Homecoming: A Shot in D'Arc

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Clone High episode
“Homecoming: A Shot in D'Arc”
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 6
Guest star(s) Chris Berman as himself; Dan Patrick as himself.
Writer(s) Eric Kentoff
Director Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Production no. 106
Original airdate 1 December 2002
Episode chronology
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"Sleep of Faith: La Rue D'Awakening" "Plane Crazy: Gate Expectations"

Homecoming: A Shot in D'Arc (also known as ‘Homecoming: A Shot in the D’Arc’)[1] is an episode of Clone High.

Contents

[edit] Plot

[edit] Synopsis

It’s homecoming at Clone High, and everyone is excited for the big homecoming basketball game against Clone High’s rival, GESH. Joan wants to prove that girls can play basketball as well as boys, and so dons a clever disguise, calls herself John Dark, and joins the team. Abe is jealous of the new player, especially when Cleo becomes attracted to John. JFK is also attracted to John, causing him to question his sexuality. Scudworth makes a bet with the principal of GESH. Gandhi befriends GESH’s mascot, Geshy.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Episode walkthrough

Dan Patrick and Chris Berman cover the Clone High homecoming pep rally as a way of establishing back story. Clone High has a longstanding rivalry with GESH (Genetically Engineered Superhuman High) and has never scored a point against them in their annual basketball game. Abe "Weakest" Lincoln is the “new and extremely untested” captain of the Clone High team and hopes to change that – though he’s terrible at basketball. Gandhi seeks revenge against GESH after they sabotage the Clone High spirit banner, changing it from "Clone High Rules" to "The Clones Must Be High if They Think They Rule."

Joan, who weighs a pound more than Abe and beats him whenever they play basketball, offers to play for the team. However, the rules state that no girls or animals are allowed on the boys’ team. Abe then asks Joan to try on his letterman’s jacket, so he can see how it fits on a girl. He plans on giving it to Cleo at the Homecoming dance. At home, Joan is playing basketball, when Toots comes home. He tells her that in the days “before racism was eradicated,” he was prevented from playing professional basketball, because he was Black. Joan makes up her mind that she will play basketball.

Meanwhile, Principal Scudworth has a rivalry with GESH's Colonel Principal, and wants to make a bet with him over the upcoming game; even though Scudworth's first-born child, Brian, was given to (and eaten by) Colonel Principal as a result of losing the previous year's bet. Colonel Principal bets Scudworth that the clones can't score a single point on GESH. Scudworth accepts and proposes that the loser do the winner's laundry for a week.

Gandhi and Genghis Khan conspire to steal the costume of GESH's mascot, Geshy, and defecate in it. When they kidnap the mascot, however, they discover that it is in fact not a guy in a costume, but a genetically engineered creature. Gandhi takes Geshy home, but doesn’t know what to do with them. Slowly, they become fast friends, but, in the end, Gandhi must release Geshy into the wild. But, as soon as Geshy becomes free, he begins violently devouring every animal in sight.

Joan begins to play for the team disguised with a fake moustache and the name "John Dark," a name quite similar to Jeanne D’Arc, the French name for Joan of Arc – as George Washington Carver is quick to points out. ‘John’ dismisses these claims, and tells everyone a made-up story about who the original John Dark was. Things begin to go awry when both Cleo and JFK begin to feel attracted to ‘John.’ This causes JFK to question his sexuality. He begins watching Will & Grace with his gay foster dads, and begins flirting with ‘John.’

Abe is mad at ‘John’ for scoring too many points during practice, making Cleo not notice Abe. ‘John’ suggests Abe forget about Cleo, and find a new girl. ‘He’ even suggests Joan of Arc as a suitable candidate. Abe considers it, but then decides that ‘John’ is trying to steal Cleo away from him. In reality, it is Cleo who is interested in ‘John,’ and she starts flirting with ‘him.’ The situation is exacerbated when Scudworth, the new team captain, replaces Abe as captain with Joan. Joan laments to Mr. Butlertron that she simply wanted to show that girls could do anything as well as boys could, but ended up hurting the boy she cared about the most.

At the game, ‘John’ tries to let Abe earn his respect back by continually passing to him, but Abe is unable to get a shot. Scudworth tries to cheat, by making William Howard Taft ride Napoleon Bonaparte on stilts while they both wear an "obscenely long trench coat." Before this technique can be put to the test, Geshy crashes through the gym wall with a bear in his jaws. Gandhi, heart-broken over giving up Geshy, runs towards him, but Geshy runs past him and bites off the referee's arm. The ref calls a technical foul on GESH "for biting," which leads to two free throws for Clone High.

'John,' Abe, and Scudworth
Enlarge
'John,' Abe, and Scudworth

‘John’ tries to get Scudworth to let Abe take the shoots, but Scudworth demands ‘he’ take the shots. Scudworth refuses, and ‘John’ is forced to reveal who ‘he’ really is. Everyone is shocked. Cleo and JFK both realise that they were hitting on a girl. JFK is relieved; Cleo is oddly turned on. Scudworth is mad, and gives the free throws to Abe. But, though Abe is angry at Joan for her deception, he still feels that she should take the shots. He makes an inspirational speech about the lesson that he’s learned. Everyone, including Scudworth, is touched, and Scudworth lets Joan take the shot. Joan misses the first shot, but makes the next one. Instead of praising Joan for her shot, the students praise Abe for his speech, which they feel was the main factor in getting Joan to take the free throws.

