"Home@work" is the first segment of the fourth episode of The Weekenders. It premiered on March 18, 2000 alongside "To Be or Not to Be".
Synopsis
Lor needs her friends to help her pass an upcoming test to avoid having to face going to military school.
Plot
Friday
Tino has plans to hang out with his friends at the new Nocturnal Exhibit at the zoo and then check out Skate-a-bration on Sunday. However, Lor has terrible news. Due to flunking the Civil War quiz, she has to retake it on Monday and if she fails again, she will be shipped to military school. She asks for help with studying, but everyone performs a "friend slip" to get away. Nevertheless, Mrs. Tonitini insists that they go and help Lor study for the test. Lor turns out to be rather hopeless at studying unless it involves computer games. Carver and Tish manage to slip away as neither of them are obligated by their parent.
Saturday
Carver and Tish decide to carry on their weekend and opt to audition people to replace Tino and Lor. The candidates include the aloof Nail, incredibly tall Nona, observant Bluke, and the "pointy things" obsessed Frances. Despite their rather pathetic attempt at replacements, they ultimately settle on Bluke and Nona, though they quickly regret this. When Tino discovers that Lor had been playing computer games instead of studying, he begins to notice that Lor is very good at remembering details and statistics in relation to video games and concludes that the reason for her inability to study is that she is simply bored.
Tino takes this information to his mother who tells him that it would definitely help if he had a visual aid to help Lor out. She shows him a docuseries about the Civil War, but Tino quickly falls asleep through it. Carver and Tish take Bluke and Frances to the Nocturnal Exhibit, but they start to dislike their company. When they are nearly spotted by the Cool Kids, Carver and Tish come to the realization that they are ashamed of being around the two and miss Tino and Lor. They decide to ditch the two, but they overhear them and Bluke and Frances leave on their own accord, apparently becoming friends through their night out together.
Sunday
Tish, finally realizing that Tino needs help with tutoring Lor, decides to abandon the Skate-a-bration in favor of helping them. Carver is disappointed, but decides to go after auditioning to fill in for Nail and Ruby's extra friend. When he asks what happened to their other friend, they explain that they ditched him because he only thought of himself. Finally coming to terms with his behavior, Carver sells his ticket and buys a computer game based on the Civil War and gives it to Lor. Understandably, Lor starts to become heavily invested in the Civil War and educates herself. Tino and Carver admit that they performed a good deed despite missing Skate-a-bration.
The following day, Lor passes her Civil War test with a B+.
Cast
- Grey DeLisle as Lor McQuarrie, Nona
- Lisa Kaplan as Mrs. Tonitini
- Phil LaMarr as Carver Descartes, Bluke
- Jason Marsden as Tino Tonitini, Nail, Colby
- Kath Soucie as Tish Katsufrakis, Ruby
- Julianne Buescher as Frances, Bree
- Jeff Bennett as Pizza Guy, Percy
Trivia
- The title is meant to be read as "Home at work".
- The famous Abbey Road cove by The Beatles is recreated.
- Pizza Place Name: Pizza Pilot - Pizza Guy dresses as a pilot and delivers plane shaped pizza.
- The multipart documentary that Tino and his mother watch are most likely a nod to the famous Ken Burns docuseries The Civil War.
