Animal Testing

Animal Testing
	Season 1, Episode 1b
Air date	December 26, 2005
Written by	Julie McNally-Cahill; Timothy Cahill
Directed by	Timothy Cahill
	Episode guide
Previous; Inoculation Day	Next; Lyon of Scrimmage

Animal Testing is the second half of the first episode of the first season.

Synopsis[]

A placement test score puts Adam in a nerd class with The Spiffles and the gangs' only hope seems to be a spelling bee. Can the gang win and return Adam to his old self again?

Plot[]

Adam sits by a tree, reading a book. He reads aloud the word "nautical", and out of nowhere, Jake starts swinging through the vines, spelling the the word, perfectly. Stunned by his orthographic excellence, Adam calls over the rest of the gang to hear him. But this time, Jake misspells the word as "Derf". Adam questions why he missed that one and Jake shrugs it off, saying that it must have been a one time thing and Adam was just pushing it. The bell rings and the gang heads to class. Adam is reminded of their upcoming test and asks if anyone else is prepared. Everyone laughs at him, much to Adam's confusion.

In Mr. Hornbill's class, the students take the aptitude test, and while Adam works diligently, Jake slacks off and mostly sharpens his pencil with his nose. Afterward, Adam proudly tells the gang he aced the test, but the rest of the gang gasps in terror. Jake explains to Adam that by passing the placement test, he'll be relocated in The Spiffy classroom. According to Lupe, The Spiffies are the advanced learning students at CDMS, and everybody hates them for their condescending behavior.

Adam is promptly relocated to The Spiffies classroom and finds out his friends were more right than he thought, as each one of them is a nasally, glasses-wearing dork, who makes fun of those with less book-wise intelligence. During lunch, he vents about this to his friends, but none of them have any clue on what to do. Their ignorance gives Adam the idea to act like an idiot the next time he's in their class, so he'll surely be kicked out. Later in that same class, Adam is asked by, the advanced class teacher, Mr. Blowhole, to spell the word "Appropriate" on the board, but instead, Adam eats the chalk and acts completely moronic. He's keeping up the gig really well, but then when Phineas calls him "A-dumb", for his stupidity, Adam gets mad and puts his own feelings before his social life, and snaps back to his normal self. He then spells the word correctly and shocks the class and teacher, alike. Mr. Blowhole deems Adam fit for the school's upcoming spelling bee, which The Spiffies are planning on joining. After befriending Adam for his newfound intelligence, they include him as part of their team, and their group of friends.

Adam meets up with Jake, later and talks about how The Spiffies aren't such bad people. As he does, he puts on a pair of their trademark glasses and joins them for a nerdy game of Prisons and Lizards, apparently having gone full-blown nerd. Jake is horrified to know what happened, but Windsor knows that things aren't over yet. If they want to retrieve Adam from the dork side, they need to beat Adam in the spelling bee. So, the rest of the gang makes a team of their own.

On the night of the spelling bee, it's "Team Spiffy" vs. "Team Spidermonkey". After plentiful stalling with Mr. Blowhole, Jake finally bounces up and swings from vine to vine, spelling the word "Ludicrous" with ease. Windsor comes to the realization that Jake can only spell good, while swinging on vines. Adam and Jake go head to head until they're the last two standing. On Team Spidermonkey, Jake worries that he just won't be able to beat Adam, being winded, while Adam is still up and ready. On Team Spiffy, Adam realizes how gross and disgusting The Spiffies are, when they hear them talk about their nasal spray and gelatinous cream. He then realizes he's becoming one of them, so when he gets up to the mic, he purposefully misspells his word as "Derf", eliminating Team Spiffy and returning himself to "A-dumb" status in their eyes, but also returning himself to the friend of his old gang.

After a peaceful reconciliation with the gang, Adam is thankful that everyone's normal and has become one again. Just then, Jake swoops in and says he's gotten a letter, saying that because he won the spelling bee, he's being classified a "smart kid", and gets himself relocated with The Spiffies. Also, he's forgotten the previously stated information about how The Spiffies are bad people and plans on becoming friends with them, restarting the same process all over again.

Characters[]

Major Roles[]

Minor Roles[]

Production Music[]

Bush Trail (B) – Sam Sklair (title card)
Sundowners – Billy Bell (opening)
Jungle Baby – Hans Ehrlinger (Adam is nervous about the AP test)
Waltz Scherzo – Jack Shaindlin (in Mr. Hornbill’s class)
Buenos Aires (B) – Norman Candler (Adam aces the test…)
Musique Concrete and Electronique 3 – Camille Sauvage (…and ends up with the spiffies)
Beach Parade – Armando Trovajoli (in the cafeteria)
Musique Concrete and Electronique 3 – Camille Sauvage (back at the AP class)
Bergena – David Bradnum (Adam acts stupid…)
Musique Concrete and Electronique 3 – Camille Sauvage (…but not for long)
Chi Chi Cha Cha – Mario Nascimbene (Adam the spiffy)
Egyptian Fanfare – David Farnon (“Hey! You up for a rousing game of Prisons and Lizards, Adam?”)
Chi Chi Cha Cha – Mario Nascimbene (the gang sign up for the spelling bee)
Hogan’s Thing – Simon Haseley (“The next word is for Team Sloth…”)
Too Busy Shopping – Armando Trovajoli (“Next is Team Spidermonkey…”)
Potato Chips – Wade Denning (Jake spells “ludicrous”)
Musique Concrete and Electronique 3 – Camille Sauvage (Adam spells “velveteen”)
Rumbatronic – William Farran, Edgar Vetter (Adam and Jake, head to head)
Musique Concrete and Electronique 3 – Camille Sauvage (helpful advice from the spiffies)
Haunted Lullaby – Eric Allen, Frank Reidy (“Spelling… is everything…”)
Darkside [#33] – Franco Micalizzi (Adam realizes what he’s become)
Haunted Lullaby – Eric Allen, Frank Reidy (one last look at the spiffies)
Beach Parade – Armando Trovajoli (“I’m free!”)
Sundowners – Billy Bell (ending)
Hogan’s Thing – Simon Haseley (end credits scene)

Quotes[]

Adam: Okay Jake, spell "sulfuric".

