Dan Before Dark

Written by
 Directed by

**Dan Before Dark** is the pilot episode of the series.

## Synopsis

Ickis seems to have a typical pleasant night, when all of a sudden, he sees an alien in Central Park, but no one believes him, not even FBI Agent Dan (named after and played by Dan Castellaneta), who comes to investigate the incident. Ickis then does what any young monster would do: he goes looking for adventure. Oblina joins him in their first quest for the supernatural and phenomenal.

## Plot

Madam Elizabeth (named after and played by Elizabeth Hartman) begins the episode hosting a show about alien encounters. She begins talking about an encounter in New York City.

One Friday night after school at the Monster Academy let out, Ickis takes a subway train to a cafe in Chinatown named Shanghai Cuisine and drinks over ten bottles of "Butterbeer", a brand that is brewed with real butter. He takes a breathalyzer test which declares he is as drunk as Boris the Spider, and he decides to walk home. However, Ickis takes the wrong path and ends up lost and disoriented in Central Park. In a clearing, he sees a glowing obese alien. Ickis panics and runs away screaming.

No one in the Academy believes Ickis's story, and his attempts to report the alien to The Snorch & Zimbo are dismissed. Agent Dan of the FBI goes to the Academy to investigate. After no results from their psychological tests, including interrogating would-be attackers Waternoose, Randall & Fungus, Ickis fails to provide any proof he actually did see an alien. Ickis is ridiculed by most of the neighborhood, especially Krumm, until he decides to go on his own to record footage of the alien with a video camera.

Oblina catches him in the act, but then says that she believes Ickis. She tells him that the reason why she believes him is that this is an unexplained fantasy, because if they believe in aliens, then why not the Boogie Man, much to Ickis's relief. The next Friday night, they camp out in the park and they both see the alien, Oblina for the first time. The alien promises peace before Ickis scares him away by screaming as he accidentally steps in their campfire. Ickis is upset about missing the chance to obtain proof, until Oblina tells him that she captured the entire incident on tape. Ickis and Oblina cheer as they now have evidence of the alien. Ickis then gets an idea to take the video to the FBI, so it would air the footage throughout the country, making them rich. Oblina adds that they could afford their own "Alien Buster" agency, to make "the greatest single contribution to astronomy since the Hubble Telescope." And with that, the two monsters lean side by side with one another in triumph, ready to make more discoveries.

Elizabeth closes her narration, ending the story with Ickis and Oblina having obtained proof of their alien encounter. She then says goodnight to the viewers, but Dizzle (off-screen) reminds her that the show still has ten minutes left. Elizabeth leaves anyway, running to her car and driving away. Dizzle takes over the narrating duties.

Although Oblina's tape is only three seconds long and is mostly static, only briefly showing the alien, the Academy students start to believe Ickis (Krumm still isn't convinced). Friday comes again and all Monsters go to the park (among them Elizabeth). Sure enough, the alien appears, promising love. The Monsters begin to riot until Krumm shows that the "alien" is actually The Gromble.  Zimbo states that the Gromble receives longevity treatments once a week to teach proper scare techniques, and the process leaves him twisted and disoriented, and with a sweet heavenly voice (due respectively to a chiropractic treatment, anesthesia, and a throat-scraping).  Back to his normal self, the Gromble reveals that his green glow is due to many years of working in a nuclear gas filled school, and then renounces his promises of peace and love and instead says that he brings famine and hatred. Before he can say anything else negative, he is taken into therapy by Agent Dan, who promises him more sanity for the ware.  Elizabeth goes with Dan, adding that "every big doctor needs a nurse." The Gromble couldn't believe he's being remedied by celebrities, and tells his students that they will regret this night. When Ickis asks Oblina if Dan and Elizabeth will ever come back, she only answers, "Who knows? Who knows anything?"  In the end Oblina points out to Ickis that, despite all his laziness, for a few seconds while it was approaching Ickis truly believed the alien was real. Ickis denies this, but thanks her for her support in his moment of weakness, and they walk off into the moonlight.

Dizzle ends Elizabeth's show, telling the viewers to "keep watching the skies."

## Trivia

### Inspiration

This episode is inspired by the Simpsons episode, The Springfield Files , which starred Dan Castellaneta as Homer.

## Commercial Breaks

1. Old Spice
2. Frosted Flakes

## Full Episode

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_F9JAopSmb4