moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Judge Moriarty Wapner) (10/30/85)
[Opening shot: Close-up of the bench of Stupid People's Court (where did you expect? Daytona Beach?). Reviewing manila folders filled with case histories, political advertisements, movie reviews and rather personal pictures of Rita Hayworth, Judge Moriarty Wapner pretends not to notice us. The crowd is filled with an odd (odd even for SPC) assortment of spectators: chief among the onlookers are an admiral with bug-eyes, a father-and-son dressed in togas and wearing laurel wreaths, and a dog and his boy. Oops, the Judge is snapping out of it. Let's listen in!] JUDGE MW: Ah, there you are. Been waiting for you to show up. By the way, now that net.bizarre has been blasted to atoms (instead of laying around decomposing), SPC is going back to net.flame (although this week it appears in net.comics and net.tv, for reasons which will become obvious very shortly). However, remember: you can still sign up to get on the Stupid People's Court mailing list. That's right, E-Mailed to your door (not folded, either -- mailed flat!). If you're interested, drop me a line at the address at the end of the article. If you got this article in the mail, it means you're already on the list, so... don't do ANYTHING. Today promises to highlight a rather unusual case, not only through the events which make it up, but by the fact that it was a case that was brought to my attention by someone else. Yes, this week we actually have plaintiffs -- four of them, in fact. They are bringing their case before me for Fair Judgment; and I will be quite surprised if you don't recognize them immediately. Let me introduce... [Camera zooms out several feet, to reveal a unusually large squirrel wearing an old-fashioned aviator's helmet, perched on the shoulders of a moose-like creature standing (yup) on it's hind legs]. Mr. Rocket J. Squirrel, otherwise known as Rocky... ROCKY: Hi, kids! JUDGE MW: ....and his companion, Mr. Bullwinkle Moose. BULLWINKLE: Howdy! JUDGE MW: Nice to see you boys out and active again. BULLWINKLE: Nice to see you flaunting the copyright laws by putting trademarked characters in your column. JUDGE MW: Hey, this is a fan column! You want me to consider your case or not? ROCKY [to Bullwinkle]: Hush, Bullwinkle! He's trying to help us out. [To Judge] It's nice to be up and around, your Honor. We've been retired for the last 15 years, and living in Frostbite Falls, Minnesota... JUDGE MW: Right next to Lake Wobegon? BULLWINKLE: You've been there! JUDGE MW: Whenever I can, Bullwinkle, whenever I can... BULLWINLKLE: Rock and I have been thinking of going on Mr. Keillor's show for a long time, but I stopped performing music when Mr. Know-It-All went off the air. JUDGE MW: Well, it's splendid to see you fellows again -- you put out one of the few cartoons that I enjoyed as much as an adult (generally speaking, of course) as I did as a kid. What brings you back after all these years? ROCKY: Well, your Honor, it's like this: ever since our show went off the air, we don't watch much TV, except for The Prisoner repeats... BULLWINKLE: I like the big bubbles... ROCKY: ...but last weekend, I decided to see what shows were being shown on Saturday mornings. I guess I wanted to see if things were as good as they were in our day... BULLWINKLE: Yeah, with things like Space Ghost! ROCKY: And Johnny Quest! JUDGE MW: Yes, and Cool McCool. ROCKY: And Bugs Bunny! BULLWINKLE: And Alistair Cooke with Masterpiece Theatre! ROCKY: Bullwinkle... BULLWINKLE: Well, we had to get some culture into this routine *somehow*... ROCKY: Anyway, we turned on some shows last week... and it's TERRIBLE! Those poor kids, having to watch stuff like that! We called up all the major networks, and asked them to stop it... BULLWINKLE: Even that Silverman fella... why, I remember when he was just a drooling tot. Musta been 19 at the time... ROCKY: ...but none of them would even listen to us! They said they had seen some of our old shows, and they wouldn't ever put us on again, even if we got Japanese animators to draw our backgrounds! BULLWINKLE: But that ain't the worst of it, yer Honor. Even if we couldn't get back on the air, we thought maybe we could stop these new shows from being shown. But the characters on the shows wouldn't even talk to us! ROCKY: Yeah, us or the people we got to help us. VOICE [Off to the left of the camera]: About time somebody got around to introducing us, already! JUDGE MW [Facing audience]: Excuse me, I was so gripped by this intense