Double Luv

Hello! I am fairly new to this site, but nevertheless, an episode idea has come to me in but a moment's notice! Hopefully it's halfway decent. Oh, and since I still forget some things that happen throughout the entirety of Hey Arnold!, please point out any continuity errors if they are indeed present.

And now...I present my episode idea...


The plot of the episode "Double Luv" is as follows.

--

One hot summer afternoon, Harold is going through his usual number of Mr. Fudgies with Sid and Stinky, gloating about how he found a ten dollar bill lying in a gutter the other day. Much to Harold's dismay, both Sid and Stinky leave in the middle of his story, with each boy mentioning that they're going to go spend quality time with their fathers. Left to his lonesome, Harold slowly begins to realize that he doesn't ever really get to spend quality time with his own dad. As he's walking home with a sad face, he spots a flier advertising the Annual Hillwood Father-Son Tennis Tournament. With a big smile on his face, Harold runs home with the flier so he can tell his dad all about it.

The next day, an excited Harold begins to gloat about how easily he and his dad are going to win the tournament. As usual, Arnold ends up being the one to challenge Harold's claims, asking him if even knows how to play tennis. Suddenly nervous, Harold makes up rules for the game that make it seem like a hodge-podge of basketball, hockey and soccer. Consequently, Rhonda overhears his explanation, and proceeds to laugh at his stupidity. She explains how the Lloyds have been masters of the game of tennis for generations, and that Harold has zero chance of winning the tournament, unless he can beat her in a match. Not wanting to be shown up by her, Harold agrees to play against her after school.

Their game is quick, with most of the gang having tagged along to watch Rhonda destroy Harold in their game. Rhonda declares publicly that Harold has absolutely no chance of winning, let along even correctly playing the sport. Worried that his lack of skill will cause his dad to disown him if they lose the tournament, Harold waits for everyone to leave before begging Rhonda to teach him how to play tennis like she does. She refuses as first, stating that she has no time for amateurs like him. Harold goes into hysterics, and proceeds to cry out loudly out about how much winning the tournament with his father will mean to him. Finally, Rhonda gives in, partly because she wants to shut Harold up, and partly because she somehow manages to feel sorry for him.

The rest of the episode will proceed with Rhonda and Harold practicing tennis together, and the other kids getting the impression that Rhonda like likes Harold. With her reputation on the line, Rhonda must choose between letting Harold go blind into the tournament, or having the whole school think that Harold Berman and Rhonda Lloyd are an item. To make matters worse, the more she practices with him, the more Rhonda begins to realize that she's actually beginning to enjoy spending time around Harold...

--

And that's what I got so far. The end of the episode is still up in the sky, but I believe I got the basic idea down. Yeah...I'm a Rhonda x Harold fan, but I still respect the canon of the show and I don't want to make it too obvious in an episode like this. I'd rather have it more implied or somewhat revealed by the end of the episode.

Feedback is much appreciated.

I like the idea but it needs a bit of direction.

Is the main focus on the relationship between Harold and Rhonda, or Harold and his dad?

That's where I'm at a bit of a standstill. I kind of want both of them to be the main focus, but at the same time I feel as if that would be confusing and probably detract from the point of the episode.

I'm thinking more of a Harold and Rhonda story, with the conflict being the moral decision Rhonda has to make in the end.

Forgive the double-posting, but after much deliberating, I have decided to change up my idea and come up with a synopsis to give the episode more substance.

So here is a proposed order of events, which are more stream-lined for content and hopefully have more direction.

--

1. Waking up hungry one Saturday morning, Harold Berman is surprised to find out from his father that his mother has gone away to visit her own mother for the the next few days.

2. Harold is told by his father that this is the perfect opportunity for them to spend some quality time together, and his dad brings up the idea of entering the upcoming annual citywide Father-Son Tennis Tournament together.

3. Harold moans and groans about entering the tennis tournament, but has no choice to give in and let his dad show him the ropes. Their first practices go miserably, with Harold unable to really grasp the game at all.

