- News
  - Articles
  - Cast and Crew
  - Characters
  - DVD Set
  - Episode Guide
  - Episode Capsules
  - Music
  - Behind the Scenes
  - FAQ

  - Images
  - Wallpaper
  - Fanart
  - Audio
  - Video

  
View My Guestbook
Sign My Guestbook

Mission Hill Episode Capsule

Episode #1
"THE DOUCHEBAG ASPECT" (Or, "Pilot Episode")

Some information taken from TV Tome

Production Code:  3950-01

Original Airdate:  September 21, 1999 (The WB)

Written by:  Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein

Directed by:  Lauren MacMullan

Guest stars: 
Dave Thomas as Mr. Czelanski

Synopsis:
Andy French is a young, single guy working at a waterbed store in a city called Mission Hill.  He goes to visit his parents in a nearby suburb before they move to Wisconsin, and to pick up his pet dog Stogie to bring home with him.  But there he discovers they intend to have his younger brother Kevin go with him and finish high school before going off to college.  Andy is not at all thrilled with the development, finding Kevin to be completely irritating.

After humiliating Andy at a nightclub, Kevin decides to lighten up.  So at a party Andy throws in his apartment that night, Kevin gets very drunk and makes a complete fool of himself, muttering nonsense and dancing like an idiot.

Meanwhile, Kevin and his girlfriend Gwen are in his bedroom about to have sex, when he hears Kevin is still making a fool of himself.  Despite Gwen's insistence of leaving him alone, Andy sighs with resignation, "he's my brother," and goes to take care of Kevin.

In the morning, Kevin has a massive hangover and lies in the bathroom, with Andy watching over him.  Gwen is understanding of the situation and leaves, promising to see Andy later.  Kevin decides being like Andy is too difficult, and on Andy's suggestion, decides to just be himself.

Notes
- What do the signs say:
    -Above Ron's Waterbed World: Your SUPER-SOURCE for WATER FURNITURE!
    -Inside Ron's Waterbed World: *free REFILLS, WATERIZE YOUR OLD MATTRESS, SOAK THE COMPETITION, NEW! TASTING SPOUT!, Say it with WATER
    -On a post as Andy and Gwen leave Ron's Waterbed World: FAMILY LUBE
    -In a window: BLEEM, LIQUID (On a bottle, probably a detergent of some kind)
    -On a subway station sign outside Ron's Waterbed World: Metroplex Blvd
    -On a subway station sign as Andy comes home: Mission Hill
    -Inside Bakery of Sappho: Non-phallic Eclairs, Lemyn Meringue
    -Sign of a business: Bakery of Sapho, the lesbian bakery
    -Sign of a business: Washyland, presumably a laundromat
    -Sign of a business: Dave's Occult Bookstore
    -Inside the elevator: Clug 101
    -On the freeway: TRY PLUNGE, BIG 10, CALL  , HARD A'PORT TO FRESHNESS (for Boat brand cola)
    -Sign of a business: Discount Food Hobo, where Andy and Kevin shop.

-Ron's office is inside the men's washroom

-Sometimes the women's washroom door in Ron's Waterbed World is black, sometimes blue.

-As Andy walks home from work, George is seen sweeping outside Mission Hill Market, the Republican Vampire is walking into Dave's Occult Bookstore.

-Sasha (the beatnik) and his female companion are seen at the coffeeshop as Andy walks by it and later at Backwash, the club where Silly Rabbit is playing.

-Andy picks up a Maestro malt liquor once he gets home from work, and as he  drives to his parent's house, a billboard for the same malt liquor is seen in the background.

-The big neon green poster outside Jim's room says 'AURA 01' at the top, and 'NOV4' at the bottom.

-There's a shoe on the dashboard of Jim's car, and a troll doll hanging from his rear-view mirror.

-Andy and Kevin's parents are moving to Wyoming because of a transfer at Mr. French's job in direct mail marketing.

-On the piano, Kevin plays 'The Entertainer' by Scott Joplin, whom Andy later names as one of Kevin's 'faves'.

-Kevin mentions he and his parents saw 'Il Postino', which is a 1994 Italian film.

-In the classroom:
    -There's a poster of Ché Guevara
    -The bulletin board has a chart showing 'HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAW'

-Kevin's SAT score T-shirt says: 'M:760 V:700'.

-Andy is seen eating Bugles (the snack) and drinking malt liquor.

-Inside Kevin's room:
    -A sign that says 'No Smoking on the Holo Deck', a reference to Star Trek: The Next Generation.
    -A poster for a fake element called 'Kevium'.

-Inside Backwash (the nightclub) the same sign for BLEEM as seen earlier in a window is seen on the wall.

-Inside Dr. Yvonne Farley's (the principal) office:
    -There is a poster that says 'The Doctor is in', possibly a reference to the comic strip 'Peanuts', where the character Lucy ran a psychiatry booth with that sign indicating she was open.
    -There's a picture of Dr. Farley with an afro and raising her fist, which is a symbol from the black power movement.  In the background of this photo are the letters 'F' and 'P' on a big sign, which possibly stand for 'Fight the Power'.

-Andy buys Kevin a six-pack of Gruberhof brand beer.

-Andy mentions a rumor that Sid Vicious once threw up in his bathtub, a reference to the late member of the punk group 'The Sex Pistols'.

-Inside Andy's room:
    -A banner from Borchmore, which we later learn in the episode "GREAT SEXPECTATIONS" (Or, "Andy Joins the PTA"), is the college he went to.
    -A poster with a devil girl, which says BLEEM.

-While drunk, Kevin mentions two famous gay people from history.  Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was a writer of plays such as 'The Importance of Being Earnest' and novels such as 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'.  Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) was king of Macedon; conqueror of Greece and Egypt and Persia.

- Each episode has a clean title and a dirty title. The clean title was for listing and promotion purposes. The dirty title was for the producers' own enjoyment (well, it was initially for what the former is for, but the WB put the kibosh on that). Cartoon Network's Adult Swim has no problems listing and promoting each episode under both titles, however.

- The dirty title from this episode comes from what an apologetic Kevin says to Andy after sobering up, and asking if basically, will the fact that Andy thinks he's a douchebag be a problem.  Andy says he can live with it.

- At the end of the party, when Kevin is rolling around with a plan in his pants, two of the people watching him are Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, the creators of Mission Hill.

Music
-"Burning flies" by Looper, playing when Andy is walking to his apartment after leaving work.

-"Don't let the bastards grind you down" by The Toasters is playing at the party.