Grab That Dough S3E16

Synopsis: The girls fly to Los Angeles to appear on the game show Grab That Dough and have a delightfully miserable time.

80s Flashback

Blanche: “Dorothy and I are gonna team up with the Kaplan brothers.”

Rose: “The Kaplan brothers? You mean you and Dorothy are joining a country western band?!”

Dorothy: “That’s the Gatlin Brothers, Rose.”

Crazy Continuity

On Grab That Dough, Blanche and Dorothy win an electric skillet and a lifetime supply of soup. Yet in every episode that aired after, not one bowl of this prized soup is ever consumed. Perhaps the Kaplan brothers took it all?

Let’s Get Political

Blanche: “Nancy, honey. Now, I don't generally like to throw my name around, but you really leave me no choice. It so happens that I am Miss Angie Dickinson. And now, if you don't mind, I would like two rooms.”

Nancy: “You don't look like Angie Dickinson to me.”

Blanche: “I know. I have altered my appearance for a very important movie role.”

Dorothy: “Yeah, it’s about a woman who eats her way from behind the Iron Curtain.”

That’s What She Said

Guy Corbin: “Welcome to Grab That Dough, the show where all you really need to know to win is how to make a fist!”

Lewd Ladies

Sophia: “Listen up everybody, I’ve got something in this old lady purse that’s gonna make you scream, holler, and jump for joy.”

Blanche: “Are the batteries included?”

Picture It

Sophia: “Would you stop complaining, we've got it easy. Back in Sicily, I was on a game show. It was Torture.”

Rose: “What was it called, Sophia?”

Sophia: “I just told you. Torture. Mussolini asked the questions and you'd better have the right answers.

Things like: Who do you like better, me or Hitler? Who's got the snappiest boots, me or Hitler? Who's got the cuter girlfriend, me or Hitler? And you always had to answer, 'Mussolini!' Otherwise, they forced you to play the lightning round. They used real lightning.”

Dorothy: “Oh, come on, Ma, you're making this up.”

Sophia: “Like hell, I did. Goodson-Todman brought it to the United States, changed a few of the rules and called it 'Tattle Tales.' Now count your blessings and go to sleep. Good night.”

Zbornak Zingers

Guy: “Name the current Secretary of State.”

Willard: “Charles Schultz.”

Dorothy: “He created Peanuts.”

Willard: “I thought that was George Washington Carver?”

Dorothy: “Willard. Don’t. Ever. Touch. Your. Buzzer. Again.”

Insult Watch

Dorothy: “I’m going to grab today, Guy.”

Guy: “Wonderful Dorothy, you oughta make quite a haul with those meat hooks.”

Product Placement

Sophia: “Rose is my daughter now and you Dorothy are the biggest disappointment to hit the streets since the AMC Pacer!”

Oh Shut Up, Rose!

Guy: “Rose is on a roll and the blue team is leading 300 to nothing.”

Rose: “All right!”

Blanche: “Oh, shut up Nylund!”

Rose: “You shut up.”

Guy: “Why don't you both shut up and answer this next question.”

Sassy Sophia

Sophia: “We tape tomorrow afternoon in Hollywood.”

Rose: “Hollywood California!?”

Sophia: “No Rose, Hollywood on the planet Rumulac.”

Best of B.E.D.

Blanche: “Well, hello Tiffany. It is such a pleasure to meet you, honey. I want you to know that I thought those pictures of you in that sleazy girlie magazine were so tastefully done. By the way, was that a real English bobby spanking you there in front of Big Ben?”

Back in St. Olaf

We learn from Guy’s introduction of Rose that she was once voted ‘Girl Most Likely to Get Stuck in a Tuba.’

What Do I Look Like a Crossdresser?

Sophia: “Dorothy, I'm in the ladies room, I look in my brassiere, what do you think I find?”

Dorothy: “Hopefully, what we all find when we look in our brassieres.”

Sophia: “Please, I haven't been able to find those since I nursed your brother Phil.”

The Boob Tube

Blanche: “Oh, Grab That Dough is my favorite game show.”

Rose: “Oh, mine too, and I think Guy Corbin is the cutest host on TV. He's like Gene Rayburn, Chuck Woolery and Bob Eubanks, all rolled into one.”

Dorothy: “That's an awful lot of teeth and polyester.”

Reel References

Blanche: “We can hitchhike. See I can lift up my skirt you know like in that Clark Gable movie ‘It Happened One Night.’ Boy we’ll have a ride in no time.”

Sophia: “Please, you lift up your skirt and someone might mistake your thigh for the on-ramp to the freeway.”

Golden Quotes

Rose: “I can't believe somebody stole my bags.”

Blanche: “Oh honey. Don't worry about it. With all the money we're gonna win, you'll be able to replace those bags and everything in them.”

Dorothy: “Yeah, what about my bags?”

Sophia: “Relax, with your share, you can have your bags surgically removed.”

And of course:

Guy: “For 100 points complete this famous saying: ‘Better late than… [Blanche rings in] Blanche?”

Blanche: “Pregnant!”

Guy: “That's incorrect, but certainly not untrue.”

Critique: Did anyone else notice the horse statute behind Dorothy in the hotel lobby is the same one the girls have in their living room at home? Or have I watched this episode one too many times? But I digress. This is my all-time favorite episode. And I have my reasons. For one, I love that the entire storyline involves all four ladies. There is no pointless, minor Sophia B-story to be found here. The change of setting really gives it something extra and when bad things happen to the gals, it means good things happen for the viewer. Not to mention when the prospect of winning money turns them all against each other. The fictional game show Grab That Dough, is just plain stupid not to mention completely lame. It's like a bad car wreck: you can't help but look. The questions aren’t challenging, the game logistics don't make any sense, and like bad sex the whole thing lasts for about five minutes. The sight of Dorothy using her meat hooks to grab that dough is just hilariously awkward. And they end up with an electric skillet and a lifetime supply of soup and another make another jab at Three Amigos! God I love this episode. GRADE: A