Original air date: 7/23/2004
Production code: PPG-610
Sun Scream: The Powerpuff Girls get sunburned fighting a solar flare and are unable to fight even lowly street criminals.
The City of Frownsville: A depressed scientist named Lou Gubrious uses his machine to switch everyone's happiness with his crying depression, making him the happiest man in Townsville.
Sun Scream provides examples of:
- An Aesop: Always use sunscreen to protect yourself from sunburn.
- Casanova Wannabe: The Professor unsuccessfully tries to impress two women on the beach.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: The Girls don’t panic or even so much as act impressed when they realize a sun flare is heading for them. Instead, they calmly inform everyone about it before heading off to stop the flare with their atomic twister.
- Con Man: The villains of this episode are a pair of conmen, using a game of Three Card Monte to con the Mayor out of his money.
- Embarrassingly Painful Sunburn: This happens to the girls since they consider sun block to be for nerds. At the end of the episode, two criminals suffer this after declaring sunblock to be for nerds.
- Eye Scream: While flying to the scene of the crime, a bird pokes Buttercup in the eye with its beak.
- "Far Side" Island: The girls abandon the two villains on one at the end of the episode.
- Gross-Up Close-Up:
- We get seven different close ups of Blossom's sun-burnt limbs as she attempts to crawl across the bed to get to the phone.
- The girls' sunburns peeling is also shown this way.
- Instant Costume Change: Right after the girls’ sunburn peels, they are instantly in their regular dresses without explanation.
- I Warned You: The Professor doesn't say these words exactly, but he does laugh at the girls because of how the girls said that Sunscreen was for nerds. This prompts the girls to apologize.
- "Oh, Crap!" Smile: Blossom before one of the crooks smacks her, intensifying her pain.
- Overly Long Gag: Blossom struggling to reach the buzzing hotline while suffering pain from the sunburn.
- Prone to Tears: Their sunburn turns all three girls into this.
- Slow "NO!": Bubbles gets one as one of the villains throws a rubber band at her rear end.Bubbles: [trying to get away] NOOOOOOOO-[rubberband hits her bottom] GYAAAAAAAAHHHH!
- Superheroes Wear Capes: The Girls actually start wearing them in this episode since their sunburn makes it too painful for them to change from their swimsuits into their regular dresses. Bubbles thinks it makes them look ridiculous, but Blossom assures her that lots of superheroes wear capes. Buttercup counters by saying they don't wear sheets, which is what they're using as capes.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When the girls get the Aloe Vera dropped all over them, their skin begins to peel off in a disgusting way.
- Additionally, while the girls are immune to lava and fire, they aren't immune to solar flares. As a Deviant Art user pointed out:
There is no inconsistency here. The staff actually did their homework for once. Heat (emitted by lava and other hot objects) is infrared (IR) radiation, while the Girls got exposed to a severe dose of ultraviolet (UV) radiation (among other stuff). They can handle the former, but not the latter, hence the severe sunburn. Heck, they're fortunate that a sunburn is all they got, as they could have easily been killed by the huge dose of gamma radiation they received.— DA user AO 968 - Tempting Fate: The girls, repeatedly throughout this episode:
- The Girls think the sun cannot harm them due to their superpowers. Guess what happens.
- Blossom states that they just need to have faith in the goodness of Townsville’s citizens now that they can’t fight crime; cue to the hotline ringing.
- When flying to Townsville, Buttercup brags how she doesn’t hit any bugs while flying. She promptly hits a bird.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Blossom's reaction when the phone starts ringing.
- Worf Had the Flu: The girls’ sunburn renders them unable to fight even regular, non superpowered thugs they would otherwise easily trash.
The City of Frownsville provides examples of:
- Attack of the Town Festival: Lou Gubrious unleashes his machine onto Townsville during the sixth annual happiness carnival.
- Banana Peel: Lou Gubrious ends up slipping on one in the end of the episode. This gag ends up being what breaks the Miser-Ray's effect on the people.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Lou Gubrious looks at the viewer in his introduction.
- Cheer Them Up with Laughter: The Powerpuff Girls try to make the Townsville people, who are all crying due to a Ray created by the Villain of the Week, Lou Gubrious, laugh. The problem is that the girls are crying as well.
- Circle of Shame: Happens to Lou Gubrious after he slips on the above-mentioned banana peel.
- Crying a River:
- Lou Gubrious cries a sea of tears.
- The Professor announces that Townsville will be flooded with tears in 10 minutes. When the giant monster starts crying, it is shortened to 5 minutes.
- Everybody Cries: The effects of the Miser-Ray causes everyone in Townsville to cry.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Lou Gubrious does this. The Townsville citizens also do this after being hit with the Miser-Ray.
- Mad Scientist: Though he's more of a sad scientist, Lou Gubrious does fit the trope with his lab coat, glasses, and his Miser-Ray.
- Ocular Gushers: Lou Gubrious, and everybody who is affected by the Miser-Ray.
- Personal Raincloud: Lou Gubrious has a personal thundercloud over his head.
- Punny Name: Lou Gubrious (from "lugubrious", meaning "tearful") renames himself Hal Larious ("hilarious") after his machine makes him the happiest man in Townsville.
- Race Against the Clock: The girls only have 5 minutes to reverse the effects of the machine, or Townsville will literally be flooded with tears.
