"Lamb Chop's Play Along: The Guys" episode-TV Show Review

Hi, I'm the Amateur Critic. I review just about anything.

Do you ever wonder if Lamb Chop’s Play Along would get down and serious in some of its episodes? Well, one example would be the episode “The Guys.”

            I watched this episode over and over on Youtube, and I gotta say that this was one of my favorites besides “The Wallet” episode, because it touched down on an important lesson at the end of the show. The storyline for this episode was pretty good at the time, because everything said in that story is clear and understandable.

            So let’s check out “The Guys,” and see if this episode holds up?

 

Act 1:

 

We start with Shari asking Charlie Horse to babysit Lamb Chop for the afternoon, but he says that he has plans at that time. So Shari asks him about his plans. Charlie tells her that the “fellas” are coming over to the house.
-“Fellas”? What, are you in a gang or something? If that was the case, then this show wouldn’t be G-rated.

            Then Charlie reveals that his friends are coming over.

-He said that to clarify the “fellas” part of his speech.

            Charlie then asks Lamb Chop to “get lost” for the afternoon, because the guys (his friends) were going to do “things.”

 

-They say the word “things” as if it was a curse to say it. How that word gets emphasized in this story is so snobby and annoying, that what… it gives them a bad taste in their mouths?

            Charlie clarifies himself again, saying that he wants Lamb Chop to do something away from the house while the guys are there. He suggests that she go to a movie, and that he would pay for her ticket. Lamb Chop takes the bait and asks what’s playing. Charlie tells her about a movie having to do with a wolf-man eating all of Pittsburgh.

 

-It’s revealed that that movie is a scary movie. So Charlie Horse having Lamb Chop go to a scary movie is like giving her up to strangers that are shady and mean. Wow, what a jerk.

 

Act 2:

 

Charlie Horse asks Shari to sign something for him.
- Is it a permission slip? No. Is it a waiver? No.

Shari asks Charlie why, and he says that he wants to impress the guys by telling them that he knows a celebrity.

-Why ask Shari for an autograph if it’s easier to show her to the guys, so that they can meet her in the flesh? Autographs from people that you know personally are so overrated.

            So Shari takes the piece of paper from Charlie, and sees that the paper is folded. She asks about this, and Charlie’s answer:

Charlie Horse: “So what? You don’t need a whole sheet of paper just to sign your name. Sign it, sign it.”
-Wow, he has an excuse for everything.

            Shari opens the paper & giggles at what’s written on the paper: “I am the voice of Minnie Mouse.”

-That is a load of crap. Charlie knows dang well that Shari doesn’t do voice-acting, or anything outside of being a ventriloquist and puppeteer.
-Why couldn’t Charlie write something like “I am the voice of Lamb Chop” or “I am the voices of Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy”? Oh… well, that would have broken fourth wall. And besides, mentioning a Disney character in the show must have been too tempting.

            Shari doesn’t buy into lying about doing the voice of Minnie Mouse, even though Charlie Horse throws excuses at her to get her to agree to lie:

Shari: “‘I am the voice of Minnie Mouse’?”
Charlie Horse: “She’s a cartoon.”
Shari: “Yes. I know what she is.”
Charlie: “Yeah, but everybody knows that she doesn’t do around talking. Somebody talks for her.”
Shari: “But that somebody isn’t me.”

…

Charlie: “Pretend.”

Shari: “Pretend. You want me to pretend that I do the voice of Minnie Mouse?”
Charlie: “Yeah.”
Shari: “I won’t do that.”
Charlie: “Please, Shari…”
Shari: “Come on! I don’t do the voice of Minnie Mouse!”
Charlie: “But you could, I bet ya.”
Shari: “But I don’t!”
-Shut up, already! Shari doesn’t voice Minnie Mouse! End of story!

            Then Charlie admits that he needs the Minnie Mouse gig to impress his friends. He said that he promised them that gig; he even promised them about a flying circus dog.

