Back To The Past

**Back To The Past** is the eighth episode of Season 3 of Dumb Teacher and the thirty-sixth episode of the series. It originally aired on August 3, 2007.

## Synopsis

When Dan invents a time machine for the science fair, McNeese accidentally sends it spiraling out of control, landing them and Dan's friends back in 1963, where they save John F. Kennedy from being assassinated. After succeeding though, more time travelling chaos ensues.

## Plot

At Greenhill Elementary in the gymnasium, the 28th annual Greenhill Science Fair is happening tonight, and everyone has their science projects ready, including Dan, who has built a time machine to demonstrate it at the science fair. Dan explains that he is going to use the time machine to travel to save the Dodo bird. When Dan demonstrates the time machine to his friends by travelling 3 seconds into the future, they are all amazed. McNeese walks in and begins to mock Dan and how he would use the time machine. He then slaps Dan's face, which angrily prompts him to punch his shin. McNeese tries to punch Dan nack, but winds up hitting the time machine's control panel instead when Dan dodges the punch. The time machine then malfunctions and sucks Dan, Logan, James, Tom, and Mr. McNeese in.

After going through a dizzying and claustrophobic time tunnel, the five land in Dallas, Texas. Wondering where they are, the five decide to look around and see many 60s-themed attire, and after picking up a newspaper, they realize that the current date they're in is November 22, 1963, the day of John F. Kennedy's assassination. When Dan decides that the five split up and look around, Dan visits a diner to try and get something caffeinated like a can of Technic or a Red Bull, stupidly unaware that the two drinks haven't been invented yet. He decides to order some coffee instead. While drinking, he sees Lee Harvey Oswald sitting next to him saying how he hates Kennedy and wishes that he was dead, Dan realizes what he talks about and leaves the diner without paying for his coffee, he meets up with the rest of the group and tells him about who he saw. As a result, the four boys and McNeese devise a plan on preventing his assassination, which involves committing Lee into an asylum. But before they can go along with the plan, Tom asks Dan how they can get back to the present. Dan explains that he made a portable time machine out of a digital wristwatch, but since it went through the stationary time machine, it needs 3 hours to recharge before it can send them back to the present. When Dan calls a mental asylum near Dallas to commit Lee, the plan works perfectly, and Lee is committed to an asylum for five years for death threats against John F. Kennedy. The rest of the group then decides to interact with 1963 society before Dan's time watch fully recharges. Afterwards, the watch recharges and the five head home. Dan advises McNeese not to touch his time machine ever again, and then goes back in time to save the Dodo. Upon returning, Dan announces that he will be going to the Greenhill Zoo to see the Dodo exhibit. During the night of the science fair, where Dan demonstrates his time machine, McNeese, who is standing by the door, plots a way to steal Dan's time machine to go back to the beginning of the Civil War. At night, at Dan's house, McNeese breaks into Dan's window, his parents ignoring the sound, and knocks Dan out with a baseball bat. Afterwards, he grabs Dan's cloning ray, his time watch, and uses his time machine in his closet.

The next morning, Dan wakes up and looks outside the window peacefully, where to his shock, he sees the Confederate flag in place of the American flag at the park in his neighborhood. He goes downstairs to tell his mother about what happened, only to discover that his family now owns an enslaved African-American family, which turns out to be Tom's, and that most of the products in their house now have racist brandings on them. Dan goes into downtown Greenhill, which is now called, Coonhill, and discovers that only white people are in Coonhill, most of them now having African slaves. Dan panics and runs back to his house, where he discovers that his father is now a minstrel show-performer and dresses in blackface. Dan starts freaking out and goes to his room, where looks up who won the American Civil War, where he discovers that the Confederacy won and the Union lost, which led to the Confederate States of America taking over the rest of the USA. As a result, Dan faints and wakes up at midnight, where he finds Tom and his family sleeping in the toolshed. Dan brings Tom to his room, breaks him from his shackles and tells him that the reality they're both in isn't correct. Tom is puzzled and Dan begins to explain why. However, his parents find out and believe that he has secretly been an abolitionist and begin to shoot him down, but Dan manages to escape through his time machine and goes back to the beginning of the Civil War, where he discovers that McNeese had used his cloning gun to clone the soldiers in the Civil War so that the Confederacy would win, as a result, he quickly uses a cane to snatch McNeese back into his time machine, where he angrily beats him up and breaks his glasses before he instantly vanishes due to the grandfather paradox. The current Dan wakes up, notices McNeese, and then pepper sprays his eyes. His mother wakes up when she hears McNeese's screams and tells McNeese to get out of the house, which he does.

