More Like Gretchen is the thirty seventh episode of the fourth season of Recess, which was first broadcast on March 1, 2000.
Summary
After a Spinelli family visit to a beauty museum that Gretchen attended, Spinelli is peeved with her parents for seemingly heaping so much praise on Gretchen over her.
Plot
The episode begins with Spinelli telling the rest of the Gang that her mom is taking her to a beauty museum in an attempt to make Spinelli more girly. So then she asks The Gang if any of them will accompany her to make it better for her. Naturally, the male members all refuse, so she then asks Gretchen. Gretchen then agrees, saying it'll be a girls' day out. While at the museum, Gretchen is shown to get along really well with Flo, Spinelli's mom, explaining and telling Flo all about beauty. Back at the Spinellis', Gretchen impresses Spinelli's dad Bob with her knowledge of fixing electronics and her made up songs, annoying Spinelli. She then changes the Spinellis' secret pasta sauce recipe, replacing Spinelli's addition of olives, as they gave her dad heartburn. The next day, still annoyed with Gretchen, Spinelli tells Gretchen that she doesn't want her as her friend anymore. This saddens Gretchen and she asks the Gang (excluding Spinelli) for help. T.J. then explains that most parents don't have a genius like her for a kid, so when they see Gretchen being all smart, they start to wish their kid was more like them. So that night as Spinelli and her parents are sitting down to dinner and Spinelli's parents ask her questions about her day, Gretchen arrives and acts so different from the night before that Bob and Flo are stunned. Spinelli realizes what she's doing and says sorry. Gretchen then leaves. Bob and Flo ask Spinelli what was wrong with Gretchen. Spinelli then tells them that she thought that they wanted her to be more like Gretchen. To this Spinelli's parents say that they love her just the way she is because she's their daughter. Then her dad produces the tape of the fight she missed the night before and they sit down to watch together, with their harmony restored.
Goofs
- Continuity error: At the museum, Ashley T. can be seen twice on the same floor: once walking away from the camera's view as it was moving to the left and another looking at an exhibit.
Trivia
- The male members of the main six don't have any major focus in the episode.
- This episode was cut from the Italian dub.
- In this episode, Funicello is revealed to be Spinelli's middle name referring to Annette's last name.
- At the museum, the Ashleys can be seen in the background.
Cast
- T.J. Detweiler - Andrew Lawrence
- Vince LaSalle - Rickey D'Shon Collins
- Ashley Spinelli - Pamela Segall-Adlon
- Gretchen Grundler - Ashley Johnson
- Mikey Blumberg - Jason Davis
- Gus Griswald - Courtland Mead
- Flo Spinelli - Katey Segal
- Bob Spinelli - Sam McMurray
- Announcer - Frank Welker