Episode 101 - Get Away From My Mom

Cast:
Brendon Small – Brendon Small
Jason Penopolis – H. Jon Benjamin
Melissa Robbins – Melissa Bardin Galsky
Coach Jon McGuirk – H. Jon Benjamin
Paula Small – Paula Poundstone
Josie Small – Loren Bouchard
Erik Robbins – Jonathan Katz

Synopsis: Brendon is horrified to find out that Paula is going out on a date with McGuirk. Meanwhile, Brendon, Jason and Melissa make “The Dark Side of the Law” and its sequel.

History:
· This is the first episode of Home Movies.
· This episode is one of “The UPN 5”. Therefore, it has Paula Poundstone as Paula and is 100% retroscripted.
· This is one of two episodes to have an opening (Brendon runs around the house, and stops at Paula, who has his camera)
· Brendon, Jason, Melissa, McGuirk, Paula, Josie and Erik are introduced in this episode. The referee character is introduced as well. You can also see the Shannon character as one of the soccer players, but he is not mentioned.
· Tom Snyder (owner of Soup2Nuts) helped with writing on this episode.

Lawn Gnomes:
· This is one of the few episodes without any Lawn Gnomes (I know of).

Brendon’s Filmography:
· The Dark Side of the Law: In a world gone mad, there stands one cop fighting against evil and injustice.
· The Dark Side of the Law II: You thought Dark Side of the Law was the last of the films, with that title. You were wrong! Coming to theaters, Dark Side of the Law II! He thought he was above the law, he was wrong! Academy Award Nominee Brendon Small gives his most paralyzing performance. This film is not yet rated.

The Movie-Episode Connection:
· Since this is the pilot episode, the movie exists simply so that we can see that Brendon makes movies with his friends. There's no real connection to the story.

Random Observations & Facts:
· McGuirk’s tattoos of the cow/banana have appeared numerous times throughout the series.
· Brendon’s attitude towards McGuirk (“big fat crappy Irish guy”, “McGuirk the jerk”) is totally out of character with the rest of the series.
· You know how Erik goes “Did that guy just give me the finger?” He did.
· This is one of the few episodes of Home Movies with toilet humor (mostly from Jason).
· McGuirk has a “Soccer Rules!” and “Soccer: Hardcore!” poster in his office.
· There is a weird version of Perry (with blonde hair) on the soccer field.
· Josie plays on a soccer ball during the game.

Movie & Other References:
· The red wire/blue wire angle from “Dark Side of the Law” is one of the classic movie clichés.

End Credits: “Season One Theme”

Reviews: WARNING: Spoilers

Superloud: Is it just me, or did some parts of this episode seem to move really quickly compared to other parts? Brendon and McGuirk's voices seemed a little bit higher than they are now, and Paula Poundstone as Brendon's mom was just really had to get used to. This episode wasn't all that funny, but I've seen a few of the later season one episodes, so I'm glad it picks up after this slow start.

StrangerAtaru: As far as pilots go (and I have seen this one several times), there are parts that work and parts that don't. What worked included the movie trailers for "Dark Side of the Law", McGurk, and some of Brendan's lines ("Play Freebird!") Unfortunately, there are some parts that felt a little off and were completely pointless to the story. And because I am so used to the other Paula, Paula Poundstone just doesn't work with me.

DrWeird: I've seen this episode a couple of times, and every time I saw it, I didn't like it. Maybe it was the fact I was watching it "live", or because I was slightly tired, but I liked it a lot more when I saw it yesterday. Alot of people bash the first season, however it had a certain (for lack of a better word) charm that wasn't in season 2 or 3.

First off, as a pilot for a new TV show, this episode wasn't that good. It barely managed to include Melissa and Jason in the episode, and Melissa was mostly with her father. McGuirk and Brendon seemed way off in this episode (compared to their relationship as of the new episodes) such as Brendon calling him "McGuirk the jerk". Everything in this episode seemed a little off.

The positives in this episode included McGuirk talking to the soccer team (something he hasn't done much in the new episodes) Brendon staying on the phone with Paula and McGuirk and McGuirk's tattoos. The negatives included the infamous Jason snot scene (this was the scene that got associated with the show back in the UPN days, if I remember correct), and a lack of any Brendon, Jason and Melissa moments. Also, what was with that "Duck Talk" sequence? I thought that was just dumb.

Rating: C
Positives: McGuirk on the soccer field, Retroscripting, the tattoo bit, The Dark Side of the Law Trailer
Negatives: Duck Talk, Gross-Out Jason Humor, Lack of Brendon Jason and Melissa, Paula on the phone (I'm glad they stopped doing this), Off Characterization