"Megablades of Grass" is the 8th episode of the first season of Pepper Ann. It aired on October 11, 1997.
Plot
Pepper Ann must earn her own money for a new pair of rollerblades, but finds work too tedious, so she exploits Milo's talent for creating freshly mown art for cash.
Synopsis
While rollerblading in the park with Milo, Pepper Ann spots a fellow blader who owns the new Megablades 3000. Enamored, she begs Lydia to buy them for her, but she declines as her current blades are still good. She gives Pepper Ann another option: start mowing the lawn to build her allowance and soon she will have enough money to buy the blades for herself. While mowing the lawn, Pepper Ann gets tired and spots Milo. She convinces him to take a crack at mowing the lawn to bring out his artistic side and he complies, resulting in him creating a beautiful pattern on the lawn. A man comes up and offers to pay them for mowing his lawn to which Pepper Ann (and to a lesser extent, Milo) agree to.
Business ends up booming for Pepper Ann and Milo who manage to get customers who trust them. However, Pepper Ann does not do any of the actual mowings and leaves that to Milo who soon becomes tired. Pepper Ann spots Dieter mowing his own lawn and threatens him. When he refuses to back down, Pepper Ann beheads Dieter's prized giraffe topiary as a warning. Milo tries to convince Pepper Ann to stop as she has more than enough to buy the blades, but she refuses as she wants to "own" the town, but Milo reprimands her and quits. Pepper Ann tries to carry the business by herself, but is unsuccessful.
Eventually, Pepper Ann has an imaginary conversation with Giraffe Head and realizes that she had forgotten why she chose to start the business in the first place. Using her hard-earned money, Pepper Ann buys a twin blade lawn mower and presents it to Milo as an apology. He happily rejoins her, but unfortunately for them, it begins to snow. The two are next seen ice skating in the park when Pepper Ann spots the same person with fancy ice skates. Milo immediately flees and Pepper Ann gives chase hoping to convince him to start a snow plowing company.
Cast
- Kathleen Wilhoite as Pepper Ann Pearson
- Jeff Bennett as Dieter Lederhosen, Giraffe Head
- Danny Cooksey as Milo Kamalani
- April Winchell as Lydia Pearson, Abriola Stark
Desk Gag
"Ooh, a bicentennial quarter!"
Trivia
- This is the first time Ned Diggety has appeared onscreen (he was first mentioned in "Ziterella"), however he would not fleshed out as Pepper Ann's cousin in this episode until his proper introductory episode.
- This is the only episode where we see Dieter's eyes.
- When Pepper Ann confronts Dieter while he's on the mower, she's wearing a blazer. But when the scene focuses on Dieter, she can be seen wearing her usual purple shirt. This happens again when Pepper Ann tells Milo that now he can make Dieter's lawn more beautiful.
- Dieter apparently sleeps with his glasses on.
- Nicky does not appear in this episode, but a topiary resembling her is briefly seen.
- Pepper Ann trying to convince Milo to mow the lawn for her is somewhat inspired by the whitewashing scene in Mark Twain's famous novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in which the titular protagonist convinces the boys in the neighborhood to paint the fence for him.
- Milo states that he will mow the lawn to the "colors of the wind", which is most likely a reference to Pocahontas.
- When Pepper Ann's mowing business takes off, she begins quoting from The Godfather. She even goes so far as to amputate the topiary giraffe head and stuff it in Dieter's bed, similar to the famous scene in the movie when Tom Hagen beheads a stallion and stuffs it into Jack Woltz's bed.
- This episode features the fewest voice actors with just four credited.
