- [Alpha] As my first full dive
into a Regular Show episode, I decided to pick something that was fun, but also controversial. My favorite kind. Hey-oh, what is up, everyone? It is the Alpha Jay of the Alpha Jay show and let's talk Regular Show. I have talked about it once
in a pretty interesting Scenes Like This, and I planned
to talk about it before, but other episodes came up, so I'm really glad that you guys voted for this in a community poll. It shows me what you
guys are interested in, so make sure to vote in those polls. There's going to be one once this video comes out or when the next community
voted review comes out, so make sure to check that out. So, the episode starts
off with a confrontation between Mordecai, Rigby, and
Benson, which isn't uncommon. Upon hearing that it's payday, Mordecai brings up that
being paid in a sandwich bag is degrading, considering
other people get checks. Benson would counter people
like Skips receiving checks by claiming that Skips has
a 401k and a bank account and drive away, not really
wanting to hear their complaints. This is a really good
way to set up the fact that Mordecai and Rigby
aren't really that respected, and considering this is season two, they have a long way
to go when you consider where the show ends up. They add icing to the
cake in the next scene where these kids crash through
the duo and don't apologize, opting to call them losers instead. Also the fact that these kids
come back later in the episode is a great example of resource management, something that other shows
like seasons four to seven of SpongeBob and Fairly OddParents and a sort don't really pick up. I mean, you have a lot
of background characters, so why not use them in
situations like this to create easy episodes? It doesn't really get stale if
you expand on the characters that we've been seeing for years. They end up entering
the local coffee shop, the same place where Margaret works at, and they're really upset
that no one respects them. After coming up with some ideas, Mordecai comes to the
conclusion that the only way to get respect is to be good at something, to which he meets up with these kids here. I do want to nod Margaret giving a reason to a newly put arcade machine being there, basically to keep people
around so they buy more stuff, more coffee, more donuts, et cetera. Now, this is what I mean
by the little things. In the grand scheme, this
doesn't really matter if she gives a reason or not, but I do enjoy the fact that
they add stuff like this because it makes it
easier to be emersed in what the characters are doing. You understand intent
more and it's less, quote, we needed things to turn out this way because the script demands
for it, sort of style. - When you knock people over,
you have to say you're sorry. You guys need to learn some respect. - Respect our butts. - [Alpha] Now, to be fair
and spoil a little bit ahead, these guys do turn out to be okay, but for now, I have something to say. (clears throat) This guy looks like he
grew in sixes on the ground and Farmer Joe threw him aside thinking that he was defected. And we got Appalachian
Mountains over here. Your nose can probably smell
what a waste of space you are. No matter how big your eraser hair grows, you will never be able to erase the wrong of those giant ears. You could probably hear the
exact moment you were born, when your mom thought
she had the wrong baby and she insisted that
the doctor double check. You both have the style of a rejected Beavis and Butt-Head show, but the head shape of
something out of Veggie Tales. You game pretty well, though. - What are you guys doing? - Those kids practically killed us with their skateboards outside. - So? They're kids. - [Alpha] Yeah, you should expect kids to kill you with skateboards, you idiot. - Bam, I got next. - Nice baggy, must've
been sad when you had to break open your piggy bank. Beat that, Gramps! - Gramps? I'm in my 20s. - Yeah, 1920s. - [Alpha] Mordecai, come on. They look like they grew up near pigs when Farmer Joe took them
out for the local harvest. Their heads make legumes
look like supermodels. - How do you get negative points? How's that even possible? - I love immediate cuts like
this, when it comes to comedy. I think that's one of the biggest reasons I got into Gumball, by the way, because they use cuts like this so often and it's incredibly funny. In fact, when rewatching this, this was actually one of the
funniest jokes of the episode, especially when you
build up the anticipation with knuckle cracking
and putting the quarter on the arcade machine. So, the duo ends up
using this arcade machine to build respect. Seeing that subtly, people
really enjoy the idea of being really good at this arcade game. Upon doing so, they meet the first person who wants to challenge them to see who's better at Broken Bonez, the game. - Come on, Jack Farley. Aww, dang it! - [Alpha] Land the bike,
