Helga Excels (Helga does well in a test and get attention from her parents)

Another episode idea. I think we all know Helga has great potential and is pretty smart for age, so I decided to take that further. The basis of the it is that Helga starts doing really well in class tests and stuff (possibly due to some encouragement from Mr Simmons, he might say something about how proud her parents would be.) and it comes to the point where she's as doing as good as Olga. Big Bob starts paying Helga more attention because of this, and at first she enjoys it, but soon realises that she has to keep doing well to keep getting attention from her parents. This leads to her feeling under pressure to do well, possibly ending up devoting all her time to studying manically (this could be shown with a scene where the gang ask Helga if she wants to go to Gerald Field for a game, but she refuses, saying she has to study. Eventually she can't stand it. She realises she's going to end up like Olga: constantly having to perform for parents like a wind up doll. So, she ends up with a choice between attention from her parents and her own freedom. She eventually chooses freedom, by deliberately failing a test. Bob gets extremely disappointed in her and everything returns to normal

i like this idea.

I've thought about this, and I think it would make more sense for Helga to do well on an important test that will affect the future, to give her a good reason to do well. She then finds that she likes the attention she gets from her parents.

This is an excellent idea and I'm surprised the show never did anything similar to it. Well here's my thoughts on it:

Perhaps Olga should be present for some duration of the episode; she doesn't have to necessarily visit physically but I think she should at least be in the episode by a phone call for a brief scene. Perhaps Miriam or Big Bob could be talking to Olga on the phone about how proud of Helga they are and how they are so happy she is becoming more like her sister. Meanwhile Helga picks up another phone and overhears the conversation (Do the Patakis have more than one phone?). This could jumpstart Helga's realization that should might turn into Olga.

Maybe the test she is taking at the beginning should be a placement test of some sort? The test will determine where she will stand in sixth grade and junior high, and her results place her in all honors class. This gets the attention of her parents and it gives her a drive to study harder and thus she decides to study harder and starts getting A's on her subsequent regular exams.

There is one potential problem I see though: does Helga failing a test on purpose fit in with the tone of the show? The moral of this story could end up being interpreted as "fail your tests and your parents will leave you alone." I know Helga's parents are jerks, but her method of getting them off her back I worry is too predictable and doesn't send the right message. Maybe Helga should deliberately get a C+ or something instead, but then deciding what exact grade she will get could result in some other problems. Or perhaps she should confront her parents about how she feels after explaining the problem to either Arnold or Phoebe. Other than this, I don't see any possible issues that could come up (though this could be a big one possibly if I'm not completely crazy and don't have the character interpretations all wrong ).

I always love episodes that deal with the psychology of the Patakis. They're family is a complicated nightmare that is always fun to write and analyze about. There's much potential in this idea to explore why the family is so obsessed with competition and getting ahead. We really should elaborate on this idea and give it more attention.

WillBillXP wrote:This is an excellent idea and I'm surprised the show never did anything similar to it. Well here's my thoughts on it:

Perhaps Olga should be present for some duration of the episode; she doesn't have to necessarily visit physically but I think she should at least be in the episode by a phone call for a brief scene. Perhaps Miriam or Big Bob could be talking to Olga on the phone about how proud of Helga they are and how they are so happy she is becoming more like her sister. Meanwhile Helga picks up another phone and overhears the conversation (Do the Patakis have more than one phone?). This could jumpstart Helga's realization that should might turn into Olga.

Maybe the test she is taking at the beginning should be a placement test of some sort? The test will determine where she will stand in sixth grade and junior high, and her results place her in all honors class. This gets the attention of her parents and it gives her a drive to study harder and thus she decides to study harder and starts getting A's on her subsequent regular exams.

There is one potential problem I see though: does Helga failing a test on purpose fit in with the tone of the show? The moral of this story could end up being interpreted as "fail your tests and your parents will leave you alone." I know Helga's parents are jerks, but her method of getting them off her back I worry is too predictable and doesn't send the right message. Maybe Helga should deliberately get a C+ or something instead, but then deciding what exact grade she will get could result in some other problems. Or perhaps she should confront her parents about how she feels after explaining the problem to either Arnold or Phoebe. Other than this, I don't see any possible issues that could come up (though this could be a big one possibly if I'm not completely crazy and don't have the character interpretations all wrong ).

I always love episodes that deal with the psychology of the Patakis. They're family is a complicated nightmare that is always fun to write and analyze about. There's much potential in this idea to explore why the family is so obsessed with competition and getting ahead. We really should elaborate on this idea and give it more attention.

Concerning the morality issue, that sounds like a better way to resolve the problem. Thanks for all your contributions!

I think this episode might have a lot of potential, so I'll post a Want Ad soon.

The Want Ad has been posted!
https://ha6s.forumotion.com/t528-helga-excels-staff-wanted-helga-does-well-in-a-test-and-gets-attention-from-her-parents

But we're currenlty lacking in the artist deparment.

Maybe Arnold would confront his guardians about how he feels, but Helga would avoid the issue first and fail the test on purpose. Then, LATER, Olga could ask what went wrong and Helga might open up a little about how she didn't want to end up like Olga. She'd then go on to say that perfection is Olga's job-- for now, Helga's content just being...ordinary. But Olga would of course say something corny like, "No matter how many tests you fail, you'll always be extraordinary to me, baby sister!" or some such. XD