Rudy One

"**Rudy One**" is Episode 6 in Season 1. It originally aired on January 23, 1995.

## Plot

In the den, Ben refuses to wear a dress no matter how many times Julie begs or says "please" to him. She explains she needs him to wear a dress she plans on making for her cousin because they (Julie's cousin and Ben) are the same size, so any dress that fits him will fit her. He says men do not wear dresses, only pants. She denies this and has Weebus show him otherwise: she display Scottish men in skirts (called kilts) on a parade, Hawaiian men dancing the hula in grass skirts, Egyptian men in long, flowing robes, Masai warriors in loose-spinning fabric, men called whirling dervishes wearing robes like dresses in Istanbul, and finally, men and boys in Bali wearing sarongs (one man is wrapping up one boy's sarong). Not only has Julie proven Ben wrong, but tells him Skye will help. He finally relents on the condition nobody else hear about it. She promises.

In the basement, Sizzle complains to Nuzzle (who is doing situps) about a name she is called by another cat who lately moved into the neighborhood. It's over "pretty cat" and "Snootie Patootie." He decides to think about what she should call it.

Back on Weebus, a robot known as Rudy One has been assigned a task by Naughty One: to befriend the first kid that he meets, and then insult the rest to get them fighting to turn them enemies (for fun).

Soon after, the first kid Rudy meets is Leon (initially, he is frightened). They become friends, and Rudy asks Weebus to show him about robots. Then when Leon suggests introducing his friends to Rudy, Rudy declines and decides to meet them by himself (not telling Leon why).

Back in the den, Julie and Skye are working on a dress with Ben as the mannequin. He declares anything of the others as "ridiculous," such as sewing, Skye's name, and the dress Ben is in. They feel bad about this, and Skye asks real-life kids about being called names themselves. While admitting they are not alone, Skye then asks what they should do.

Rudy reunites with Leon, who is working on a hard puzzle, and then helps him with it.

Back in the basement, Sizzle and Nuzzle are still discussing the situation, and Nuzzle decides to coach her. He tells her to get tough, but still can't decide on the right name.

Back in the den, Skye, Julie, and Ben try to come up with what to do about Rudy. Kiki mentions Rudy told her to pack her toolbox because she was "too ridiculous to fix anything." Jody says that Rudy called her hat ridiculous. Julie has a feeling that "ridiculous" is Rudy's favorite word. Skye says what is ridiculous is that Rudy's being mean to everyone. Skye asks real-life kids on what to do. Some of the kids say to tell the name-caller what he or she is doing, or not to call names back, ignore them, tell someone else, think of the good things, and not to get revenge, but just walk away. Kiki, however, decides to teach Rudy manners, and Ben decides the same, and then Kiki says they must ask him to leave. Skye agrees, but wonders about where Leon is. Knowing Leon to be sensitive, Skye decides to find him and warn him. Meanwhile, Kiki compliments Ben for the polka dots matching his hair, but to his annoyance.

Meanwhile, Leon teaches a high-five, low-five, and a slide-five, and a bump to Rudy...but warns Rudy to stop. Fortunately, he is not hurt and promises to stop next time. Skye questions what "greatest" Rudy is. Skye tells Leon that Rudy is not only rude, but downright mean, and that he insults everyone. Leon says that Rudy hadn't meant it, but was kidding. Skye says it's not fun to call people names, and tells Leon that Rudy has to leave. Leon disagrees, and they argue, much to Rudy's pride. Eventually, though still insisting Rudy hadn't meant anything mean, Leon decides Rudy can leave, on the condition he himself leave too. Skye remarks that there is one aluminum can he'd like to recycle.

Back in the basement, Leon laments the situation to Nuzzle. Nuzzle licks him for comfort.

Back in the den, the other kids express disbelief over how differently Rudy treats Leon from them, and the outcome. Jody and Ben worry about Rudy being right about them being ridiculous, but Julie doesn't believe that they are ridiculous, or that Rudy is so smart. Skye questions why, in that case, they were hurt when he said they were ridiculous. Julie says it's because it always hurts, but they must remember that it was not true. This gives Kiki an idea on what to fix (finally). Rudy arrives and tells them why he called them ridiculous: so they'd fight. However, they weren't. Leon overhears this and realizes why everyone else dislikes him. Jody says they aren't fighting because they're friends, and he's wrong. Rudy says they are not *his* friends and that he can say whatever he wants to them. Leon disagrees because they are *his* friends, and that being mean to them is like being mean to *him*. Rudy questions the meaning. Julie says it means he has to change the way he acts because nobody wants to be around someone who calls people names all the time ("You Can't Say That"). Rudy finds the song beautiful and is defragmented to his core. He understands, but assures them he's not a human, but a machine. Kiki resolves to fix him up. He is fixed so much he says he loves everyone and everything (including Lima beans, dull crayons, and cleaning up his room), much to the other kids' dismay. Kiki admits he needs more tuning, but first, Rudy calls Naughty One. He speaks the refrain of Stevie Wonder's song "I Just Called to Say I Love You" (only substituting "rump" for "heart"), much to the dismay of the Naughty One, and he demands he report to him immediately...but asks if the kids did it to him. Rudy confirms it, says he loves them, that they are his friends, and that he could be Naughty One's friends, too. Naughty One disagrees and demands he come back immediately. Leon assures Rudy he tried, but then he leaves the kids (with the high, low, and slide fives to Leon).

Back in the basement, Nuzzle ultimately decides Sizzle should not call the cat any names back because calling a name back would make her the mean one. She says she is not mean, but that the words hurt her. With a hug and kiss, Nuzzle tells her to just ignore the neighborhood cat, as nothing he had said was true, so it was his (the neighbor's) problem and not hers, and therefore to get out there and do nothing. Grateful, she kisses him on the cheek.

## Notes

* The late Arnold Stang is a narrator, particularly of the robots video.
* On the *Accentuate the Positive* compilation video, this episode begins with a scene that never appeared in the television version: where Jody is working on a puzzle, and Kiki shows her a machine she invents to fix something.