there's always the next ramp. Jeez, you're way too greedy, dude. Well, with losing, Jack here
gives Mordecai his card, which symbolizes the
respect for both of them, and they see there is some potential in getting really good at
this game, and thus pursue it. Benson calls them wanting
them to clean the bathrooms and they have to weigh in. Going back to a job
where their boss doesn't really respect them all that much or the alternative to
that would be putting all into this game to get
respect from the locals. They obviously choose the latter. Now, I gotta say, reviewing
this episode around this time is pretty interesting, not for the, quote, not so topical reference, but
the fact that this episode is very close to my other review, Grand Theft Arlen, King of the Hill, to which it wrote an
episode from the perspective of someone who did not grow up with video games getting attached to them. Whereas here, this episode was
written from the perspective of someone who grew up with video games and already like them. And I do think that both
perspectives work for both times and stories that they wanted to tell, especially considering that
both get attached to video games because of the perceived joy
or respect that it brings them. They use video games as a
means to get to another place, whether it's respected
or high on a leaderboard. I guess if we really wanted
to pick at this you could say that both episodes
portray the gamer aspect as a lazy person using the
easiest thing to garner respect, but I really wouldn't
look too deeply into that or take it to heart. Oh, and this episode actually
cares about interfaces and showing the game accurately, even when the focus isn't
on the game in the shot. For the most part, anyway, there are some times when
they mess it up as well. Also, I would be skeptical,
too, if two guys approached me and one put a quarter down
above the Player 1 button and it disappeared. So, as the montage of them
getting respect happens while beating up people in Broken Bonez to the song of Hanging Tough
by New Kids on the Block plays, it dawns on me. Mordecai said earlier
that he did play the game until he challenged these cucumber kids. Now, you could chalk up this crunched and escalated pace to the fact that the show only has 11 minutes, and it's a cartoon, therefore
you should expect at least some form of exaggeration,
especially because Regular Show as a whole isn't necessarily realistic, this is a valid piece of criticism. However, you could've easily
shown some day and night shots, them blowing off Benson more times to show that days have gone
by instead of the thought that these kids enter the shop to play, they beat Mordecai and Rigby, they leave, and for all I know they could
just be standing outside the coffee shop in a T-pose waiting for their cue to come back in to lose to Mordecai and
Rigby later that evening, that same evening. That time passing could've really smoothed out some edges is all I'm saying when it comes to the pacing. - Whoa, you guys are really good. You're close to breaking the high score! - Who holds the high score? - Some dude names GBF, but
it's not just the high score, it's the world record. - Thanks, now I can follow
along and feel invested. - [Alpha] Rule number
3,905-B of storytelling, if you're going to enter
exposition, do it naturally or funny or better yet both
like this episode does. Take notes, Wishology. So, they get the high score,
pun incredibly intended. Margret hugs Mordecai because
he isn't a loser anymore like he was before, and
Margret's into winners, considering that she shadowed
Mordecai earlier when he lost. Then because Regular Show
is pretty fantasy-based and it's not 100% realistic,
a giant beam from space, assuming, of course, beams
down into the coffee shop to reveal a giant bearded face
that the duo assume is GBF, the former holder of the
high score/world record. However, GBF actually stands
for Garret Bobby Ferguson, a reference to Billy Mitchel,
a controversial figure in the gaming world records community, as he held a lot of world
records for different games, to which I'll get into that aspect later. Although he appears happy and
unaffected by a broken record, he reveals that he indeed
holds the universe record, thus making the world
record look inferior. Now, to be fair, Mordecai
and Rigby beat everyone in about an afternoon, so it's kind of bad when you look at it that way. If they can only pick up the game pretty much on their second try and beat everyone around them, the world record couldn't
have been that impressive, but let's sweep that under the rug, as they do challenge GBF to Broken Bonez for their universe record. And this climax is pretty cool, as it involves betrayal,
arrogance, and a last hope. (GBF crying) - Dude, why you crying, dude? So, you're asking us to throw the game? - Please, the universe
record is all I have. - We'll let you have it. - Thank you for being so dumb. - What?!
