Robot Bop
Episode 10
Season 1, 1984
Introducing: The owner is mentioned for the first time.
Ah, technology. The one thing that can date a show worse than its music.
The kids leave the stage to find Riley has some shiny new company. MAC is a robot (with some really famous scrap mates) designed to work behind the counter.
He makes Gloria a precisely calculated chocolate malt and the kids go nuts for it. Unfortunately for Riley, so does the owner. MAC is now the new soda jerk.
Efficiency is not friendly, as Kids Inc. finds out the hard way. They try to chat MAC up, but he puts them down because they’re inefficient sloppy human beings. MAC offers them his pro-robotic propaganda and Kid declares him a Freakazoid because somebody spent a lot of money on editing software and damnit, they’re going to use it! Yes, even a robot can do “the robot”.
Renee returns to get MAC’s advice and unfortunately doesn’t receive what she ordered. Something registers in his program, though, because he decides to show them that computers can even replace Kids Inc.
Mickey tries to reason with him – one android to another – but it still fails. Uh oh, Renee has a scheme. Well, nobody denies her a lead vocal and lives to tell about it…
MAC is minding his own business when the kids come out and start ordering. Their orders are nonconventional, though, and when MAC fills them the correct and precise way, they start griping.
This attracts some more kids, and more, and soon, the cacophony of voices causes MAC’s brain to overheat and explode. Lucky for us, Riley has spent the whole episode right outside mourning his lost job, so Andrea goes and tells him and all is right again as the band celebrates destroying an expensive robot which they don’t have to clean up or pay for.
2 mics for MAC. The episode was okay, but flat. Although there were some cute Renee moments, they were few and far between. Also, "Freakazoid" has to be the weirdest song they've ever done. "Baby come here...I'll satisfy you..." ???
Guest star: Richard S. Horvitz as MAC
Invention count: -1 (see below)
Vocab:
Nerd (4)
Continuity, gags and themes:
The kids causing MAC to malfunction and blow up after he takes over is something we'll see later.
They have to explain feelings to something that has no clue what feelings are.
New Locations:
There’s a balcony in the audience area. You never see anyone using it, but we get several camera shots from between the railings.
Pop culture references:
Star Wars and R2-D2
Huey Lewis
Solos:
MAC (1)
Mickey (1) = 7
Episode total: 2
Total: 23
Performance outfits:
Denim/purple
Red/purple “ripped”
- Did Riley invent MAC? It sure seems like something he would have done, but they don't actually say so.
We now have the recipe for malteds:
6oz. of ice cream
2.3 oz. chocolate syrup
1.3 oz. malt flavoring
2 oz. milk
- MAC stands for Mechanical Aid and Companion
Songs:
The War Song –
Dancing in the Dark –
Freakazoid – 
Human Touch –
Mr. Roboto – (this is completely different from the somber STYX original – I remember my brother threw a fit because they made it into a happy song)
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