#9: "The Play-Sparkyville Idol (Episode 22)"

HPDrummerman: The first episode of "The Play" story arc. Now this was a funny episode because of Snoopy's antics to try to get into the school show. Schroeder, as you recall, was not having it and had the beagle booted out at the drop of a hat. These next couple of clips shows what lengths Snoopy would go to just to be a star.

1st Clip of "The Play-Sparkyville Idol":

After all was done, Schroeder was able to get at least five acts (including Frieda, of course) into the show. But then, to the surprise of everyone, Snoopy and Woodstock bombarded the stage and went into a dance number they came up with.

"Charlie Brown!" Lucy yelled from the front of the stage up to where he was. "Did you know your stupid dog and his friend were doing this?!"

"Absolutely not, Lucy!" Charlie Brown yelled back. "I'm as surprised as all of you! I didn't even tell him about the show!"

"I don't doubt that you had nothing to do with this, Charlie Brown," Schroeder yelled, "but there's NO WAY I'm letting this beagle ruin MY program! SECURITY!"

And before they knew it, Snoopy and Woodstock were tossed out of the school auditorium. "That's no way to treat a star," Snoopy thought. Woodstock chirped at Snoopy.

"What do you mean that YOU'RE the star?!" the beagle retorted. And the two of them argued all the way back home.

2nd Clip of "The Play-Sparkyville Idol":

Schroeder and Charlie Brown were chatting about Trevor joining up with the show. Charlie Brown said, "He finally called me back yesterday. He said while he couldn't totally commit to it with his busy schedule, he'd try to make it. He promised that he would let us know closer to the show, but not the day of."

"I guess that's all I ask," Schroeder sighed. "Anything else?"

"Oh yeah," Charlie Brown remembered. "There's this girl named Claudia that's a new friend of Patty and Marcie's. She offered to make flyers for the show. These are some examples of her work." And he handed Schroeder some artwork that Claudia did.

"These are pretty good, Charlie Brown," said Schroeder with a smile. "Okay, tell her she can do the flyers for us."

"Great," said Charlie Brown. Just then, the boys heard some commotion from the stage.

"Is he for real?!" shouted one kid.

"He's already been kicked out once; what makes him think he can get into the show now?!" said another. Frieda ran up to Charlie Brown and Schroeder.

"Guys," she began, "you may want to deal with this." And they all went to the stage to see what the fuss was about. What they saw was Snoopy dressed as Carmen Miranda, complete with wrap filled with fruit and makeup, and doing a cha-cha across the stage.

"Okay, my dog has finally flipped!" groaned Charlie Brown. Frieda just snickered at the scene. The other kids were wondering what this dog was doing. But Schroeder was fuming and had no patience for the beagle's shenanigans.

"SECURITY!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. And before he knew it, Snoopy was out of the auditorium again.

"Why can't I have a normal dog like everyone else?" sighed Charlie Brown.

"You're guess is as good as mine, Charlie Brown," said Schroeder. "Hopefully he won't interrupt anymore of the rehearsals."

"At least not today," added Frieda. And the kids went back to work.

End of Clips

Linus: Hey, HP. Isn't this the episode where you first used LivingOnLaughs' character Claudia Grandin?

HPDrummerman: Yep, it is, Linus. And I have the clip where Peppermint Patty and Marcie introduces her to Charlie Brown and Frieda right here. Roll it!

3rd Clip of "The Play-Sparkyville Idol":

One Saturday at Joe's Café, Charlie Brown and Frieda were eating lunch when Peppermint Patty, Franco, Marcie, and Hans walked in. They had an auburn-haired girl with them who, like Marcie, wore glasses. The group headed over to where Charlie Brown and Frieda were.

"Hey, you two," greeted Patty.

"Hey guys," said Charlie Brown. "What's going on?"

"Not much," said Franco. "Enjoying the weekend."

"Yah, just got back from museum," added Hans.

"We took our new friend here with us," said Marcie.

"We were going to ask who she is," said Frieda.

"This is Claudia Grandin," announced Peppermint Patty. "She goes to our school now. Claudia, this is our friends, Chuck Brown, and Frieda Rich. They go to Birchwood, but we are good friends with them. Chuck also has a baseball team like me, and we play them often."

"Nice to meet you, Claudia," said Charlie Brown, who offer his hand to shake, but Claudia backed away.

"Huh?" said a confused Charlie Brown.

"Oh we should have told you, Chuck," Patty started. "Claudia's autistic. It takes a while for her to warm up to new people. She is a nice girl, but she's a bit shy. Just give her some time and she will eventually be more open with you."

"Oh, okay then," said Charlie Brown. "I didn't mean to startle her."

"It's all right, Charles," said Marcie. "She has Asperger's. She doesn't like talking about it much, so don't ask any questions about it to her."

"All right then," said Frieda.

"So what have you been up to this week?" asked Patty.

"Well, we've been helping Schroeder getting ready for a Christmas program that he's in charge of directing," said Charlie Brown.

"I've already been chosen to sing there," added Frieda.

"And I'm going to see if Trevor will make his presence known as a special guest," Charlie Brown continued. "Schroeder said it was alright. He's already got a few performers for the show, but Trevor would be the surprise guest."

"Sounds like it's shaping up to be a great show," said Patty.

"If y-y-your friend likes," Claudia spoke up, "I could do some p-posters for him."

"Really?" said Frieda.

"Sure," said Claudia with a smile. "I love d-doing pictures and artwork and things with pretty colors."

"Claude here is quite the artist, kids," said Patty. "You should see the stuff she's done."

"We'd like to see your artwork, Claudia," said Charlie Brown. "If you want to show it, that is."

"Sure, I can sh-sh-show you," said Claudia. She was already warming up to Charlie Brown and Frieda. "I've have plenty of artwork at h-home."

"All right, I'll talk to Schroeder about you doing some posters for the show," suggested Charlie Brown.

"Okay, thank you," said a happy Claudia, who then hugged Charlie Brown tightly, causing him to gag a bit.

"Personal space, Claudia," reminded Marcie.

"Oops, s-sorry," said Claudia, letting go of the blockhead.

"No problem," coughed Charlie Brown. "A strong one, she is!" And everyone laughed.

End of Clip

UP NEXT: NUMBER 8