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| — Introduction — Cast — Episode Guide — Behind the Scenes — |
1982
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PlaysSam is doing his rounds, when he discovers that the Children's Department looks very different than normal. Jodie explains that since today's special is "plays", she set up a theater as her display, and that the children will see a group that puts on plays. Sam approves, and compliments Jodie on her work on the mannequins, remarking about how lifelike they looked. When Jodie mentions that Jeff helped her with the mannequins, Sam informs her that he's looking for Jeff. Jodie doesn't know where Jeff is. Jeff has been standing still nearby, and breaks his pose to surprise Sam with a tap on the shoulder. Sam reacts with surprise, to which Jeff responds, with a smile, "May I show you to your seat, sir?" Jodie expresses confidence that the kids are really going to like the plays that they see. Sam says that he might drop in as well. Jeff doesn't know what a play is, and asks if it's like a story. Jodie explains that it is a story, and people called actors pretend that they're the people in the story, and act out the story. Jeff compares it to make-believe, and wishes that he could be in a play. Sam suggests that Jeff could come up tomorrow and see if the people putting on the plays could use him. Unfortunately for Jeff, he's a mannequin in the front window during the day. Jodie has an idea: they can put on a play right now, and Jeff can be in it. Sam, however, points out one problem: we have a quiz to do. After the quiz, Jeff is still in awe, asking, "You mean we can really put on a play, right here?" Jodie confirms, as they have everything that they need. Sam reminds them that they have everything except Muffy, and that she would love to be in a play. Muffy then pops up from behind the ticket counter, asking, "Did someone say we'll do a play? Hip hip hooray!" Jodie says that now that everyone is together, they can choose what kind of play they want to do. When Jeff asks about it, Jodie explains that there are many different types: funny, sad, about real people, or about make-believe people. Sam adds that some plays have music in them. Jodie suggests that Jeff pick the type of play that they do. Jeff doesn't know, so he passes the decision on to Muffy. Muffy remarks, "They all sound good to me so far, as long as I can be the star." When Jodie bring everyone back together to pick a play, Muffy continues, "I'm sure that we'd bring down the house if our play features Muffy Mouse!" When everyone else doesn't react favorably to Muffy's suggestions, Muffy demonstrates her acting ability, performing a sad scene: "Woe is me. Alackaday. Sad misfortune's come my way. Fate has brought me to my knees. Someone's stolen all my cheese!" and then begins to sob. Sam describes the scene as magic. "Right before our eyes, we saw a mouse turn into a ham." Sam then explains to Jeff that a ham actor is someone who overacts. When Muffy questions Sam's charaterization of her acting, he responds, "Well, actually, Muffy, now that I look at you closely, you're more like a little pork chop!" Jeff, meanwhile, has decided what kind of play he wants. He wants something with a little music, and parts for everyone. Jodie goes to the book department to look for a story. Down in the Computer Room, Sam is having a sip of tea. He then turns to TXL to tell her about what's going on. "Wait'll you hear what we're doing, TXL. Holy cow!" TXL is quick to correct Sam, admonishing him, "Mr. Crenshaw, may I remind you that I am not a cow." When Sam, in his effort to calm her down, tells her to hold her horses, she responds, "Or any other barnyard animal! I am a TXL Series 4 computer." Sam then finally is able to explain to TXL what's going on. They're all putting on a play, and he's going to be in it. TXL is delighted, and asks Sam if he's ever acted before. Sam hasn't, but TXL reassures him that he will do just fine, regardless of what part he's playing. She explains in song: "Play your part. Do the best you can do. Try with all your heart, and you'll make the most of you." She then goes on to describe different parts that Sam might play, including a king, a pauper, an airplane pilot, a movie star, a garbage man, and a tycoon. Sam joins in the singing. At Muffy's house, Muffy is holding a pen and looking at a notepad. She has just finished writing a play. Muffy explains that each word that is said on a stage is first written on a page. That's what playwrights do. Muffy's play has only one character: herself. The play is titled Hickory Dickory Dock, and uses the clock in her room. However, the clock is set at the wrong time for the play, since the clock is supposed to strike at 1:00. We help her set the clock to the right time. Muffy plans to take the clock with her to show the others, but, upon encountering difficulty moving the clock, she decides against it, especially considering that her door is too small. However, it's big enough for her, or at least she thinks. When she has trouble getting through, she remarks, "Almost!" Back in the Children's Department, Jeff is trying on an usher's hat, over his magic hat. Unfortunately the hat doesn't look right with his magic hat. Jodie comes in, announcing that she found a book to use for the play: "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". Jodie reads the story to Jeff and Sam, which is about a little boy whose job is to watch over his grandfather's sheep. The little boy decides it might be fun to play a trick on the village people by pretending that a wolf was coming after the sheep, shouting, "Wolf!" The villagers came running, and the little boy laughed. The boy's grandfather admonished him not to tell lies. Then one day, when a real wolf came, the boy called "wolf", and no one came, assuming that it was another trick. The boy lost all of the sheep to the wolf, and learned an important lesson about telling lies. Sam and Jeff both like the story. There are four parts in the story, and she has written the different parts on slips of paper. Each person was to draw a slip of paper to determine which part they would play. Jodie comments that she wished that Muffy was there, but they then hear a sneeze. They soon discover that the sneeze is coming from a nearby hat, and then, after a big sneeze, the hat falls down to reveal that Muffy is under the hat. Muffy suggests that they try her play, which