discussion that I forgot to introduce the other two co-plaintiffs... [Camera zooms back to reveal, standing to the left of Bullwinkle and Rocky, a pale, raven-haired seductive woman in a tight skirt, and a very short, mustached man with a black trenchcoat, pants, shirt, shoes and hat] JUDGE MW: ...Joan Collins and Danny Devito. BORIS: Ha Ha Ha. Vedy Funny. You Mr. Big Yucks or David Letterman, maybe? NATASHA: Look, I do lots of tings for money, but DYNASTY is too low even for me, dalink. JUDGE MW: Just a little judicial humor. Let me introduce Ms. Natasha NoGoodski and Mr. Boris BadEnough. BORIS: De spelling's all wrong, you schnook. NATASHA: Vat do you expect from public school education, dalink? JUDGE MW: Tell me, why did you two get involved in this cause? I thought you usually stuck to the wrong side of the tracks. NATASHA: Vell, when Gorbachev take charge, Fearless Leader get de axe... BORIS: Literally. NATASHA: ...so we try to go back as bad guys in Saturday cartoon show. But I can't get vork unless I can fire ray beams from my eyes! BORIS: And I got to go on tree-veek body-building course and dress like drunken wrestler! Not easy for someone my age... NATASHA: Besides, none of this new stuff got any humor. Ve used to get trashed by Moose & Sqvuirrel, but at least ve got got some laughs out of it. ROCKY: Right! So that's the story, your Honor. We were hoping that you could stop those from coming on the air. JUDGE MW [frowning]: Well, folks, I'm afraid I don't have the jurisdiction to stop these shows from going over the airwaves... ROCKY [downcast]: Awww... BORIS: Huh. So this is Capitalist society. In Old Country, Smurfs be finger food for Central Committee by now. BULLWINKLE: Cheer up, Rock... we tried. JUDGE MW: ...however, this IS Stupid People's Court -- I can force these characters to appear before us, and maybe we can talk some sense into them. Red, have we got some of the people I asked to talk to shown up? BALIFF: There's a bunch of 'em outside, yer Honor. Most of 'em are little blue folk, and they're runnin' amuck all over the place. Stepped on a few of 'em comin' in. JUDGE MW: Well, remember to wipe your feet... I won't have Smurf tracked in over my nice clean court. Send in the characters waiting outside. BALIFF: Yes, sir, yer Honor. [Walks to the giant Art Deco doors of Stupid People's Court and pulls them so that they are a quarter open, which is a pretty wide entrance. He speaks to a group of individuals in the hall]. Please enter to give testimony. [Red resumes his post by the door. Through the gates of SPC come some of the most unusual beings ever to grace chambers: a swarm of tiny blue people, a green, rather sick-looking saber-toothed tiger, and a blond body-builder with a Prince Valiant haircut and a smirk on his face. On his back he carries a plastic sword in a plastic sheath. They stop in front of The Judge's bench]. JUDGE MW [eyeing the hordes of Smurfs]: Boy, you guys've really prospered under NBC, haven't you? PAPA SMURF: Not any more, bozo. You're baliff just stepped on our only female member. Now what're we going to do on Saturday nights? SMURF #3: No more spin the Smurfette, that's fer shure! JUDGE MW: Smurf-cest is a capital offense in some places, bub. SMURF #1: Yeah, well, Smurf you, yer Honor! The only reason I showed up to this thing is that I've got Smerpes, and couldn't do much about my seven-year itch, if ya know what I mean! [laughs crudely]. SMURF #15: Hey, Judge, I Smurf in your general direction! Har! SMURF #8: Yeah, ME TOO! SMURF #2: Yeah, yeah, huh huh huh.... ROCKY: Oh, my! BULLWINKLE: Hide yer ears, Rock. This kind of talk wasn't meant for characters like you to hear. JUDGE MW: Obviously, I'm not going to get anywhere with you pygmies. Who's the beach boy with his hands on his hips? ADAM: I am Adam, Prince of Eternia, and defender of Castle Greyskull (Castle Greyskull Playset, $89.95. Masters of the Universe action figures sold separately). This is my friend Cringer... JUDGE MW: ...who is getting sick on the floor of my courtroom. Who's going to clean up after him? ADAM [exhibiting blank-faced grin]: It's a little tough to find a sandbox big enough for Cringer, ha-ha. