Little Orphan Hero

Infobox Television episode
Title=Little Orphan Hero
Series=Drawn Together
Season=2
Episode=3
Airdate=November 2, 2005
Writer= Erik Sommers


Caption = Captain Hero meets his parents.
Director= Ray Claffey
Production = 203
Guests = John Ondrasik
Prev=Foxxy vs. the Board of Education
Next=Captain Hero's Marriage Pact

"Little Orphan Hero" is the tenth episode of the animated series "Drawn Together".

toryline

Captain Hero has a nervous breakdown resulting from long-standing issues regarding the death of his parents, who perished when his home world of Zebulon crashed into a sun. With the help of Wooldoor and a whale fetus, he accepts their deaths and resolves to move on with his life, until the other housemates clue him in to the fact that his home planet of Zebulon was never destroyed and that his parents are probably still alive. Captain Hero ventures into the woods, where he first rapes a sex robot, and then attempts to contact his homeworld.

Shortly thereafter, a spaceship lands, and his parents step out to greet him. With his family reunited, Captain Hero lives a second childhood, until his mother finally breaks down and tells him the truth: she actually had him aborted when doctors revealed that her child was going to be the lamest superhero ever. Heartbroken, Captain Hero tries to prove to his parents that he's a great hero by having Xandir dress up as a criminal and attack his mother, but the plan backfires when Captain Hero forgets that the villain Two Hands is actually Xandir in disguise and tears out Xandir's intestines. Enraged that his parents still think he's not a good superhero, Captain Hero flies to Zebulon and throws the planet into the sun, murdering everyone on the planet. His parents, now homeless, have no choice but to rely on him for his love and support- not knowing, of course, that he is the one responsible for their plight.

Meanwhile, Foxxy and the other housemates form a suicide hotline, but everyone shirks it in favor of worshipping a dead frog as a god (much to the chagrin of Foxxy, who remains true to Salamander Jesus). When Foxxy gets a call from a depressed quadruple amputee plotting to end his own life, she and the other housemates spring into action. They eventually find the man, Jeff, who begs them to pull the plug on the equipment that's keeping him alive. They try to cure him of his suicidal thoughts, but he manages to convince them that his life is truly an endless misery with nothing to live for.

Just as the housemates are about to comply with his request and pull the plug, he reveals that he's actually part of an undercover task force of quadriplegics assigned to take down phony suicide hotlines run by reality show guests who then try to ignore their responsibilities and assist their callers in euthanasia. Disgusted with the fact that this sounds like a TV show plot written by a mentally retarded child, everyone goes home.

Musical number: "I Wanted You to Know" by Brooke Ramel, played as a theme to Captain Hero's second childhood and gang rape. (This song also plays over the end credits of the DVD version of the first season finale.)

Notes and inside references

* Even though the second season was only three shows old, after this episode, Comedy Central picked up "Drawn Together" for a third season. Each of the second season's first three episodes was the highest rated cable show in its timeslot in the key 18-49 demographic as well as in all key male demographic segments, and combined with its lead-in "South Park", gave the network a dominant Wednesday night lineup. [http://www.comedycentral.com/press/press_releases/2005/110905_drawntogethers3renewal.jhtml]

* The shot of Captain Hero crying naked in the shower comes from the episode "Requiem for a Reality Show", though the cookies he had with him in that episode do not appear in this version.

* Captain Hero (as in previous episodes) and his father are depicted with enormous visible bulges near their genitals, possibly to hint at their extreme virility, or to parody the sexual overtones of traditional superhero attire. In an additional parody of this, Captain Hero's mother is depicted with a cameltoe as well as exposed and well-defined breast cleavage. Like Captain Hero himself, both of his parents wear stylized Mars symbols on their clothing, suggesting it is perhaps an alien version of a family crest.

* The housemates are assigned to start a business, and come up with the suicide hotline. Suicide hotlines, however, are nonprofit endeavors staffed by volunteers, and would not be considered businesses (which could very well be the joke).

* When Captain Hero comes home from being gang-raped at the keg party, the newspaper his father is reading has the headline "Best Kegger Ever".

* This episode contains the first real hints of Captain Hero being Jewish. Captain Hero addresses his mom as "imma", which is "mother" in Hebrew. The name of his home planet, Zebulon, is a reference to the tribe of Zebulun, one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Zevulun is also a Jewish surname, though more often used as a given name. This may also parody the Hebrew origins of words and names used in the original Superman comics.

* The crime count for this episode is high: Captain Hero rapes his sex robot, presumably rapes Xandir and his own parents, and is himself gang raped. Xandir has his intestines torn out, Toot and Clara commit suicide, the housemates try to kill Jeff, and Captain Hero murders billions of people by flinging their planet into the sun, not to mention the housemates' stealing cable TV (which has just been rendered useless from Zebulon's destruction). Captain Hero possibly commits another crime (killing a protected species) when he eats the unborn whale fetus, though the legal aspects of this particular act are less certain.

* When he busts the housemates, Jeffrey reveals that he is a member of an organization called "Special Tactical Operations Unit To Catch People Who Set Up Suicide Hotlines Because Of A Reality Show Challenge And Then Didn't Follow Through On Them So They Cause The People Who Needed Them To Take Their Own Lives And Then They Change Their Minds When They Realize Not All People Should Be Forced to Live So They Try To Assist Someone In Euthanasia". However, neither the initials on the T-shirt on the wall (which are given as "STOUTCPWSUSHBOARSCATDFTOTSTCTPWNTTTTMW-RTN-APSBFTLSTTTASIE") nor the acronym as Jeffrey states it ("STOUTCPWSUSHBOARSCATDFTOTSTCTPWNTTTTMWTRNAPSBFTLSTTTASIE") correctly match the name of the organization.
**The "correct" initials are: STOUTCPWSUSHBOARSCATDFTOTSTCTPWNTTTT-OLATTCT-MWTRNAPSBFTLSTTTASIE.

