"Dear Debby" is the first segment of the fifty-fourth episode of Pepper Ann. It first aired in September 2001 on Toon Disney, and later premiered on November 15, 2001 on Disney Channel.
Synopsis[]
Pepper Ann thinks her Aunt Janie is having marital problems after reading an advice column.
Plot[]
Pepper Ann wants her opinions to matter after complaining about the food Moira serves in the cafeteria. She decides to read the Dear Debby piece in the newspaper after sending her one. The piece is actually from a woman who feels that her husband and son do not respect her and is angry and feels like running away. After seeing some minor clues (Ned hanging around in Lydia's kitchen, followed by Jo Jo who plans on making tofu coffee, and Lydia being upset over the coffee maker not working), Pepper Ann is convinced that the woman is Janie and that she is sad and lonely. Being completely dissatisfied with the answer, which is simply an advert, she decides to find Janie and spend time with her.
Janie is somewhat reluctant to spend time with Pepper Ann, especially when she drags her away from her chores. Pepper Ann proceeds to enjoy herself on their outings while Janie becomes more and more miserable. Nicky asks Pepper Ann if she truly is giving Janie what she wants or needs, but Pepper Ann disregards her concerns. Not wanting to see her leave, Pepper Ann forces Janie to stay at their house for a sleepover. In the middle of the night, Janie has a terrible nightmare and decides to "escape" from Pepper Ann.
In the morning, Pepper Ann is shocked to find Janie gone and has herself, Lydia, Moose, Milo and Nicky search all over Hazelnut for her. To their surprise, she is back at home, spending time with her family, who has been missing her ever since Pepper Ann started hogging her for the past couple of days. Feeling satisfied, Pepper Ann tells Janie that she does not need to send messages to Dear Debby, which confuses her because she had just sent it that morning. Pepper Ann reads the piece, but fails to realize that it is Janie talking about her.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Kathleen Wilhoite as Pepper Ann Pearson
- Jeff Bennett as Ned Diggity
- Danny Cooksey as Milo Kamalani
- Clea Lewis as Nicky Little
- Pamela Adlon Segall as Moose Pearson
- April Winchell as Lydia Pearson
Additional voices[]
- Tino Insana as Jo Jo Diggity
- Susan Tolsky as Janie Diggity
- Sue Rose as Fuzzy (uncredited)
Desk Gag[]
"The black velvet Fuzzy painting I've always wanted!"
(Fuzzy: "Get outta my face, see!")
Trivia[]
General[]
- This is the first segment to premiere on Disney Channel to not have been previously aired on either ABC or UPN.
- This is also one of the few Pepper Ann episodes to have exclusively aired with its sister segment during syndication.
- Some sites erroneously cite this episode as being paired with "Too Cool to Be Mom," which was actually paired with "Two's Company" for its sole ABC broadcast; none of the aforementioned segments ever made it to air on UPN.
Allusions[]
- Dear Debby is a parody of the advice column, Dear Abby.
External links[]