My Life as a Teenage Robot -- Episodes 121-122

First Aired: 28 November 2003

"Daydream Believer" (Episode 120)

Directed by: John Fountain, Rob Renzetti

Plotline

After waking up from her sleep mode, Jenny heard Tuck's scream and went to see what was wrong. It turned out there wasn't any real monster, there was one in Tuck's dream. Brad, who walked in to see what was going on, explained to Jenny what dreams were. Jenny asked her mom if she could start having dreams. Mrs. Wakeman said she would have to wait. Before bedtime, a dream chip was completed and installed into Jenny's head. When she fell asleep that night, she had her first dream, a blissful one.

Before history class that morning, Jenny was telling Brad about the dream she had the previous night. When class began, to make the lesson more interesting, Jenny turned on her dream chip so she could "live" the lesson. Jenny really made a scene in the classroom as a result. Brad was wondering why Jenny was behaving like that. Jenny said she would much rather live in the dream world rather than the real world. When walking home from school, she turned on her dream chip once again. An 18-wheeler crashed into a telephone pole which electrocuted Jenny, permanently activating the dream chip.

After being electrocuted, Jenny started to have a weird dream. She felt she had to defeat the evil creatures in that dream. In her dream, it seems like she was defeating the creatures whereas in the real world, she was causing destruction downtown. Brad, Tuck, and Mrs. Wakeman tried to get her mind back to the real world. In order to do that, they had to electrocute her again. As soon as that happened, she realized what was going on.

Still in the dream world, Mrs. Wakeman attempted to manually deactivate the dream chip. Jenny was not all the way back in the real world, but she did realize all the damage she caused and that she did cause major abuse to her new dream chip.

Trivia

• The title "Daydream Believer" is referenced off of the song by the Monkees.


• Mrs. Wakeman pondered aloud in front of Jenny, "What do androids dream of? Electric sheep?" This quote is a reference off a science fiction novel entitled Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.


• When Jenny was walking home from school and activated her dream chip, the animation was similar to "rubber hose animation" used in the early days of animation in the 1920's and 1930's.


• One might compare Jenny's constant initial desire to dream similar to taking drugs. Once one gets addicted to a certain drug, they may want it more. Similar to Jenny's dreaming-she's dreamed once, now she would like to dream more, perhaps constantly. Not likely, after having to constantly fight in the "dream" that got her into a lot of trouble downtown.


• After the chip was permanently enabled, Jenny's dream fantasy was similar to artwork seen in Dr. Seuss books.


• Jenny said, "More minions from hades!" Because she couldn't say "hell." This happened once or twice again throughout this entire series.

Goofs

• Tuck said "yah" before riding his bike to get away from "crazy" Jenny as if he were riding something horse-like in the real world. Was this intentional?


• After Jenny activated the dream chip in class, when she had that dream about the Kracken, she restrained the Kracken with "onion donuts." When Jenny was flying, the donuts look relatively small. When she placed them around the creature, they get bigger and they fit around him. Could this be an animation error or the fact this is a dream? Of course, in a dream, anything's possible.


• That van where Brad, Tuck, and Mrs. Wakeman were plotting, that van(?) looked like a home with jars in the corners. Did those people owning that van know that the jars might rattle around and possibly break?


• When Tuck entered Jenny's Dr. Seuss-like dream world, Jenny called him "Goat Boy." Later in the episode, when Jenny pulled off Tuck's disguise, she called him "Goat Boy, Jr." So, who was "Goat Boy, Sr."?


• When "Normal Tuck" was confronting to Jenny and Brad was looking around the corner, one could hear the clinging of screws as they came loose off of the corner fire hydrant. It seemed like Brad was loosening the screws but he was no where near the fire hydrant. He was just looking around the corner. Did Brad's psycho-kinetic powers loosen the screws on that hydrant?

Quotes

Brad: "You don't know what dreams are? Dreams are images that enter your self-conscious mind when you sleep. They're not all nightmares. People have awesome dreams where impossible things happen."

Jenny looks confused.

Brad: "Well, I guess you can't really understand dreams unless you've had one."

Brad (after greeting several girls in the hall, not noticing she is "riding" a drinking fountain while in dream mode, he greets Jenny.): "'Sup Jenny!"

Jenny: (in cowboy accent) "Howdy, partner! That's a swell 10-gallon hat you got thar."

Brad: "Uh, Jen?"

Jenny: "Yaaaahoooo!"

Brad switches on the water fountain which causes Jenny to electrocute. Jenny responds with a "Yow!"

Brad: "Jenny, why weren't you listening to me?"

Jenny: "Why listen to boring, old you when I can activate my dream chip while I'm awake? School has never been so entertaining!"

Brad: "I don't know, Jen, you seem to lose touch with reality pretty quick when you turn that on. Maybe you should give it a break."

Jenny: "I can turn my dream off anytime I want to. I'm in total control."

Brad: "Is that why you've been jumping on desks and riding drinking fountains?"

Jenny: "You're just jealous of my superior dreaming ability. You can't really understand a superior dream unless you've had a superior dream." (snootily) "Ta-ta!"

Brad: "I know a way to 'shock' her out of it, but I need someone to distract her."

Mrs. Wakeman: "But how? In her twisted reality, XJ-9 sees us all as monsters."

Tuck: "Yeah, it's almost like one of us has to look really weird in the real world so we'd look normal in her dream world."

