- "And then one night, when the moon is full..." (Transforms into a gigantic geeky version of himself) "NEATO!"
- ―Vince LaSalle
"Big Brother Chad" is the tenth episode of the first season of Recess, which was broadcast on October 11th, 1997.
Plot[]
Spoiler Warning: Plot twists, ending details, etc. are included in the plot. You have been warned.Summary[]
Vince is concerned about whether his "cool" big brother Chad really is a geek.
Main Story[]
The episode opens with Milton and another first-grader playing marbles in the playground when a group of bullies led by Chucko Kowalski start picking on them and hold them down whilst they steal all the marbles. Vince turns up and confronts them telling them to stop, or he'll stop them just like he's done plenty of times before.
The rest of The Recess gang celebrate Vince's win as something really cool, but he brushes it off as nothing. T.J. tells Vince to face it, that there is nobody cooler than him, but Vince replies what about his big brother Chad. The group start discussing Chad who Vince calls the Coolest guy Third Street School has ever known. Mikey talks about how he remembers that when he was all in kindergarten all alone in the sandbox Chad came over to play with him. Spinelli remembers that back in first grade when she got a bean stuck up her nose, it was Chad who showed her how to get it out. The group agree that Chad is cool but say that they have not seen him in years. Vince says that Chad just so happens to be picking him up from school today.
The kids of the school heared that Chad is visiting and get excited as it seems that Chad helped them all out as well. The Diggers says that it was Chad who give them their first shovel and got them interested in digging. The Ashleys hear and say that they remember him from first grade as a hunk. King Bob remembers Chad from when he was a mere fourth grader when Chad actually spoke to him and give him aspirations of being king someday.
After school all the kids are still in the playground waiting for Chad and are disappointed that Chad is nothing but a nerd. The next day, The Recess Gang told Vince that Chad is a geek, but he does not believe them still thinking of his brother as cool. The gang point out various geeky thing Chad has or does such as wearing a pocket protector (because he does not want ink on his shirt), wearing tape on his glasses (because they always get broken), and being the scorekeeper for his school's baseball team (during which baseballs fly at him at top speed, explaining the constant breaking of his glasses). Vince thinks about what the group were saying later and walks into the house, seeing Chad's trophies and team picture from "future Geeks of America" club, hears him speak of certain classes and clubs, and the way he speaks, and realizes that the group were right. Chad gets bewildered when Vince runs away from the table in such dismay.
Vince confronts him and finds out that Chad knows he's a geek and is OK with it. The next day at school the Recess gang try to reassure Vince that it's OK that Chad is a geek, but Vince says everything that he ever believed to be true is wrong and fears that he too may turn into a geek. The gang says that that is not going to happen, but Vince still thinks it is and says nothing can get any worse. This is when Chucko Kowalski's brother turns up and confronts Vince about him giving his little brother a "hard time". His brother pushes Vince to the floor and is about to beat him up when Chad turns up and tells him to stop and threatens to stop helping him with his math homework if he does not do it.
Chucko Kowalski's brother, afraid he will fail math without Chad's help, apologizes and walks away. The kids celebrate and Vince tells his brother that what he did was cool, with Chad replying that just because he is a geek does not mean he is not a cool geek. The two walk off to Chad's bike and ride off.
Goofs[]
- Animation/consistency error: During the opening scene, while the kids are playing marbles inside a circle drawn on the floor, the circle randomly disappears throughout the scenes.
- Animation/continuity error: After Vince defends the kids from the bullies and they are cheering around Vince, the drawing outline eventually becomes thicker.
- Animation/continuity error: After Vince defends the kids from the bullies and while Spinelli is talking to Gus, her lips disappear during a few random frames.
- Animation/continuity error: When T.J. sees the boy in the motorcycle and yells "Chad!", his eyebrows are thicker than usual. The same error happens when T.J. says "Yeah, think how he's going to take it when he finds out."
- Animation/continuity error: When Spinelli says, "You mean Chad's on the baseball team?", her eyebrows are thicker than usual.
Trivia[]
Regular[]
- Chad strongly resembles Steve Urkel from Family Matters.
- Along with "King Gus", the 1985 "Rainbow Disney Castle" logo for Walt Disney Television introduces a variant where the background is dark purple at the end of the credits.
Continuity[]
- Chad, Chucko, Cheay, Buster, Jocko, and Vince's parents' debut in this episode.
- This is the only time when Chucko is a major school bully. In later appearances, he is portrayed a subordinate member of Lawson's Crew and a background character with rarely any speaking lines.
- This is the first time a sibling of a member of The Recess Gang is introduced.
- This is the first episode where Upside-Down Girl has a speaking role.
- This was the first episode written by Jon Greenberg.
- This is the fourth appearance of King Bob.
Allusions[]
- Chad's CDs are by Gilbert and Sullivan, who wrote comic operas in Victorian England, and also Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber, both 20th century musical writers.
- Vince's transformation during the full moon is an allusion to Max's transformation from A Goofy Movie.
Foreign Dub Titles[]
- Dutch: "Grote broer Chad" ("Big Brother Chad")
- French: "Mon grand frère Chad" ("My Big Brother Chad")
- German: "Chad, der große Bruder" (Chad the Big Brother")
- Italian: "Mio fratello Chad" ("My Brother Chad")
- Polish: "Wielki Brat Chad" ("Big Brother Chad")
Cast[]
- T.J. Detweiler/Chucko Kowalski - Ross Malinger
- Vince LaSalle - Rickey D'Shon Collins
- Ashley Spinelli/Kindergartner - Pamela Segall-Adlon
- Gretchen Grundler - Ashley Johnson
- Mikey Blumberg - Jason Davis
- Gus Griswald - Courtland Mead
- Dave - Ryan O'Donohue
- Sam/Kid #1 - Klee Bragger
- Upside-Down Girl/Ashley Boulet - Francesca Smith
- King Bob - Toran Caudell
- Ashley Armbruster - Anndi McAfee
- Ashley Quinlan - Rachel Crane
- Chad LaSalle/Cheay - Kenny Blank
- Cy Kowalski - Justin Shenkarow
Transcript[]
Gallery[]
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