The next morning, Dan installs a security system on his time machine that can detect McNeese's face and trap him, preventing him from using it. Afterwards, he decides to go on a date with Emma at the mall. While having sundaes at Aaron's Ice Creamery, Dan begins talking about the Eight-Day War with Emma, which, rather than fascinating her, makes her ask what the EIght-Day War is, which shocks Dan. Dan then rushes home to look up Sentan, where he discovers that it is still the Sentanese Empire. Afterwards, he looks up Hiroshi Kayos, the founder of the Kadsreius Sentanese Republic, which is now known as El Kadsre, only to find results of a Sentanese Army bombing from the United States, killing several military generals and soldiers, including Kayos. Dan then goes back to his time machine to the date of the bombing, where it is discovered that Logan is responsible for the bombing after he hijacked a bomber aircraft from the US army. When he asks Logan why he did such a thing, Logan lies by saying that McNeese blackmailed him. Dan believes the lie, as he is seen going to McNeese's house and twisting his right arm, rupturing it in the process.

After fixing the Sentanese Empire anomaly, Dan decides to relax,, only to be interrupted by an explosion outside. Outside, he discovers that Greenhill is now a warzone filled with Soviet & Nazi tanks, aircrafts, and soldiers. Dan is then caught by a Soviet general, who orders his soldiers to fire at him. Dan manages to flee and hide from the militia in a back alley, where he finds a bomb shelter, inside is an American soldier. Dan enters the shelter and asks the soldier what's happening right now. The soldier explains that back in December 29, 1940, an American general who was struggling to decide whether or not to secretly fire nuclear bombs at the Soviet Union or not accidentally pushes the fire button when a black kid breaks into the military base. After a bomb is fired at the Soviet Union, the Soviets fire back and begin taking over the world, teaming up with Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler as well. The US army gets help from other international armies, but they all fail and wind up being taken over by the Soviet-Nazis, and America is now the only country in the world that the Soviets and Nazis haven't taken over. Shocked, Dan races back to his house and uses his time machine to go back to the day the missile was fired. As he tries to turn on his time machine, though, he discovers that it is out of Technic, the primary fuel Dan chose for the time machine. As a result, Dan needs to travel to the Soviet-Nazi State of Vicnora to obtain Technic. In Vicnora, which is now under Soviet-Nazi rule, Dan fails in finding Technic, but then gets the idea to make homemade Technic. After getting some kusezi from the Vicnoran forests and fleeing back home, Dan makes the drink, puts it in his fuel container, and then goes back to the day the missile was fired. When he arrives, he discovers that the black kid was Tom, who was trying to convince the General to not fire missiles upon Africa. Dan tells him that they weren't planning on firing anything at Africa, and takes him back home. When he arrives home, he discovers that everyone in the world is now fat. Dan, thinking that James might've been behind this, goes back in time, where he discovers that James has stopped the USDA from making the food pyramid, so everyone doesn't know what foods are healthy or not. Dan snatches James, and forces him to swallow a gallon of vegetable smoothies while watching Supersize Me, which James dislikes, then goes back in time to create the pyramid.

However, as Dan arrives back home, he discovers that the world is now an amalgamation of all the realities his friends and Mr. McNeese altered, and as a result, he gets furious and goes back in time to the science fair night, where he beats up McNeese tells him not to steal his time machine, which he obliges, then afterwards, Dan disappears the same way his Confederate-universe self did when he beat up McNeese. McNeese then goes to Dan's booth and tells him that he's better off being a racist in present time rather than past or future-time. Dan then goes back to 2006 to watch the FIFA World Cup on television, where El Kadsre are playing TbA. However, 2007 Dan walks in and tells him that El Kadsre will lose to TBA, which results in 2006 Dan stealing 2007 Dan's wristwatch and going back in time. However, as 2007 Dan watches the match, he discovers that 2006 Dan has intervened so that El Kadsre would win over TBA and make it to the Round of 16. As the screen circle wipes to black, 2007 Dan says, "Mamma mia! Here we go again!", ending the episode.

## Trivia

* This episode re-aired on September 20, 2016, 3 days after C. Martin Croker's death from food poisoning, with a dedication sketch in memory of him airing after the episode's rerun.
* A sequel to this episode, The Vloks Must Be Crazy, which is more focused on the Vlokozu Union, premiered as the season finale of Season 4 of Dumb Teacher.
* This episode contains numerous references to the 1985 time travel film, Back to the Future.
* The song playing when Dan, Logan, James, Tom and Mr. McNeese look around 1963 Dallas, "Green Onions" by Booker T. & The M.G.'s plays.
* The scene were James awkwardly explains to Dan about how [he] "may" of made everyone in the world overweight became an image macro meme in early 2019.
* This episode shares its name with a Season 7 SpongeBob SquarePants episode.
	+ Later into the episode, when Cheryl catches McNeese breaking into her son's room, she says "By the power of Neptune," referencing an in-universe catchphrase spoken by Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in SpongeBob SquarePants.
* This episode reveals why Tom and Dan's hairs are dyed blue.
* 2006 Dan's end-line is a reference to the ABBA song, "Mamma Mia".
* The song playing at the end of the episode is, "Back in Time" by Huey Lewis and the News.
* The episode, like the series premiere, "That New Teach" was banned in Germany because of its portrayal of Nazi Germans and Adolf Hitler in the Soviet-Nazi timeline.