Brad and Mrs. Wakeman: "Hmmmm!"

Jenny: "I'm sorry about my behavior earlier. I have to admit that I did abuse the chip, despite Brad's warnings."

Mrs. Wakeman: "Now hold still, XJ-9! I'll have the dream chip switched off in a jiffy."

Jenny: "Uh, can you hurry it up a little, Mom. We just missed the T-bone steak and the next one's not due for another hour."

TLDR

After hearing about dreams for the first time, Jenny decided she wanted to start having dreams.

"This Time with Feeling" (Episode 121)

Directed By: Robert Alvarez, Rob Renzetti

Plotline

After a sneak attack, Tuck started a tickle fight with Brad while he was doing yard work. Jenny came over and wondered what "tickle" was. The boys explained to her. Jenny saw that the brothers were enjoying their tickle fight. She then asked her mom why she didn't have nerve endings. There were some primitive nerve endings developed but they only made the wearer feel ticklish or pain. Jenny stole the shelved nerve endings when her mom wasn't looking.

The next day at school, she put on the nerve endings in the bathroom. She had Brad test them for her. At her very important midterm exam, she tried to hide her feelings but she could only feel the extremes of the two types of feelings. This caused her to fail her exam.

Himcules invaded a work-out gym and terrorized three weight-lifters. Their misery made Himcules feel more powerful than when he first entered the gym. Himcules wanted to rob the people downtown. Jenny arrived on the scene to make him stop. When she arrived, her nerve endings were on the pain setting. Her screams were making him yet again more powerful. Later, Jenny asked a passerby to change the setting to ticklish. When Himcules tried to hurt Jenny again, everything that fell on her made her laugh. All this laughing made Himcules feel weaker and weaker. Everybody joined in on the laughing and Himcules was reduced to a weakling. After Himcules discriminated Jenny, Jenny punched him into a jail cell. Even that made her laughing ticklishly.

At school, Brad noticed that Jenny wasn't wearing her nerve ending. She said her mother took them off her because they caused trouble. Well, she probably missed a spot when taking them off. She left a ticklish spot right under her right armpit!

Trivia

• This episode stars Bruce Campbell, and American TV and film actor, who plays Himcules. He is known for his lead roles in the both The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and Jack of all Trades.


• This was another episode that showed Tucks excitement for tickle fights. He mentioned tickle fights in "Raggedy Android".


• The gym where those strong men were working out was called "Goldy's Gym." This is similar to real life's "Gold's Gym."


• The three weight-lifters who we saw when Himcules was introduced had hairstyles that represented Larry, Curly, and Moe of "The Three Stooges."


• When Himcules knocked Jenny and her back skidded down a wall, notice a bank sign that reads "est. 2003 Bank." This show came out in 2003 so that was probably a nod to that fact.

Goofs

• At the midterm, where was the question sheet? It seemed like the students were just filling in answers.


• That teacher quickly failed Jenny. The test was even graded within the few seconds Jenny was exhibiting major pain.


• When Himcules ordered the three strong stooge men to form a sewing circle, they formed a knitting circle instead.


• If Mrs. Wakeman took off the entire nerve-ending system off of Jenny, even the back controls, how was Jenny able to feel ticklish with that one left-behind nerve-ending without the control?

Quotes

Brad: "You see, we humans have a sense of (air quotes)'touch' which are caused by nerve-endings found right under the skin. These nerves transmit a rainbow of different sensations that range from the sharpness of a pinch to the gentle caress of the wind on your face."

Mrs. Wakeman is "ooh"-ing and documenting an experiment involving a light bulb.

Mrs. Wakeman: "Ooooh, fascinating!"

Jenny: "Mom, why don't I have nerve-endings?"

Mrs. Wakeman: "I did start to develop some but they only worked on two settings, ticklish and pain. Not very helpful for a crime-fighting robot so I shelved them. In fact, they're on the shelf right behind you."

Jenny: "They're beautiful! Can I put them on?"

Mrs. Wakeman: Don't be ridiculous, XJ-9.

Jenny: "But, it would help me better understand the...uh...human condition."

Mrs. Wakeman: "I said 'no,' young lady! (experiment reacts and Mrs. Wakeman documents it.)"

Jenny: "Sooo...Iiiii'llllll...jusssst...beeeee...putting them back then."

Mrs. Wakeman: "That's fine, dear." (Experiment reacts again. Mrs. Wakeman gasps, "oohs," then documents.)

Himcules: "Thou calleth yourselves men? Playing with those 'tinker-toys'?"

Strong Man: "Who are you to scoff at us while wearing a dress?"

Himcules (growls): "It's a toga! I'll show you whoeth you're dealing with."

Toward the end when everybody is laughing at Himcules

Himcules: "Stop laughing at me! Cries. My powers...Ahhhh. Oh no! Aw great, reduced to a 90 lb weakling."

Jenny: "Oh Himcules, it's not the size of your muscles that matters. It's the size of your heart."

Himcules: "Aw gee, thanks. You know, you're pretty cool! Uh, I mean, for a girl."

Jenny gets mad and takes out her Fist of Fury.

Jenny: "Aw, that's it. Batter up!"

Jenny punches Himcules and he "skids" into jail.

TLDR

Jenny wanted to be able to have skin feelings. She experienced the extremes of two sensations.

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