| abstract | - Narrator: Just another typical day in our fair city. That’s funny-- I don’t remember seeing that ominous-looking radio tower before! Mr. Big: Well, that’s because it wasn’t there before! Narrator: Oh… Mr. Big. Mr. Big: Soon, the city will be under my control! With a little help from-- WordGirl! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! (clears throat) Leslie? Leslie: Yes sir? Mr. Big: One of these on the side of every building in town! Leslie: Yes, sir. Mr. Big: It’s time to start phase one! Narrator: Meanwhile, in the grocery store… Becky: Relax, no grocery store would be complete without banana bon-bons! Green-jacketed man: Excuse me, I’m looking for a tube of -- (pauses as he succumbs to mind control) Grocery Store Manager: I’m sorry, what were you looking for? Green-jacketed man: I seek a cylindrical container full of mouth cleaner! Grocery Store Manager: Cylindri-who? Why, if it’s cleaner you want, we’ve got tile cleaner, spot cleaner, chrome cleaner, why we’ve even got cleaner cleaner! Green-jacketed man: Negative! I require a cylndrical container filled with mouth cleaner! Grocery Store Manager: Ohh, containers! Well, we’ve got-- WordGirl: Uh, excuse me, maybe I can help clarify. A cylindrical container is a tube, and mouth cleaner, that probably means toothpaste! So what your customer is looking for is a tube of toothpaste! Grocery Store Manager: A tube of toothpaste! Well, why didn’t you just say so? Green-jacketed man: I-- thought I just did. Grocery Store Manager: There you go! Green-jacketed man: Oh, thanks! (walks away) Grocery Store Manager: Say, if it’s cylindrical tubes you’re looking for, how about some cheese? Or pudding? Or car wax? Or-- Becky: Yeah, a cylindrical container of mouth cleaner IS an odd way to ask for a tube of toothpaste. (chuckles) It’s nice when my vocabulary skills come in handy! Becky: Yeah, I guess I hear a hum… well, it doesn’t automatically mean something’s going on. Sometimes a hum is just a hum. Officer: Proceed with your automobile! Oak Street lady: What? I have no idea what you want me to do! Becky: Uh-oh! Communication breakdown. This looks like a job for WordGirl! (grabs Huggy) Word UP! Officer: One last time! Proceed or you will be apprehended! Oak Street lady: But how can I proceed when I don’t know what proceed means?! WordGirl: Proceed means to go forward, or continue doing something. Oak Street lady: So I should just go? WordGirl: Yep. Continue driving. Proceed. Oak Street lady: WordGirl, you are a genius! WordGirl: Oh! Well… I don’t know about that. Just clarifying another misunderstanding! (Gives her a high five, then the woman drives off.) WordGirl: That’s odd… sounds like another heated quarrel on the other side of the town. WordGirl: Yes, I hear the hum too, but-- uh-oh, the quarrel’s getting out of control. Let’s go! Word UP! Narrator: Meanwhile, at the public swimming pool… Supervisor: No, no, no. I instructed you to deposit the soil into the chasm across the pool! Driver: Huh? All I heard was pool. Supervisor: WordGirl! Thank goodness! Driver: Yes, we got us a word-based misunderstanding here! WordGirl: I’ll do my best to clarify the situation. Driver: Wha? WordGirl: Clarify! You know, clear things up? To help someone understand something. Driver: Oh! Now it’s clear. WordGirl: Your boss wanted you to dump the dirt into the chasm across the street from the pool. A chasm is a really big hole. Driver: Oh, there it is! Thanks, WordGirl. You’re really smart! WordGirl: (blushing) We-ell! Let’s just say I know a thing or two about vocabulary. WordGirl: Whoops! That’s my cue. Come on, Huggy! Narrator: Meanwhile, at an evil villain’s penthouse apartment… Mr. Big: Yeee-ess! People are using big words all over the city, confusion and chaos, and WordGirl swooping around defining words and saving the day! Phase one is a success! Now onto phase two. Leslie? Leslie: Yes? (She wheels in a large device.) Mr. Big: Have you finished placing all of the word suckers? Leslie: You mean the microphones? Mr. Big: Y-- No-- well, those big things that suck all the words out of the air, you know… word suckers. Leslie: Then yes. Mr. Big: It works! A-ha! A-ha-ha-ha! (He collapses on the floor.) WordGirl: Trousers is another word for pants! He wants to buy a pair of pants! WordGirl: Canine is another word for dog. She wants to know if she can pet your dog. TJ: WordGirl, I believe I speak for this entire collective assemblage when I say, kudos to you! WordGirl: (glancing down at Huggy) Gotta go! (takes off) TJ: Ahh, WordGirl, fair thee well! WordGirl: TJ has a huge vocabulary?! This is getting weird! Mr. Big: Hoo! Back and forth, like a little red ping-pong ball! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Device: “Canine is another word for dog!” Mr. Big: Phase two is a success! The city is in chaos, and the only thing that will save it will be my new product! Something brand new… something that no one has ever seen before! WordGirl: I’m exhausted! WordGirl: Okay, I admit it, I’m having fun. I’ve never felt so needed, in such a specific word-centric kind of way! WordGirl: What?