Homecoming (Miss Guided episode)
Encyclopedia
“Homecoming” is the pilot
episode of the ABC
television series Miss Guided
. It was the series premiere of the show, and was written by Caroline Williams and directed by Todd Holland
It aired March 18, 2008.
Chris "Bruce" Parnell, the school's vice principal scuttles up to Becky. He is insulted because Becky’s been made chair of the Homecoming dance. When Bruce is in charge, dances are held at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesdays. Bruce is pretty sure that if she doesn't crack down, the school dance is going to turn into a scene from 28 Days Later. As he tries to convince her to hire security, Becky comes to a dead stop. She spots Tim, a male teacher who helps an old lady pick up dropped books, and its shown Becky loves Tim. Becky shakes herself and tells Bruce that she’s got chaperones. Namely, Tim. Becky figures that the next logical step is for Tim to ask her to be his date to the dance. The competition doesn't stand a chance, especially since it consists of Miss Kinney (a woman with a lesbian attire) Miss Fukui (grim-looking Trunchbull
type) and the Lunch Lady (all jowls in a stylish ensemble of Halloween sweater and hairnet). Bruce smirks that he'll be waiting in the wings for Becky’s dance to fail. Becky remembers how when she was in high school, she wasn't as beautiful as she is now. She had fanny packs, headgear, frizzy hair, and chest-high acid-washed jeans. Becky admits she wasn't exactly popular, but she had lots of interests and friends. She hung out with a kid in a wheelchair who "felt sorry for her and thought she might put out." Becky thinks the principal offered her this job because of her qualifications. However, it's shown he really hired her because of her new looks. However, Becky's former classmate, Lisa Germain, is also teaching at the school as an English teacher. Lisa, like Becky (if not, more) is stunning, and happened to be the most popular girl in Becky’s graduating class. Lisa only remembers Becky as "that girl who vomited during the safe sex assembly." It's shown the two are not on good terms, starting a rivalry.
Becky talks to Shane, a student insecure about the dance. Becky recalls her own homecoming, which was a disaster as her date never showed up. Shane wants advice about asking a girl to the dance. He doesn't want to make a fool of himself. It is now shown Becky's awkwardness extends into her counseling sessions. Becky begins breakdancing around her office to the tune of "Push It
". When she’s done, she asks if the "advice" was helpful. Shane demurs, saying that this woman is older than anyone he's ever dated. As he speaks, he's shyly fingering the name plaque on her desk. So of course, Becky thinks he's talking about her. The bell rings, sparing him the embarrassment of her turning him down. However, he really is crushing on someone else. In the teacher's lounge, Becky embarrasses herself in front of Tim. Tim is worried about being taken seriously as a teacher. He replaced the old Spanish teacher, who was fired after his hard drive was seized by the FBI. Tim, who used to be the Auto Shop teacher, took the job because he wanted to be more than a grease monkey. Plus, there was nobody else (they offered the job to the janitor, but he didn't want anybody poking around on his hard drive). Now Tim's just one Spanish lesson ahead of the very students he's teaching. Becky tells him that a student has a crush on her, but it wouldn't be right for her to go to the dance with him. Going with another faculty member, though, would be alright. Lisa Germain flirtatiously introduces herself to Tim, embarrasses Becky by talking about her orthodontia issues in high school, then strikes up a way-too-easy conversation with Becky's man.
In her office, Becky's furious when the principle arrives, and asks her to be his date. Fortunately, Becky’s saved by the arrival of a student. Later, the preparations for the dance are almost complete, but Tim hasn’t asked her. She'd advise a female student in this situation to ask the him herself, but she'd never do that, because she thinks it would make her look desperate. The next morning, Tim casually rolls into the staff parking lot. Becky, following him, offers to share homemade enchiladas for lunch and talk about the dance. He agrees, but just then Lisa drives into the lot in a classic convertible. Tim admires the car, which promptly breaks down. The scene changes to the nurse fixing Becky's show after she helped Tim push Lisa's disabled palm. Bruce arrives to insist that she use his security detail for the dance, and Becky relents. It's shown in high school that Bruce was the one bullies would bully. Becky's shrieking Tim's name banshee-style down the school hallway at lunchtime. He bails on their enchilada date because he has to study for a parent teacher conference. Becky’s eating the enchiladas on her own when Shane comes in. She tells him that certain feelings may develop in therapeutic situations. A confused Shane clarifies that he wants to ask out a girl named Allison, who's a senior. He also reveals a friend of his asked Lisa out to the dance, but found out Lisa was going with Tim. A flashback shows it may be because of Todd Collins all over again - Lisa's high school boyfriend, whom Becky liked. Later, Tim apologizes for missing lunch. Turns out that Lisa's the one who asked him to the dance. He doesn't look particularly excited about it. Becky sighs that she'll see him at the dance, and even manages to make a wistful little joke about somebody having a baby in the bathroom.