-Can Charlie’s lying get any sillier than this?
-I can’t believe that he’s using poor Hush Puppy as a guinea pig for this flying circus dog gig. In fact, he just throws his siblings away to get slaughtered: first it was letting Lamb Chop go to a scary movie, and now it’s using Hush Puppy as a freak show…

            Hush Puppy comes into the kitchen with Shari & Charlie, and reveals that he’s on board with pretending to be a circus dog. Hush Puppy shows off his “flying” by going into the air and crashing into kitchen cabinets, that it knocks the pilot goggles off his face.

 

-Did he land face-first, because Hush Puppy looks jacked-up after the so-called flying demo.

            Charlie tells Hush Puppy to drop the flying act, & instead offers him a trip to the movies with Lamb Chop & paying for the tickets. Hush Puppy likes this, & thanks Charlie with a kiss.

-That’s like saying: “Thank you for taking me out of this flying stuff, because the next flying stunt that you will make me do will give me a one-way ticket to the emergency room.”

            As soon as Hush Puppy leaves, Charlie is disappointed that he doesn’t have “a voice of Minnie Mouse” and “no circus dog.” Then Shari asks him if he ever thought that the guys would like him for himself. And listen to what Charlie says: “Would you?”

 

-That’s the worst line ever! It’s like Charlie’s saying that nobody likes him, and that he’s the most hated person on the planet! But you know that it’s not true, because he’s a likeable character in this show, and Shari loves him for who he is.

 

Act 3:

 

Lamb Chop is getting ready to go to the movies. She tells Shari that she invited a few friends to go with her, and that Charlie Horse is paying for everyone. The only thing is: Charlie doesn’t know that he’s paying for everyone.

            Charlie Horse walks into the room sad. Shari tries to see what’s wrong, but Charlie uses more excuses to hide his true feelings.

Shari: “You look a little blue.”
Charlie: “No, I’m just sick and tired of being happy all the time, that’s all. I’ll see you later…”
Shari: “Charlie, would you care to talk?”
Charlie: “No.”
Shari: “Um, can I guess?”
Charlie: “Sure, sure, why not? Give it a shot!”
(pause)
Shari: “The guys are not coming over to do… things.”
(pause) (Charlie looks at Shari and says…)
Charlie: “Lucky guess.”
-Oh, now they’re afraid to say the word “things”? Are they high?!
-It took Charlie at least 4 lines until Shari could crack him open.

            Charlie reveals that the guys would have more fun at another person’s place, because apparently their dad does the voice for Popeye.

-So impressing people is all nothing but creating lies and more lies? That’s not good. One, how can you be friends with people that bullshit each other to impress the other? And two, why not find people that will like you for yourself? That’s just ridiculous!

            Then Shari tells Charlie that real friends don’t have to be impressed by him, and that they need to just care for him. She even tells him that family is the greatest friends that he could ever have, because they’re friends “first, foremost, and forever.”

            Now with that said, Lamb Chop invites him to go to the movies with the whole gang, and listen to her say: “We’d love for you to join us…”

-Yeah, so you can pay for all of us, and get our tickets and popcorn… and to spend your entire allowance on us…

            Charlie Horse cheers up and says that he wants to see the wolf-man come back to eat the entire state of Pennsylvania.

-So he drops the problem with friends as if it never happened. He mood swings too many times in this episode. First he’s happy, and then he’s frustrated, and then he’s sad, and blah, blah, blah…

            Oh, yeah. And Lamb Chop pretends to be in pain.

-Know why? Because of the Alka Seltzer joke that she made.

 

            And that was a pretty good episode of Lamb Chop’s Play Along. So, now that you know what this episode was about, does it still hold up?

            The funniest act out of the 3 acts would be the second act. Besides being funny and stuff, the second act introduced us to the conflict, as well as so many excuses to try and cover the problem.

            Overall, this episode was an okay-one, because most of the story was solid and made sense. And hey, it even touched on the issue of making friends, keeping them, and trying to keep them interested in you; it even gave us the moral that real friends care about people and don’t need to be impressed by things.

            So, for grading this episode, I would definitely give it an A-.

Amateur Critic
Source: Lamb Chop's Play Along
All rights go to Shari Lewis