The Boy Who Cried Robot is the second half of the seventh episode of season 1.
The episode was produced in 2002 and premiered worldwide on December 8, 2002 in the United Kingdom and on Nickelodeon in the United States on September 19, 2003.
Synopsis[]
Tuck can't help but call Jenny for every little thing that happens. But when a big problem arises, Tuck's call for help winds up going ignored.
Plot[]
A Mountain of Trouble[]
The Boy Who Cried Robot (2002) begins with a man climbing to the top of a mountain somewhere in Asia. He reaches the peak and dubs the mountain, "Mt. Milajankaro." Suddenly, a flock of birds knock him off the mountain, and he starts falling to his inevitable death.
At the Wakeman Residence, Jenny is alerted of the falling man and flies across the world to save him. Just as she arrives at the mountain, Tuck calls for her from Tremorton. She flies to Tuck's treehouse and asks him what's the matter.
Tuck explains that he and his treehouse friends were talking about cool things and that he told them all about Jenny. But since they didn't believe him, he decided to summon Jenny to prove it. While Jenny is flattered, she tells Tuck that he should only summon her in emergencies. She flies back to the Asian mountain and saves the falling man in the nick of time.
Dam It![]
Some time later, Jenny is alerted of a dam leakage in the Netherlands. She flies down to cover the dam, when suddenly, Tuck calls her again. She has a young villager plug the leaking dam for her as she goes back to Tuck.
Back at the treehouse, Tuck has invited even more friends at an event that he calls "See the Freaky Robot." A bewildered Jenny reminds Tuck to only call for emergencies, so he guilt trips her into helping him as not only does he have a splinter, but so do the rest of his friends.
Tuck the Terror[]
Over time, Tuck continually summons Jenny to help out with things that aren't emergencies, from providing him shade, to serving as his pencil sharpener, to removing the crust from sandwiches, to serving ice cream, to opening bottles, to roasting marshmallows, to renovating his treehouse.
Finally, Jenny reaches her breaking point, and refuses to help Tuck anymore. Later, she tells Brad about how Tuck has been harassing her for help. Just then, a Book Mobile pulls up across the street and starts selling books to kids. Brad buys a book that is very similar to Jenny's situation with Tuck: The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
A Not-So-Happy Ending[]
Later that night, Tuck's friends are all leaving the treehouse, but he insists that Jenny will soon arrive to fly them home. After everybody else leaves, Tuck's mysterious friend, Lon, says that it's time they met "the wolf."
Tuck screams louder than ever before, alerting Jenny of "the wolf." At first, Jenny doesn't buy it, but after seeing how The Boy Who Cried Wolf ends (with the wolf eating the boy), she flies to Tuck's aide. Brad tries to stop Jenny by clinging on to her leg, but it detaches from her body and rockets away with Brad, flying off into the distance.
Jenny arrives at the treehouse once again to find that "the wolf" that Tuck was screaming about was simply Lon's pet dog named Wolf, (Who Tuck claims that the dog is really part wolf). This sends Jenny into a rage, and the episode ends with her chasing Tuck down the streets of Tremorton.
Characters[]
- Jenny
- Brad Carbunkle
- Tuck Carbunkle
- Lon
- Wolf
- Mountain Climber
- George and Carver
- Tuck's other friends
- Book Mobile driver
- Ed
Objects[]
- Book Mobile
- The Boy Who Cried Wolf
- Jenny's Cement Mixer
Quotes[]
Tuck: Jenny?
Jenny: Tuck?
Tuck (to Jenny): Hi!
Jenny: Hi!
Tuck: Hi!
Jenny (to Tuck): Uh...so?
Tuck: Gentleman, our star has arrived!
Jenny (to Tuck): What is this?! I only told you to call only if it was something important!!
Tuck: But it is important! Lon didn't believe you had cool gadgets and stuff. He said you were wimpy!
Jenny (to Tuck): Listen you! I have more important things to do than to perform tricks for a bunch of geeky little boys!
Geek (to another geeky boy): Teeh. GEEK!
Brad (to Jenny): Jenny! Stop Helping!
Brad (to Jenny): Tuck is pulling the exact same scam as the kid in this book.
Trivia[]
- Like most episodes of the series, this episode premiered in a handful of countries before the United States.
- This episode premiered in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2002.
- This episode premiered in Australia on May 9, 2003.
- This episode premiered in Mexico on July 4, 2003.
- The episode's title is a parody of the book The Boy Who Cried Wolf, which is the actual book Brad gave Jenny from the book mobile.
- Lon's name is a reference to Lon Chaney, an actor who appeared in The Wolfman (1941).
- The magazine Jenny reads, Teen Yak, is a spoof of Teen Ink.
- Ed requests then gets denied the book The Catcher in the Rye (1951) from the Book Mobile lady. This may be a reference to the controversy the book generated in schools due to its language and content.
Production Notes[]
- Although this episode premiered in the United States on September 19, 2003, it was actually produced in 2002 according to the credits, as with every other season 1 episode.
- This episode was finished in August of 2002.[1]
- This episode (and every episode up to This Time With Feeling) was added to the United States Copyright Office on December 13, 2002.
- This episode was finished in August of 2002.[1]
- This episode's production code is 102-003, meaning that it was the third story conceptualized and written into an episode. [2] The episode's script was one of the first written for the series, between March and April 2002.
- Despite being the third episode written and boarded, the episode was finished in the order it aired, like the rest of season 1.
- The first draft of this episode's script is dated March 29, 2002.
- The second draft is dated April 3, 2002.
- The third draft is dated April 8, 2002.
- The script was finalized on April 11, 2002.
Gallery[]
Credits[]
The Return of Raggedy Android / The Boy Who Cried Robot (credits)