Becky klassily gets dropped off by her mom, who has a date and needs to borrow the car. Rather than going inside, Becky decides to crawl GI Jane-style through the bushes to peer through the gym windows and spy on Lisa and Tim. Everything's peachy until she looks over, and discovers it's Russell, the boy with head lice. Becky finally gives him decent advice: everyone has to grow up at their own pace. Russell thanks her, then asks, if he can touch her breast
, to which she calmly replies "No sweetie". With leaves from the bushes sticking out of her hair, Becky says some people think she doesn't have time for a life of her own. But now that her dad has run off, her mom needs her. Becky gets offered a ride home by the nerdish girl whose outfit matches hers. But just then she sees Lisa and Tim coming out of the gym. Becky runs away, trips, and falls spectacularly down behind a parked car. There, she crouches and hides as Lisa and Tim talk nearby. Lisa cries about how hard it is for her to be single, but Tim says she’s not alone – he and Becky are single, too. Lisa laughs that Becky's desperation is kind of pathetic. Tim proves that he's a truly awesome guy by saying he knows she can be awkward at times, but that's why he's so impressed. Becky's always so positive. The next day, Bruce is his usual snapish self about Becky's absence at the dance. She tells him she was there, helping out Russell. She dreamily looks out the window and, seeing Tim walking up to the school, sighs that she loves her job. It's like her car. Her whole life she wanted that car, and now she can't believe she's so lucky. Right about then, a taxi backs into said car in the parking lot. Becky takes a sip of tea, trying to suppress the nervous twitch I think she may be developing.
by Salt N Pepa.
, indicating "generally favorable reviews", with the most positive review from Entertainment Weekly
saying "MG is wonderfully absurd and the supporting cast is satisfyingly straight-faced" [21 Mar 2008, p. 53] while the most negative review from Variety
, which said "Beyond Greer's latter-day Mary Tyler Moore
shtick, there's not a note or character that doesn't feel warmed over."
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
episode of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series Miss Guided
Miss Guided
Miss Guided is an American situation comedy that premiered on March 18, 2008 as a mid-season replacement on ABC. The series follows the life of Becky Freeley, a guidance counselor at a high school that she attended when she was a teenager...
. It was the series premiere of the show, and was written by Caroline Williams and directed by Todd Holland
Todd Holland
Todd Holland is an American television and film director and producer.-Personal life:Holland was born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania and raised in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He was an honor student, graduating from Meadville Area Sr. High School. While there, he got his feet wet...
It aired March 18, 2008.
Guest starring
- Tim BagleyTim BagleyTimothy Hugh "Tim" Bagley is an American character actor who has appeared in numerous films and television programs. He is perhaps best known for his recurring roles on the TV series Will & Grace, Monk and $h*! My Dad Says.-Early life:...
- Peter - Daryl SabaraDaryl SabaraDaryl Christopher Sabara is an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Juni Cortez in the Spy Kids film series, as well as for a variety of television and film appearances, including Wizards of Waverly Place, Father of the Pride, The Polar Express, Keeping Up with...
- Russell - Chad BroskeyChad BroskeyChad Broskey is an American actor. He appeared as Gavin in an episode for The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. He also co-stars in Read It and Weep opposite Kay Panabaker as Marco Vega and appeared in the Scrubs episode Their Story as The Todd's fantasy son Rod...
- Shane - Chelsea Harris - Allison
Co-Starring
- Vanessa MaranoVanessa MaranoVanessa Nicole Marano is an American actress. She has appeared on the TV series Without a Trace, Gilmore Girls, Scoundrels and The Young and the Restless, among others. She is currently a main character on Switched at Birth, where she stars as Bay Kennish.-Personal life:Vanessa Marano was born...
- Kelly - Juan Carlos Cantunatio - the Janitor
- Tom Choi yao sang tow rar - Ed the Wheelchair Man
- Jane Galloway Heitz - the Lunch Lady
Episode summary
Opening on a sunny high school, birds chrip, flags fly, and school mascots fight. A blonde woman arrives to end Andrew (the mascot)'s fight. The woman is Becky Freeley, the school's guidance counselor. Becky cheerfully intones that she knows exactly how difficult high school can be. She meets with kids like Russell – who's failing remedial PE and may or may not have head lice. But she claims to love the kids, and that they love her back. She strolls past a group of African Americans, cluelessly spouting, "What's the haps, peeps?" She later swipes a danish from a chunky girl, saying that it may fill the hole in her mouth, but "not the hole in her soul."Chris "Bruce" Parnell, the school's vice principal scuttles up to Becky. He is insulted because Becky’s been made chair of the Homecoming dance. When Bruce is in charge, dances are held at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesdays. Bruce is pretty sure that if she doesn't crack down, the school dance is going to turn into a scene from 28 Days Later. As he tries to convince her to hire security, Becky comes to a dead stop. She spots Tim, a male teacher who helps an old lady pick up dropped books, and its shown Becky loves Tim. Becky shakes herself and tells Bruce that she’s got chaperones. Namely, Tim. Becky figures that the next logical step is for Tim to ask her to be his date to the dance. The competition doesn't stand a chance, especially since it consists of Miss Kinney (a woman with a lesbian attire) Miss Fukui (grim-looking Trunchbull
Matilda
-People:* Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England* Matilda , list of people named Matilda* Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror* Matilda of Tuscany-Media and entertainment:* Matilda , by Roald Dahl...
