Joe is chosen over Damont to be the captain of their school's basketball team. Wishbone imagines himself as Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare.
This is the third and final episode to adapt a Shakespeare play, following "Rosie, Oh, Rosie, Oh!", which adapted Romeo and Juliet, and "Shakespaw", which adapted The Tempest.
Tropes
- Adaptational Context Change: In both the original play and the Wishbone adaptation, Prince Hal has a soliloquy in which he justifies his familiarity with the common people. In the play, he's planning to eventually distance himself from his disreputable friends like Falstaff, comparing it to the sun no longer being obscured by clouds. Wishbone's Hal justifies himself using an entirely different sun analogy, arguing that, "if the sun is common, being seen every day, I too shall be common."
- Big Game: The contemporary story does, of course, climax with a basketball game. This is equated with the Battle of Shrewsbury in the play adaptation.
- Down to the Last Play: The game comes down to six seconds on the clock with the opposing team ahead by two points. Joe's team can only pull out a win by scoring a three-pointer before time runs out.
- Faking the Dead: Falstaff's strategy for surviving the Battle of Shrewsbury.
- Inflationary Dialogue: As in the play, Falstaff keeps inflating the number of men who attacked him, only for Prince Hal to eventually reveal that he knows it was only two men because he was one of them. At this point, Falstaff declares that he Knew It All Along and that his apparent cowardice was due to him not wanting to harm the heir to the throne.
- Layman's Terms: In the fantasy portion of the show, Wishbone occasionally translates the Shakespearean dialogue for the benefit of the young audience at home.Henry IV: Could such inordinate and low desires, such rude society as thou art matched and grafted to, accompany the greatness of thy blood, and hold their level with thy princely heart?
Wishbone as Prince Hal: [aside to the audience] He doesn't think I'm acting like a prince. - Magic Countdown: The "six seconds" at the end of the basketball game is more like twenty seconds.
- Mascot: In-universe, Wishbone is the mascot of Joe's basketball team, the Bulldogs, despite him being a Jack Russell Terrier:Ellen: Well, I hope Wishbone's up to it, even if he doesn't look much like a Bulldog.
Wishbone: And who would want to? - "The Reason You Suck" Speech: King Henry IV directs one at Prince Hal, which finally convinces him to shape up. This is the scene in which Wishbone does the most translating.
- Why Are You Not My Son?: King Henry starts off wishing that Hotspur was his son instead of Prince Hal. Note that in real life, Hotspur was actually three year older than King Henry, but Shakespeare opted to give Hotspur an Age Lift, portraying him as being Hal's age.
