Too Smart for His Own Ed

"Too Smart for His Own Ed" is a season 5 episode of Ed, Edd n Eddy, in which a slip of the tongue for Double D means a pat on the back for Ed.

Plot
It's the night of the 8th Annual Spelling Bee at Peach Creek Jr. High and Edd is feeling quietly confident, which, given that his opposition includes the stoic Plank, the hopelessly traumatized Rolf and Ed who has taken the concept of cramming to a whole new level, along with Eddy who wants him to "take a dive" in order to win a bet with Kevin, it is perhaps, permissible.

Perhaps though, Double D shouldn't have counted his chickens before they were hatched, for despite managing to correct Nazz in her stumbling pronunciation throughout the evening, and despite Plank's disqualification and Rolf's resignation, a second's loss of concentration and a single slip of the tongue - ending gravy with an "i" not a "y" - see his plans to return home with his eighth blue ribbon shot down in flames for if there's one thing big Ed knows about it's gravy. Oh the inhumanity! Double D can only watch in wide-eyed shock as his friend is awarded the prize! Double D can't fix it ever! And he will have to watch the empty space on the Label of this Annual Spelling Bee on his Spelling Bee Awards.

And it gets no better for in the kids eyes Ed is now a force to be reckoned with intelligence-wise whereas former clever clogs, Double D - who couldn't even spell the word gravy - is history when it comes to being the someone they'll willingly turn to for help with school work. And just to rub it in, Eddy - quick as always to make a fast buck even if it does mean taking advantage of his friends - turns the former Lump into Egghead Ed capable of answering all your homework problems to grade A standard and all for the cost of a measly quarter. Spiffy! Edd of course knows how to spell gravy, he knows he simply made a mistake but all the same he's not enjoying watching the situation unfold, thankfully though he has some of Mother's delicious tuna salad to help keep his spirits up!

And speaking of up, sadly that's the opposite direction in which the kids grades are going for every single one of them who paid Eddy for Egghead Ed's services is now in possession of a big fat 'F' which means Ed wasn't smart at all! Of course they're none too happy about it when they realize that they've been had again and Eddy soon finds himself on the business end of their anger. Order is restored, school is out for the day and Double D can go back to being his old smart self again with no hard feelings for his friend, for just like Eddy's ill-gotten gains, Egghead Ed is now history…

Memorable Quotes
Jimmy: [whimpering] "I can't feel my toes any more Rolf! We've been practicing for hours!"
 * Rolf: [trying to spell 'watch' while feeling tired] "W ... O ...T ... H. Wrist clock!"

Eddy: "Ed's cramming for the spelling bee!" [Eddy continues to stuff pages into Ed's ears] Eddy: "Feeling smarter, Ed?" Ed: [cheerfully spewing out loose sheets as he speaks] "What?"
 * Edd: [looking in horror as Eddy tears up a dictionary] "What are you doing to that poor defenseless dictionary?"


 * Edd [angry that Eddy expects him to cheat and lose the spelling bee on purpose]: "Surely you jest, Eddy! How could you ask me to disengage the rules of literacy? To squander the values of scholastic tradition? To spit upon the very foundations of what our language is built on?"

[there is a long, long pause, much raspy deep breathing, another pause a muttered 'colonial' and then an outburst] Rolf: [yelling] "POPPYCOCK! Curse this monkey ritual of English words!" [Rolf knocks down the microphone and stalks from the stage to the sound of lonely applause, he pauses and waves] "Thank you, Nana!"
 * Rolf [hopelessly]: "Rolf's mind goes blank."

Ed: Ectoplasm. E-C-T-O-P-L-A-S-M. Ectoplasm. [This brings joy to Eddy, and concern to Ed's opponent, Edd]
 * [Ed has to spell the word, "ectoplasm," and rolls over to the microphone]

Nazz: "Oh... dude, you know the rules. Over to you, Ed. Can you spell 'gravy'?" [Ed walks over to the microphone and moves Edd away] Ed: "Gravy. G-R-A-V-Y. Gravy. Yum." ''[Applause] Nazz [giving Ed a ribbon] ''"This year's winner of the Peach Creek spelling bee is Ed!"
 * Edd: "Gravy. G-R-A-V-I. NO, Y! Y is what I meant to say..."


 * Kevin: [after having to dish Eddy a dollar] "I lost a bundle on you, double has been!"


 * Ed: [attempting to solve Jimmy's 'if X is Y what is P' equation] "Yes. Well. 2P or not 2P, that is the question!"


 * Ed: [being carried away by Eddy] "Tickle, tickle, tickle!"


 * Eddy: [promoting his latest business venture 'Egghead Ed' who is standing there looking very dweeby] "Step right up, folks and behold Ed - that's one "D" not two! This Egghead el Grande shall dot your T's and cross your I's and get you an "A" and that's no lie! Just 25 cents a question. Cheap!"


 * Ed: "May I aid you? As I'm a good speller. See?" [spelling "pull" while pointing each letter backwards] "P-U-L-L. Pull."


 * Eddy: [tired of Edd's moping speeches] "Yeah, yeah, just lemme see the cash, Hamlet."


 * Ed: [apparently back to his old self and sits on a tomato] "Bread sticks hurt my gums!"


 * Ed: [carrying Edd away] "Cookies at my house, Double D! With lots of mayonnaise!"


 * Jonny: [after deciding Nazz isn't really a wood hater but being rebuffed when he wanted to hold hands] "What? You hate bald kids too?"

Trivia

 * See Edd's Spelling Bee Preparation for Advanced Spellers book by B. Jim? B. Jim is of course AKA storyboard director "Big" Jim Miller.
 * Adults are show in the audience as silhouettes.
 * Jimmy's Algebra for Wee Ones is by Daniel Sioui. Daniel Sioui is referring to the show's producer.
 * See the notice board asking for Volunteer Year Book Club - ask Nurse Prowse? Ceile Prowse is the show's design coordinator.
 * Again on the board Mr. Toomey (the show's props & character designer) is in charge of the storytelling competition.
 * This is the third time Rolf used the word "poppycock" to describe insanity or foolishness. The first time was in the episode "Will Work for Ed" and the second time was in the episode "See No Ed."
 * Ed helped Jimmy on homework which had the question: "What does happy mean?". Ed wrote "Popeye the Sailer" as the answer.
 * When we see the front of the kids F-graded papers that they are holding, the kids faces are dark.
 * Running Gag: Jonny attempts to get revenge on Nazz because she said that Plank didn't spell a word correctly.
 * This is the first time Ed won a contest, the second is in the episode "All Eds Are Off."
 * Jimmy is taking algebra classes even though algebra is a high school level class and Jimmy is only at elementary level.
 * Edd has ribbons from the previous eight Peach Creek Jr. High Spelling Bees which suggest that the school has eight grades.
 * Jonny and the Kankers were the only people that did not need "Egghead Ed's" help.
 * All the characters appeared in this episode, but the Kankers did not even talk in this episode.

Video
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