4. Barely clinging to hope at the chance to win a tournament like he once did with his own father, Mr. Berman begins to visibly lose faith in his son. Suddenly feeling terrible about the possibility of letting his dad down, Harold turns to the only person he knows who can help him; Rhonda Wellington Lloyd.

5. During their first practice, Harold heard his father reminiscing over a rivalry he once had with Buckley Lloyd, who he described as the best tennis player he had ever faced. Naturally, Harold seeks out Rhonda in hopes that she can convince her father to train him.

6. When Harold goes to ask Rhonda for help, she tells him that her father has gone off on an expensive excursion for the next week, and there's no way he can train Harold for the tournament coming up in just five days. Rhonda jokes that her father has no time for talentless people anyway, but a desperate Harold begs her to teach him instead.

7. After much blubbering and crying, Harold gets Rhonda to compromise and teach him all her tennis tricks. Though Rhonda loathes the idea at first, Harold begins to pick up game at a surprising rate under her supervision.

8. By their second practice, Rhonda is beginning to loosen up and feel more comfortable around Harold. When Sid and Stinky catch them practicing with one another and actually enjoying themselves, they get the impression that Rhonda has a thing for Harold. Soon, the rumor "Rhonda loves Harold" is spread all over P.S. 118.

9. Facing the total annihilation of her reputation and embarrassed by the possibility of her and Harold as an item, Rhonda abandons Harold two days before the tournament. Still unprepared and very hurt by Rhonda's actions, Harold is forced to lie to his dad that he can't enter with him in the tournament because of food poisoning from eating a bad Mr. Fudgie.

10. One day before the tournament, guilt sets in as Rhonda realizes that, for once, she had actually been enjoying Harold's company while training him. Looking into her own heart, Rhonda soon realizes that perhaps some things are more important than her school legacy.

11. Unable to face his father and wanting nothing more than to be alone in his room, Harold is surprised when Rhonda shows up at his door. With a tennis ball and racket in hand, she smiles before stating that she's not finished with him yet.

12. On the day of the tournament, Mr. Berman and his son easily mow through the opposition, with Rhonda having shown up to watch the whole thing. When the tournament is over, Rhonda congratulates Harold for winning with his dad, and also apologizes for letting her ego get in the way of their friendship. Just then, Stinky and Sid show up, and immediately tease Rhonda for being Harold's girlfriend. To Harold's complete surprise, Rhonda stands up the two of them and asks if they have a problem with that idea. She goes on to announce that she doesn't care what people think of her, and if she like liked Harold, then it would be nobody's business but hers'. It doesn't take long for her to send Stinky and Sid running scared, leaving Harold in awe.

13. Feeling satisfied, Rhonda declares that she'll treat Harold to some Mr. Fudgies as her token of congratulations for winning the tournament. Rhonda grabs Harold's hand as she leads the way. Feeling awkward, Harold laughs to himself that Rhonda's cover story before about her like liking him was pretty good. Blushing for a moment, Rhonda laughs nervously as she agrees with Harold that her "cover story" was pretty good indeed...


--

And I figure the scene would zoom out right there, and cue credits.

Might be a little long, but I believe that's the basic episode synopsis. Now...I need some feedback once again. Any takers?

Well, I can't let my idea die yet, can I?

I've taken the time to write a full script for this episode idea. If anyone wants to read it and tell me what could be changed, what's good, or what's bad, go ahead. Triple posting I may be, but it's for the sake of creativity.

Enjoy. Or better yet, critique! I've never written a script in my entire life. O_O

Double Luv

Yes, it's 28 pages instead of 24, if you're taking in account a minute per page. I made it a little too long...go figure.

As I said on LJ. I'm interested. If anyone else is around, please give Rhondanesia some critiques! I already gave him/her some thoughts of my own, but since this script is possibly going to go to the next step, I think it'd be good for more people to weigh in.

But overall I really love the script and think it does a good job capturing the feel of a typical HA! episode.

So it seems that a couple people are interested in undertaking this episode project we have here.

I've got somebody who wants to edit, and I plan on undertaking the thumbnail stuff myself. The art section isn't completely there yet though, but it seems like I've got enough interest that we can get it there.