[edit] Featured cast

[edit] Featured clones

[edit] Deleted scenes

  • The moustachioed dolphin that Scudworth believes to be Henry VIII was originally a moustachioed goat that Scudworth believed to be some guy named ‘Roger.’ [1]
    • The replacement satisfied two Clone High requirements: a clone, and the obligatory dolphin.[1]
  • A subplot about Dan Patrick and Chris Berman being gay. After their expository opening scene, they originally went off and make out, and then, at the eventually-cut homecoming dance, they were seen dancing together.[1]
    • Berman had some worries about “the gay stuff,” but “agreed to do it if Patrick said it was okay.” In the end, the joke was cut for time.[1]
  • Originally, all of the students at GESH were to be variants of Shaquille O'Neal. However, because GESH supposedly consists of “genetically-engineered superhumans” and not clones, the idea was scrapped. [1]
  • A much longer version of the joke about Scudworth’s son, Brian, where Scudworth began eating some soup, which Colonel Principal claimed to be made out of Brian, then claimed it to be made out of Brian’s brains, then claimed it to be made out of the brains of a cow named Brain that ate Scudworth’s son Brian. After each of these revelations, Scudworth screamed “Noooooooo!” Then, finally, it was revealed that Brian was alive and well, and attending public school. Scudworth then screamed, “Public school?!? Noooooooo!”[1]
  • Instead of the usual “Next time on a very special Clone High, a cheery theme song for Geshy all about how he keeps violently killing cute animals.[1]
  • A long scene at the end of the episode, taking place at the Homecoming Prom, where Joan wins Prom Queen and ‘John’ wins Prom King, and so Joan has to dance with herself to Billy Ocean’s “Caribbean Queen.”[1]
    • The voice-over and initial stages of animation for this scene were completed, and a leica reel was made, which can be viewed here (click ‘alternate_ending’).
  • During the pep rally, Gandhi originally did a back flip and yelled, “Geronimo!” Clone Geronimo then walked in and said, “Yeah?”[1]
  • Abe calling one of his shots “‘The Great Emasculator,’ because it emasculates the opponent.”[1]
  • A joke about Clone Liberace having a ‘girlfriend’ in Niagara Falls.[1]
  • During the basketball game, after a bad call, Scudworth yelled, “Foul?! Ref, are you blind?!” The referee turned out to be Clone Helen Keller, who then wrote on a piece of paper, “Shame on you.”[1]

[edit] References

[edit] Historical references

  • GESH’s rally parodies the Nazi propaganda rallies, such as the ones shown in the film Triumph of the Will. The GESH logo also bears a striking resemblance to a swastika.
    • GESH’s mascot, Geshy, is the main aspect of GESH which seems to deviate significantly from the Nazi theme.
  • When "John Dark" is unmasked, Scudworth demands that everyone wearing a fake moustache leave the gym. Several figures wearing obvious fake moustaches pass by. The last one is a clone of Groucho Marx, whose trademark facial hair was indeed fake.
    • The Groucho Marx gag wasn’t in the original script, and didn’t appear until the storyboarding stage.[1]

[edit] Popular culture references

  • Chris Berman and Dan Patrick are two of the main anchors on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
  • “That movie where Whoopi Goldberg coached the Knicks” is Eddie.
  • Joan’s plot, while a fairly ubiquitous teen movie plot, specifically parodies the film Just One of the Guys.[1]
  • The Harlem Globetrotters 1972 playbook is signed ‘Curly.’ Fred “Curly” Neal was a popular member of the Harlem Globetrotters.
  • The story Joan tells about the original John Dark is surprisingly reminiscent to the plot of the film, Planet of the Apes.
  • At one point, Joan (as John) is reading Memoirs of a Geisha.
  • Gandhi’s subplot is a parody of the film E.T.
  • Teen Wolf, apparently a student at Clone High, can be seen during the climactic basketball game. In the movie Teen Wolf, he uses his powers to become the school’s star basketball player.
    • It should be noted that the original Teen Wolf did not come about his powers through cloning or any type of gene manipulation, forcing us to question his place at Clone High.
    • Since all indications suggest that Clone High is entirely populated with clones, does this mean that it is a clone of the original Teen Wolf? Does this, in turn, mean it is possible to clone fictional characters?

[edit] Trivia

  • Gandhi plays Clone High’s mascot, DNA Dan.
  • Abe’s reference to the “Homecoming Prom” is one of the only surviving references to a cancelled running gag about Clone High’s many different proms.[1] (see Main Page Trivia)
  • The sounds at the very beginning of the second act, and the blood on Scudworth’s hands during the next scene, suggests that Scudworth had just stabbed someone before the scene starts.
  • In the all-male locker room, George Washington’s anthropomorphic peanut can be seen towelling off, as Carver watches admiringly.
  • Joan confides in, and receives advice from, Mr. B for the second time in the series. She last did this in Episode 1, Escape to Beer Mountain: A Rope of Sand.
  • The marquee at Clone High reads, “7PM – Homecoming Game: Will they score? 8PM – Homecoming Dance: Will they score?”
  • During the episode, Geshy eats some candy, a deer, a squirrel, three baby birds, a dolphin, a tree, a moose, a bear, the referee’s arm, and Chris Berman.
  • Throughout the episode, it is difficult to tell if Geshy is saying ‘Gandhi,’ or ‘candy,’ which would suggest that he was only interested in Gandhi for his candy. The ‘candy’ possibility is made more likely by his last scene with Gandhi, where he runs past Gandhi, favouring food instead.
  • Eric Kentoff, the writer of this episode, has actually written for the Harlem Globetrotters, who are mentioned in this episode.[1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Pava, Adam. Episode Six: 'Homecoming: A Shot in the D’Arc' Notes (HTML). CloneHighUSA.com.

[edit] External links

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