TGIF is the eighth episode (28th overall) of the second season which was broadcast on April 7, 2002.
The Meaning of Life Lesson[]
"They said, 'Take the things that mean the most to you.' I think I left them behind. Why is it when you have time to think about stuff you did in a moment of crisis, you suddenly have big regrets and feel...lonely." - Ginger Foutley
Synopsis[]
On Friday the 13th, Carl pours ketchup on his breakfast, getting some on the calender page, and Ginger's homework. He apologizes, but doesn't want to be responsible for any bad luck that will happen today. After stating that Friday the 13th is his favorite holiday, Lois appears and is bummed out that she has to wait for a plumber, because of a clogged faucet. This will mean for Ginger, no showers but sponge baths instead, to her dismay. Lois has to get Ginger and Carl to school and come back, since the plumber will charge her whether she's home or not. On the way, Carl doesn't find sponge baths to be bad luck, and Ginger asks him why bad luck is great. Carl states that bad luck can lead to good luck, such as when a man slipped on a burrito and broke his femur. A backup noise is heard, and the car breaks down, and Carl predicts that the area will either explode or burst into flames, and it does burst into flames. The family get out of the car, but Ginger's shirt gets stuck on the door, and rips it off. While Lois checks the damage, Carl wonders why nobody will stop for them, and Ginger replies it's because he is a "4-foot tall flasher in a hockey mask". Despite Carl apparently getting his bad luck, he still wants to do more things. The Griplings' limousine stops by and Courtney greets them. Mrs. Gripling asks if they called Travelers Aid, and Blake agrees with her, saying that the Foutley car is ancient. Carl greets them with "Bad Morning" and informs the family that he doesn't have his walkie talkie, so Courtney tells Winston to give her a spare. She offers Ginger a ride to school in her vehicle, and suggests that Winston should mend her shirt to fix the rip, but she is okay, telling Courtney it's just a little tear as she enters. Lois then opens her car's hood, until the plumber she called arrives and asks if she needs help. She recognizes him and he asks if she wants a toe truck. She already has one on the way, but suggests that he could give her a ride home. In the limo, Blake shows Carl a machine that steams cappuchinos, but also works on hot chocolate. Courtney offers her mom a drink, which she accepts, and Ginger, who denies, claiming she already had hers. Carl also refuses the offer since caffeine makes him moody. The limousine drives over a hole in the street, causing Carl to fall. He grabs for his seat, but accidentally flicks a button, causing the top window to open and makes all of Ginger's papers to fly out. Carl feels jealous that she if getting all the bad luck instead of him, since he's been working for it. An angry Ginger tells him that every day is bad luck when she interacts with him. At school, Ginger tells Dodie and Macie that the Griplings seem to be a perfect family, being polite and devoid of fighting like her family. Ginger feels upset that she can't simply pick the family she was born into. Macie agrees, picturing herself born in a family of trapeze artists, despite her apparent fear of heights. At Carl's school, he digs into a dumpster and finds a metal rod. He plans to rig it to the roof of his house, and if lightning strikes, natural disasters are bound to happen. Hoodsey denies this will happen, since there aren't any clouds in the sky. Carl feels that there will be a storm approaching, but Hoodsey again proves him wrong, as he watched the weather this morning with his dad, which Carl finds ammusing. Afterward, they see a black cat on the fence. Carl hopes that it will cross them, but the cat scurries off. He has another plan to walk under ladders, but Hoodsey states that the school repainted the walls last year. Carl complains that he isn't being positive about being negative, until the cat comes back and goes into the dumpster. At The Foutley Home, the plumber does his job, removing a tile, impressing Lois, until he notices a water blockage and sees a mold problem. There is nothing he can do about the deadly mold, and thinks she should call the fire department. In class, Ginger tells the teacher her excuse on why she doesn't have her assignment, but the teacher finds it to be a lame excuse, but she does let Ginger redo her work and hand it in Monday. Dodie believes that Ginger's bad luck day is turning around. However, Principal Milty calls her to his office for an unknown reason. Meanwhile, Carl opens an umbrella in his classroom and a sandwich falls on Brandon, making him remind Carl to not open the umbrella indoors, since it's bad luck, which is what he and Hoodsey are looking for. Hoodsey asks Carl how he can find bad luck by looking for it. Mrs. Gordon tells Carl that he also is wanted in the principal's office. Carl believes that this occurance will finally bring him bad luck. Both of the principals tell Ginger and Carl about the mold in their home, Ginger will have only 10 minutes to retreieve her most valuable belongings, while Carl will have to wear a special disposal suit; Ginger is depressed about the news, but Carl is psyched. Later, a news report is done on the Foutley Home being tented because of the mold. Darren shows up and his house is also being tented, but only as a precaution. Once he leaves, Ginger mentions that she will only take her journal with her, on the one day she forgot it. Carl and Hoodsey arrive, and Carl thinks the tenting is success for bad luck. The Bishop House, as Hoodsey tells him, isn't being