Blue Dots

Last updated
"Blue Dots"
Raising Hope episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 8
Directed by Eyal Gordin
Written byLiz Astrof
Featured music Danny Lux and Matt Mariano
Cinematography byWalt Fraser
Editing byWilliam Marrinson
Production code1ARY07
Original air dateNovember 16, 2010 (2010-11-16)
Running time21mm 32s
Guest appearances
Cloris Leachman - Maw Maw
Kate Micucci - Shelley
Lou Wagner - Wally Phipps
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Sniffles"		Next →
"Meet the Grandparents"
List of episodes

"Blue Dots" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American sitcom Raising Hope . The episode was written by Liz Astrof, her first for the series, and was directed by Eyal Gordin. The episode premiered November 16, 2010 on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The plot follows Jimmy' attempt to get Hope into a better daycare, the revelation that Burt is a sex offender, and the rest of the family becoming sex offenders from the resulting attempt to get Burt's conviction overturned. [1]

Contents

The episode featured actresses Kate Micucci and Cloris Leachman in their recurring roles, and the first appearance of Lou Wagner as lawyer Wally Phipps. Critics gave mixed reviews, but praised the performance of Garret Dillahunt and the use of a non-typical plot device. According to Nielsen Media Research, it was watched by 5.9 million households in its original airing, reversing a downward trend in ratings in the last two episodes.

Plot

Shelly (Kate Micucci) is serenading the dogs at her daycare when Virginia (Martha Plimpton) arrives with Hope Chance. Shelly remarks that she got her dead tooth fixed after seeing a character with one on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia made her no longer feel unique. Virginia asks about the lack of babies or old people at the daycare, with Shelly confirming that Hope is the only non-dog left in the daycare. Later that day with most of the family sitting around the dinner table, Maw Maw (Cloris Leachman) rings the doorbell twice and to the family's concern, Hope barks at the noise each time.

Virginia gets a brochure for a different pre-school across the other side of town that offers scholarships and the family arrange to go to a meeting there to hear about the application process. While at the meeting, another parent mentions that a sex offender lives near the pre-school, highlighted by a blue dot on a Megan's Law website. The pre-school employee explains that they made the sex offender move, and now the next nearest is over the other side of the town, with the Chance family shocked when they find out the offender is in their neighborhood. They get home, and Jimmy (Lucas Neff) looks it up on the internet, finding out that the registered sex offender is in fact Burt (Garret Dillahunt), caused by a charge made when he was 17 and hooked up with Virginia when she was 15.

They decide to go to a lawyer, Wally Phipps (Lou Wagner) they saw on TV in order to clear Burt's name. When they meet they discover that Burt needs to go house to house around the neighborhood to inform all of his neighbors that he is a sex offender while Wally tries to get the judgement overturned. Meanwhile, Sabrina (Shannon Woodward) helps Jimmy with the written application for the day care, loudly criticizing his over-use of exclamation mark. At the court house, the whole family is there to see Burt cleared and removed from the sex offender list, only for Maw Maw to expose herself in front of a group of school children, causing the briefly removed blue dot to be replaced following her charge for indecent exposure.

Wally helps Maw Maw to get twelve hours of community service on account of her being crazy, but Virginia explains that she's never lucid that long. Wally explains that all that's required is for a woman to do the time, at which point both Jimmy and Burt look at Virginia. The following morning, Jimmy gives Virginia an early morning lift to do the community service when they stop so that Virginia can use a gas station toilet. When the gas station attendant refuses to let her use the toilet without purchasing something, she goes around the side of the station to relieve herself when the headlights on a police car come on, and two officers arrest Virginia for indecent exposure. Jimmy, desperate to find someone to do Maw Maw's community service, offers to pay a prostitute to do the time only for it to be a police trap, and for him to be arrested for solicitation and placed in the back of the police car next to Virginia.

Having been bailed out, Jimmy is back at home frantically working on the application when Hope crawls up chewing on a bone. He realizes that he needs to spice up the application. He goes to the new pre-school and after the employee reads out all the other applicants problems, he awards the scholarship to Hope, saying that Jimmy was a promising artist whose hand was injured in the war in Afghanistan while dragging orphans to safety. Jimmy feels so guilty about taking the spot that he admits his lie, and the other applicants all come out and admit that they lied on their application too. They're all turned down for the new daycare, but Jimmy tells them all about Shelley's daycare and they enroll their children, meaning that Hope is no longer the only baby.

