Ghostesses in the Slot Machine
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"Ghostesses in the Slot Machine" is the thirteenth episode of the animated series Drawn Together.
Storyline
While redecorating each other's favorite living spaces - not always to the recipient's liking—the houseguests are terrorized by poltergeists. Foxxy discovers that the Drawn Together house was built on Indian burial ground, and is haunted by the ghosts of 1,000 Indians. In order to appease them, the backyard is given to a ghost Indian tribe, which builds a towering casino hotel (the Lost Indian Souls Casino) next to the house. When Captain Hero discovers that the casino takes bets on his superhero battles, he and Spanky pull a classic scam where they drive up the odds in Hero's favor, then clean up when Hero takes a dive. The plan goes awry when Hero decides to cut Spanky out of the deal. Spanky retaliates by ratting on Hero to the League of Heroes, who threaten to kick Captain Hero out of their ranks unless he can defeat them in battle. Hero and Spanky realize they can bet on this battle too, of course, so they mend their differences so Spanky can place one final bet and Hero can take one more dive.The plan fails when the other League members take dives as well. Captain Hero finally realizes how silly he's been acting, and everyone has a good laugh while he delivers the moral of the episode, that Indians shouldn't be allowed to have casinos because gambling brings out the worst in weak-minded white people.
Meanwhile, Foxxy tries to take advantage of the casino's overflow crowd by turning the Drawn Together house into a strip club (the Fox Hole) where she is the main attraction (and Ling-Ling is the DJ). Clara begs for the chance to dance at Foxxy's club, believing that it will finally make her father notice her, since in her youth, he seemed to be more interested in strippers than in her.
Sure enough, her father comes to the club to watch Clara dance, and loves her performance, only to forget all about it the second he sees Foxxy dance. While Clara and Foxxy are fighting over his affections, they notice that he's not paying any attention to either one of them anymore- his attention is now focused on a gyrating Xandir. The two women solve the problem by reenacting their kiss from "Hot Tub," and creating an erotic dance to go along with it. The plan works, and Clara's father finally says the words she's been longing to hear all her life: "I love you both very much."
Musical number: "Lady Luck, I'm Through With You", a jazzy Vegas-style song which accompanies a montage of Captain Hero's dives. Lyrically, the song is a parody of "Luck Be a Lady" from the musical Guys and Dolls.
Notes and inside references
- When Foxxy informs the gang that they are sharing space with the souls of a thousand dead Indians, Clara asks, "What kind? Woo-woo or red dot?" in order to determine whether Foxxy meant Native Americans or people from the nation of India.
- Foxxy was "the only one who could speak Indian", though the "language" she spoke is obviously not from any real Native American language. Cree Summer, who plays Foxxy, is part Native American.
- Clara's father and her cousin Bleh make return appearances in this episode. They had previously appeared in "Dirty Pranking No. 2" and "The Other Cousin," respectively.
- When reviewing her success as a stripper, Foxxy refers to her gynecologist as the "slot doctor".
- One of the patrons in the Fox Hole strip club is the doctor who treated Spanky in "Foxxy vs. the Board of Education," who can be seen in the far right front row.
- When the King first sees Foxxy, he asks, "Who's that sexy servant girl?" just as Clara had addressed Foxxy as "servant girl" upon first meeting her in "Hot Tub." In that episode, it was revealed that in the kingdom from which Clara and her father come, black people are usually servants.
- After Clara and Foxxy tumble down the stairs, Foxxy says, "God damn it, Clara! If there wasn't a good chance that I was pregnant and that fall didn't get me out of a real jam, I would kick your ass!" This is a reference to the joke from "Clara's Dirty Little Secret" where Toot tells Clara that falling down a flight of stairs will end a pregnancy.
- This is the final episode to feature captions accompanying the show's confessional scenes. Beginning with the next episode, "Super Nanny," the captions would be dropped.
Animated cameos
- The mice on Toot's back (shaving it with tiny lawnmowers) are the various mice from the Speedy Gonzales cartoons. The song playing is "La Cucaracha" which was often played in those shows. Animated programs typically use the song to immediately suggest a Mexican atmosphere, as is being done here.
- In the casino, Marge Simpson is seen operating a slot machine. This is a reference to The Simpsons episode "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)", in which Marge develops a gambling addiction.
- Homer Simpson is one the patrons at the Fox Hole strip club. He can be seen seated near Spanky's doctor during the scene where Clara scans the room looking for her father. This is Homer's second cameo appearance on the show, following his appearance in "The Other Cousin."
- Ling-Ling is seen pulling a rickshaw in yet another parody of Asian immigrants. The man he is pulling bears a strong resemblance to Fat Albert.
- Spanky lets the Hulk do his taxes. The Incredible Hulk is a Marvel Comics character who manifests himself when his alterego, Bruce Banner—a brilliant scientist who was hit by gamma radiation—becomes angry.