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes... magical secret powers... JUDGE MW: Right, right, we've all seen the show once and had this damn speech ingrained into our heads. That's the problem with your show! It's the same thing week after week! Nothing but fights, psuedo-A-Team action, and a cheap moral at the end of the show to please the Network Censors that there's *something* they're getting paid for enforcing. ADAM [hurt look on his face]: But I haven't gotten to the good part yet! JUDGE MW: [groaning, with head down on his desk]: OK, get it over with. ADAM [unsheathing plastic sword]: ..for when I hold my Magic Sword aloft and say "BY THE POWER OF MA - TELL!" [Cheap animation effects take over, and Adam is transformed into He-Man, the Most Powerful Oaf in the Universe, who looks just like Adam, except for a cave-man costume and a several-octaves-deeper voice. Cringer has become a giant Battlecat, and is continuing to retch on the carpet, but now in larger quantities. An all-male choir has appeared out of nowhere, and are beginning to chant "He-MAN" incessantly. Several of the Smurfs have been ignited by the lightening effects, and are running amok throughout the courtroom, looking for a glass of water to "Smurf my ass" in.] HE-MAN: "I HAVE THE ROYALTIES!" JUDGE MW: Glad that's settled. Now, what are you going to do about improving the writing on your shows? HE-MAN: [Smirking stupidly] Writing? We're not on the show to entertain kids! We're here to give them characters to spend money on, and maybe throw in a little pre-Freudian sex imagery into the pot, ya know? BULLWINKLE [Whispers to Natasha]: Excuse me, ma'am, but as a female character, do you find that fellow over there attractive? He looks pretty macho ta me. NATASHA: Not unless you get keecks from making it vith Michelin Tire Man. BORIS [Snorts]: Looks like limp-wristed Cossack to me. JUDGE MW [getting hot under the collar]: OK, Chuckles, let me get this straight. You're one purpose is to push merchandise onto the children's market? HE-MAN: Our characters were based on the toys -- we add more characters so that there'll be new toys for the kids to pay. [Laughs]. And it looks like it's going to be a bonus Christmas this year! Entertaining? Who cares? We've got a VIC-20 running BASIC that writes our scripts! JUDGE MW: Well, mister, the buck stops here. You're all not leaving this courtroom until we get an agreement that is satisfactory to me about the future directions of your shows. SMURF #5: Yeah, Perry Mason? You and what army? SMURF #2: YEAH, YEAH, What Army? [Suddenly, squealing tires are heard at the level of the courtroom floor, and a tiny British Sports car appears from nowhere to run over each and every Smurf in the courtroom, leaving a trail of Blue Slime in its trail] PENFOLD: Oooh, those nasty little buggers are even worse than Baron Greenback! DANGERMOUSE: And who knows WHAT their bodily fluids will do to the underside of our car... PENFOLD: Ooh, ick... [Car takes to the air and flies out a nearby window] JUDGE MW: You can always count on the British to clean up a situation in short order. And speaking of the British [turns to the male chorus, who are still chanting "He-MAN" at the top of their lungs] SHUT THAT BLOODY BAZUKI PLAYER UP! [Silence] There. That's better. As for you and your retching feline, He-Man, I'm going to send you (through the power vested in me by The Stupid People's Court) to Fernando's Hideaway for the next two years. This will give the public time to get over your nauseating little scam. HE-MAN [Smirk has turned into a nasty sideways grin]: Maybe if it were just me you had to deal with, Chump... but I brought some friends along with me... [In the distance, a thumping legion of footsteps approaches the front gate of SPC. They increase in their volume as they get closer and closer and closer...] HE-MAN: You see, it's not just The Masters of The Universe... this is a trend that's going through the entire cartoon industry. Ever since Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor left Saturday Morning TV, and since Bugs Bunny is censored so badly you can't recognize it, pre-marketed toy characters have taken control of the set on the weekends and in the afternoon. So if you might be able to stop me, I doubt you can halt... [Sound of footsteps outside have become deafening. Suddenly, the giant doors of SPC burst open, and a chaotic army of diverse creatures enter, crowding the room with their belligerent shouts and aggressive sales pitches]. ARMY OF TOYS: GIANT ROBOTS WHICH CAN BECOME CARS! GIANT ROBOTS WHICH CAN BECOME TRUCKS! TEDDY BEARS! CUDDLY CHARACTERS! SUPER PEOPLE! SUPER ROBOTS! SUPER WRESTLERS! SUPER WRESTLING ROBOTS! SUPER WRESTLING TRUCKS WHICH CAN BECOME JOHN DeLOREAN! SMURF CLONES! SMURF CLONES CLONES! GIANT SMURFS WHICH CAN BECOME ROBOTS! [Rocky & Bullwinkle are cowering in terror, Natasha and Boris are cowering in disgust, and even Judge MW is looking a bit nervous -- he's never had to deal with a threat as widespread or as immediate as this before. Can this be the end of our boys? