Hot Tub (Drawn Together episode)

Infobox Television episode
Title=Hot Tub
Series=Drawn Together
Season=1
Episode=1
Airdate=October 27, 2004
Writer= Matt Silverstein, Dave Jeser
Director= Peter Avanzino


Caption = Foxxy meets Clara.
Production = 101
Guests =
Prev=
Next=Clara's Dirty Little Secret

"Hot Tub" is the first episode of the animated series "Drawn Together".

Storyline

The housemates arrive and meet one another, and despite Spanky's tendency to urinate and/or defecate into and onto everything as well as Toot's unrequited and slightly psychotic attraction to Xandir, they hit it off very well. However, when Foxxy Love, the last housemate to arrive, shows up, friction results immediately from Princess Clara's assumption that Foxxy is the household servant simply because Foxxy is black. A catfight ensues between the two, resulting in uncomfortable tension between the housemates. Foxxy breaks the tension and gets the group on her side by bringing in a huge amount of alcohol and throwing an enormous booze party. When Clara is shunned from the festivities, her feelings are hurt, causing her to break down crying. After a conversation with Spanky in the ball pit, Clara realizes where she went wrong and immediately tries to patch things up with Foxxy, but her attempted apology contains so many references to black stereotypes that Foxxy is unable to take her seriously. Foxxy finally concludes that Clara is just a mixed-up white girl who doesn't know any better after she refers to her father as being wise, and decides the time has come to open up Clara's mind— and her mouth— by French kissing her in the hot tub.Meanwhile, Toot, struggling to retain her faltering self-esteem, tries to seduce Xandir. However, he is more interested in saving his girlfriend, who is forever being kidnapped by evil wizards; furthermore, Xandir is not attracted by Toot's appearance or her obsessive personality. She tries to cause friction between Xandir and his girlfriend by implying to the girlfriend that Xandir is cheating on her, and tells Xandir that his girlfriend does not want his help. She enjoys the results and decides that if she cannot be the sex symbol, she will become the house "bitch". Next, after noticing the state of bliss that Clara is in after her kiss with Foxxy, she tries to revive their feud by subtly convincing Clara that Foxxy "violated" her.

Clara declares that she won't stand for being treated like that, and angrily complains to the producers. They recommend a tequila brunch to clear the air, but the only result is that the events of the previous night are repeated, only in sped up fashion and with everyone wearing sombreros. Clara demands that the producers expel Foxxy. They decide to put the matter to a vote amongst the housemates as to whether or not to keep Foxxy. Foxxy attempts to convince the housemates to help her, but to no avail; Hero even thinks that by voting her out, he will be closer to winning a prize.

Ling-Ling comes into the girls' bedroom to challenge Clara to a battle, but she mistranslates his words, and thinks he is telling her that she should try to live in harmony with Foxxy and that her preconceptions about black people are wrong. Clara agrees with this, and immediately goes downstairs where the vote is being held. (Immediately after this, Toot walks into the bedroom and unwittingly accepts Ling-Ling's challenge. He then proceeds to kill her in graphic fashion.) Clara urges the housemates to vote to keep Foxxy, but her endorsements begin to bear an uncomfortably close resemblance to a slave auction. Foxxy attacks her again, but in the middle of fighting, they find themselves making out again.

Musical Number: "Black Chick's Tongue", a parody of "A Whole New World" from the Disney movie "Aladdin", sung by Clara and Foxxy as they make out in a hot tub.

Differences in DVD version

The DVD version of this episode contains several lines and scenes which were either cut or changed in the televised version:

* Captain Hero awaiting the arrival of the 12 year old girl on a donkey is extended.

* One of Clara's confessional bits (after fighting with Foxxy and hitting her face on the wall) is edited significantly in the televised version. The line, "I thought those people picked banjos, not fights! I was so upset about what Foxxy had done... I sure hope this comically misleading nose job makes me feel better... hey, not bad!" is chopped and rearranged into "I was so upset about what Foxxy had done... I thought those people picked banjos, not fights!"

* Toot's line, "Would you just put it in me already? Even if you just need a place to pee!" is shortened in the version aired on television, eliminating the reference to urination.

* During the ball pit sequence, Spanky says to Clara, "If that'll get you out of that robe so I can check out that precious vertical smile of yours!" In the televised version, the word "robe" is replaced with "ball pit".

* Also during the ball pit sequence, Clara explains in the DVD version of the episode that all of her servants at home are "black or worse." In the televised version, the word "worse" is replaced with "Presbyterian".

* Spanky's line, "I was totally looking forward to voting that hot black chick out. No, wait a minute. Not voting. I mean, EATING!" is cut entirely in the televised version of the episode.

* The DVD version of this episode contains two additional scenes that do not appear in the televised version of the episode. The first, which takes place right after the "Black Chick's Tongue" sequence, features Wooldoor coming back down to earth and escaping from the bubble he was encased in, causing him to die immediately (a reference to people with severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome, known in popular culture as bubble boys). The second is a live action sequence of a reporter surveying the decimated ruins of the trailer park that was destroyed by Xandir's tornado.

Notes and inside references

* In the Deleted Scenes option on the Season One DVD, there is an opening with each character getting to say a few introductory lines. From this original version the shots of the characters have been retained, with the exception of Captain Hero smashing a keg on his forehead after drinking from it, which comes from the booze party in this episode.

* Princess Clara is the first housemate ever to occupy the confessional chair, and she also has the show's first line of dialogue (not counting the introduction): "The minute I met my new housemates, I felt like they were members of my family, only much, much poorer!"