I wrote that script...and I don't plan on seeing it fall apart just like that. If you're reading it, and you like it, by all means, join in with us. Let's make this a reality!

this is a great idea. sorry to pop in randomly but i like it

Thank you, thank you. I try.

We're still in need of help though. All the help we can get.

UPDATE!

Guess who's working on a storyboard?









I figure I'll get a little ahead of myself for the sake of keeping my idea alive.

i love it.

Thanks. I just wish I still didn't have such a long way to go still. :/

I'm loving this idea more and more. I'd love to see more storyboarding, too. I always enjoy that sort of thing on here. <3 Keep up the great work. I'd love to see this turned into an episode on here.

Thanks. Chances are I'll redo the storyboards when I get to working on this more over the summer. I'll have so much more time then.

Bumping the project because I think I might get back to working on it again.

If anyone wants to lend a hand, please feel free! This script shouldn't go to waste.

Wow! Your storyboards are gorgeous and I LOVE this idea! I don't necessarily think we need the romantic subplot, as I think Rhonda's willingness to help Harold speaks for itself, but I absolutely love the idea of a Father-Son event, an episode about Harold, and especially Harold and Rhonda working together. I love those two. <3 I can't wait to see more! *bounces around*

EDIT: Ohmigosh, just saw that there's a script. I'm eagerly reading. Your script looks incredible-- so professional! I'm jealous! Anyway. This looks fantastic. I propose that this be made into an actual episode. There aren't enough Harold OR Rhonda episodes!

EDIT AGAIN:
Ohmygosh. Ohmygosh. I sound like a total spaz right now, but OH MY GOLLY. This script is amazing!! I love it so much! You got the characters PERFECTLY. I've only found two typos so far, and I'm on page 17 (the first is on page 14, where it says "Lloyd's never lose at anything." It should be "Lloyds." As in the plural of Lloyd. No possessive. The second is on page 17 when Stinky says "I reckon you're big boyfrien'..." where it should be "your," since the intended meaning is "the boyfriend belonging to you" and not "you are boyfriend." Oh, and maniacally is misspelled, but that won't be in the comic so oh well. I'M SO PICKY)!
Also, I love Simmons going on about how precious the drawing of Rhonda and Harold is. It's just so...Simmons-y.
And just a quick gag...I think Harold should say "What about your repudiation?" instead of "rep...utation?" I just thought it would be funny if he said an actual, but incorrect, word. XD
And a final thought, I think Rhonda threatening Sid and Stinky with physical violence is out-of-character. She would manipulate them in other ways, like threatening to tell everyone that she knows Stinky has to tuck in his teddy bear every night and that Sid wet the bed until age 7 or something. XD
Anyway, I really adore this script. I pretty much ate it up. Can we make it a real episode? LET'S DO THIS, PEOPLE. It's so good! ;-;

I'm surprised people enjoy it so much. Honestly I'm still planning on working on it sometime in the next few months, and when I, or we do, it will be truly glorious.

I still want to keep the vestiges of a romantic subplot though. That was a lot of the point of the whole episode, even if it's just a hint and not exactly canon.

But yeah, depending on who is willing to help, I could probably be goaded into pushing this forward. I mean, the 28 page script was probably the hardest part in the end. Now all that needs to be done is for drawings to be made.

Rhondanesia wrote:Forgive the double-posting, but after much deliberating, I have decided to change up my idea and come up with a synopsis to give the episode more substance.

So here is a proposed order of events, which are more stream-lined for content and hopefully have more direction.

--

1. Waking up hungry one Saturday morning, Harold Berman is surprised to find out from his father that his mother has gone away to visit her own mother for the the next few days.

2. Harold is told by his father that this is the perfect opportunity for them to spend some quality time together, and his dad brings up the idea of entering the upcoming annual citywide Father-Son Tennis Tournament together.

3. Harold moans and groans about entering the tennis tournament, but has no choice to give in and let his dad show him the ropes. Their first practices go miserably, with Harold unable to really grasp the game at all.

4. Barely clinging to hope at the chance to win a tournament like he once did with his own father, Mr. Berman begins to visibly lose faith in his son. Suddenly feeling terrible about the possibility of letting his dad down, Harold turns to the only person he knows who can help him; Rhonda Wellington Lloyd.

