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"Local She-ro" is the twenty-first episode in Season 10, being the one-hundred-and-ninety-third episode overall.
Plot[]
While trying to show Tina what's great about their town, Linda ends up on the trail of a legendary local singer. Meanwhile, Teddy turns to Bob for help in arguing with a sports radio host.
Full story[]
At Wagstaff, Ms. Jacobsen tells the eight-grade class that their reports on a s place which inspired them are due the following week. Tina has forgotten, while Tammy brags about how New York City is the place she will write about after going the previous weekend while saying how amazing it is, even telling the class that everywhere else is "Stupid". Tina tries to say that their town has good stuff, but Tammy blows her off by saying Tina has never seen New York.
At dinner that night, Tina is zoned out, dreaming of going to New York City, before being snapped back to reality by Louise sticking a string bean in her nose. Tina tells the family about Tammy doing her report, and asks if they can go to New York, which Bob points out is too expensive for them. Tina wonders aloud if their town only has lame stuff and is frustrated that she never could meet "New York Tina" before Linda interrupts her. Linda says that there are good things to do in the town, but Tina goes back to dreaming of New York.
Linda cannot fall asleep in bed and tells Bob she is worried Tina does not appreciate the town. Bob thinks that it is okay since a lot of people simply dream of New York, but Linda tells him how when she was Tina’s age, she wanted to be like Madonna and move to New York, but as she grew up, she felt she missed a lot in where she grew up, and fears Tina might miss out on what is in front of her. When Bob points out that Tina’s only thinking about due to the report, Linda gets an idea. She runs to Tina’s room and wakes her to say the report should be the town and offers to take her around the next day. Tina reluctantly agrees.
The next day, Tina and Linda depart on their walking tour of the town, while the other three decline to go amid stay at the restaurant. Linda shows Tina some of the underwhelming sights, such as a confusing intersection, pigeons in the park, and a stranger Linda mistakes for the mayor before seeing him pee into a bush.
Teddy arrives at the restaurant with a problem he needs Bob to solve. Teddy explains that he calls into the Dom Lippo show, a local sports radio show that goes over local minor league hockey, and Teddy was banned after calling in and getting into a heated argument about a recent player trade with the host. Bob asks what Teddy wants him to do about it, and teddy says to call in to the show to finish Teddy’s argument to Lippo will see he is right and unban him. Bob refuses as they are working (even though Louise notes it’s so slow, bob decided to see how many spoons fit in his apron pocket), but eventually agrees after Teddy offers to fix the bathroom door lock for free.
Linda takes Tina to a flea market, but Tina is uninspired and thinks out loud of writing Cleveland for her report (in spite of never having been there, only knowing it from a commercial). Linda sees a stall selling locally recorded CDs and looks through it. The seller tells them that the CD he is playing is local, made in the 1970s by a folk singer named Dove Shannon who moved from Greenwich Village in New York to the town. Linda asks if Dove still lives there, but the seller is unsure if she is even still alive. Linda says that if she is alive, she could still be living there, saying to Tina that Dover moved from New York to where they are, which could be put in the report, with Tina admitting she wonders why someone would leave New York, and agrees.
At the restaurant, Bob is on hold with the show, with Teddy telling him to use a nickname (his is "Ice Ice Teddy"), and Louise giving him the nickname "Pucky Ducky."
At the flea market, Linda calls the phone operator, who tells her there is no listing for Dove Shannon as they leave. Tina opens the CD’s case and Linda notices one of the photos for the booklet inside has a local shop, "Treasures O' The Tide", which she has seen before. The two decide to go there to talk and see if anyone remember Shannon and call a taxi. The cab takes them there and Linda tells the driver to wait. Outside the shop, the owner tries selling the two some driftwood art before Linda asks about Dove, and he replies that he knew her, but she passed away. Linda is sad, but just then a car drives by with a woman loudly singing in a voice like on the CD before turning down a dirt road. Linda asks if that was Dove, which the shop owner denies, but Linda hops back in the cab to follow her. Tina and the cab driver are reluctant since the car drove down a private road to a gated houseboat dock, but the driver agrees after Linda says in haste that if it is for school, they won’t get in trouble, to Tina’s concern.
