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"Family Feud" is the second segment of the tenth episode of Season 2, and the forty-fifth Rugrats segment overall.
Characters Present[]
Character Mentioned[]
One-Time Characters[]
- Girl, with Brad in her picture frame
- DJ
Synopsis[]
A friendly game of Charades between the Pickles and the DeVilles escalates into a full-scale War-Between-The-Neighbors. Tommy and Chuckie find ways to stop the battle (unaware that they are only making things worse), while Chas is stuck in the crossfire, having to return everything the neighbors borrowed from each other, as well as being the middleman to their constant bickering.
- - Description from Klasky Csupo
Plot[]
The episode begins with a game of charades with Stu and Howard, the fathers playing against Didi and Betty, the mothers called Fathers vs. Mothers. Stu is acting like a wolf while Howard has a difficult time guessing what Stu is supposed to be. Howard is finally able to figure out that Stu is a wolf when he howls and growls (Didi yells at Stu for cheating, but Betty tells her not to sweat because time is nearly up). Next, Stu begins to dance with an imaginary partner while Howard guesses random phrases like "Wolf Trot," "Skip to My Wolf," and "Stepping on Wolves," (Howard thinks the answer is "Steppenwolf").
Time runs out, and Betty gives the correct answer: Dances with Wolves. Howard admits that he never saw the film and thought it was a musical. Stu argues with him about the film and then about the team-up. Howard says that he doesn't have to be insulted and storms out of the Pickles' house. Didi and Betty laugh at the men's reactions, but when Didi playfully insults Howard's intelligence, Betty takes offense, and the two also end up arguing before Betty leaves for home in a huff with the DeVille twins.
Later, Stu is building up the fence to keep the DeVille's away, with Tommy and Chuckie confused about this turn of events. As they watch, Didi hands a bunch of gardening equipment to Chas and demands that he ask Betty to return the recipe cards she borrowed from Didi. Tommy realizes he won't be allowed to play with Phil and Lil anymore, and he and Chuckie become sad and try to do something about it.
Tommy notices the telephone (what the babies call the "Hello-phone") and tries to call the DeVille's, randomly pressing buttons in the process. They wind up calling a teenage girl (who believes them to be a boy she has a crush on) and a radio DJ (who declares them to be contest winners) before finally hitting Betty's speed dial button. Didi takes the phone away from the babies before they could talk to Betty, asking what the two were doing; Betty, on the other end, thinks Didi is talking to her. Before Betty can answer, Didi hangs up without realizing Betty was on the other line. Angrier than before, Betty calls Didi back and says her call was really immature before hanging up herself, further infuriating Didi.
Tommy and Chuckie try to come up with another idea to get the grown-ups to make up and decide on presents (because Tommy says that after his parents' fight, Stu brings Didi a present in order to make up with her). Tommy and Chuckie fetch Didi's favorite earrings and head back downstairs to the playpen. When Chas returns with the recipe cards, he tells Didi she needs to return the Ultimate Aerobics workout video she borrowed from Betty. Didi gives Chas the tape and demands her sampler pack back from the DeVille's. Chas decides to take Chuckie with him so he can spend some time with Phil and Lil now.
While at the DeVille's house, Chuckie gives the earrings to Phil and Lil and explains his and Tommy's plan. The twins think it's a great idea and put the earrings in the kitchen before leading Chuckie to their parent's room to find a gift of their own. Meanwhile, Betty hands Chas the sampler pack, which has been in her refrigerator since 1976 (she remarks that it still smells like the Bicentennial Party). In their parent's bedroom, Phil and Lil gave Chuckie Howard's watch, which the twins call a "time" (explaining that grown-ups look at them and exclaim "look at the time!").
Back in the kitchen, Chas tries to reason with Betty about ending the feud. Betty says she'll forgive the Pickles...if they grovel at her and Howard's feet. Chas sighs and takes Chuckie with him back to the Pickles' house. While Betty drinks some coffee, she notices the earrings and believes that Howard has given them to her for their anniversary. Howard nervously giggles, saying that he always remembers their anniversary now after what happened the year before.
Back at the Pickles' house, Didi smells the contents of the sampler pack, asking if Betty kept rotting fish sticks in there. Chas tries to reason with Didi and Stu about ending the fight. Stu says all will be forgiven...if the DeVille's erect a 20-foot sign on their front lawn that proclaims their house to be "home of the fatheads." Tommy and Chuckie put the watch on Stu's favorite chair, hoping their plan works. When Stu comes into the room, he notices the watch and believes it belongs to his dad. He puts it on and heads back to the yard to reinforce the fence. Tommy and Chuckie are sad that their plan didn't work but are out of ideas.
Sometime later at the park, the Pickles (with Chas) and DeVille's cross paths while taking their kids to play. Although the two families intend to ignore each other, they notice their belongings (Betty with Didi's earrings and Stu with Howard's watch) and accuse each other of stealing. As the fight escalates to new heights, the babies decide to run away to a place where they can play together again, someplace where everyone lives in peace. Tommy decides that the place is near a trash can. As the arguing continues, Chas suddenly notices that the kids are gone and calls this to everyone's attention. Both sides start to blame each other for losing the babies. Chas has finally had it with the argument and tells all of them off, pointing out that it's both side's faults because they were so focused on insults, grudges, and years' worth of minor fights and disagreements that they forgot about "the most important thing in [their] insignificant lives": their children.
Finally ashamed and remorseful over what they've done, they decide to split up and find the kids. Howard tries to open up a restroom but has trouble opening the door; Didi unlocks the door for him, and they search inside, with no sign of the kids. Stu tries to look around the park from up in a tree but has difficulty climbing it. Betty gives him a leg up, and Stu notices the kids near the trash can. Stu calls out that they're over by the trash can, and everybody rushes over (Didi frets about potential broken glass along the way). Everybody reunites with their kids and agree to finally make up. Everybody apologizes, and Stu even says that he would be honored to have Howard as a partner in their next game together. The episode ends with the families exiting the park and heading back home for some coffee.
Trivia[]
- A similar plot would later be used for an episode of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, titled "The Feud."
- Betty's original earring was seen on her when she was first seen at the park.
- Morals:
- Fighting never solves anything.
- The safety of your youth is important, no matter what.
- Never make big deals out of petty differences.
- Don't get yourself involved with other people's fights. You might only make things worse.
- Just because someone doesn't know what you know doesn't make them stupid.
- This episode shares the same title as the original game show with Richard Dawson and the remake with Steve Harvey.
- While playing charades, Howard thinks Stu is acting out "Steppenwolf", a rock band famous for their song "Born to Be Wild".
- Didi mentions that Howard hasn't seen any films since Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a film that Betty liked.
- Stu derisively suggests that Chas watches reruns of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Goofs[]
- For one scene, while she's sitting on a bench, Betty is seen wearing shorts.
- The closing credits mention Michael Bell voicing Drew Pickles in this episode, though Drew doesn't appear in this or its companion episode, "Reptar on Ice", at all. It does correctly state he voiced Chas Finster (listed as "Charles Sr." here) and Harry.