Pickles vs. Pickles

Pickles vs. Pickles	Gallery	Transcript

Season 3 Episode 22b
Pickles vs. Pickles
Original Airdate	April 10, 1994
DVD release	Season 3 Complete Series
Previous Episode	New Kid In Town
Next Episode	Kid TV

"Pickles vs. Pickles" is a Season 3 episode of Rugrats. Dan Castellaneta guest stars as J. Hershowitz.

Characters Present

• Angelica
• Drew
• Charlotte

Characters Introduced

• F. Lee Barnum (only in Drew's dream)
• J. Hershowitz (only in Drew's dream)
• Judge (only in Drew's dream)
• Anchorwoman (only in Drew's dream)
• Reporter (only in Drew's dream)
• Jury Foreman (only in Drew's dream)

Synopsis

Tired of being hassled all the time by her parents, especially when it comes down to the foods she's required to eat, Angelica doesn't take the law into her own hands -- she takes them to court! - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot

It is dinnertime at Charlotte and Drew's house, where they try to get Angelica to eat her broccoli. Angelica refuses to the point that Drew says she will not have seconds on dessert. Protesting on this, Angelica throws her plate against the wall. Charlotte and Drew become furious and order her to her room. Angelica tries to talk her way out of punishment, but her parents insist. She starts to leave the room, but pauses and says that they'll be sorry, which surprises Charlotte and Drew.

Later, the two of them are going to bed. Drew wonders what Angelica meant by her saying "you'll be sorry." Charlotte points out that a three-year-old girl isn't going to do much. Drew agrees, though concerned with how smart they've raised her, and falls asleep.

In her room having been grounded for what happened earlier, Angelica is complaining like a teenager that the adults always get to decide everything, and she tries to come up with a way to get back at her parents. She sees an ad on TV for a lawyer named F. Lee Barnum who claims to deal with family issues, and Angelica has an idea.

The next day, Mr. Barnum arrives at the Pickles' house, asking to see Miss Angelica Pickles. Drew thinks there's been a mistake, as Angelica is only three years old, but Angelica appears and escorts Mr. Barnum to her room, informing Drew she's suing him and Charlotte. After a discussion, Mr. Barnum promises Angelica that he can have the parents kicked out of the house, they are permanently banned, going to the mat of this court, send all into jail permanently and gain lots of money for both himself and Angelica as a result; Angelica agrees to this.

After Mr. Barnum leaves, Charlotte tries to bribe Angelica so she won't sue them. Angelica turns Charlotte's words from dinner on her, and reveals she's recording the conversation so her mom will look bad in court. Charlotte and Drew decide to meet with their own lawyer, J. Hershowitz.

Hershowitz explains to the Pickles adults that this can be settled outside of court, if they agree to Angelica's demands. Charlotte and Drew listen to some of Angelica's demands, but her demands are so ridiculous they refuse to give in, so they're all going to the mat of this court.

The day of the trial arrives, which is heavily covered by the press. Angelica is being severely selfish, mistreated and punishment, and crying about never getting just a little ice cream or a toy every now and then with the news microphone and gives her a Supersucker lollipop. Outside the courthouse, the reporters favor and pity Angelica, and see Charlotte and Drew as unreasonable and cruel.

The trial begins. Mr. Barnum is questioning Charlotte first, but Angelica feels he's doing terribly and making her mother look good, so she fires him. Mr. Barnum says he didn't like to work for Angelica anyways, and Angelica is allowed to represent herself. Angelica calls a new witness to the stand: Cynthia. Hershowitz objects and points out Cynthia is just a doll, but the Judge, like the press, favors Angelica and allows her to continue.

Through Cynthia, Angelica explains a very different version of the events at dinner, which portrays Angelica as good and her parents as cruel. Angelica calls more toys as witnesses, allowing her to recall many episodes of her parents' "unfairness".

Soon, Hershowitz calls Angelica as a witness, where she openly mocks him. The judge accuses Hershowitz of not being nice in his questioning and kindly asks Angelica to answer his questions. She still does not properly comply, but almost everybody finds her endearing.

Finally, Angelica calls Drew as a witness. She asks her father what she wanted the most for her last birthday, which was the big train from Toy Palace that you can ride on. Angelica asks if Drew got her the train, and he admits no. Everybody is disgusted with him, even though he explains the Toy Store was sold out.

The judge then says to Drew that he thinks he ought to be ashamed of himself, and everyone agrees in jeers. Drew then shouts that this is not a courtroom, but a three ring circus, and that all he wanted was to be a good father.

