A.D.D.: The Last 'D' Is for Disorder
"A.D.D.: The Last 'D' Is for Disorder" |
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A.D.D.: The Last 'D' is for Disorder is an episode of Clone High.
Plot
Synopsis
Everyone shuns Gandhi after he is diagnosed with A.D.D. and A.D.H.D., causing a rift in Gandhi and Abe’s friendship. Scudworth gets help from Mr. Butlertron in order to connect with students, especially JFK, who has just broken up with Cleo. Cleo hosts an open-mouth kissing booth at Clone High’s Awareness Fair. Joan starts hearing religious voices. And guest star Tom Green teaches everyone a valuable lesson.
Episode walkthrough
In the cafeteria, Gandhi entertains Abe with an imitation of Joan, using her retainer, while JFK and Cleo start hang posters for the upcoming Clone High Annual Awareness Fair (the theme this year being "awareness"). To raise money, Cleo is hosting an open-mouth kissing booth, and expects JFK to run one too. He refuses (as it would violate his policy of "no fatties"). He is also angry about how much time Cleo has been spending with President Dog, the new president of Clone High. JFK and Cleo end up in an argument, and JFK walks off in a huff – leaving Abe with ample opportunity to volunteer help her out. Joan starts to get upset but is consoled by a disembodied voice that tells her, "Don't feel alone; God is always with you."
Principal Scudworth is frustrated that Mr. Butlertron is more well-liked by the students than he is. Mr. Butlertron suggests that this might be due to the fact that he listens with compassion instead of killing them. Scudworth however, immediately comes to the conclusion that the robot's cardigan sweater-vest is magic. He tests the vest on JFK, who immediately opens up to the principal.
Gandhi is sent to Scudworth's office for being disruptive in class. The cardigan is powerless against his fidgeting, which angers Scudworth. Mr Butlertron analyzes Gandhi's symptoms and diagnoses him with A.D.D. and A.D.H.D., its hyperactive cousin. Paul Revere finds out, and tells everyone in school; spreading the rumour that A.D.D. is contagious (via toilet seats). Cleo fully believes the rumours, and worries that Gandhi will try and bite her.
Joan confides in Jesús Cristo that she is hearing religious voices and her anxieties about living up to Original Joan of Arc. Jesús tells her to heed the voices, because God has a plan for all of us – "a painful, painful plan". The voices then tell her to “head on down to St. Paul's Mattress Discounters,” where she begins to spout the Lord’s gospel, which sounds suspiciously like an ad for mattresses.
Because of Gandhi’s A.D.D. (and A.D.H.D., its hyperactive cousin), Marie Curie tries to kick him off of the dance squad (The Solid Gandhi Dancers, of which Gandhi is the treasurer). He tries to prove that he’s not dangerous, but in the process kills Gene Kelly. There is a panic in the school and the parents demand that something be done. Scudworth proposes that Gandhi be put in therapeutic isolation and Wally suggests that they form an angry mob to catch him. Gandhi hides out in The Grassy Knoll and begs Abe for help. Abe ignores his best friend rather than risk losing Cleo's affection. Gandhi says they are no longer friends and stomps off. Outside the diner, he is captured and locked up.
Scudworth and JFK are getting along great until JFK starts to sob over breaking up with Cleo, making Scudworth uncomfortable. He freaks out when water starts "leaking out of JFK's face," and kicks JFK out of his office (or rather, opens a trap door from underneath him). Scudworth is fed up with “touchy-feely bullcrap,” and returns the cardigan to Mr. Butlertron.
Abe visits Gandhi at the Infirmary for the Brainsick, hoping to reconcile with him, but Gandhi is still mad at him. Abe finally gets his priorities straight and goes to an A.D.D. learning center to learn more about the disorder. He meets Tom Green, who agrees to help him fight for Gandhi's rights (while all the while doing random funny acts, such as saying "lick the book" and pretending he is an albatross). Back at the clinic, Scudworth is about to perform experimental surgery on Gandhi, who feels abandoned and has lost the will to live. Scudworth takes pity on Gandhi. He inspires Gandhi to go down to the Awareness Fair and stand up for himself. As Gandhi runs to the fair, Mr. Butlertron points out that Scudworth helped him without the cardigan, meaning that it wasn't really magic after all. Or was it?
At the Awareness Fair, Cleo is running her kissing booth, and Abe is uncomfortable with the creepy guys she’s kissing. Joan hasn't slept in 78 hours because of the voices in her head, and looks sleep-deprived and dishevelled. She gets up on stage and starts preaching the word of God. She accidentally spits out her retainer and realizes the voices are coming from it. It turns out that Gandhi bent the wire when he put it in his mouth and it started picking up signals from a Christian rock radio station. Joan makes her way off the stage, embarrassed.
Gandhi makes it to the Fair and protests the discrimination against him by paying the $5 fee for Cleo's kissing booth. Cleo demands that Abe get rid of him, but Abe refuses. Instead, he brings in Tom Green to talk to the crowd about A.D.D. (and A.D.H.D., its hyperactive cousin); Tom loses his train of thought half-way through the speech however, and runs off chasing after a wafting plastic bag. Abe finishes the speech, pointing out the hypocrisy that they are all acting so close-minded towards Gandhi at an 'Awareness' Fair. Still, the crowd is not convinced. With some words of encouragement from Original Abe Lincoln (on Gandhi’s five dollar bill), Abe musters up enough courage to open-mouth kiss Gandhi in front of all of them. The crowd are more disgusted by Abe's homoerotic gesture than they are with Gandhi’s A.D.D., and so resolve to accept Gandhi and shun Abe. Abe and Gandhi become friends again, and Gandhi celebrates the occasion by dancing with the Solid Gandhi Dancers, music courtesy of Joan's retainer.