-- Whoa! What is that thing? (reading a label on the microphone) “The Word Sucker. Another fine product from… (gasps) Mr. Big Incorporated?! Come on, Huggy! It’s time we paid Mr. Big a little visit! (takes off) Narrator: Meanwhile, down at the loading dock… Mr. Big: Be careful with those, Leslie! Leslie: (grunting) Yes, sir! Mr. Big: Those crates contain my latest and greatest invention. Don’t you want to know what it is? Leslie: I already know, sir. Mr. Big: Right, right. Mr. Big: WordGirl! WordGirl: Lose something, big guy? (throws the microphone at him) Mr. Big: My word sucker! That’s private property, you know! WordGirl: Were you recording all those definitions I gave to people? Mr. Big: Maybe. WordGirl: But why? What are you up to? Mr. Big: Nothing… ooh, alright, I can’t hold it in any longer, I’ve been sabotaging the city with my big word mind control ray, then recording all of your definitions! WordGirl: Why? Mr. Big: So I could create these! (points to the box under his foot) WordGirl: Big boxes? Mr. Big: No, what’s inside these big boxes. WordGirl: What’s inside those big boxes? Mr. Big: Well I can’t tell you that-- yet. That’s for phase three. But I think you’ll like them! WordGirl: I wouldn’t bet on it! I’m taking you down, Big! Mr. Big: Oh, come now! You’ve enjoyed every minute of this! Everyone confused by big words, begging you for help… the attention, the appreciation, the applause? WordGirl: NO! (She clenches her fists and stands firm, then Huggy chatters at her and she relaxes her stance.) Maybe just a little. Mr. Big: Ha-ha! I knew it! Admit it, WordGirl-- bigger is always better! WordGirl: No it’s not! It’s more important to use the right word than the biggest word! Mr. Big: (mimicking her with his hand) Oh-kay! WordGirl: Come on, Huggy! Let’s take him! Mr. Big: Na-ah, not so fast! (He presses the button on the remote, sending out another mind control signal across the city.) I just cranked up my big word machine to eleven! Now the city is really going berserk! Everyone is using big words, and nobody can understand anyone else! Mr. Big: Well, WordGirl, looks like you can stick around here and see what phase three is, or save the city by doing what you do best. What’s it going to be? WordGirl: Oh-- (struggling to decide) --Word up! (takes off) Mr. Big: I thought so! Mwah-ha, mwah-ha-ha, mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha! WordGirl: Oh my gosh! We’ve got so much to clarify! (flies over to a concert) To the concert!-- no-- (flies over to the mall) To the mall-- no-- (flies over to the freeway) To the freeway-- WordGirl: Yes, I still hear the hum! You think that’s from Mr. Big’s big word ray? I don’t know, I mean, that hum could be coming from anywhere… Narrator: Actually, it’s coming from a giant radio tower sitting right on top of Mr. Big’s building. WordGirl: Fine. You told me so. WordGirl: Seems kind of obvious now! Oh well… WordGirl: One big word mind control radio tower going down! Mr. Big: Not so fast, WordGirl! Mr. Big: Ha ha, gotcha! WordGirl: Hey! What is this thing? Mr. Big: It’s my hero sucker! WordGirl: Let us go, Mr. Big! Mr. Big: No! Not until I tell you the end of my brilliant plan! I’ve waited all episode. WordGirl: Fine. What is your big, big plan? I can’t wait to hear it! Mr. Big: Okay. To recap-- Phase One: Use mind control to make people say big words. Phase Two: Suck all the big words, with the definitions that you so helpfully provided, out of the air. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! WordGirl: Oh! Sneaky! Mr. Big: And now, Phase Three: I wrote down all those big words and their meanings and made them into a book! Now the only thing that will save the city from falling into a big mess of big word confusion will be THIS-- Mr. Big’s Big Book of Big Words! I’ll make millions! Wa-ha-ha-ha! WordGirl: Ha-ha-ha! (snickers) Mr. Big: Wait! Why are you laughing? I’M triumphant! I’M the only one who should be laughing! WordGirl: So, you made a dictionary, did ya? Mr. Big: I made what now? WordGirl: A dictionary! You know, a big book of words and their definitions? (pause) You’ve never heard of a dictionary? Mr. Big: Well-- no, I-- I took a lot of business classes in school, it never came up… Leslie! Did you know about this? Leslie: Of course, sir. Mr. Big: Why didn’t you say something? Leslie: I thought you just really wanted to write a dictionary. WordGirl: Hey! You mind if I destroy this radio tower now? Mr. Big: (throwing the book down) No, I don’t care. Do what you want. Supervisor: (to dump truck driver) Hey, want a piece of gum? Driver: Oh I’d love one, thanks! Supervisor: Right on! Mr. Big: A whole big plan down the tubes! I tell you, this just isn’t my day! WordGirl: Well, it just might be MY day, because YOU’RE about to be incarcerated! Mr. Big: I’m sorry, could you-- WordGirl: --clarify? Sure! That means you’re going to jail, mister! Now, Huggy! Mr. Big: Should have seen that coming. Narrator: So once again, WordGirl and Captain Huggy Face save the city, and clarify a whole bunch of words along the way! Join us again next time for another fabulous, miraculous, remarkable and just plain good episode of-- WordGirl!
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