The judge then warns that he finds Drew in contempt of court, and that he will be escorted from the courtroom should he speak out of turn again. The jury rules in favor of Angelica, awarding her everything her parents own. Drew becomes shocked and again tries to explain he was being a good father, which then leads to the judge ordering Drew be removed from the courtroom and arrested for contempt. Drew screams that he is a good father as the bailiff escorts him out of the courtroom.

Moments later, Drew is sitting up in bed; it was all a dream. He wakes up Charlotte and tells her about his dream, where Angelica was mad about the broccoli and she sued and brought them to court permanently. Charlotte tells him that it was just a bad dream and he should go back to sleep, as it is three in the morning.

Feeling guilty and worried, Drew goes to Angelica's room and is able to apologize. He says he didn't mean to upset her by trying to force her to eat broccoli, and promises to allow her to try foods at her own pace.

Drew heads back to bed, and Angelica pulls out a piece of paper featuring the food pyramid. Angelica crosses off broccoli, revealing that, not only did she plan for Drew to do this, but she's done it several times before, and her goal is to end up eating only cookies.

She winks to the audience and closes the episode by saying with a laugh, "Works every time!"

Trivia

• Although Angelica and her parents suing each other is a dream, realistically speaking in all jurisdictions, these events could only legally pan out as so:
  • Minors (people under the age of eighteen), can in fact sue their parents and adults, but they cannot open the lawsuit themselves. They would need to have a court-approved guardian to open a lawsuit. This would ordinarily be their parent/guardian. Or if the parent(s) are being sued, it could either be a second parent or a family member supporting the minor's case, or someone like a social worker or a teacher, etc. Court-appointed civil claims attorneys, which is what Angelica uses, would not be admissible by court. Her best bet, in a domestic dispute with her family, would be to have gotten Lou, Stu, or Didi, who are blood relatives and/or unbiased close family members, to act as her guardian to proceed with the case. At that point, her guardian may consult an attorney or lawyer.
  • Minors cannot be sued by their parents, or any adult for that matter. A person can hold the minor's parent or guardian responsible for whichever claim they are suing for, and a child in some cases will be held liable for any charges, restitution, or money owed for the claim. Usually, the parents hold responsibility for their children, and would be taking the charge on their name if the lawsuit is ordered. Parents and adults can simply and directly go through other networks outside of a court case (sending them to reform/military school. If they broke a window with a baseball, have them fix it. If they misbehaved at school, have them clean the school on the weekends, etc.) to legally hold a child responsible for certain situations.
  • Angelica secretly audio taping Charlotte allegedly abusing her wouldn't have been good evidence in court, as Charlotte has never been seen to show any malice or ill-intent towards her daughter. Angelica, on the other hand, is clearly instigating her mother to fight her, so this piece of evidence would not be very useful in court.
  • A frivolous lawsuit is a lawsuit that has no merit to be charged in court, or a lawsuit which legally doesn't make much sense. These are usually never brought to court and are ruled as frivolous lawsuits. A child suing their parents because they fed them broccoli, is actually not a frivolous lawsuit. The reasons behind the lawsuit, whether they are true or not, are not needed to be known at that time. For example, if the food allegedly made the child gravely ill, if the child were allegedly poisoned by the parents, or if the parents knew the child was allergic to a certain food and forced them to eat it, and the parents were adamant about this claim, a lawsuit like this could definitely go to court. The reasons behind it are not needed at that particular time, and never have to be in some cases. Even though the fact Angelica simply didn't like the broccoli generally isn't reason enough to sue, she did have legal grounds to sue and start a case. So therefore, it's not a frivolous lawsuit.
  • Angelica is asking for restitution that amounts to her parents' estate and wealth. In other words, if Angelica wins the case, all money or assets belonging to Drew and Charlotte, and the house, would be awarded to her. Angelica, however, wouldn't be able to gain any of this yet, as she is considered a minor. When Angelica gets to the age of adulthood (which is eighteen), or if she is old enough to be at the age of consent, (the youngest being thirteen in some jurisdictions of the United States) and marries someone who is an adult, she will be granted all of that. If the house has been sold, she will be granted the amount the house was sold for, in addition to any other restitution and going to the mat (court costs, compensation money, college fund money, etc.) she is also granted for.