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode, "Boobs in Toyland", or "Don't Step on that Meyers, hand me the Dwarf"] [Oh, to heck with continued stories...] HE-MAN [Sticks thumb in rather ponderous chest]: But the biggest seller of all is HE-MAN, the Most Powerful Oaf in the Universe!! RATHER LARGE ROBOT: Yeah, you and what Army, Homeboy? I'll run you over, as soon as I can become a Pickyup! MUSCLE-BOUND CLOD #9: No, I'M the most powerful! I take more steroids than any of you guys! And I have the power to fire cruise missiles from my ears! MUSCLE-BOUND CLOD #14: That's nothing! I can bench-press a BMW, and I fire ice beams from eyes! MUSCLE-BOUND CLODETTE #2: Ha! Atom bombs burst off my chest, and I can fire pasta from my nostrils! LITTLE GUY IN BLACK SUIT WITH BRIEFCASE: I can serve summons on you people in over 30 states. BORIS: Whoof. Keep me dat guy away from me. HE-MAN: Well, there's only one way to find out who's the strongest here, and that's the American way! Let's Duke it out! [Courtroom explodes into intense but non-realistic violence. Benches are torn up, paneling ripped, stenographers stuffed into Mason jars and a general rush-hour atmosphere ensues. Judge Moriarty is hidden beneath his bench, reciting his mantra and wondering how the heck his fantasy ever got this far out of whack. Suddenly, Bullwinkle stands up in the middle of the plaintiff's box.] BULLWINKLE: Hey, Rock! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat! ROCKY, BORIS, NATASHA and JUDGE MW: BUT THAT TRICK NEVER WORKS! BULLWINKLE [Reaching into the top hat]: This time fer shure! [His hand grasps something, and out of the hat comes... a wizened old man in a sailor suit, with one squintey eye and a corn-cob pipe]. SAILOR: Puts me down, ya ignoraramus Moosk! Ain't ya heard yer supposed ta be polite ta old folks? ROCKY: Sorry, Mr. Eye, but I think you might be of help here. [Points to Battle Royal]. They're trying to fight it out to see who's the strongest, and they're going to kill us all in the process! SAILOR: Who'st the strongest, eh? Arf Arf Arf! Ain't that always the beef! [Turns to Judge MW]. Excusk me, yer Honor, but might ya have a can a' Spinach on yer robes? JUDGE MW: As a matter of fact (what a coincidence!) I just happen to have my grocery bag under my bench. [Bends over and begins searching]. Cherry Cola... Pretzel Sticks... Cherry Cola... Kiwi Fruit... Cherry Cola... ah, here it is! Spinach! SAILOR: Excusk me, dis won't take long... [opens can with bare hands and gulps the contents down]. [Suddenly, jaunty nautical music swells up, and the little sailor becomes a whirlwind, sweeping the various combatants in the court into one giant tornado of sound effects, lightening bolts, and hands and fists] HE-MAN'S VOICE [From somewhere inside the tornado, and several octaves higher than Tiny Tim on his best days]: Hey! You're not supposed to hit me there! SAILOR'S VOICE [Also from inside tornado]: That'sk how ya fights on da docks, ya muscle-bound pansy! When I'm finisked wit you, you'll be able ta guard harems anywhere! [The fight swells into one giant Warner Bros. Explosion, and when the smoke clears, all that is left in the center of the courtroom is the sailor and a HE-MAN lunch box]. SAILOR: Here, yer Honor, this'll make 'em a little easkier to move. JUDGE MW: Thanks, Mr. Eye. I'm going to take this over to David Letterman right now. Would you call ahead and ask him to warm up the steam roller? SAILOR: Certainskly. [Exit Stage Right with lunchbox] JUDGE MW [Close-up of Judge as he turns to camera]: Whew! That's about as much chaotic as I've ever seen it in Stupid People's Court! Anyway, that's all for now. Take care, and... oh, before I forget.... [ROCKY, BULLWINKLE, BORIS AND NATASHA crowd into picture] ALL: CONGRATULATIONS, SPAF! HAVE A NICE HONEYMOON! BULLWINKLE: Maybe it'll give him a chance to work on his dissertation. ROCKY: Oh, Bullwinkle... [FADE TO BLACK]. --------- If you've got a flame, don't take it to the net. Take it to court. ****** STUPID PEOPLE'S COURT!! ****** Judge Moriarty Wapner Stupid People's Court ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb1, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty DISCLAIMER:The ideas, opinions and implied snide remarks used above do not necessarily represent the views of my employers. They are entirely out of my dark and furitive imagination.