A Skilene-Filled September
Scenario 10: "Common Ground"
Friday, September 10, 2010

When the penguins' morning training had to be cut short on account of rain, the team decided to take the rest of the morning off.

Kowalski decided to use his unexpected free time to work on a new liquid explosive, while Rico opted to use his to simply wait for Kowalski to prefect the volatile substance so that he could destroy something with it. For Private, he decided his time would best be spent by enjoying a dozen or so Peanut Butter Winkies, as well as a few of the brand's newest product, Double Peanut Butter Winkies. As for Skipper, he was just trying to find something good to watch on TV.

"Chuck Charles here, live on the scene in the Bronx where—" reported the anchorman on the TV until Skipper pressed the mute button.

Just then, Marlene entered the HQ. "Hey, guys," she said. "What's up?"

"We're all taking the morning off, Marlene," Skipper answered. "And I've been trying to find something to watch on TV for a while, but nothing good seems to be on."

"Really?" Marlene asked. "Mind if I look?"

Before Skipper could even answer her, Marlene had already taken the remote control and started flipping through channels. "Oh, here's a fun little pop concert," she said as she stopped on a music channel. "These are just the kinds of songs I like to sing and play my guitar to when I—oops, forget I ever said that."

"Pass," Skipper said. "Next channel, please."

Marlene advanced to the next channel, Animal Planet, and smiled at what she saw. "This show is about otters, Skipper. Let's take a look."

"Marlene, if you've seen one otter, you've seen them all," Skipper replied.

Marlene let out a slight sound of irritation and then continued channel surfing. "Ooh, bowling!" she said as she stopped on a game just as a man was about to bowl a strike. "I know how much you guys like to play around with and draw faces on those bowling pins of yours. Why not take a peek at an actual game?"

Skipper sighed. "Marlene, I know you're trying to help, but we just have different tastes," he replied. "We're just not alike."

Just then, the bowling game on TV went to a commercial break. After a number of commercials ranging in subject from laundry detergent to car insurance, one more quickly ran as a ten-second promo about an upcoming documentary to be shown on a sister network.

"You know about the bongos and tie-dye T-shirts, but do you really know the whole story? Don't miss Pacifists and Anti-Capitalists: The Hippie Story. Coming in two weeks."

"Yeah, I don't think I'll be watching that one," Marlene said. "I don't really care much for hippies."

Skipper's eyes suddenly lit up. Did she really just say that? "Marlene, what was that?" Skipper asked with hope and optimism.

"I don't like hippies," Marlene replied.

Skipper smiled widely. He then wrapped a flipper around Marlene's back. "I love you," he said. "I always knew we were alike."

Scenario note: This one was short and sweet. Simply, I thought it would be funny to have Skipper reveal his love for Marlene simply because she shared his view on hippies. Skipper's negative opinion of them, of course, was first seen in the episode "It's About Time" and again in "Hello, Dollface."

[This scenario edited May 28, 2016.]