Jake: ... D, E, R, F.

(Adam gets moved up to the advanced class)

Mr. Blowhole: Please welcome out newest overachiever, Adam Lyon.

Adam: Do you guys have any ideas how to get me out of Spiffy class?

(Adam's friends sit in silence and a "Duuuuh" voice is heard in the background)

Adam: That's a great idea! I'll just act like you guys ... Uh, I ... I mean ... I'll put on a "dumb act".

Phineas: It's no wonder your name is Adam, get it? A ... dumb, get it? You should change your last name to ignoramus. "A dumb ignoramus".

(Spiffies laugh)

Marvin: He's so dumb, his name should be Adstupid. (laughs obnoxiously)

(No one laughs and they just stare at him)

Marvin: Or not.

(Spiffies laugh)

Windsor: Looks like we've lost Adam to the dork side.

Mr. Blowhole: The next word is for Team Sloth. The word is "doughnut".

Sloth: Psssh. "Donut"? Is that the Ye Olde English version orrrrr, the more modern?

Mr. Blowhole: Ye Olde English please.

Sloth: Oooooh, odsbodikins. That is longer. Um ... let's see ... D, ... O, ... (falls asleep)

(buzzer goes off)

Sloth: (wakes up) Uh, N, ...

Mr. Blowhole: I'm sorry, you are over the time limit.

Mr. Blowhole: Mr. Spidermonkey, step up to the microphone and spell "ludicrous".

Jake: Lou Christie?

Mr. Blowhole: "Ludicrous".

Jake: Loofer crust?

Mr. Blowhole: (irritated) The word is "ludicrous".

Jake: Origin and meaning, please?

Mr. Blowhole: "Ludicrous", from the Latin, "Ludus", amusing or laughable, through obvious absurdity.

Jake: Uuuuusage please.

Mr. Blowhole: (annoyed) Lucia's loud, lavender luggage looked ludicrous. Once again, the word is "ludicrous".

Jake: HA HA! It sure is.

Mr. Blowhole: (enraged) SPELL IT!!!

(Jake bounces in the air and swings around on vines)

Jake: Whooo! Ludicrous! L, U, D, I, C, R, O, U, S! Ludicrous!

Mr. Blowhole: Up next from team Spiffy (ahem) I mean, the advanced class team ...

Spiffies: One of us. (snort) One of us. (snort)

Trivia[]

First appearances of Phineas, Marvin, Aloysius, Daniel, Nestor, Mr. Blowhole.
Jake proves to be a spot-on speller, but only while he's swinging.
Phineas coins the insult "A-dumb", for Adam Lyon. Phineas consistently uses this term throughout the rest of the series. Basically Phineas stresses the second syllable of Adam's name, to emphasize his stupidity.
Daniel says that "W" can be a vowel. This is true, as "w" rarely functions as the "oo" sound, generally in Welsh words, such as "crwth", which means an ancient guitar-like musical instrument.
Only episode where Mr. Blowhole snaps. Jake manages to push him to screaming "Spell it!". While he does, his teeth briefly become sharp and fang-like. This is the only time Mr. Blowhole gets angry enough to yell.
Running Gag: Characters misspelling words as "D.E.R.F."
Billboard Gag: Spelling Bee Today. It Not Bee Tomorrow.
Credits Gag: Duke Sloth trying to spell "cat."

Cultural References[]

The title of this episode is a reference to the scientific practice of the same name, wherein scientists will use living creatures such as rats to perform experiments on. In the case of this episode, "Animal Testing", refers to animals taking standardized tests at school.
Prisons and Lizards is a parody on Dungeons and Dragons.
Windsor says they lost Adam to the "dork side". This is a reference to Star Wars, where a plot device was "joining the dark side".
Jake misinterprets the word "Ludicrous" as "Lou Christie". Lou Christie is the name of a popular real-life singer from the 60's.
Mr. Blowhole's given definition of "ludicrous" seems to be taken directly from the Merriam-Wesbter Dictionary.
The Spiffies chanting "One of us!" references the 1932 film Freaks.

Errors[]

When Jake dropped from the tree at the beginning of the episode, his tail was way longer than it should be.
When Lupe explained who The Spiffies were, her eyelashes were gone.
When Adam walked up to the microphone, the pupils of Aloysius Elephant were gone.
In the credits, the last names of Marvin Hammy and Daniel Calimari are "Hammish" and "Tentacles", respectively. In all subsequent episodes, the last names are what we know them as now.

Animal Testing
Season 1, Episode 1b

Air date	December 26, 2005
Written by	Julie McNally-Cahill Timothy Cahill
Directed by	Timothy Cahill
Episode guide
Previous Inoculation Day	Next Lyon of Scrimmage