she says will be a lot of fun. Jodie, upon reading the play, points out a problem: Muffy's play only has one part. Muffy responds by saying, "Oh, that's just talk. You'll move the clock!" However, Muffy is quickly convinced that the other play is a better idea, because everyone has a part. Then everyone draws a slip to get their part. Sam will play the grandfather, Jeff will play the boy, Jodie will play the wolf, and Muffy is the sheep. Everyone is excited about the parts that they're going to play except for Muffy, who is dismayed about her role as the sheep. Jodie then discusses what needs to be done for the play. Jodie will write the script, Jeff volunteers to take care of the costumes, and Sam volunteers to handle props - after he does his rounds. After everyone leaves, Muffy explains her dismay at playing the sheep. "My Uncle Fred climbed mountains steep. My great granddad sailed oceans deep. My mother drove a four-wheel Jeep. But me? I get to play a sheep. Well!" Next, we see Jeff walking onto a stage. He wonders where the costume chest that Jodie mentioned was. Suddenly, it appears in view. Jeff is in awe of the magic chest, but soon is disappointed to find that it's locked. He bets that if we clap out a special rhythm, it will come open. He claps out a rhythm, and then asks us to join in. After we clap the rhythm with Jeff twice, the box opens, and the stage backdrop changes to a castle. Jeff then sings a variation of the song that TXL sang earlier, as he demonstrate with different items in the chest. "You can have a pirate fight with swords. You can be a workman carrying boards. You can be a poet writing verse. You can be a doctor or a nurse. You can be a fireman fighting fires, or a mechanic changing tires. I know you'll be happy from the start if you just play your part!" Back in the Children's Department, we see Sam practicing his lines, while Jodie puts on makeup. Jeff then walks in with a box of costumes. Sam, not having noticed Jeff, practices his line again, saying, "WHAT did you say THAT for?" Jeff responds to Sam, who then says, "Don't you EVER say that again!" Jeff begins to apologize, and then Sam turns to Jeff, wondering what he is apologizing for. Jodie then realizes what's happening and stops Jeff, explaining that Sam wasn't talking to him, but was practicing his lines. Jeff then asks what Jodie is doing, and she explains that she's putting on makeup. Jeff is initially confused, as he thought that they were all going to make up the play. Jodie then explains that makeup is something that actors use to change their appearance for the parts that they play. Sam brings up the time that he and Jodie went to the Adelaide Court Theatre, and saw lots of makeup there when they met a person who worked there. Jodie offers to show Jeff and all of us what happened when they went to the theater. At the theater, Jodie and Sam are standing in the theater, when out comes Allen, dressed as a king. After saying hello, he recites lines from William Shakespeare's play, The Life of King Henry the Fifth:
Sam and Jodie are impressed. Sam comments that it must be fun, but Jodie isn't sure, noting that there's a whole audiencce watching you. Allen, however, remarks that you have costumes, and puts the crown that he had been wearing on Jodie's head. That makes Jodie smile. He then puts his cloak on her. He then explains that they have makeup, and they go to another room. In the other room, we see Allen with clown makeup on his face. Allen explains that upstairs, he was a king, but clowns are important, too, because they make people laugh. He then explains that he has wigs and clown makeup. He also has a fake mustache, which he offers to Jodie to try on. In trying it on, Jodie says, "Okay, watch this. First a queen... now a king!" Sam remarks, "Now we both have mustaches. We could be brothers, I guess." Allen then puts on his clown hair. Sam notes that it's bald in the middle. Then he puts on a pointy clown hat. Finally, to complete the costume, he puts on a big red nose. He then points out that, "In the theater, you can ke a king. You can be a clown. You can be anything." Back in the Children's Department, Jeff and Sam comment on how fun the experience in the theater was. Jodie then reminds them that they need to attend to their costumes. Jeff wonders where Muffy is, to which Jodie responds that she hopes that she's practicing her lines. At Muffy's Place, we see Muffy wallking the room, practicing her lines: "Baa! Baa!" Muffy then decides that she's going to quit the play. "I'm not going to be in it. No way!" In the Children's Department, Jodie is wearing her wolf costume, while calling for Muffy. Muffy pops up, and Jodie tells Muffy that she needs to hurry up and put her costume on. Muffy explains that she's not participating in the play. Jodie quickly sees where Muffy is coming from: she doesn't like being the sheep. Muffy doesn't like the part because it's too small. However, Jodie explains that in a play, every part is important, and that without Muffy's role, they can't do the play. Muffy soon has a change of heart, and agrees to play her role. We then see a curtain, as TXL announces the start of the play. The curtain opens to a scene showing a house, trees, and mountains. Jeff, playing the boy, plays a flute and sings. Muffy, as the sheep, stands nearby, singing with him. Sam, playing the grandfather, sits against the house, apparently asleep. As in the story, the boy shouts "Wolf!" when there is no wolf. The grandfather wakes up, and comes running, only to discover that there is no wolf. The grandfather tells the boy not to tell lies, and then goes back to the house. The boy begins singing again, and then wonders if his grandfather will fall for the trick again. He does. The grandfather warns the boy that he will be sorry if he does that again. The boy remarks that it was even funnier the second time. He wonders if he should try it a third time. Then, much to the boy's surprise, a wolf comes in and starts taking sheep. The boy cries "Wolf!" again, but his grandfather ignores him, assuming that it's another trick. The wolf takes all of the sheep. The boy is crushed. "I've lost all my sheep to the wolf, just because I tricked people. I'll never tell lies again." The curtain closes, and we hear applause. The curtain then reopens. Everyone is singing "Play Your Part" again, and everyone takes a bow at the end of the song. |
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