When Alan Brady gives Mel a furious and undeserved bawling out on the studio stage and starts looking for another producer, the three writers rally to give Mel a confidence boost. Unfortunately, Alan fires Mel for standing up to him, leaving the trio to figure out how to get Mel's producing job back.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Affectionate Nickname: A very happy Mel comes into the office; he got the courage to hit Alan in the shoulder when Alan punched him in the eye. Feeling better than he has in a long time, he says he'll go to the movies with the writers and calls Buddy "little fella" as the two of them walk out of the room.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Alan fires Mel...and within days finds himself drowning in trash and unable to get ahold of his secretary, which are things that Mel usually would have taken care of.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The chewing out Alan gave Mel offscreen was so bad that it made Buddy feel sorry for him. Buddy spends most of the episode not using as many zingers as he usually does and trying to support him. When Alan fires Mel for standing up to him, Buddy backs Rob up when he tries to convince Alan to rehire him and implies that Mel absorbs many of the insults Buddy would like to fling at Alan.
- Running Gag: Buddy being told (or telling himself) to try one of the rolls when the writers take Mel out to lunch and Buddy puts his foot in his mouth.
- Saying Too Much: While the writers are trying to talk Mel up, Buddy chimes in that Fred Fratkin has got nothing on him. The sudden mentioning of another producer makes Mel even more suspicious that his job is on the line.
- Series Continuity Error: One of the things that Alan rants about is that his toupee hasn't been prepped for a bar mitzvah he's doing. He decided to go natural in "Coast-to-Coast Bigmouth" after Laura accidentally spilled that he's bald on public television.
- Shout-Out: Alan makes a reference to Mutiny on the Bounty when the writers confront him.Alan: You guys make me feel like Captain Bligh. You really want Mel back, Mr. Christian?Rob: Yeah.Buddy: So does Mr. Jewish.
- We Want Our Jerk Back!: Alan fires Mel for finally standing up to him, and Rob convinces Alan to rehire him. At first Rob isn't sure why he's sticking his neck out for Mel, who he's always found irritating. He finally decides that Mel's irritating qualities are precisely what make him good at his job.
- Your Favorite: Downplayed; while Rob is on the phone with Buddy and Sally trying to save Mel's job, he eats the dinner Laura made without properly tasting it. When Laura tells him that the dessert he already ate was Bavarian cream pie, he doesn't say it's his favorite, but he's disappointed because he likes it a lot.
