"The grass is always greener on the Lurgner side."
The
Story
Mistakes, points of interest and cross references
Exclusive script information
Krebstar sightings
The people behind Grounded for Life
When Little Pete's experiment to see what would happen when a dehumidifier is placed next to a humidifier goes wrong, it leaves a huge scorch mark in Dad's Kentucky Blue lawn at the worst possible time. He's having a lawn war with his dog weed neighbour Mr Lurgner and the loser has to mow both lawns for the entire Summer. In the past, Lurgner has always won and because of Pete it seems this years contest is going to be another no-hoper for Dad. As punishment Pete is made to do intensive rehabilitation work on the lawn, planting each grass seed again, giving it a deep Swedish massage and being turned into a human sprinkler system. Despite Dad's best efforts Pete still doesn't care about the lawn and he makes his break for freedom on Dad's mower. Not being able to outwit Canada's finest at the border, he is towed back straight away and as he's being dragged into the house, he gets his first look at his new neighbour, Nona F Mecklenberg.
Dad is ruthless in his punishment and sentences Pete to one months grounding with his only privileges being the bathroom and water. Worst of all, he'll miss the 4th of July - Pete's favourite holiday. When Artie comes to visit him, he gives him an ant farm to keep him occupied, but with his parting words of "I thought you might dig it", Pete is given a plan - tunnel out of the basement and into the new neighbours garden. "Live free or die".
With a paperweight of the Statue of Liberty and a whole load of dynamite for the extra thick layers of riolite lava Pete starts his master plan. Using Dad's Christmas deluxe pack for lighting, the sprinkler pipes for air and Big Pete to get rid of all the soil, he seems to be cruising to victory, digging four feet a day. His new friend Nona is even helping, painting the lawn which Pete's tunnel was ruining, to keep Dad off his trail. He seems invincible, until Lurgner turns the spicket in the Wrigley garden on over night, flooding the lawn and ruining Pete's path to freedom - destroying sectors E through J of his tunnel.
The next day the rest of the Wrigley family go to Throneberry Park to see the firework display. With Pete's tunnel destroyed and a high-tech security system which will have every cop in the state alerted if Pete so much as touches a window, Pete is faced with having to spend the 4th of July locked in the house. But Nona's moving Lady Liberty speech inspires his final push for freedom. Meanwhile Dad decides he should go back and let Pete out, but Pete has beat him to it. First of all it's pay back time for Lurgner. Nimbus, Nona's dog hasn't been able to pee since moving to Wellsville but Pete helps him overcome this problem with devastating effects - all over Lurgner's lawn. After all "Doggy wee-wee kills grass faster than acid". After this has happened Dad comes back and catches Pete. However Dad is touched by the fireworks and Pete's apology,and decides not to ground him, instead Pete has to mow his and Lurgner's lawn for the whole Summer after both sides had been disqualified for cheating. But as Big Pete says, this was a small price to pay for freedom.
Mistakes, Points of Interests and Cross References
- Is the Mr Lurgner in this episode the same one that is mentioned as being the vice principal of Big Pete's school in Tool and Die?
- Pete finds the wallet of corrupt former labour leader Jimmy Hoffa in his tunnel. It was rumoured that Hoffa was buried in the New Jersey area after having disappeared in Pennsylvania.
- Who is the old man in the Pete hat at Throneberry Park? He has made several cameo appearances in many other episodes across all three seasons and is never given a name.
- Nimbus is latin for rain bearing ,which is significant bearing in mind Nimbus the dog's bladder problem.
- When Pete finally breaks out of his tunnel Nona says she thought he'd be shorter. But she had already seen him a couple of times in the episode, most notably when he was being dragged inside after his excursion to the Canadian border, so she would already know.
- This is the first of two times the name Throneberry is used in a Pete and Pete episode. As well as the park in this episode, it is LL Cool J's name in Sickday.
Recently, Hardy Rawls, the actor who plays Dad in Pete and Pete, very kindly gave us his copy of the script for "Grounded for Life". Here are some interesting aspects of the final draft of the script or bits that never appeared in the finished episode.
- On the script, it appears that original titles for this episode were simply "Grounded" or "Green Revolution".
- The script is dated July 7th 1994.
- Originally, the part Mr. Lurgner plays was going to be filled by Fred Hurley (from Hard Day's Pete and Nightcrawlers). On page three of the script is says "Lurgner changed from Hurley".
- Pete remarks that the the potter's wheel his Aunt Alice gave him for his thirteenth birthday coupled with all the mud inspired him to take up pottery.
- Nona claims she's going to change her name to Flambe and not Frame in the original script.
- When Pete escapes from his hole, Nona says "C'mon. Let's go. The chopper's leaving in twenty-five minutes". The script then says "NONA'S CAST, reveals times of departure and a drawing of a helicopter written among other doodles".
Here are some scans from the script
Krebstar Ant Farm - See ants dig tunnels, build bridges and move mountains.
The People Behind Grounded for Life
| Danny Tamberelli - Little Pete | Mike Maronna - Big Pete |
| Hardy Rawls - Dad | Judy Grafe - Mom |
| Michelle Trachtenberg - Nona Mecklenberg | Toby Huss - Artie |
| Written by - Michael Memoli |
"I created you and I can destroy you"