When The Alan Brady Show uses a couple of ducklings for the week's program, soft-hearted Rob ends up taking them home, which creates a problem as they grow to maturity.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Alternate Catchphrase Inflection: Laura usually says "Oh Rob!" in a weepy, half-coherent warble after something deeply upsets her, but in this episode, she says it in a horrified tone after Rob mentions a nightmare in which he turned on the garbage disposal while Stanley was in the sink.
- Appetite Equals Health: Stanley doesn't want to eat his breakfast, which upsets Laura because that was also the way Oliver began acting before he died. Given the ending, it's implied he was too unhappy being in a house rather than somewhere more duck-suitable that he didn't have much of an appetite.
- An Aesop: If you love something, set it free.
- Crazy Cat Lady: Rob takes a duck to the vet (long story). He first meets a crazy dog lady who talks to her dog as if he's a person. Then he meets a crazy cat lady, who only has one cat but thinks the cat believes she is pregnant. Then he meets a seemingly regular guy, who tells him not to worry, he knows the difference between an animal and a person. He was there to pick up his kangaroo.
- Cuteness Proximity: Despite his better judgment, Rob succumbs to how cute and soft the ducklings are and brings them home. Laura likewise tries to resist the adorableness. However, she's outnumbered.
- Dog Walks You: One man in the vet's office gets dragged around a bit by his pet kangaroo.
- Ignoring by Singing: When Rob tries to get her to listen to the ducklings' cheeping, Laura sings "Swanee River" to block it out, convinced that one of them has to remain in control.
- Lazily Gender-Flipped Name: While Rob is telling Ritchie about how happy Stanley is at the lake, he mentions Stanley noticing another duck. Ritchie asks if it was like Oliver, and Rob says that he thinks it was more like Olivia.
- Loophole Abuse: Rob insists that he can't take the ducklings home, citing how upset Laura became when a couple of chicks he brought home for Easter died the same day. He declares that he's not bringing home any more chicks. Buddy points out that these are ducklings, not chicks.
- Married Animals: Rob describes setting Stanley free at the lake and Stanley noticing a female duck and swimming after her like a speedboat. Hearing that Stanley is happy, Ritchie relaxes, but he asks if they can visit Stanley and Olivia and give them a wedding present (some caviar that Ritchie mistook for spoiled jam).
- Ominous Hair Loss: When Stanley gets "sick", he begins molting.
- Pet's Homage Name: The Petries name the two ducks Stanley and Oliver, after Laurel and Hardy.
- A Pet into the Wild: Rob ultimately releases Stanley into the lake after becoming convinced Oliver died because he wasn't suited for life in a house. He then has to explain to the upset Richie.
- Your Tomcat Is Pregnant: Trying to convince Laura that keeping the ducklings could benefit them, Rob says that they can get fresh duck eggs every morning. Laura drily asks if he means from Oliver or Stanley.
