13: Bobby's Valentine
February 13, 1988
Young Bobby gets a note from Amy, who thinks that he's the cutest boy in school. Bobby, however, wants to stay as far from Amy as possible.
Review ★★★★☆
By David
This episode takes place on Valentine’s Day and first aired on February 13, 1988. There are numerous references to the snow and the cold weather the town of Odyssey is experiencing as well, which fits with the time of year. But as far as I can tell, this episode’s remake The Trouble with Girls doesn’t make any reference to Valentine’s Day at all. It edits down Chris’ intro and outro to remove any mention of St. Valentine, and the holiday isn’t mentioned in the episode either. Plus, all the references to February weather are gone. It’s understandable, considering that The Trouble with Girls aired in the summer, on June 30, 1990. But losing the context of Valentine’s Day is unfortunate. The episode Bobby’s Valentine makes a lot more sense because it takes place on the holiday. One listen to The Trouble with Girls and you might think it’s normal for the girls of Odyssey to randomly shower the boys with love notes all at the same time. That’s a bit unfair to the girls because it makes it seem like they do it for no particular reason other than they’re totally infatuated. But Bobby’s Valentine puts their actions in a much more understandable light.
Bobby Novak is the perfect character for this story considering in his previous episode he was the one with a crush on someone—Connie Kendall to be precise. Now it’s time for him to experience what he made Connie go through. But unlike Connie, Bobby doesn’t handle it well at all, no thanks to the terrible advice he gets. That’s one of the reasons this episode is so funny. It’s absolutely full of bad advice until the very end when Mr. Whittaker finally sets Bobby straight. But until then, he’s bombarded by the ridiculous recommendations of his friend Jeff and Officer Harley. The girl who likes him, Amy Duran, is also led astray by bad advice, this time by Connie. That’s interesting that Connie would be so unhelpful considering her previous experience with Bobby’s crush on her. Apparently Connie knows how to handle things properly when someone she doesn’t like has a crush on her, but somehow the situation is totally different when she looks at it from the perspective of the person who has the crush and wants the other person to like them back. Either Connie hasn’t learned her lesson yet about crushes, which is very likely, or maybe she’s trying to get revenge on Bobby.
Just like in Addictions Can Be Habit-Forming, Officer Harley gives three pieces of advice which all turn out to be very silly, although this episode thankfully doesn’t take things to the same extreme. And unlike that below average episode, Harley is actually funny in Bobby’s Valentine. Harley’s first strategy for getting rid of a girl is to tell her to get lost and then throw mud on her. That same advice sounds better when it comes out of Jeff’s mouth rather than someone in law enforcement, but the amazing coincidence that Jeff and Harley would somehow give the exact same line right down to the specifics is a joke in itself and an obvious acknowledgement that Harley isn’t meant to be a realistic character. If you can forget his occupation then it’s quite fun to laugh at Harley’s statements. But for some reason he insists on constantly reminding us where he works. He says, “As an officer of the law, I know a lot about human nature. Believe you me.” No, I don’t believe you, Harley, and I doubt anyone else does either. Or perhaps Harley is such a good manipulator of human nature that he was able to trick the police academy into letting him become an officer.
Whit’s first flop was a failed photocopy machine, and now his second flop is his machine to automatically make an ice cream sundae, known as the Super Scooper. Not only does this failed invention add comedy to the show, but it also emphasizes the point that Mr. Whittaker doesn’t have all the answers. The kids think he knows everything but we have only to look at his mistakes to know that’s not true. What’s funny about this invention, besides the fact that it catches fire and produces barbequed ice cream, is that it reappears in this episode’s remake, The Trouble with Girls, in exactly the same situation. If Whit had perfected the Super Scooper by the end of Bobby’s Valentine, maybe that wouldn’t make sense. But its reappearance actually works because it’s an unfinished project. It’s very possible Whit could still be working on the same invention by the time The Trouble with Girls rolls around. It would have been a cool twist if by the second time the invention had actually worked. It would have come at a much needed time, as well. The Super Scooper first appeared at a time when Whit was inventing right and left. Whit created at least nine inventions in the first five albums of the show, including Davey Holcomb’s pizza oven, the Super Scooper, the mirror that spouts Bible verses, the Boredom Buster, the Instant Freezer, the Environment Enhancer, the Prayer Vending Machine, the Imagination Station, and the artificial intelligence Mabel. But by the time The Trouble with Girls appears, Whit has the inventor’s equivalent of writer’s block. Between Album 5 and Album 17 he doesn’t make anything new. He must have been working on the Super Scooper that whole time. It’s too bad it never works.
Whit’s advice to Bobby is a lot more nuanced and layered than the very direct advice he gave to Connie a few episodes ago, but the bottom line is still the same: be honest about how you feel. And that’s just what Bobby plans to do. But in typical comedic fashion, he doesn’t get the chance because Amy interrupts him and breaks the news that it’s over. Bobby doesn’t say much and allows Amy to believe that he liked her all along. And come to think of it, that might be closer to the truth than Bobby would be willing to admit to his friends. Jeff teases Bobby about liking Amy at the episode’s beginning, so that could explain his actions. It would have been interesting to hear Whit’s lesson if instead of a one-sided crush, the story had been about two kids who really did like each other. Overall this episode is pretty funny, although its acting is not as polished as The Trouble with Girls. For example actor David Griffin, who plays Bobby in this show and Jimmy in the remake, improves a lot in that space of two and a half years. This episode gets 4 out of 5 stars.
