"Ziterella" is the first episode of Pepper Ann. It aired on September 13, 1997 as the series premiere.
Plot
Every schoolbook photo to date has turned out bad for Pepper Ann. This year she is determined to get a good photo.
Unfortunately, she gets a pimple the day before it's time to take the picture, and she's too embarrassed to buy pimple cream.
Synopsis
Pepper Ann happily tells her friends Milo Kamalani and Nicky Little that she is prepared for this year's yearbook photo after having multiple failures in the past. Hazelnut Middle School principal Herbert Hickey confronts Pepper Ann about the upcoming photos and warns her that they are of the utmost importance. When Pinkeye Pete arrives, Pepper Ann fearfully runs to the bathroom (despite him not actually touching her) and suddenly notices to her horror that she has a pimple on her forehead. While Milo and Nicky have trouble seeing it, Pepper Ann is mortified and asks for help, but both have other matters to attend to. Thankfully, Pepper Ann has until tomorrow to figure out how to get rid of her pimple.
Pepper Ann is forced to go to Abe's Mall (the "Abys-Mal") to get pimple cream which is considered an unpopular shopping place; a comment from her socially inept cousin only justifies her point. Her mother, Lydia, refuses to go, as she wants to finish her fashion photos, and is stuck dealing with her boss' new order of sarongs, while her sister Moose, and her aunt Janie, both refuse to go for one reason or another; she ends up flipping a penny to decide. Pepper Ann walks the streets where she encounters classmates Trinket St. Blair, Cissy Rooney, Tessa and Vanessa James, her uncle Jo Jo and various other people, including a bird and squirrel, who all ask, "where are you going?" though it is implied that she is imagining the majority of it. She finally gets to Abe's Mall where she hurriedly buys all of her things and flees back home where she happily applies the cream to her forehead. Her pimple miraculously disappears.
The next day, however, Mr. Hickey sadly tells the students that the second half of yearbook photos will not be taken due to Pinkeye Pete having given the photographer pinkeye. He desperately tries to call a new photographer so that he can get another Yearbook photo award. While in class, Pepper Ann's enthusiastic math teacher Ms. Stark, explains to the students about Abe's Mall, directly revealing that Pepper Ann was there (against her will). The whole class begins laughing at her, as a psyched-out Pepper Ann loudly admits that she liked being there and that the prices were amazing, though her friends calm her down. Later, Pepper Ann sees Abe's Mall is the subject of a pop culture report as it is the hang out of rock band Flaming Snot. She is clearly seen in the background much to her displeasure.
Mr. Hickey exhausts every avenue and gets inspired to head to the mall to steal a photo booth, but while there ends up seeing Lydia's photos at the fashion boutique and hires her. The next day, Pepper Ann and her friends enter the gymnasium to get their photos taken and are surprised to see all of their friends, along with eighth grader Craig Bean, commenting on her sudden fashion status from the report. As Pepper Ann sits to get her photo taken, she is shocked to see that her mother is the photographer. She tries in vain to stop her, but Lydia ends up taking an awkward photo of the scene, humiliating Pepper Ann. Mr. Hickey laments that he was unable to get the award for this year because of her.
Cast
Main cast
- Kathleen Wilhoite as Pepper Ann Pearson, Additional voices
- Jeff Bennett as Pink-Eye Pete, Photographer*, Ned Diggity*, Geezer*, Mailman (Justin)*, Craig Bean, Mitch*, Dieter Liederhosen* (dropped)
- Danny Cooksey as Milo Kamalani, Additional voices
- Clea Lewis as Nicky Little, Additional voices
- Pamela Segall as Moose Pearson, Timid Boy*
- April Winchell as Lydia Pearson, Sherie Spleen*, Abriola Stark*, Construction Worker*, Additional voices
* Marks an uncredited voice role
Additional voices (uncredited)
- Don Adams as Principal Hickey, Pizza Pit Manager, Newsstand Owner
- Paddi Edwards as Vera Groober-Schwartz
- Jess Harnell as Talking Penny, Flaming Snot Guy, Mick Snot
- Tino Insana as Jo Jo Diggity
- Kath Soucie as Cissy Rooney, Mrs. Little, Cashier, Supermodel Mindy, Bird, Chipmunk, Hazmat Woman
- Cree Summer-Francks as Tessa and Vanessa James
- Susan Tolsky as Janie Diggity
- Jenna von Oÿ as Trinket St. Blair
Other characters
- Craig Bean (not named outside of credits)
- Alter Ego (not named)
- Trinket St. Blair (not named)
- Cissy Rooney (not named)
- Tessa and Vanessa James (not named)
- Ned Diggity (not named)
- Mick Snot (not named)
- Dieter Liederhosen (does not speak; line dropped)
- Distressed Mother (does not speak)
- Pumpkin (not named; does not speak)
- Cossie Van Tuttie (cameo)
- Gladys (cameo)
- H-Nut Audiovisual Klub
- Alf (cameo)
- Lamar Abu-Dabe (cameo)
- Jan (cameo)
- Myrna (cameo)
- Roy (cameo)
- Timmy (cameo)
Desk Gag
"Ooh, five bucks!"
