"The Big Lablooski" is the second episode in the second season of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and the 15th episode of the series.
Plot[]
SPOILER: Plot details follow.
When Madame Foster's arch-rival, Flo Jerkins, steals her bowling team away from her using doilies, Mac drafts himself, Wilt, Eduardo, and Coco onto Madame Foster's bowling team. While the teams duke it out on the lanes, Bloo is distracted by a paddle ball inside a claw machine inside the bowling alley's arcade. Bloo continues to return to Mac begging for more quarters so he can try and win the paddle ball.
Jerkins seen in her team bowling shirt with Madame Foster to her left
After Mac makes several gutter balls, Madame Foster becomes frustrated; that's when Bloo returns begging for more money. Mac tries to tell Bloo that he can't due to the pressure of having to get a strike; Bloo then takes the ball from Mac and throws a strike. Once it's discovered that Mac is bad at bowling and Bloo is a bowling prodigy, Mac gets booted off the team. Depressed, Mac wanders through the bowling alley only to find the imaginary friend shown in many pictures in a display case with him and his creator sporting large trophies. Mac begs the friend, Bowling Paul, to teach him how to bowl, to which Bowling Paul agrees. Bowling Paul isn't actually smart since he didn't know about where you can get the balls & tells Mac unique statements such as that he is the pins and knocking down the pins means destroying himself, which doesn't have anything to do with learning how to bowl.
Bowling Paul as seen in "The Big Lablooski"
Meanwhile, Bloo is the best player on the Foster's team, but Jerkins steals him by offering him the paddle ball he was trying to win if he wins for her team. In order to give Bloo a spot on her team, she enlists her other teammates to steal the batteries from Winnie's power scooter. Distraught, the Foster's team sits, and Wilt suggests they might have to throw in the towel. Mac then shows up and assures them that he can win the game for them. Mac and Bloo then go up against each other, Bloo throws his ball perfectly down the aisle while Mac throws his ball haphazardly, causing it to ricochet wildly against the walls of the alley. Mac questions why his ball is doing this after taking lessons; Bowling Paul's creator overhears this and explains that the trophies in the pictures aren't Paul's but his own and, in fact, Paul can't bowl for beans. Stunned, Mac protests that Paul is Bowling Paul and that since he created him, that should mean he can bowl. Paul’s creator confirms that he is Bowling Paul and that he did create him and agrees that should mean he can bowl, but he adds that it still doesn’t. The ball eventually stops ricocheting, collides with Bloo's ball in the conjoining lane, and knocks down all the pins in Mac's lane through an insane amount of luck. Excited by this, all the friends begin to question Madame Foster where their trophy is. Madame Foster tells them that the trophies are for "the good teams" and that they were actually competing for fifth place. Jerkins comes over to congratulate Madame Foster and asks her if they are still on for tea and crumpets. Confused by this, Mac asks Madame Foster why she's meeting with Jerkins for tea if they are rivals, to which she responds that that doesn't mean they can't act civilized now and again. Bloo asks Jerkins about his precious paddle ball, but Jerkins refuses to give it to him after he lost. She tosses it over her shoulder and Bloo catches it before it hits the ground. He tries to play with it, but he fails and deems it "hard". Mac then takes it from Bloo and effortlessly paddles with it. The final scene of the episode we see a friend named Paddle Paul approaching Bloo and telling him that he can teach Bloo how to use a paddle ball.
Running gags[]
- Bloo begging Mac for quarters.
- Madame Foster constantly going from normal tone of voice to screaming.
- Mac's bowling ball always swerving into the gutter at the last second.
Spoilers end here.
Trivia[]
- There is a book version of this episode titled, "Let's Bowl" released by Scholastic. Some differences that had occurred in the book:
- The cameo appearance of the Big Labowski trio is removed.
- This is the first appearance of Flo Jerkins; she has several cameos and smaller roles in later episodes.
- This is also the only appearance of Bowling Paul and Paddle Paul.
- Both Mac and Bloo are good at something that the other one isn't:
- Mac is good at paddle ball, but Bloo isn't.
- Bloo is good at bowling, but Mac isn't.
Cultural references[]
- Bowling Paul's "you are the ball" speech is a reference to the Rifleman's Creed.
- The episode title is a pun on the 1998 film, The Big Lebowski.
- In addition, cartoon versions of Walter Sobchak, Donny Kerabatsos, and Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, the three main characters of the movie, are shown in the background when Mac was complaining about how Madame Foster kicked him out of the team and replaced him with Bloo. The Dude was getting his bowling shoes while Donny and Walter were talking to each other. The movie is Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust's favorite movie.
- The movie was previously referenced in the episode "Something's a Ms." from McCracken's The Powerpuff Girls.
- The same three characters are background characters during a bowling scene in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a show Lauren Faust worked on.
- In addition, cartoon versions of Walter Sobchak, Donny Kerabatsos, and Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, the three main characters of the movie, are shown in the background when Mac was complaining about how Madame Foster kicked him out of the team and replaced him with Bloo. The Dude was getting his bowling shoes while Donny and Walter were talking to each other. The movie is Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust's favorite movie.
- Jerkins calls Bloo "Bonnie Blue", a reference to the Bonnie Blue flag.