- What?! - I didn't devote my
life to this cruddy game, it's just a hobby. (crowd booing) oh, boo yourselves! I'm Garret Bobby Ferguson. - [Alpha] That was a great line, but getting back over to the actual match, for the lack of a better word, as GBF declares no actual rules when it comes to the
universal world record. Mordecai and Rigby essentially
end up distracting him, causing him to lose
upwards, breaking bones, but still having a
higher score as a result. All is lost until the duo realize that they have a last life
and GBF gets physical, however, to no avail, as it
is all over when Mordecai and Rigby top Garret
Bobby Ferguson's score, causing him to explode,
leading to this scene here. - You wanna waste your
lives playing video games, then fine, I respect your decision. Just don't do it on my time ever again! - [Alpha] The episode ends with them respecting Benson's word,
and that was High Score. Now, before getting into
my overall thoughts, let's talk lawsuits. So fun, right? So, it appears that Billy
Mitchel, the person believed to be referenced within this episode sued because he felt that this was offensive, and because I couldn't find
any specific legal terms, so I assume, and this is
just a guess, an assumption, that it's something in the area
of defamation of character. And reading directly
off of Associated Press for a quote, we have here, "The television character does not match the plaintiff in appearance. GBF appears as a non-human
creature, a giant floating head with no body from outer space, while Plaintiff is a human
being," Thompson wrote. "And when GBF loses his title, the character literally
explodes, unlike Plaintiff." End quote. In short, this was
protected under free speech in which transformative as a parody, as there are similarities, there isn't enough to say
that Cartoon Network, quote, stole his likeness. I saw one article say
that Mitchel didn't care as long as he was trending,
however, they show no proof which is why you shouldn't trust articles based on their word. However, this was a real case and credible sources have reported so, so that's why the title is what it is. Overall, this episode was fun. It was a great way to interweave respect through video games, it
was a good execution. It isn't amazing or
something that will wow me for years to come as a
masterpiece or anything like that, but not everything needs to be. I would rather have a solid season of good episodes instead of a few gems that are incredibly good buried within an otherwise horrible season. Remember folks, consistency, everything. Anyway, I promise to read
all of you lovely folks out for supporting me in the month
of June, so let's do this. I wanna give a big thank
you to Andrew Pollard, Benjamin Fenty, C.R. Martin,
Emily, GR3N1NJ4 Lord, Jake, Jeff, Josh Struder, Mari Akutsu, Meowmers McBiscuit, Noah, RabbitEarsBlog, RidleyKraid, Ross Pit,
Teddy, TheCrimsonMayhem, VGold, Xlipyth, and Yobikir. And with Patreon, it
is a wonderful platform to support creators. With my specific Patreon, you
get access to commentaries, certain reviews like the TDI
Season Review earlier than when it comes out to the public, and also other videos that I may do such as behind the scenes
showing how I do certain things. In fact, in this month of
June, later on in the month, I will be posting a
Patreon exclusive review that I put out actually back in May, so the people who say it in May
already saw it a month early and I'm always constantly tweaking things, and I should say this is optional. I will always give out free content, this is just one way to
support what I'm doing, so if you do want to check out Patreon, I'll have a link in a description below. It will be in the pin comment and in the card above
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see it, it will be there. But with all that out of the way, make sure to follow me at
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think I should cover. If you really like this video, you should check out the
Grand Theft Arlen review for more on video games in cartoons or my Regular Show Scenes Like This for more involving the duo. Make sure to subscribe and I'll
talk to you guys next time. I hope your time was well spent, and Alpha out.