* With the exception of Ling-Ling and Wooldoor, the characters' confessional scenes are accompanied by captions revealing their ages, playing on another reality show convention. The ages given for Xandir, Clara, Toot, Foxxy, Hero, and Spanky are 19, 20, 22, 23, 28, and 31, respectively.
**The ages of Wooldoor and Ling-Ling would eventually be revealed in the Season Two episodes "The One Wherein There Is a Big Twist, Part II" and "Super Nanny", respectively.

* Blue Ball is the first guest character to occupy the confessional chair. Guest characters would appear in the confessional with great regularity in the first season; in the second season, however, confessional appearances by non-housemates would become extremely few and far between.

* In line with her character's 1920s origins, Toot's voice in this episode is accompanied by tape hiss, suggesting that her lines were recorded on an old gramophone. This would only be in effect for this one episode, however; in all subsequent episodes, her voice is normal.

* Captain Hero's wish for a hot, black woman in the house comes true immediately when Foxxy enters. However, his wish for a twelve-year-old girl and a donkey would not be fulfilled until they are provided in "The Lemon-AIDS Walk."

*Throughout many of the episodes' scenes, particularly the Hot Tub scenes, Foxxy can be seen without her tail.

* One of "Drawn Togethers most enduring running gags almost wasn't allowed to happen. Comedy Central had demanded that the producers remove the scenes of Toot intentionally cutting herself with a razor blade. However, after Frankie Abernathy was shown doing something similar on ', they were allowed to keep them in.

* Toot's blood is animated as black in this episode (as she is a black and white character); however, subsequent episodes would show her as having gray or red blood.

* Toot dies four times in this episode. She cracks her head on the table after sucking all the helium out of a balloon, cuts her head off trying to get Xandir's attention, cracks her head on the table again during the tequila brunch, and finally is eaten by Ling-Ling after she unwittingly accepts his challenge. This is the beginning of a long tradition of non-permanent housemate deaths on the show. Toot's multiple deaths also indicate that like many other animated series, the continuity in "Drawn Together" is extremely loose. However, where many shows break continuity from one episode to the next, "Drawn Together" takes the idea one step further by deliberately breaking continuity "within" the episode.

Animated cameos

* In the booze party, two Smurfs have a very grisly guest appearance as knife-wielding pit fighters. These would be the first of many cameo appearances on "Drawn Together" by famous animated characters.

* At the beginning of the second act, as Foxxy attacks Clara, a "Flintstones" car drives by the house while a "Jetsons"-ish spaceship zooms by overhead.

Cultural references

* At the beginning of the story, a caption reading "Day 1" appears over a long shot of the house. This is a direct reference to "The Real World", who used captions like this to let the viewer know how many days the current cast had been in the house together. The concept of the confessional comes from "The Real World" as well.

* Ling-Ling's comment about giving children seizures is a reference to the infamous "Pokémon" episode "Dennō Senshi Porygon" which caused headaches and seizures to hundreds of children when it aired in Japan. The show then spoofs the scene by showing Ling-Ling's picture with rapid flashing lights for a couple of seconds.

* This episode contains several references to "The Legend of Zelda" and its protagonist Link (whom Xandir is largely a parody of).
**There is a Triforce motif (or a piece of one) on the back of Xandir's thong bathing suit.
**Xandir refers to "Quad-forces" at one point, another "Zelda" spoof.
**When he departs to save his girlfriend, Xandir plays a magic flute that transports him away in a tornado, just as Link does in the original "The Legend of Zelda".

* Concerning Xandir, there are two references to other (non-videogame) role-playing games, particularly "Dungeons & Dragons". When Xandir talks to his girlfriend on the phone, Spanky calls him "Dungeons and Douchebags", and in his description of the tension following the fight between Foxxy and Clara, Xandir uses the term "+6 sword", which is a reference to a magical weapon in "Dungeons & Dragons"; the +6 refers to bonuses to the weapon's accuracy and damage.

* Captain Hero calls Xandir "GayStation 2" at one point, referring to the Sony PlayStation 2.

* Foxxy states, "Foxxy ain't a slave to nobody... nobody but the rhythm!", then begins moving rhythmically to funk-style music. This is a reference to "Slave to the Rhythm", a song and album by Grace Jones.

* The voice of the show producers is a muted trumpet, the same sound effect used for adults in the Charlie Brown cartoons.

* Spanky's mentions that in Clara's world, inanimate objects spring to life and spew silly catchphrases. This is a reference to Disney's "Beauty and the Beast", where many of the Beast's servants are household items. After Spanky says this, Blue Ball pops out of the pit and says, "Whatchoo talkin' bout, pig?", quoting Arnold Jackson's catchphrase from "Diff'rent Strokes", "Whatchoo talkin' bout, Willis?".

* The next morning following her hot tub kiss with Foxxy, Clara enters the kitchen humming "Black Chick's Tongue" (which is a parody of "A Whole New World" from Disney's "Aladdin"). Toot asks her, "How was your night, Princess?" to which Clara replies, "It was magical!" The scene is a further reference to "Aladdin", in which Princess Jasmine (one of the many Disney princesses Clara spoofs) exclaims, "It's all so magical!" at the end of "A Whole New World", then later when the Sultan enters her room, Jasmine is happily humming the song.

* Ling-Ling's line to Toot before he kills her, "That'll do, pig, that'll do," is Farmer Hogget's closing line from "Babe".

* The film clip which accompanies the Double Hemm Productions logo at the end of this and every subsequent episode is a windstorm on Galloping Gertie (the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge) capturing the bridge about to collapse.