5. During their first practice, Harold heard his father reminiscing over a rivalry he once had with Buckley Lloyd, who he described as the best tennis player he had ever faced. Naturally, Harold seeks out Rhonda in hopes that she can convince her father to train him.

6. When Harold goes to ask Rhonda for help, she tells him that her father has gone off on an expensive excursion for the next week, and there's no way he can train Harold for the tournament coming up in just five days. Rhonda jokes that her father has no time for talentless people anyway, but a desperate Harold begs her to teach him instead.

7. After much blubbering and crying, Harold gets Rhonda to compromise and teach him all her tennis tricks. Though Rhonda loathes the idea at first, Harold begins to pick up game at a surprising rate under her supervision.

8. By their second practice, Rhonda is beginning to loosen up and feel more comfortable around Harold. When Sid and Stinky catch them practicing with one another and actually enjoying themselves, they get the impression that Rhonda has a thing for Harold. Soon, the rumor "Rhonda loves Harold" is spread all over P.S. 118.

9. Facing the total annihilation of her reputation and embarrassed by the possibility of her and Harold as an item, Rhonda abandons Harold two days before the tournament. Still unprepared and very hurt by Rhonda's actions, Harold is forced to lie to his dad that he can't enter with him in the tournament because of food poisoning from eating a bad Mr. Fudgie.

10. One day before the tournament, guilt sets in as Rhonda realizes that, for once, she had actually been enjoying Harold's company while training him. Looking into her own heart, Rhonda soon realizes that perhaps some things are more important than her school legacy.

11. Unable to face his father and wanting nothing more than to be alone in his room, Harold is surprised when Rhonda shows up at his door. With a tennis ball and racket in hand, she smiles before stating that she's not finished with him yet.

AND points to him with a finger curved slightly back, in a sassy sort of way.
Minor detail I just wanted to add.

12. On the day of the tournament, Mr. Berman and his son easily mow through the opposition, with Rhonda having shown up to watch the whole thing. When the tournament is over, Rhonda congratulates Harold for winning with his dad, and also apologizes for letting her ego get in the way of their friendship. Just then, Stinky and Sid show up, and immediately tease Rhonda for being Harold's girlfriend. To Harold's complete surprise, Rhonda stands up the two of them and asks if they have a problem with that idea. She goes on to announce that she doesn't care what people think of her, and if she like liked Harold, then it would be nobody's business but hers'. It doesn't take long for her to send Stinky and Sid running scared, leaving Harold in awe.

13. Feeling satisfied, Rhonda declares that she'll treat Harold to some Mr. Fudgies as her token of congratulations for winning the tournament. Rhonda grabs Harold's hand as she leads the way. Feeling awkward, Harold laughs to himself that Rhonda's cover story before about her like liking him was pretty good. Blushing for a moment, Rhonda laughs nervously as she agrees with Harold that her "cover story" was pretty good indeed...


--

And I figure the scene would zoom out right there, and cue credits.

Might be a little long, but I believe that's the basic episode synopsis. Now...I need some feedback once again. Any takers?

I'll look at your script. Apparently it's good, according to Meganium.

It is. Very much so.

And yeah, Rhondanesia, I changed my mind about the romantic subplot once I read the script. Now I like it. <3

So if anyone actually wants to undertake this script, what must I do? It's been ages since I've thought about it, so I've forgotten a lot of the process on here, but the excitement about doing it all over again is filling me with ideas and the drive to actually do some work on it.

Well, I'm an editor, so if you need someone to divide it into panels or whatever, I'm your girl! ^_^

Ok, that was pretty awesome. Might I suggest something?

What if Rhonda decided to play (with her mother, I'm guessing), and the final match was Harold vs. Rhonda, and Rhonda "accidentally" let Harold win at the last second?

Hmmmmm...I dunno. I think Rhonda always has to turn out on top, whether she has a soft spot for someone or not. XD She would show no mercy.

OMG.

I saw this, and I'm like...

Why did I not do this? Hey everybody. I might just be itching to pick up Double Luv again. It has been a LONG time.