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The Chips Are Down!
Season 3, Episode 3
4470DE03-738C-4139-90CE-0BDBA70D8BE5
Air Date 1988
Previous Paperback Hero!
Next Life in the Fast Lane!

The Chips Are Down! is the 24th episode of The Raccoons.

Premise[]

Before Cyril Sneer can sell his feeble potato chip plant to Mr. Knox, he desperately needs to increase his sales figures. So he and the Pigs hold a phony contest for a new bike. Bert gets sucked into the contest and wastes all his money on it... until the Pigs screw up on the assembly line.

Plot[]

Like most other geniuses, Cyril hits the wall on occasion. His latest scheme, thought, resuscitates him swiftly as he creates a giveaway where a Blue Phantom bicycle can be won. While placing game pieces in bags of his horrendous-tasting potato chips, he ensures that that final piece can never be found. Bert, however, is bound and determined to find it which causes him to become addicted to this pernicious snack food.

Bert's zealousness to win the Blue Phantom causes him to eat, drink and sleep the chips while Ralph and Melissa worry about this unhealthy addiction. As soon as Bert runs short on funds, he resorts to other tactics, such as selling his prized possessions. Meanwhile, Cyril ensures that the public never gets what they want so he can remain as a rich and dastardly tycoon (which is extremely illegal).

Finally, Bert manages to win the Blue Phantom but he discovers his victory is pyrrhic as he has lost a lot more in obtaining the "victory" than he considered possible (biting off more than you can chew, as it were). Thus, we see Bert engage in a repentance process as he vows to eschew Cyril's horrific combinations of potato chips.

Characters[]

Songs[]

Trivia[]

  • This episode (written by Alan Templeton and Mary Crawford) criticizes gambling addiction and contest scams, as well as addressing the mental and behavioural problems caused by them. In this case, Bert Raccoon's determination to win the Blue Phantom bicycle through buying as many of Sneer's chips as he can to complete the 9-piece jigsaw puzzle, so as to win the bike. Today, this subtle messaging mirrors that of the harmful effects of addiction to the "gacha game" and "loot box" mechanics of so-called 'free-to-play' video games.
  • First appearance of Mr. Willow, owner of Willow's General Store, and voiced by Carl Banas.
  • Michael Magee is credited as the voice of Snag, who does not actually appear in this episode.
  • At the very end of the episode, Cyril is seen turning green when he feels sick (in this case, his reaction to the pigs' dinner recipes made out of his potato chips). The last time he turned green from disgust was in Last Legs.
  • Bert has a Mickey Mantlepiece baseball card, a parody of Mickey Mantle. Coincidentally, Mickey Mantle is also parodied as Mickey Mantlepiece on The Flintstones.
  • Bert mentions he has a Woodchuck Berry guitar pick. Berry himself would later appear in Second Chance!
  • The flavors Cyril Sneer had implemented to his chips are Turnip & Sardine, Fried Egg & Broccoli and Sour Cream and Liver. It's probably because of his cigars that he'd lost the sense of their terrible taste and lack of crunch.
  • Geoffrey Winter's narration is absent from this episode.

Quotes[]

Cyril: Those pigs had better come up with a better way to get rid of those chips, or I'll turn them into chops!

Pig One: We'd better get that winning piece back, pronto!
Pig Two: Yeah... before the boss makes snack food... out of us!

Cyril: Alright, give me the bad news. How much did the ad campaign cost? I can take it.
Cedric: Okay Pop. $473,292.33.
Cyril: I CAN'T TAKE IT!

Cyril: About time! What's for dinner?
Pig One: Tuna and potato chip casserole!
Pig Two: Escalope, cinammon and lima bean potato chips!
Pig Three: And imitation bacon potato chip and marshmallow pie!
Cyril: Ooh... I feel sick! (turns green and keels over)

Gallery[]

Main article: The Chips Are Down!/Gallery

Credits[]

Main article: The Chips Are Down!/Credits

Watch Episode[]

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