Goofs
- Craig Bean can be seen in line for pictures when Pepper Ann arrives for her photos, right before the next scene reveals him standing next to the bleachers, on the other side of the room.
- Cousin Ned is also shown in line for pictures when Pepper Ann arrives; later episodes will establish that he is in High School, as well as being 15, later turning 16 years old.
- Ned being shown in Hazelnut Middle School will be a very common error going forward.
Trivia
General
- This episode, along with the series premiere of Recess, was originally set to premiere on September 6, 1997. Following the death of Princess Diana, the premiere of this episode was delayed until the following weekend out of respect.
- This episode, being the series' pilot, features some notable differences from later episodes, most notably with how characters are portrayed.
- Pepper Ann speaks with a slightly pitchy, raspy voice, which is present for most of the first season.
- Lydia and Milo often speak in a deeper tone than usual.
- Nicky speaks in a lower, more casual tone (in comparison to her softer, mousy one in later episodes) and doesn't speak with a lisp.
- Trinket speaks with a chirpier voice compared to her slight valley girl dialect in later appearances.
- Roland Carter is the only character featured in the intro to not appear in this episode. He will be introduced in later episodes.
- Nicky's Mother is coincidentally introduced before Pepper Ann's.
- A deleted scene of Dieter complimenting Pepper Ann was dropped (presumably for runtime reasons); it was featured on early ABC promos for the show's run on One Saturday Morning.
- "Pepper Ann, you are bigger than ABBA!"
- This episode marks the first of a few times in which Moose speaks outside of her gravelly low tone, when she yells "Incoming!" while skating past Pepper Ann and Aunt Janie; this also occurs in Thanksgiving Dad and Miss Moose.
- In the original English version of the episode, the shoppers in the mall groan in disgust after Lydia shouts that Pepper Ann has her first pimple. However, in the Latin American Spanish version, the shoppers cheer.
- Kathleen Wilhoite, Danny Cooksey, Clea Lewis, and April Winchell provide the vocals of the crowd cheering when Pepper Ann takes her school photo.
Continuity
- This episode, and the rest of the first season, clearly shows that the series is set in 1997, the year the series started.
- The Pizza Pit, as mentioned by Pepper Ann, will keep appearing in later episodes throughout the first season; It will later become the "Greezy N' Cheezy" from the second season onwards.
- Mrs. Little is shown to be a regular shopper at "It's You!".
- Pepper Ann is shown not to think highly of her cousin Ned, indirectly likening him to a freak/geezer after he comments that he shops regularly at Abe's Mall. This will be expanded upon in License to Drive.
- Right before Pepper Ann arrives at Abe's Mall, two buses arrive at the mall; one for the Hazelnut Audiovisual Klub (notably featuring Alf and Lamar Abu-Dabe, and another for Cocoon Gables, which will be later featured in its titular episode.
- Ironically, the geezer shown coming out the bus in this episode is absent in the aforementioned episode.
Allusions
- In Pepper Ann's fantasy of her working at a pizza restaurant, she wears a Phantom of the Opera mask and has large forearms resembling Popeye's.
- When Abraham Lincoln on the penny starts talking to Pepper Ann, the penny's date changes from 1972 to 1997, a nod to when the episode was produced. The date then changes back to 1972 when Lincoln stops talking.
- In the deleted scene of Dieter congratulating Pepper Ann, he cites that she's "bigger than ABBA".
Gallery
.jpg "Ziterella (1).jpg (65 KB)")
.jpg "Ziterella (2).jpg (66 KB)")
External links