Linda manages to confirm the old woman is Dove by shouting her name. The two get out of the cab and Linda tries to approach Dove, who is confused at their appearance and asks how they found her. Linda says the shopkeeper told them she was dead, and Dove states that the locals look out for each other, telling outsiders asking that the person they seek is dead. Dove then heads back into the locked houseboat community.
While Bob is on the phone, Teddy tells him the info he needs to say before Bob is on air, while on speakerphone. Dom asks "Pucky" his question, but Bob forgets what he was to ask and awkwardly tries to repeat what Teddy tells him. But Dom hears Teddy in the background, and “double bans” Teddy for having someone else call in to make his argument and get around the previous ban. Louise suggests to Teddy that she and Gene call in, as she has an idea. Bob is hesitant and thinks the show is almost over, but Teddy tells him it’s in fact six hours long.
Tina and Linda wait outside the gates for Dove to come out of her houseboat, but Tina wants to go home and write her report. Linda however still wants to talk to Dove about the town and why she decided to live there instead of New York. Linda then gets the idea to go around the fence and use rocks and concrete pieces sticking out above the water to get to the houseboat. Tina is reluctant until Linda gets “crazy eyes” telling her to do it. Linda tries jumping to the first rock but lands in ankle-deep water.
Some time later, Linda has been drenched up to her thighs and gets to the first concrete piece, but they are still too far to jump to the next piece to Dove’s houseboat. Linda tries to jump to the next concrete piece despite Tina telling her she won’t make it, and lands in stomach-high water. But she cannot swim back due to being stuck in the muddy ocean floor, and then suggests Tina use her to get to the dock, even yelling "jump off my face" as Tina says she has gone crazy. Linda admits that she went overboard and tells Tina to do Cleveland for the report, before Dove calls out to them sarcastically. Linda says all is fine, but she might drown when the tide comes in.
Dove reluctantly uses her rowboat to go and help Linda and Tina, bringing them back to the dock. Linda apologizes and says she wanted Tina to interview Dove for her report, and Dove lets them in the houseboat to clean up (while letting Linda wear some of her dry clothes). Dove asks Tina about doing all this for school, which Tina affirms, while Linda says she wanted her to be inspired by the town instead of New York. Dove and Tina note that she could have done that without going in the water outside the houseboat, but Linda ignores that and says Dove chose to live there instead of New York when she was a big singer-songwriter.
Dove brings up the photo of the shop, from her first tour, having stopped in the town and fallen in love with the people, the nature, and the drugs (not necessarily in that order). She tries to get the tow to leave but offers them a drink first, which Linda accepts as an offer for wine.
Bob tells the kids it is a bad idea to go on the show when they are put on while on speakerphone. When they tell Dom it is about teddy, he tries to hang up, but Louise stops him and says they are worried about Teddy. Gene and Louise start by going about how Teddy’s divorce broke him, with Bob explaining to Teddy that they are doing a Sleepless in Seattle situation to make his life sound really sad to help him. Dom hears Teddy mention her "security sock", a sock from his ex-wife he sleeps with on his hand, and then about Teddy only going to church for physical contact during the "our Father" part of Mass, and feeling bad for him, unbans Teddy from the show before moving onto the next caller. Bob is impressed by his kids’ thinking, and tells Teddy he doesn't have to fix the lock and even gives Teddy a burger for free out of sadness/pity.
Dove gives Linda a Chardonnay and Tina a tea. Linda apologizes to Tina for going crazy, and how she did not appreciate where she lived when she was Tina’s age, wishing someone had told her teen self that instead of wishing to be somewhere else, to not forget where one is. Just then, Dove opens the windows, revealing a beautiful sunset view of Wonder Wharf that awes Tina and Linda before Dove starts playing a guitar and singing. Tina thanks Linda for "going crazy", as it does seem the town is great, while Linda says she hopes Tina does see New York one day.
At Wagstaff, Tina plays Dove’s CD to the class for her report on how the town inspired her, with Ms. Jacobsen confused about the CD and that Tina didn’t actually write a report down. Tammy goes up next, with Jocelyn dressed in New York apparel as a visual aide. Tammy and Jocelyn get in an argument in front of the class about who stands where, and Jocelyn blurts out that Tammy had actually stayed in the hotel room all the time she was in the city due to the smell.
Videos[]
External links[]
- "Local She-ro" on IMDb
- "Local She-ro" press release via The Futon Critic
- "Local She-ro" script via Springfield! Springfield!
- "Local She-ro" at the US Copyright Database