Featured cast
- Zach Braff - Paul Revere
- Andy Dick - Mr. Sheepman
- Donald Faison – Wally, Toots (Joan of Arc's foster grandfather)
- Neil Flynn – Carl, Julius Caesar, DJ on FM107
- Jeffrey Garcia - Jesús Cristo
- Eric Kentoff - Concerned parent in a space suit
- Murray Miller - Gene Kelly
Featured clones
- the Rat Pack
- Genghis Khan
- Thomas Edison
- Paul Revere
- Julius Caesar
- Jesús Christo
- Marie Curie
- Gene Kelly
- Attila the Hun (mentioned at the PTA meeting)
- Bing Crosby
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Vincent van Gogh
Deleted scenes
- A more explicit description of the relationship between Cleo and President Dog, including the fact that he makes out with her when she has peanut butter on her lips.
- Jokes making more obvious the connection between the fear over Gandhi’s A.D.D. and American perceptions of AIDS in the 1980s. Originally, one student claimed that “Tom Green had sex with a monkey with A.D.D., and that’s how it started.”[1]
- The first appearance of Gandhi’s parents, at the PTA meeting.[1]
- In the aired episode, they still appear in the crowd; they just don’t have any lines.
- Scudworth using a giant fake moustache to help him council students, causing him to call himself "Señor Counselorioso."[1]
- This idea was scrapped when it was pointed out that there was another story involving a giant fake moustache in Episode 6, Homecoming: A Shot in D'Arc.[1]
- A scene with a friendship between Karl Marx and Groucho Marx.[1]
- A scene where Scudworth stops Isaac Newton (who’s skateboarding down the school hallway), saying, “Hey, Isaac Newton! Equate this: A body in motion tends stay in motion until he has his skateboard shoved up his ass!”[1]
- Scudworth is referring to Newton’s first law of motion.[1]
- A sound clip of this speech can be heard here (click 'scudworth').
- Many, many ad libs by Tom Green, some of which can be heard here.
- Several alternate endings:
- The clones deciding A.D.D. was alright, in moderation (moved to Episode 10, Litter Kills: Litterally).[1]
- The clones realising that everyone has some kind of A.D.D.: Cleo has A.D.D. of the heart (why she can’t decide between Abe and JFK), JFK has A.D.D. of the vagina (why he needs multiple sexual partners), etc.[1]
- A final speech by Tom Green: “Over a bazillion American children suffer from A.D.D. This episode of Clone High is dedicated to those brave, squirmy youngsters who liven up boring classrooms everywhere. I’m Tom Green and I make more money than a doctor.”[1]
- A sound clip of Green rehearsing this speech can be heard here (click ‘tom_green_5’).
References
Historical references
- Like the original, Sammy Davis Jr.'s clone also has a glass eye.
- The clone of Paul Revere is a gossip. This is a play on the role of Original Paul Revere in the Revolutionary War. In both cases, he tells everyone he can, a potentially damaging secret.
- Jesús Cristo (the clone of Jesus Christ) is seen in the woodworking class; a reference to the fact that the original Jesus was a carpenter. At the end of the scene, it is implied that he nails his hand to a piece of wood, referencing the crucifixion.
- Marie Curie is grotesquely deformed. This is a reference to the fact that Original Marie Curie died of radiation poisoning, which likely mutated her DNA.
- Abe's licence plate is MNCIPATE, a reference to the original Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
Popular culture references
- Tom Green really has A.D.H.D. His short attention span is the catalyst of a large part of his routine. His behaviour in real life is not far from that of his animated counterpart.
- The song "Remember the Memories" and the montage that airs as it plays are a parody of the "No Easy Way Out" montage from Rocky IV. Both montages feature a character driving while reminiscing about a missing friend. Both sequences also feature a scene of the characters hugging and jumping in the ocean.
Trivia
- Evidence of the show's high level of continuity is shown by the presence of President Dog, a stray puppy that won the student body election by unanimous applause in Episode 2, Election Blu-Galoo. It is implied that Cleo is still flirting with the dog in order to fulfill her original plan from that episode. Her flirtations are made more explicit in a deleted scene.
- We find out that Joan became a "cynical, angst-ridden goth girl" because of her failure to live up to the original Joan of Arc.
- This is the first (but not last) episode in which a character is killed on screen. Gandhi inadvertently knocks over a pillar, crushing the clone of Gene Kelly.
- Toots’ speech at the PTA meeting is his first appearance in the series. From first draft of the screenplay to final airing, the speech had only one word changed – “DiFiore’s Italian Restaurant” became “Giovanni’s Italian Restaurant,” due to legal reasons.[1]
- Shockingly, Tom Green was not the original choice for the A.D.D. spokesman. Originally it was supposed to be comedian Tom Arnold. His lines were rather different, including him being "obsessed with once being in True Lies and asking Abe to go Dutch on a hooker." Arnold had to back out due to scheduling conflicts.[1] Other potential A.D.D. spokesmen that were considered by the writers included David Arquette and Regis Philbin.[1]
Notes
External links