"Imposter's Home for Um... Make 'Em Up Pals" is the fourth episode of Season 3 and is the thirty-first episode of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
Plot[]
SPOILER: Plot details follow.
A strange imaginary friend known as Goofball John McGee comes to Foster's and makes a total nuisance of himself. Frankie, and only Frankie, thinks Goofball is actually a teenager passing himself off as an imaginary friend, as he always needs help with homework and someone to wash his football jerseys, and he eats all the food that Frankie buys from the store, and then orders pizza and makes her pay for it. Everyone else believes that Goofball is an imaginary friend. So now, Frankie is out to prove him as a fraud.
One of Frankie's attempts is to dress like an imaginary friend and fool everyone else so she can prove that even a human can pretend to be one. Unfortunately, Goofball reveals Frankie's plot, which makes Mr. Herriman forbid her to go to the concert and instead scrub the floors of the whole house.
That night after finishing up, Frankie sees that Goofball and the others return from the concert, and after Goofball rubs it in her face, causes Frankie to snap and start chasing Goofball all over the lobby trying to get a hold of his nose, which she pulls off to expose him as human teen, but to her shock and surprise, it is revealed that Goofball has an elephant's trunk and is an imaginary friend. After that, his creator, John Larry McGee, comes from Canada to pick him up.
Running gags[]
- Frankie proving Bloo wrong with flashbacks and getting 25 cents every time into a jar reading "FRANKIE'S RIGHT AND BLOO'S WRONG".
- Goofball calling Frankie "Franny".
- Goofball making Frankie finish the same chores again.
- Bloo calling Goof-Goof McGoof (Frankie disguised as an imaginary friend) "Melanie".
Spoilers end here.
Characters present[]
Bloo, Coco, Eduardo, Fluffer Nutter, Frankie Foster, George Mucus, Goofball John McGee, Jackie Khones, John Larry McGee, Mac, Madame Mustachio, Mr. Herriman, The Unknown Friend, Wilt, Yogi Boo Boo
Reception[]
This episode has received among one of the most controversial reviews of all the Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends series, and has been given an overwhelming negative reception by critics and audiences alike due to Goofball and his bad behavior constantly getting Frankie in trouble throughout the entire episode and not getting any punishment for his actions, how dreaded cruel both Bloo and Mr. Herriman treat Frankie and the random unfair ending twist that makes Frankie look bad. Many fans considered this as not only the worst episode in the third season of the Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends series, but also one of the worst episodes in all of the Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends series next to "Everyone Knows It's Bendy". Because of this, the creators have expressed regret for this episode, and the episode has been considered non-canonical to the rest of the series. Goofball himself has also been declared non-canonical and has never made a second appearance or even been given a mention.
Trivia[]
- This is the second episode to be declared non-canonical, the first being "Everyone Knows It's Bendy" for similar reasons.
- This episode proves that it can be difficult to identify some human-like imaginary friends as imaginary friends due to their appearance.
- Mr. Herriman hums the show's theme tune before getting stuck in the goo at the beginning of the episode.
- Though Goofball was the one in conflict with Frankie, Mr. Herriman could be considered the true main antagonist of the episode due to his nonchalant behavior towards Goofball and his uncharacteristic unfairness towards Frankie.
- Because of this, Goofball is regarded as the secondary antagonist.
- This episode reveals that Frankie's favorite music group is called "The Fake-Out's".
- This is the first time Mac and Bloo appear in the same episode but have no interaction with each other.
- This is the only appearance of John McGee and his imaginary friend.
Cultural references[]
- One of Goofball McGee's friends highly resembles Nazz from Ed, Edd n' Eddy, except Nazz is a girl while Goofball McGee's friend is a teenage boy.
- Frankie's cleaning sequence, with mice slowly approaching her, is an homage to Cinderella.
- Goofball's train math question is the same one from the 2002 Powerpuff Girls episode "Power-Noia", when HIM (masquerading as Ms. Keane) asks Blossom a series of math questions. Craig McCracken is the creator of both The Powerpuff Girls and this series, so this was likely done as an in-joke.
Goofs[]
- Comcast refers to this episode as "Imposter's Home for Imaginary Friends".
- When Bloo throws the trash into the pool, his body overlaps a green chair.
- Throughout the episode, there are possible hints that implied that Goofball wasn't a true imaginary friend, even though he is revealed to be one at the end, Lauren Faust had actually stated on her Twitter page that the reason for this is that the original pitch for Goofball’s story was that he was supposed to be a strange man in his 30s pretending to be an imaginary friend and leeching off Foster’s. However, due to the direction it would be when aiming towards children (especially since having a strange, lazy, confused, and lonely man wouldn’t be seen as relatable, quirky, or child-friendly/appropriate), a change had to happen. They were asked by Cartoon Network executives to make Goofball a teenager and later be revealed to actually be a real imaginary friend.[1] This was done in order to be relatable to kids, be family-friendly, and prevent backlash (from a creepiness factor). However, all of the possible hints/clues that were shown in the episode to show that Goofball was not an imaginary friend, as well as the "Frankie torturer scenes", were not properly removed/remade; Faust also said because of this, the original plan and expected plot of the episode was ruined, thus creating one of the most controversial endings in the entire Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends series:
- When Goofball introduced himself to Frankie the first time, it could be noticed that Goofball needed a moment to think of his name, implying that he invented it (or is rather forgetful).
- Goofball asked Frankie to do his math homework, and later tries to practice driving to get his driver’s license, revealing that he goes to school and takes driving lessons, like if he was a normal teenager, despite being an imaginary friend.
- One of his friends referred to Goofball as John, like in the beginning, only to quickly correct himself and refer to him as Goofball, implying that Goofball wasn't his true name (or his friend is rather forgetful as well).
- When Frankie interrogated Goofball for his creator, it could be noticed that Goofball also needed a moment to think of the name of his creator, implying that he also invented him, like his own name, especially for the fact that Goofball also didn't know his phone number, despite his previous claims that he and his creator were very close (Again, this also could be due to Goofball being forgetful).
- Goofball was able to see through Frankie’s Goof-Goof disguise, while the other imaginary friends were easily fooled by it. Mac was also able to see through her disguise, and he is a human.