Cultural references
- After Wooldoor Sockbat announces that they are going to redecorate each other's personal spaces, they play a segment for about 2 or 3 seconds that displays the words Trading Spaces, referring to the popular home decorating show of the same name. The song that plays during the Trading Spaces promo is a jazzy version of the Drawn Together theme.
- Movies parodied during the initial haunting: The Shining when the bathroom filled with blood, and Poltergeist with the stacked chairs and the "they're here" quote. The story of the Drawn Together house being built over an Indian burial ground whose tombstones were moved but not the bodies is a direct reference to Poltergeist.
Foxxy Love is shushed.
- Foxxy's yelling hints to protagonists of horror movies, and an unknown white guy shushing her, is based on a stereotype joke -- that African-American people talk, argue, etc. with the characters during movies.
- Foxxy refers to the Native Americans as "Injuns" instead of Indians, using a slang term popularized by Western films of the 20th century.
- The casino building has a roller coaster suspended near the top exterior. This is modelled after the Stratosphere building in Las Vegas.
- Bleh's appearance is a parody of Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man. When Captain Hero and Spanky come down the escalator in suits, they are dressed like Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise were in the movie. In the movie, Hoffman played Raymond, an autistic man with genius-level math skills. Tom Cruise's character uses Raymond to win big at blackjack in a casino; Captain Hero and Spanky attempt to use Bleh in a similar manner in this episode.
- Clara's reference to Toot as a single-joke character is followed by a scene in which Ling-Ling and Wooldoor tip Toot over while she is eating some grass, in a parody of cow tipping.
- While Hero is thinking over Spanky's plan, the classic video game Pong plays in his head.
- Other members of the League of Heroes include Captain Colonicus, Ethan Hawkman, Not Dressed For This Weather Woman, Exemplary Fellow, and Western-African Dwarf Crocodile Man. The name Ethan Hawkman is an amalgam of Ethan Hawke, the actor, and Hawkman, the DC Comics superhero. Exemplary Fellow is a reference to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, while Not Dressed For This Weather Woman is a parody of Wonder Woman. Captain Colonicus appears to be a superhero who can fly because he breaks wind (and who looks vaguely like Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles). The League of Heroes itself is a parody of the Justice League of America.
- The title of this episode is taken from the phrase "ghost in the machine", which has been used in many contexts. It originated as a philosophical term, and has also been the title of a book by Arthur Koestler, an album by The Police, the title of an early episode of The X-Files, and a science fiction film.
- One of the villains Captain Hero fights is the "Mad Felcher." Felching is a sexual practice in which one sucks semen out of another person's anus. We don't see it, but it's obviously what the Mad Felcher is doing to Captain Hero at the fight. Captain Hero references this when he tells Spanky that the Mad Felcher "sucks ass."
- One of Captain Hero's thrown "fights" is "Hero v. Wade", an obvious reference to Roe v. Wade. In it, a judge refuses a pregnant Captain Hero an abortion. The baby that presumably resulted from this situation is seen when Captain Hero and Spanky revel in their ill-gotten cash.
- Ling-Ling announces Foxxy's stripper name as "Ashee Simpson." This is a play on the name of pop/rock singer Ashlee Simpson, a stereotypical Asian mispronunciation of the letter 'L', and Foxxy's dark skin.
- Clara's stripper name is Hitlerina, a joking reference to her anti-Semitism. Music in the style of German band Rammstein plays during her routine, which she opens by doing the Heil Hitler salute.
Captain Hero takes a dive against the Invisible Man.- When Captain Hero goes to collect his prize money, he rips his costume to reveal a suit and refers to himself in the third person. This is a reference to Superman's mild-mannered secret alias of Clark Kent, who was a reporter for a metropolitan newspaper and hence, wore a suit. Clark/Superman sometimes even tripped over himself when referring to his alter egos just as Captain Hero does. The only difference is that Clark/Superman usually does it the other way around and rips his suit to reveal a costume.
- The spinning circles around Captain Hero were the same as those used in Superman II for General Zod and his associates.
- Captain Hero is convicted of committing the crime of 24601, a reference to Les Miserables. Jean Valjean's number throughout the musical is 24601.
- Hero becomes distressed when the league takes away his decoder ring. This is a reference to secret decoder rings, a popular toy of the 1940's and 50's. These items were merchandising tie-ins that kids wanted to obtain because supposedly, the rings were just like the ones their superhero idols used.
- Marmaduke is a long-running newspaper comic strip about a hyperactive, somewhat clumsy big dog. Pulling his owner down the street on a leash is a common occurrence in the strip.
- The music that Foxxy and Clara dance to at the Fox Hole is the theme music used by WWE wrestler Hardcore Holly and former WWE tag team Hardy Boyz.
- The final shot of the episode is drawn from the ending of the movie Rocky IV. The voice calling out, "You suck!" is that of creator/producer Matt Silverstein.
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