tented. Carl plans to collect a sample of the mold which will be very unpleasant. Hoodsey seems concerned about Carl wanting to be in the 'Mold Business", but Carl makes him go to the library, with a book about mold, so he will know what kind of precautions to use. The Foutleys are given hazmat suits for protection instead their mold infested house. With Hoodsey at the library with the book, Carl attempts to enter a room to collect a sample of the mold, but Lois catches him. She tells him that he's supposed to be gathering things that are important to him, which he claims to be doing, but she forbids him to go near the mold. Hoodsey, while reminding Carl to do something, until the angry librarian sushes him for being too noisy. In her room, Ginger is frantically searching for her missing journal, eventually finding it near her bed. After the family exits their home, a worker takes Ginger's journal, telling her she will have it back in a few hours, if the tests will return negative. The suits are removed, and the reporter asks Ginger what her possession was, with Lois telling them it's her journal. More questions are asked to Lois, while Carl is asked if he was upset about being unable to obtain a sample of the mold, which he was. Ginger is angry about her mom and brother not having much of a problem with a mold issue and their house being tented. She rats Lois out for revealing their mold business to the press, and refuses Dodie's offer to stay with the Bishops. Courtney's limo returns and she and Miranda come out. Miranda finds it entertaining that Ginger is homeless; Lois states that Ginger has actually been invited to stay with the bishop family with her own family. Ginger angrily claims she has no family, but a circus act. Courtney invites Ginger to stay at her home instead until her home is cleaned. She invites Lois, who has already made up her mind to stay at the Bishop home. Ginger arrives at Courtney's house, and she is amazed by the beautiful imagery, and this room she's in is only the bedroom. Courtney informs Ginger that dinner is at 7:00, and Ginger offers to hang out with her and Courtney decides to later. Lois is at the Bishop home, thanking Johann for letting her stay. Johanne says she's happy to have Lois here, in a deadpan manner. After she shines a spot on her bathroom mirror, Johann says that dinner will be ready in an hour. Lois asks if she can help, but Johann tells her no, making Lois sigh with disappointment. Meanwhile, in Hoodsey's room, Carl decides that while he didn't get to collect any of the mold, he thinks that the good luck is him getting to room with his best friend, but Hoodsey reminds him that Johann washed the bedsheet. Carl is now upset that his "Good luck" has turned to boring luck, since Hoodsey must do his homework until 5:30 and later watches TV with his dad after he comes home, and example of tropical depression. Back at Courtney's home, a fancy dinner is about to start, with Ginger suggesting that they should all start eating, but Mr. Gripling hasn't arrived yet. Ginger makes a joke about "Slurping your soup" in a dress, which neither Blake nor Mrs. Gripling understand. A waitress appears and gives the news that Mr. Gripling has finally arrived...on a telephone, much to Ginger's confusion. Later on, in the living room, Ginger is having a slow evening, until the doorbell rings, and it's a visitor for Ginger. It is a delivery man who gives her a package, which contains her journal, which Lois told him to give to her. Lois apparently didn't say anything about it, and while Ginger got her possession back, she isn't very happy about it. Afterward, she watches a recording of the interviews from before, while writing in her journal, saying that she was told to take what matters the most to her, and realizes that she left her important belongings (Lois and Carl) behind. She decides to leave the Griplings home and have Winston give her a ride all the way to the Bishop house, surprising Johann. Ginger meets with Lois and Dodie and apologizes for being, in Dodie's words, obnoxious, obstinate, and ungrateful. She hugs Lois, apologizes, and says she missed her mom, and Lois missed her too, and she also apologizes for acting like a circus family. Ginger and Lois go down into a basement, which isn't very clean.
Appearances[]
- Ginger Foutley
- Carl Foutley
- Macie Lightfoot
- Hoodsey Bishop
- Dodie Bishop
- Courtney Gripling
- Miranda Killgallen
- Maid
- Lois Foutley
- Darren Patterson
- Brandon Higsby
- Principal Milty
- Winston
- Medic
- Joann Bishop
- Librarian
- Claire Gripling
- Prescott Gripling (on the phone only)
- Sensationalistic Reporter
- Blake Gripling
- Buzz Harris
- Reporter #1
- Reporter #2
- Reporter #3
- Mrs. Gordon
- Principal Huliski
- Mrs. Lawrence
- Delivery Man
Quotes []
Ginger: (talking about the car) Is it suppose to make that noise?
Lois: It's when it doesn't that I know I should worry.
Buzz: Hmm hmm. I don't like the looks of this bulge here... in your wall.
Courtney: Pull out? Into what, I wonder?
Carl: Hoods, could you try to be a little more positive about being negative?
Trivia[]
- The title of the episode "TGIF" is an acronym for the phrase "Thank God It's Friday".
- It is revealed in this episode that Macie is afraid of heights. That would explain why she passed out on the Statue of Liberty in "The Nurses' Strike".
- After staying at the Gripling's home, Ginger had finally understood 'The Grass Is Always Greener On Other Side'.
- Carl is seen wearing a hockey mask that has a red slash on it. This may be a reference to Jason Voorhees' mask from the film series “Friday the 13th”.
Errors[]
- Liz Georges is not credited for voicing Courtney during the end credits.
Gallery []