Reception

Ratings

Garret Dillahunt's performance was described by critics as "just hilarious" Garret Dillahunt.jpg
Garret Dillahunt's performance was described by critics as "just hilarious"

In its original American broadcast on November 16, 2010, "Blue Dots" was watched by 5.9 million households, according to Nielson ratings. [2] Its ratings were higher than the previous two episodes, "Family Secrets" and "The Sniffles". [3] [4] "Blue Dots" received a 2.5/7 share among viewers aged between 18 and 34, and a 2.7/7 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49. [2]

Reviews

John Kubicek at BuddyTV said that although the episode used a non-typical plot device in the form of sex offenders, the series "continued to prove that it's one of the funniest shows on TV". [5] Andrea Evans on The Game Effect criticised the animation effect used to make Hope look like she was barking and described the episode as "meh", but appreciated the continuity in Jimmy's character arc and described Garret Dillahunt as "just hilarious as Burt"; and gave the episode an overall rating of 8 out of 10. [1] At Gather.com, Elizabeth SanFilippo said that the show had previously embraced storylines that if done badly could easily offend. In "Blue Dots", the writers moved towards that line once again but kept it on the side of funny. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garret Dillahunt</span> American actor

Garret Lee Dillahunt is an American actor. He is best known for his work in television, including the roles Burt Chance on the Fox sitcom Raising Hope, for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, Jack McCall and Francis Wolcott in Deadwood, and John Dorie in Fear the Walking Dead (2018–2021). He has also appeared in The 4400, ER, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Burn Notice, Justified, and The Mindy Project. He starred in the Amazon Studios drama series Hand of God (2014–2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Micucci</span> American actress and comedian (b. 1980)

Kate Micucci is an American actress, comedian, and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates with Riki Lindhome. Some of her roles include Stephanie Gooch in Scrubs, Ally in 'Til Death, Shelley in Raising Hope, Lucy in The Big Bang Theory, Sadie Miller in Steven Universe, Sara Murphy in Milo Murphy's Law, Kelly in Hamster and Gretel, Daisy in Nature Cat, Clayface in The Lego Batman Movie, Velma Dinkley in Scooby-Doo since 2015, Webby Vanderquack in DuckTales, Stacey in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, and Dr. Fox in Unikitty!

<i>Raising Hope</i> American television sitcom (2010–2014)

Raising Hope is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on Fox from September 21, 2010, to April 4, 2014. Following its first season, the show received two nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Martha Plimpton was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and Cloris Leachman was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Plimpton also won the 2011 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

<i>NCIS</i> season 8 Season of television series

The eighth season of the police procedural drama NCIS premiered on CBS on September 21, 2010, and ended on May 17, 2011. The season maintained the time slot of the previous season, airing on Tuesdays at 8 pm for the entire season.

<i>Glee</i> season 2 2010–11 season of American musical comedy-drama

The second season of the musical comedy-drama television series Glee originally aired between September 21, 2010, and May 24, 2011, on Fox in the United States. The 22-episode season was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Ryan Murphy Television, with executive producers Dante Di Loreto and series co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, with the other series co-creator, Ian Brennan, as co-executive producer.

Beiste (<i>Glee</i>) Fictional character from the Fox series Glee

Coach Beiste is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee, portrayed by actress Dot-Marie Jones. The character has appeared in Glee since its second season premiere "Audition", first broadcast on September 21, 2010.

"Pilot" is the pilot episode and the first episode of the first season of the American sitcom Raising Hope. The episode was written by series creator Greg Garcia and directed by Michael Fresco. The episode premiered September 21, 2010, on the Fox television network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furt</span> 8th episode of the 2nd season of Glee

"Furt" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the thirtieth episode overall. It was written by series creator Ryan Murphy, directed by Carol Banker, and premiered on Fox in the United States on November 23, 2010. The episode features a guest appearance by actress Carol Burnett as a Nazi hunter and mother of cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, who shows up for the first time in years, just in time to attend Sue's wedding to herself. The long-anticipated wedding of Burt Hummel and Carole Hudson is also featured, and the bullying storyline reaches a climax that results in Kurt transferring from McKinley High to Dalton Academy at the end of the episode.

"Burt Rocks" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American sitcom Raising Hope. Written by Alan Kirschenbaum and directed by Jace Alexander, the episode first aired in the United States on November 30, 2010 on Fox. This is the first episode so far where Maw Maw hasn't appeared.

