Ranch Hands from Outer Space

Episode Information
Gallery

Ranch Hands from Outer Space

Statistics

Production code
315

Premiere date
January 12, 2009

Music genre
1960s Italian pop

Snack
Blueberry pancakes at Uniqua's House

Credits

Written by
Rodney Stringfellow

Directed by
Dave Palmer

Music by
Evan Lurie

Chronology

Previous episode
Caveman's Best Friend

Next episode
Robin Hood the Clean

Ranch Hands from Outer Space is the 15th episode of Season 3, and the 55th episode overall.

Summary
*"It's an out-of-this-world adventure set to '60s Italian pop as Aliens Zuniqua and Zablo become Rancher Tasha's ranch hands to earn the pancakes they need to fuel their ship!"*

Plot
Tasha is in the backyard wearing a cowgirl hat walking around with a bunch of paint cans and a broom in her hands before tripping and falling next to more full paint cans, causing a mess. She introduces herself to the viewer as Rancher Tasha, who just woke up to another day of hard work on her ranch. She sings "I Gotta Get to Work" as she explains how hard her job is. She sighs and prepares herself for another boring day and wishes she had some ranch hands.
The backyard transforms into an old-fashioned farm. Tasha and her trustworthy horse Ralphy go inside the small house. Meanwhile, a gray futuristic UFO falls from the sky, landing behind a rock and hiding it from view. Two aliens wearing silver outifts exit the ship. They question why their ship landed suddenly and check the fuel tank. There is nothing inside the many trays designed to hold fuel.
The two aliens, Zuniqua and Zablo consider going back to their home planet Zorbidor. After giving the idea some thought, they decide to decline it and find "zum-zum" (fuel) on the planet Earth. The duo locate Rancher Tasha's home and decide to walk up to it and ask the resident for some fuel.
Tasha exits her house with a stack of pancakes on a plate. She talks to Ralphy as she spots the two Zorbidorians. She asks herself who they are and then asks the same question to the aliens themselves. The aliens do not bother answering the question and ask a question of their own, if they can get some zum-zum. They spot the pancakes and refer to them as zum-zum.
Tasha realizes that "zum-zum" means pancakes and tells the two that they may have the entire stack of fuel if they help around her ranch. The aliens accept and sing "We'll Work for Pancakes". Tasha tells them that the first errand to run is building a tall, sturdy fence. Tasha leaves the aliens with Ralphy as she leaves to get some wood, but Zuniqua uses a Zorbidorian force to stack the wood in mid-air.
Zuniqua stacks the wood on top of another rather than around the house since Tasha requested a tall fence. Tasha returns and drops the pile of wood she was holding in astonishment, since the fence towers up into the clouds. Tasha then says at the two aliens and repeats that she wanted a tall fence *around* the house. Tasha turns her back, sighing, as Zuniqua uses another power to change the fence to go around the home.
Tasha looks back and sees the nicely-made fence and changes her frown into a grin. She happily congratulates the duo on their work. She then leads them to their second chore, moving all of her horses out of her barn while she cleans their stalls. Tasha rushes inside to get her broom as the two Zorbidorians shrink the horses and put them into a bucket. They sing "Zoid-Zoid!" as they remove horses from the pail and dance with the animals on their heads.
Tasha returns and sees the missing horses. She gets horrified since she believes that Ralphy is gone forever. She hears Ralphy's neigh from inside the bucket and claims that she can almost hear his sweet neigh. The aliens then change the barn animals back to their full size as Tasha covers her eyes. She opens them and sees Ralphy.
Tasha cheers and congratulates the Zorbidorians once again. She then shows them their last and final chore, painting her house orange. The aliens use their suits to make the house transform into a fruit. Tasha looks at the house and gasps. She tells the aliens what she truly meant and sings "Oh, My!" as the alien duo change her house into various fruits, including a banana and a blueberry, and back into an orange after the song. After telling them it's the "color" orange and the house PAINTED orange she wants. They then turn her house into the true color of orange.
Tasha congratulates the aliens once again, but secretly questions their strange behavior. She hands them the pancakes, expecting them to eat it. However, they take the plate back to their ship rather than devouring the food. Tasha and Ralphy follow and watch them as they put the pancakes into the ships tray to full their ship. After their ship gets fully fueled, They give their plate back to Tasha which makes her realize that they're aliens.
Zuniqua's stomach rumbles, causing Tasha to think that the sound was another alien coming to her home. Zuniqua tells the others that it was just her stomach and invites the others over to her house for pancakes. The rest of the cast accepts as the ranch transforms back into the backyard. The trio sing the end song as they enter Uniqua's pink house. Uniqua and Pablo open the previously closed door and shout "Zoid-zoid!"

Characters* Uniqua
* Pablo
* Tasha

Roles* Uniqua: Zuniqua
* Pablo: Zablo
* Tasha: Rancher Tasha

Songs* I Gotta Get to Work
* We'll Work for Pancakes
* Zoid-Zoid!
* Oh, My!

Trivia* This is the first episode where Tyrone is absent. Pablo uses the end-of-episode phrase in this episode.