Mr. Conductor Gets Left Out is the twenty-first episode of the third season and overall the sixty-second episode of Shining Time Station.
Plot
It's a beautiful day at Shining Time Station, but the kids can't agree on how to spend it. Becky wishes to attend a traveling zoo, Dan wishes to attend a baseball card show, and Kara wishes to take a canoe ride. Mr. Conductor settles their dispute by suggesting each kid go to their respective activity, and meet him at the fairgrounds later for a Thomas story.
Before the kids can set off, Schemer announces that he has a special surprise for the arcade. The surprise turns out to be a set of 3 Pay TVs with over 600 channels. At first the kids are uninterested, even after Schemer shows them a few channels, including one about trees, one about babies, and one about monkeys. A few more channels, including one with cartoons, and one with toy ads, and the kids suddenly take interest.
Before long, the kids are hooked to the TVs, much to the dismay of Stacy and Billy. Nothing going on at the station can distract them, whether it's a humorous goat escape in the train yard, or a famous baseball player asking for directions, or anything else. Mr. Conductor manages to temporarily distract them with his Thomas story (see below), but before he finishes the kids are suddenly back to watching TV, to his surprise.
While watching, Dan takes interest in a commercial for a toy robot available for sale at Barton Winslow's general store, and goes off to order one. A moment later, Kara and Becky take interest in a toy commercial for a high-maintenance baby doll, also available at the general store, and they order one.
After several hours of nonstop TV watching, Stacy and Billy decide enough is enough, and Stacy pulls the plug on the TV's in order to shut them down, snapping the kids out of their trance. They now prepare to set off for their originally planned activities, of the traveling zoo, baseball card show, and canoe ride, but Stacy and Billy announce that the activities are closed for the day, much to their disappointment.
A moment later, Barton Winslow arrives with the toys the kids ordered earlier. However, the toys turn out to be a lot smaller than advertised, and require rare batteries to operate properly, much to the kids' further disappointment. The kids swear to only watch TV in moderation in the future, and make the most of their situation by playing fort with the large boxes the toys came in, much to Schemer's surprise, as his televisions aren't getting put to use anymore.
Cast and Characters
Main Cast
- George Carlin as Mr. Conductor
- Didi Conn as Stacy Jones
- Tom Jackson as Billy Twofeathers
- Ari Magder as Dan Jones
- Erica Luttrell as Kara Cupper
- Danielle Marcot as Becky
- Brian O'Connor as Schemer
The Flexitoon Puppeteers
- Jonathan Freeman as Tito Swing
- Olga Felgemacher-Marin as DiDi
- Craig Marin as Rex
- Peter Baird as Grace Bass
- Kenny Miele as Grace Bass
- Alan Semok as Tex
Guest Starring
- Gerry Parkes as Barton Winslow
- Maurice Dean Witt as Slugger Cobb
- Ashley Ann Wood as Little Girl
It is unknown who played Mel.
Thomas Story
Jukebox Band song
- New River Train
Cartoons and Songs
The following segments were used on the TV's:
- Casper The Friendly Ghost - There's Good Boos Tonight (1948)
- Sudden Fried Chicken (1946)
- Pie Face
- Dancing Dawn Doll
- Envirobot (real name Robot Commando)
- Missy Fussy
Trivia
- An edited version of the Shining Time General Store ad from the Shining Time Station home videos is used in this episode.
- For unknown reasons, the person who cameoed as Mel, Barton Winslow's assistant, is uncredited during the closing credits.
- This is the only episode where Barton Winslow does not have his motorcycle and jacket or act like a "Cool 50s Dude".
- In the Fox Family Channel version, the part with the 24 hour crybaby channel was cut out. The Jukebox Band scenes were also cut out as well.
| #01 Becky Makes a Wish | #10 Schemer Goes Camping | #19 Mysterious Stranger |
| #02 Schemer's Alone | #11 Mr. Conductor's Evil Twin | #20 Dan's Big Race |
| #03 Bully for Mr. Conductor | #12 Bad Luck Day at Shining Time Station | #21 Mr. Conductor Gets Left Out |
| #04 Stacy Cleans Up | #13 Mr. Conductor's Fourth of July | #22 Mr. Conductor's Big Sleepwalk |
| #05 Schemer's Robot | #14 Stacy Forgets Her Name | #23 The Mayor Runs for Re-Election |
| #06 Billy Saves the Day | #15 Schemer's Special Club | #24 Stacy Says No |
| #07 Billy's Party | #16 Mr. Conductor's Movie | #25 How the Station Got Its Name |
| #08 Fortune Teller Schemer | #17 The Joke's on Schemer | |
| #09 Billy's Runaway Train | #18 Dance Crazy | |