Lil check their diapers.)
"Twins' Pique" provides examples of:
- An Aesop: Be happy of who you are and just be yourself. Everyone is different.
- Bittersweet Ending: Near the end of the episode, Angelica urges Lil to throw her father's "quack-u-lator" in the mud, for no reason other than For the Evulz. She refuses, and a frustrated Angelica takes it from her and hurls it towards a mud puddle. Phil runs underneath it and catches it, keeping it from going in the mud. At this point, Tommy gives Phil a congratulatory embrace for making the save... which causes Phil to fall over and drop the calculator in the mud.
- Camera Abuse: The episode ends with Tommy and Chuckie splashing mud on the camera, which forms the words, THE END.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Lil digs through Howard's drawer, some of the things she tosses out are a framed picture (which could either be of another woman or a younger Betty, depending on your view), and a Playboy magazine, complete with centerfold.
- Good Feels Good: After going back to her old self, Lil says acting all tough and mean was sort of fun, but she finds being nice to be better.
- Horrifying the Horror: While acting like Angelica, Lil manages to bully the actual Angelica into submission for most of episode.
- Hypocritical Humor: While bemoaning how their own mother can't tell them apart, Phil and Lil Speak in Unison. Later, when insisting to Tommy and Chuckie that they're two very different people, Phil sheepishly admits he has the same favorite color as Lil.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: As part of their plan to act like Chuckie and Angelica so they can be told apart, Phil messes up his hair and Lil gives herself pigtails.
- Irritation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: In resolving to be different people, Lil opts to act like Angelica because of how tough she is, and Phil opts for Chuckie because of his cautious demeanor. Angelica is intimidated by the new Lil and defers to her orders, while Chuckie is openly annoyed by how cowardly Phil has become.
- It's What I Do: In getting back to his old self, Phil says being the scaredy cat was boring. Chuckie appears to have this attitude about his role in the group, acknowledging how it is a dirty job but one he fulfills.
- Malaproper: The babies pronounce "calculator" as "quack-u-lator".
- Narcissist: Tommy. When Phil and Lil decide that they want to act like someone else, Lil says that she wants to be someone who's never scared and is a born leader, and Phil says that he wants to be someone who's smart and thinks carefully about what he's going to do. Both times, Tommy thinks the twins are talking about him, but Lil tells him that she was talking about Angelica, and Phil tells him he was talking about Chuckie. Tommy does this again near the end of the episode when Lil decides that she wants to be like Phil.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Chuckie is put off by the way Phil acts more cowardly than he does. Notably, he's the one who points out that the fence between the Pickles' and the DeVilles is broken. He also pulls Phil back when they can't open Howard's desk drawer at first.
- Shout-Out: This episode's title is a reference to the TV show, Twin Peaks.
- Single-Minded Twins: Besides looking and dressing almost exactly alike (even in their pajamas), Phil and Lil share the same favorite color (green), and an extreme fondness for eating worms and bugs. In this episode, the twins berate Tommy and Chuckie for addressing them both simultaneously (Tommy greets them with "Hi, guys!"), and demand that they speak to Phil and Lil separately.
- Status Quo Is God: At the end of the episode, Phil and Lil decide to go back to being their normal selves, because Lil likes being nice more than being mean, and Phil likes being adventurous more than being cowardly.
- Suddenly Shouting: In the office, Angelica balks at taking further orders from Lil. In turn, Lil talks quite reasonably to her about all this and questions why a big kid ever listen to a baby.Angelica: Yeah, why should I?
Lil: BECAUSE I SAID SO!