By David
This episode takes place on Valentine’s Day and first aired on February 13, 1988. There are numerous references to the snow and the cold weather the town of Odyssey is experiencing as well, which fits with the time of year. But as far as I can tell, this episode’s remake The Trouble with Girls doesn’t make any reference to Valentine’s Day at all. It edits down Chris’ intro and outro to remove any mention of St. Valentine, and the holiday isn’t mentioned in the episode either. Plus, all the references to February weather are gone. It’s understandable, considering that The Trouble with Girls aired in the summer, on June 30, 1990. But losing the context of Valentine’s Day is unfortunate. The episode Bobby’s Valentine makes a lot more sense because it takes place on the holiday. One listen to The Trouble with Girls and you might think it’s normal for the girls of Odyssey to randomly shower the boys with love notes all at the same time. That’s a bit unfair to the girls because it makes it seem like they do it for no particular reason other than they’re totally infatuated. But Bobby’s Valentine puts their actions in a much more understandable light.
Bobby Novak is the perfect character for this story considering in his previous episode he was the one with a crush on someone—Connie Kendall to be precise. Now it’s time for him to experience what he made Connie go through. But unlike Connie, Bobby doesn’t handle it well at all, no thanks to the terrible advice he gets. That’s one of the reasons this episode is so funny. It’s absolutely full of bad advice until the very end when Mr. Whittaker finally sets Bobby straight. But until then, he’s bombarded by the ridiculous recommendations of his friend Jeff and Officer Harley. The girl who likes him, Amy Duran, is also led astray by bad advice, this time by Connie. That’s interesting that Connie would be so unhelpful considering her previous experience with Bobby’s crush on her. Apparently Connie knows how to handle things properly when someone she doesn’t like has a crush on her, but somehow the situation is totally different when she looks at it from the perspective of the person who has the crush and wants the other person to like them back. Either Connie hasn’t learned her lesson yet about crushes, which is very likely, or maybe she’s trying to get revenge on Bobby.
Just like in Addictions Can Be Habit-Forming, Officer Harley gives three pieces of advice which all turn out to be very silly, although this episode thankfully doesn’t take things to the same extreme. And unlike that below average episode, Harley is actually funny in Bobby’s Valentine. Harley’s first strategy for getting rid of a girl is to tell her to get lost and then throw mud on her. That same advice sounds better when it comes out of Jeff’s mouth rather than someone in law enforcement, but the amazing coincidence that Jeff and Harley would somehow give the exact same line right down to the specifics is a joke in itself and an obvious acknowledgement that Harley isn’t meant to be a realistic character. If you can forget his occupation then it’s quite fun to laugh at Harley’s statements. But for some reason he insists on constantly reminding us where he works. He says, “As an officer of the law, I know a lot about human nature. Believe you me.” No, I don’t believe you, Harley, and I doubt anyone else does either. Or perhaps Harley is such a good manipulator of human nature that he was able to trick the police academy into letting him become an officer.
Whit’s first flop was a failed photocopy machine, and now his second flop is his machine to automatically make an ice cream sundae, known as the Super Scooper. Not only does this failed invention add comedy to the show, but it also emphasizes the point that Mr. Whittaker doesn’t have all the answers. The kids think he knows everything but we have only to look at his mistakes to know that’s not true. What’s funny about this invention, besides the fact that it catches fire and produces barbequed ice cream, is that it reappears in this episode’s remake, The Trouble with Girls, in exactly the same situation. If Whit had perfected the Super Scooper by the end of Bobby’s Valentine, maybe that wouldn’t make sense. But its reappearance actually works because it’s an unfinished project. It’s very possible Whit could still be working on the same invention by the time The Trouble with Girls rolls around. It would have been a cool twist if by the second time the invention had actually worked. It would have come at a much needed time, as well. The Super Scooper first appeared at a time when Whit was inventing right and left. Whit created at least nine inventions in the first five albums of the show, including Davey Holcomb’s pizza oven, the Super Scooper, the mirror that spouts Bible verses, the Boredom Buster, the Instant Freezer, the Environment Enhancer, the Prayer Vending Machine, the Imagination Station, and the artificial intelligence Mabel. But by the time The Trouble with Girls appears, Whit has the inventor’s equivalent of writer’s block. Between Album 5 and Album 17 he doesn’t make anything new. He must have been working on the Super Scooper that whole time. It’s too bad it never works.
Whit’s advice to Bobby is a lot more nuanced and layered than the very direct advice he gave to Connie a few episodes ago, but the bottom line is still the same: be honest about how you feel. And that’s just what Bobby plans to do. But in typical comedic fashion, he doesn’t get the chance because Amy interrupts him and breaks the news that it’s over. Bobby doesn’t say much and allows Amy to believe that he liked her all along. And come to think of it, that might be closer to the truth than Bobby would be willing to admit to his friends. Jeff teases Bobby about liking Amy at the episode’s beginning, so that could explain his actions. It would have been interesting to hear Whit’s lesson if instead of a one-sided crush, the story had been about two kids who really did like each other. Overall this episode is pretty funny, although its acting is not as polished as The Trouble with Girls. For example actor David Griffin, who plays Bobby in this show and Jimmy in the remake, improves a lot in that space of two and a half years. This episode gets 4 out of 5 stars.
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