Saturday Homecoming Fever

**"Saturday Homecoming Fever"** is the first segment of the sixth episode of the first season of *Hamster & Gretel*, and the eleventh episode overall. It is paired with "Dr. Eelgood" and premiered on Disney Channel on September 10, 2022.

Wanting to get rid of his reputation as the "minivan kid", Kevin decides to attend the high school's homecoming dance, seeing it as a chance to rebrand himself. However, The Destructress and FistPuncher happen to decide to wreck that same homecoming dance after freshly breaking out of prison.

## Plot

At school, Kevin talks to Fred about refranchising due to his reputation as "minivan kid," while Fred has been receiving unwanted attention and popularity after going undercover as a cheerleader. When Fred and one Hunter Campbell abstain their nominations as homecoming queen and king respectively, Kevin sees this as a chance to improve his reputation. On the night of the homecoming dance, however, FistPuncher and The Destructress break out of prison and decide to go to the dance to wreak havoc. Upon learning about this, Fred, Hamster, and Gretel orchestrate a plan to go undercover and stop the villains.

In the midst of the attack on the homecoming dance, Kevin contronts the villains and, alongside Hiromi, challenges them to a dance battle. After emerging victorious, Kevin has Fred evacuate the dance floor while Hamster and Gretel―the latter of whom is disguised as a disco ball―battle FistPuncher and The Destructress; they soon defeat the villains and plot to return them to jail. Meanwhile, the dance is forced to end early due to the DJ table being destroyed, but Kevin arrives in the minivan and provides music for the dance goers, much to their delight.

## Cast & Chracters

* Meli Povenmire as Gretel Grant-Gomez
* Michael Cimino as Kevin Grant-Gomez
* Beck Bennett as Hamster
* Joey King as Fred Grant
* Hiromi Dames as Hiromi Tanaka
* Liza Koshy as Veronica Hill
* Alyson Stoner as Lauren/The Destructress
* Brock Powell as Lyle/FistPuncher
* Abby Espiritu as Naya
* Eric Bauza as Darren Dark
* Keith Ferguson as Principal Funderberk

### Additional voices

* Beck Bennett as Hoodie Student
* Valerie Breiman as Inga
* Keith Ferguson as Drama Student
* Joanna Hausmann as Alien Female Pilot
* Brock Powell as Dance Student 1
* Eric Bauza as Hunter Campbell, Nerd Student, Dance Student 2
* Hiomi Dames as Pamela Bryan
* Abby Espiritu as Female Student
* Dan Povenmire as Alien Pilot
* Debra Wilson as DJ, Complimenting Student

## Running gags

### Image scene transitions

Kevin, in disco outfit
(used to transition to Kevin attending the homecoming dance)Darren Dark
(used to transition to Gretel and Fred still playing video games at home)Gretel, disguised as a spinning mirror ball
(used to transition to FistPuncher and The Destructress attending the homecoming dance)Fred and Hamster, in disco-inspired disguises
(used to transition to the students outside Eastside High School)

## Transcript

*Click here to read the full transcript of **"Saturday Homecoming Fever"**.*

## Background information

### Trivia

* This is the first appearance of Principal Funderberk.
* It is revealed that Fred's last name is Grant and Hiromi's last name is Tanaka.
* Hamster breaks the fourth wall by saying they were cartoons.
* It is revealed that the name of the African-American cheerleader (who wears pink and yellow disco clothes at the dance) is Sheila. This is revealed when she and Vereck are being crowned by Principal Funderberk.
* This episode (along with "Dr. Eelgood") premiered on Disney Channel the same day as the *Chibiverse* episode "Bad Luck Chibis".

### Allusions

* ***Saturday Night Fever*** - The episode's title is a play on the title of this 1977 film, which also involves disco. Kevin's disco outfit is also a reference to the outfit that Tony Manero wears.
* ***Super Smash Bros.*** - Hamster, Gretel, and Fred are presumably playing a fighting game similar to Nintendo's popular crossover fighting game series, as it displays the health meters and special weapons. Three of the characters in the game resemble a grass-type Pokémon (possibly), Bowser from *Super Mario Bros.*, and Link from *The Legend of Zelda*, respectively.

### Errors

* Keith Ferguson is additionally being credited for voicing a character named "Jacques" in this episode and "Dr. Eelgood," but no character with that name has been identified yet in either episode. A character named Jacques Cassoulet voiced by Keith Ferguson did eventually show up in "Over the Hill" and was credited as "Jacques" just like in "Saturday Homecoming Fever" and "Dr. Eelgood," meaning that this was most likely the character being credited by mistake.
* As the cheerleaders are walking through the hall at the beginning of the episode, one of the cheerleaders, Sheila, has lighter skin as the cheerleaders disappear to the left when her skin should be a medium-dark color.
* When FistPuncher is flying toward Gretel in her disco ball disguise, his mouth in his reflection doesn't move when he says, "I've got you!".
* As Kevin and Hiromi are dancing at the end of the episode, the disco lights cut back at one point.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.dgepress.com/disneybrandedtelevision/shows/hamster-gretel/episodes/saturday-homecoming-fever-dr-eelgood/