"Sexy" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the American musical comedy-drama television series Glee, and the thirty-seventh episode overall. It was written by Brad Falchuk, directed by Ryan Murphy, and first aired on the Fox network on March 8, 2011. The episode mainly revolves around the topics of sex and adolescent sexuality. In it, Holly Holliday returns to McKinley High School as a substitute teacher in a class devoted to sex education. Glee club director Will Schuester begins to develop feelings for Holly, and guidance counselor and celibacy club advisor Emma Pillsbury is less than pleased with Holly's lessons. Santana expresses her love for Brittany, and Burt Hummel has a talk with his son Kurt about sex.

"Dead Tooth" is the second episode of the first season of the American sitcom Raising Hope. The episode was written by series creator Greg Garcia and directed by Michael Fresco. The episode premiered September 28, 2010, on the Fox Broadcasting Company.

"Pot o' Gold" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the forty-eighth overall. It was written by Ali Adler, directed by Adam Shankman, and was first broadcast on Fox in the United States on November 1, 2011. The episode featured the arrival of Irish foreign exchange student Rory Flanagan at McKinley High, a new challenger to Sue Sylvester in her congressional race, Quinn Fabray tries to make Shelby Corcoran look like an unfit mother so she can get her birth daughter back, and the ongoing fragmentation of the show's central glee club, New Directions.

<i>Raising Hope</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of the American television series Raising Hope premiered on September 21, 2010 and concluded on May 17, 2011 on the Fox Television Network. The show aired on Tuesday at 9:00 pm ET. The season consisted of 22 episodes and averaged 6.40 million viewers.

The second season of the American television series Raising Hope premiered on September 20, 2011, on Fox. The show moved to its new time slot, airing on Tuesday at 9:30pm ET to make way for the new comedy series New Girl, before moving again to 8:00 pm ET in mid-season. This season contains 22 episodes.

"The First Time" is the fifth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the forty-ninth overall. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and directed by co-executive producer Bradley Buecker, it first aired on Fox in the United States on November 8, 2011. The episode features the preparations for performing West Side Story and the show's opening night, and the various events leading to the decisions by two of the show's student couples—Rachel and Finn, and Kurt and Blaine —to begin having sex.

"I Kissed a Girl" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee and the fifty-first overall. Written by Matthew Hodgson and directed by Tate Donovan, the episode aired on Fox in the United States on November 29, 2011, and featured the election for a new senior class president at McKinley High. It also covered the special congressional election between Sue Sylvester and Burt Hummel, plus repercussions from the outing of Santana during the congressional campaign.

"Extraordinary Merry Christmas" is the ninth episode and mid-season finale of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the fifty-third overall. Written by Marti Noxon and directed by Matthew Morrison, the episode aired on Fox in the United States on December 13, 2011, and features the members of New Directions starring in a black-and-white Christmas television special that is presented within the episode itself.

"The Spanish Teacher" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the American musical television series Glee, and the fifty-sixth overall. Written by co-creator Ian Brennan and directed by Paris Barclay, the episode aired on Fox in the United States on February 7, 2012. It features special guest star Ricky Martin as a night-school Spanish teacher whom Will Schuester introduces to McKinley High, and shows several of McKinley's teachers competing for a promotion when a tenured position unexpectedly becomes available.

"The Door" is the eighth episode and mid-season premiere of the sixth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series Fear the Walking Dead. The 77th episode overall, "The Door" was released on the streaming platform AMC+ on April 4, 2021, in the United States, and aired on television on AMC one week later, on April 11, 2021. The episode was directed by Michael Satrazemis and written by Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg.

References

  1. 1 2 Evans, Andrea (November 25, 2010). "Raising Hope: "Blue Dots" Review". The Game Effect. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  2. 1 2 Seidman, Robert (November 17, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: Glee Sings Louder, Adjusted Up; Detroit 187 Adjusted Down". TV By The Numbers. Archived from the original on November 20, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  3. ↑ Gorman, Bill (October 27, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: Glee, Dancing Adjusted Up; Detroit 1-8-7, Raising Hope Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  4. ↑ Gorman, Bill (November 10, 2010). "Tuesday Finals: NCIS, Glee, Life Unexpected Adjusted Up; Detroit 187, Raising Hope Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 14, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  5. ↑ Kubicek, John (November 17, 2010). "'Raising Hope' Makes Sex Offenders Funny". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on November 20, 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  6. ↑ SanFilippo, Elizabeth (November 17, 2010). "Raising Hope Blue Dots: The Daycare Dilemma". Gather.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.