Margo is forced into participating in a debutante ball. Jay gets into a ratings war with Humphrey the Hippo.
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch: In her bedroom, the woman that Jay met at the ball says she has a terrible secret just beneath her waist. She then reveals the lower half of the Humphrey the Hippo costume.
- Big Eater: Six bowls of cereal and a gallon of chocolate milk is just another average meal for Jay. To his displeasure, it is also enough to turn his urine pink.
- Brick Joke: Duke remarks their testing determined Jay reminds kids of the Pillsbury Doughboy. He proceeds to poke Jay in the stomach three times, causing him to chuckle each time (much to Jay's annoyance). In the last scene, as Jay bids the audience goodnight, Duke says he's gotta leave them with a laugh and pokes him in the stomach again. When Jay says he thinks that time bruised his kidney, Duke does it again.
- Burn Baby Burn: At the ball, Franklin remarks he forgot to turn off the oven. We then see the house ablaze, and Shackleford says this.
- Do Not Spoil This Ending: Jay comes at the end to ask viewers not to spoil the reveal of the Humphrey the Hippo storyline.
- From Bad to Worse: Played for laughs, as Duke initially thought Humphrey was "a puke green dog." Upon being told the character is a hippo, Duke laments that Jay doesn't stand a chance.
- Holding Both Sides of the Conversation: When Margo calls asking him to escort her to the ball, Jay says he needs to check with his phony secretary, Ethel, and does a bit. Margo stares blankly over this. After the call is over, Jay continues on with it before noting an analyst told him he should really stop doing this. "Ethel" says the analyst is a quack, and Jay agrees.
- Hypocritical Humor: Getting grief from Shackleford, Jay insists he's not just some dumb college kid looking to mooch from the folks. He then says he brought over a bag of laundry.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Jay is disgusted by Humphrey the Hippo not because he thinks the show is stupid but because of the children. What he says at the video store actually gives the woman under the costume pause.Jay: You are an insipid, walking commercial, and your cereal turned my urine pink!
Humphrey the Hippo: Well, you have to eat six bowls for that to happen.
Jay: Yes, yes, and a gallon of chocolate milk, but that's not the point. I think America's children are our future, not the opportunity to make a quick buck. You should be ashamed. - Noodle Incident: According to Marty, Jay once sucker punched Mister Rogers.
- Our Centaurs Are Different: Margo remarks she loves Jay and horse more than anything in the world. She then imagines them being combined into a Centaur form. There's some frolicking through a meadow, but Centaur!Jay would rather step around a fence than try to jump it.
- Recognition Failure:Woman: Excuse me. May I have your autograph?
Jay: Oh, for the third time tonight, I'm not Roger Ebert! - Sadistic Choice: Margo can either go to the debutante ball (thus violating everything she stands for) or she can watch Eleanor shoot her beloved horse. Margo relents and agrees to go to the ball.
- Samus Is a Girl: Humphrey the Hippo is played by an attractive woman, much to Jay's surprise.
- Shout-Out:
- The two guards at the ball are called Betty and Veronica.
- The Reveal of Humphrey the Hippo's identity spoofs the Twist Ending of The Crying Game.
- Soapbox Sadie: During the ball she didn't even want to attend, Margo rushes the stage to chastise the event as "a tasteless contest to see who can waste the most money" and says the money could've been used for a worthy cause to benefit everyone (like feeding the poor or keeping the museum open on weekends). The head of the event has security remove her from the stage.
- Technical Virgin: In private, the dressmaker tells Margo that his profession has a very strict code: virginal white dresses for the actual virgins and an off-white ("hussy white") for the girls who couldn't wait. When asked which it'll be, an embarrassed Margo says virginal white "except for the gloves." (If she meant she was using those hands on herself or someone else is left to our imagination.)
- That Poor Cat: Jay falls on the family cat, Mittens. Twice!
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Since no one asked Margo to dance, the limo driver shares one with her.
- Unlikely Spare: Eleanor randomly shoots a glass of alcohol in Franklin's hand, and he casually reveals he has another one already in his other hand.
- Viewers Are Morons: Duke discusses the trope, citing it as one of the reasons Coming Attractions is losing viewers to Humphrey the Hippo.Duke: Do you know why nobody watches your show?
Jay: Because it's intelligent?
Duke: Well, that's one of your problems! - Wham Shot: In her bedroom, Jay's date decides to reveal something to him. In a Shout-Out to The Crying Game, the camera pans down... to show that the woman is wearing half of the official Humphrey the Hippo costume. That's right — to his initial shock, Jay's been dating Humphrey's actress.
- You Are Fat: As Eleanor forces the Sadistic Choice, Margo pleads with Jay to do something. Jay suggests jumping on the horse and riding it away, to which Eleanor remarks it'd be less cruel to shoot the animal.