  • Angelica being rude to her parents' attorney should have been ruled as contempt of court (what her father was rightfully warned with). Contempt of court is when a person in the courtroom is doing something that disrespects the courtroom. This could be anything from not wearing appropriate attire, rolling your eyes at the judge, not having permission to speak, making outbursts, gestures, and hand signals, or verbally having a defiant or rude attitude to the court as Angelica was doing. When someone is acting rude during a trial, they are arrested in the courtroom, sent to jail, and charged with contempt of court. As Angelica was a minor, she most likely would have been ejected from the courtroom until the verdict was decided.
  • Angelica asks her doll Cynthia, an inanimate object, to testify to the court as a witness. In a general sense, this is very ridiculous. However, depending on the jurisdiction, the judge may actually allow it. In 2015, there was a man in Colorado accused of assaulting his roommate at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, who brought an owl stuffed animal to act as his lawyer. The court allowed him to do this.
  • Angelica, after not being happy with her attorney's performance, dismisses him. This is something that is not advisable in court. A person can act as their own attorney, but it's not advisable and a judge may not even allow it in many cases. Especially being that Angelica is a minor.
  • Angelica fires her lawyer for "gross incontinence", which would imply that he was not toilet trained. Most likely, she meant "gross incompetence." This is also wrong as well, as she cannot dismiss her attorney for gross incompetence. Gross incompetence is a charge that a company sues an employee for poor work performance. What Angelica can do is dismiss her lawyer for gross negligence, which is when a legal worker (such as a lawyer) shows lack of care for their client.
  • After Angelica wins her case, the judge orders his verdict, and Drew is immediately sentenced, arrested, and sent to jail. In actuality with a civil case, sentencing does not happen immediately after a verdict. It can happen within days or even months after a verdict is ordered. Also, Charlotte as well would have been arrested and sentenced, as she was suing the both of them.
  • Being that Angelica won her case, Drew (and for all intents and purposes Charlotte as well) would have been arrested and sent to jail for an undisclosed amount of time. Also, Angelica would be awarded whatever amount she was suing for, in addition to court costs, assets, wealth, and ownership/value/escrow of the estate/house that she and her parents live in. Because Angelica is a minor, she would not be able to be granted any of that yet until she reaches the age of adulthood, or the age of consent and marries an adult. However, Angelica may be granted some restitution to help her with school.
  • If Drew (and for all intents and purposes Charlotte as well) were in fact incarcerated in jail, Angelica would now be left as a ward of the state. At this point, Angelica and/or the court, could also request that Stu and Didi or Lou become her legal guardian/ward, and her legal guardian or ward would then act as a parent for Angelica. Even though Angelica by law still owns the property, her legal guardian or ward could live at the household, transport her to school, at times allow her to use money she was granted during the case, etc. If she is not able to gain a guardian or legal ward, she would then be sent to an orphanage/group home, and if she is adopted, her adopted parent automatically becomes her legal ward. Otherwise, she would either have to emancipate herself and/or wait until she's the age of consent to marry an adult, or wait until she is the age of adulthood.
• This episode, along with "Angelica's Worst Nightmare", is considered by some fans as rather creepy because of its dark overtone which is very unfitting for a children's cartoon, although "Chuckie's Wonderful Life" is considered by some to be the creepiest.
• The credits' theme music is not present, with a chilling piano solo heard playing instead. This is one of the few episodes that exhibit music other than the Rugrats theme playing in the credits.
• This is the third of the four episodes in which Tommy doesn't appear.
• There is a reference of the large train in "Toy Palace" during the court scene.
• The cigar of Angelica's lawyer says "El Barato", which translates to "cheap" in Spanish.
• Angelica breaks the fourth wall by winking at the audience and saying, "Works every time!".
• The judge bears a striking resemblance to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
• The title and concept of this episode are a reference to the 1979 film Kramer vs. Kramer.
• Angelica is the only Rugrat to appear in this episode.
• Angelica makes a Grinch face after she was watching the TV.
• Canonically, this episode takes place on August 3, 1991, since, although it was released after "Angelica's Birthday", Angelica is still stated to be three years old. However, there is a bit of a continuity snarl, since F. Lee Barnum refers to that day as a Tuesday, whereas in 1991, that day was on a Saturday. This may be a reference to the fact that this episode was produced in 1993, the year when August 3 was on a Tuesday.
• Angelica is only three and is far too young to sue her parents or vice versa.

Goofs

• At the press conference, when the reporter interviews Barnum on the TV set, her microphone is wired, but when cut to the next shot, the microphone has no wire, like it's wireless.
• When Drew and Charlotte prepare for bed, Charlotte is sleeping on the left side with Drew on the right, but they switch places at the end of Drew's nightmare.