Mr. Conductor Gets Left Out is the twenty-first episode of the third season.
Contents
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. A few more channels, and the kids suddenly take interest.
Before long, the kids are hooked to the TV's, 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. Mr. Conductor manages to temporarily distract them with his Thomas story (see below), but before he finishes the kids are back to watching TV, to his dismay.
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 decides enough is enough, and pulls the plug on the TV's, 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 dismay.
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 dismay. 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 dismay, as his TV's aren't getting put to use.
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
It is unknown who played Mel.
Mentioned Characters
- Bill and Ben (mentioned)
Thomas Story
Bill and Ben are sent to help BoCo at Wellsworth Yard, and tease him as usual. However, they eventually quarrel after a mishap with the turntable and continue to bicker about each other to BoCo. Edward and BoCo make a plan to get the twins back together. When the twins are sent to take BoCo's freight train, they realize their foolishness and are back together.
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
- Envirobot
- 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".
