The Big Lie
Introducing: --
As kooky as Riley and his inventions are, we love him. Kids Inc. loves him.
Riley is in a chipper mood as he announces to Renee and Gloria that he’s come up with
a great idea for a new restaurant: All-you-can-eat Chinese food, $2. The catch is, you
only get one chopstick. Gloria thinks this is right on board with Riley’s usual ideas
and unfortunately leaves Renee alone. Riley answers the phone, announces he has “a
little medical problem”, and then proceeds to run the mixer and the garbage disposal.
All Renee hears is “…kid…knee…problem…”
By the next number, she’s sufficiently worried, and her second mistake is picking
Stacy to confide in. Stacy swears she won’t repeat it, and she doesn’t –
what she tells The Kid is completely different.
The next day, Kid tells Gloria an entirely different tale, and as Riley limps up to The
P*lace, the kids are all concerned. Renee can’t imagine life without their beloved
friend.
Wherever Ryan was, he returns to a depressed band. Gloria tells him Riley is dying. Where
did she get that? The Kid. Wait…Kid didn’t say that, he said something else.
Where did he get it? Stacy. Where did Stacy get it? Renee.
By now, Ryan has figured something weird is going on. He tells them they’ve all been
playing Telephone, and demonstrates by starting a rumor that ends up entirely different
then what he’d first said.
When Riley finally comes in, Ryan notices that he’s limping. Oh, he just had a little
KID moment; fell off his skateboard and hurt his KNEE. Aha! Renee admits that a bit of
interference could have contributed to her conclusion, and everyone feels silly.
Particularly Riley, since he has no clue what’s going on.
I'm giving this episode a full 5 mics because it was very cute and funny. Of course it's
Renee who starts the whole thing off. I always said she was the heart of the group. Who
calls a scraped knee a “medical problem”, though?
Guest star: --
Invention count: 2
The applauding alarm clock for aspiring actors
Perhaps not an invention per se, but Riley’s idea for an all-you-can-eat Chinese
restaurant with only one chopstick is as odd and doomed to fail as his other ideas.
3 in total
Vocab:
Gweeb (3)
Secret = telling something to one person at a time
Continuity, gags and themes:
Riley’s crackpot inventions
The reappearance of “cutting-edge” video technology for “Don’t Make Me
Sorry”(6)
New Locations: --
Pop culture references:
“Telephone”, the game where one person whispers a statement into another’s
ear, and the message is passed from ear to ear. The ending statement is often far removed
from the beginning statement, with hilarious results
A Pac-Man cocktail table game. For an example, click here.
Anyone got $4400?
Solos:
Renee (2) = 9
Stacy (1) = 4
Episode Total: 3
Total: 86
Performance outfits:
blue/dk. blue/red
Nearly everyone is wearing some sort of Pinocchio garb during “Dead Giveaway”
– glasses with a nose attached, cone-shaped hats, vests, and bowties
- This is one of those episodes where the clothes are used over again, at least for half
the episode. You see it before in episodes like Robot Bop/Leprechaun, too.
These clothes match the ones from I Love You Suzanne
- Riley has some friend named Nancy that we never find out about.
- scraped knee >> kidney problem >> kidney removal >> kidney transplant
>> rare kidney disease
That's an incredible stretch.
- They have a Pac-Man table game! Those were always cool and occupied when you wanted to
use them. I remember spending long afternoons at a hotel when we were moving and we
couldn't go out because my sister had the chicken pox...just playing and frequently dying
at the Pac Man table.
I also remember playing Telephone, but when we played it, all you got was breathing and
giggling in your ear. No one died of kidney disease.
Songs:
Don’t Make Me Sorry –
Good Lovin –
You’re My Friend –
Dead Giveaway –
Over and Over –
Here’s how you voted!
The Big Lie –
Don’t Make Me Sorry –
Good Lovin –
You’re My Friend –
Dead Giveaway –
Over and Over – a unanimous 5 mics!
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