* When Clara jumps out the window screaming, "I can't go back to jail! I won't go back!", it is a reference to when she and Spanky went to jail in "Dirty Pranking No. 2."

* When Foxxy is on the phone with Jeff, a scoreboard can be seen containing the housemates' suicide prevention stats. It reads, "Foxxy- lost 0, saved 5. Clara- lost 0, saved 2. Spanky- lost 0, saved 1. Xandir- lost 0, saved 4. Toot- lost 0, saved 1." For Ling-Ling, it says, "kills," followed by a large number of score marks (approximately 16 kills marked). Wooldoor and Hero apparently do not participate.

* This episode reveals that Captain Hero's first name is Leslie.

* All of the men visible in the background during Spanky's portion of the suicide hotline commercial appear to be midgets.

* The quick-speaking voice heard at the end of the suicide hotline commercial says, "Results may vary. There may not be much to live for. Toot is fat. Call now!"

* Upon seeing the others worshipping a dead frog, Foxxy replies with a multitude of swears. On DVD, the whole line is revealed to be "Those god damn cunt shit piss fuck meatball dick cock motherfuckers!"

Animated cameos

* Batman and Robin make cameo appearances in this episode as part of a flashback sequence in which a drunken Captain Hero comically imitates the murder of Batman's parents at a party where Batman and Robin are present.

* Gonzo and Kermit the Frog make cameo appearances in this episodes in their "Muppet Babies" forms. When Foxxy mentions having found some pit bulls a home with the Muppet Babies, the scene cuts to Kermit and Gonzo being viciously attacked by said dogs. In the DVD version of the episode, a slightly longer version of the clip is shown which features Scooter and Fozzie Bear being attacked as well. Coincidentally, a later episode of "Drawn Together" largely spoofed "Muppet Babies".

Cultural references

* In the first scene we see a montage of Captain Hero as an emotional wreck. In one of the shots we see him being unable to hug a woman because of some huge scissor-like gloves he is wearing. This is a direct parody of the movie "Edward Scissorhands", in which Kim Boggs (Winona Ryder) asks Edward (Johnny Depp) to hug her, and he replies as Captain Hero does ("I can't!").

* Captain Hero's dressing like a woman and being gang raped on a pinball machine is a reference to the film "The Accused" and the rape of Cheryl Araujo.

*The pinball machine during the rape scene is named Pinball Wizard, in reference to The Who's song.

* The Five for Fighting song that Captain Hero quotes throughout the episode is "Superman (It's Not Easy)". Even though everyone refers to Five for Fighting in the plural, it is in fact the stage name of only one man, John Ondrasik, who is credited as a guest star in this episode. Although the song appeared in the closed captioning of the broadcast version, the song wasn't used.

* The question mark suit that Spanky Ham wears in the TV commercial is a reference to "Government Grant Guru" Matthew Lesko, who wears a similar suit to promote his books on late night television.

* Foxxy Love, Princess Clara, Spanky Ham and Ling Ling gather around the telephone, going "Yip yip yip yip yip...", with strange triangular mouths. This is a parody of a skit on "Sesame Street" featuring the Yip Yip Martians.

* The scene in which Captain Hero goes to contact Zebulon is a parody of several scenes from the movie "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial". The scene of Hero riding a bicycle while Wooldoor sits in the basket with a full moon in the background is taken directly from one of the film's most memorable images.

* Captain Hero's sex robot is built out of a Speak & Spell, a popular educational toy that uses a speech synthesizer to help children learn the alphabet.

* According to Spanky, stealing cable from Planet Zebulon enables the housemates to watch "Everybody Loves Zorgleblek", a reference to "Everybody Loves Raymond". He then adds, "Man, I hate that Patricia Heatongleb," a reference to "Raymond" actress Patricia Heaton.

* The cover of "Hero Comics" is drawn to resemble the famous cover of "Action Comics #1", the comic that introduced Superman.

* The comic book which reveals the details of Captain Hero's mysterious birth cites a Supreme Court case called "Roebot v. Wade", which is a reference to "Roe v. Wade" in 1973.

* Foxxy twirling around with a flash of light is a parody of the stock footage of Lynda Carter used in every episode of the 1970's "Wonder Woman" series when her character of Diana Prince turned into Wonder Woman.

* The scene in which Captain Hero argues with his mother as she rips his posters off the wall is a reference to Mark Wahlberg arguing with his mother in "Boogie Nights".

* Captain Hero tears off his costume and presumably rapes Xandir and his parents in order to erase their memories. This is a reference to Superman erasing Lois Lane's memories with a kiss in "Superman II".

* Xandir is seen eating a bowl of Colon Blast cereal after Captain Hero destroys Zebulon. This may be a reference to Colon Blow, a cereal featured in a Saturday Night Live parody commercial.

* Right after destroying Zebulon exasperated Captain Hero tells Xandir "I am lame. I do not deserve any of these medals and awards" and violently empties a drawer of kitchen utensils. This is the reference to similar scene from "" in which Frank Drebin collects his personal effects from the desk after losing a job.

* The limbless cops are called Art, Matt, and Bob. This is a reference to an old joke: "What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs hanging from the wall? Art! What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs lying on the floor? Matt! What do you call a guy with no arms and no legs in the ocean? Bob!"

* The title of this episode comes from the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie" (which the musical "Annie" is based on).