type) and the Lunch Lady (all jowls in a stylish ensemble of Halloween sweater and hairnet). Bruce smirks that he'll be waiting in the wings for Becky’s dance to fail. Becky remembers how when she was in high school, she wasn't as beautiful as she is now. She had fanny packs, headgear, frizzy hair, and chest-high acid-washed jeans. Becky admits she wasn't exactly popular, but she had lots of interests and friends. She hung out with a kid in a wheelchair who "felt sorry for her and thought she might put out." Becky thinks the principal offered her this job because of her qualifications. However, it's shown he really hired her because of her new looks. However, Becky's former classmate, Lisa Germain, is also teaching at the school as an English teacher. Lisa, like Becky (if not, more) is stunning, and happened to be the most popular girl in Becky’s graduating class. Lisa only remembers Becky as "that girl who vomited during the safe sex assembly." It's shown the two are not on good terms, starting a rivalry.
Becky talks to Shane, a student insecure about the dance. Becky recalls her own homecoming, which was a disaster as her date never showed up. Shane wants advice about asking a girl to the dance. He doesn't want to make a fool of himself. It is now shown Becky's awkwardness extends into her counseling sessions. Becky begins breakdancing around her office to the tune of "Push It
Push It
Push It may refer to:* "Push It", 1987 song by Salt-N-Pepa.* "Pushit", 1996 song by Tool.* "Push It", 1998 song by Garbage.* "Push It", 1999 song by Static-X.* "Push It", 2006 song by Rick Ross....
". When she’s done, she asks if the "advice" was helpful. Shane demurs, saying that this woman is older than anyone he's ever dated. As he speaks, he's shyly fingering the name plaque on her desk. So of course, Becky thinks he's talking about her. The bell rings, sparing him the embarrassment of her turning him down. However, he really is crushing on someone else. In the teacher's lounge, Becky embarrasses herself in front of Tim. Tim is worried about being taken seriously as a teacher. He replaced the old Spanish teacher, who was fired after his hard drive was seized by the FBI. Tim, who used to be the Auto Shop teacher, took the job because he wanted to be more than a grease monkey. Plus, there was nobody else (they offered the job to the janitor, but he didn't want anybody poking around on his hard drive). Now Tim's just one Spanish lesson ahead of the very students he's teaching. Becky tells him that a student has a crush on her, but it wouldn't be right for her to go to the dance with him. Going with another faculty member, though, would be alright. Lisa Germain flirtatiously introduces herself to Tim, embarrasses Becky by talking about her orthodontia issues in high school, then strikes up a way-too-easy conversation with Becky's man.
In her office, Becky's furious when the principle arrives, and asks her to be his date. Fortunately, Becky’s saved by the arrival of a student. Later, the preparations for the dance are almost complete, but Tim hasn’t asked her. She'd advise a female student in this situation to ask the him herself, but she'd never do that, because she thinks it would make her look desperate. The next morning, Tim casually rolls into the staff parking lot. Becky, following him, offers to share homemade enchiladas for lunch and talk about the dance. He agrees, but just then Lisa drives into the lot in a classic convertible. Tim admires the car, which promptly breaks down. The scene changes to the nurse fixing Becky's show after she helped Tim push Lisa's disabled palm. Bruce arrives to insist that she use his security detail for the dance, and Becky relents. It's shown in high school that Bruce was the one bullies would bully. Becky's shrieking Tim's name banshee-style down the school hallway at lunchtime. He bails on their enchilada date because he has to study for a parent teacher conference. Becky’s eating the enchiladas on her own when Shane comes in. She tells him that certain feelings may develop in therapeutic situations. A confused Shane clarifies that he wants to ask out a girl named Allison, who's a senior. He also reveals a friend of his asked Lisa out to the dance, but found out Lisa was going with Tim. A flashback shows it may be because of Todd Collins all over again - Lisa's high school boyfriend, whom Becky liked. Later, Tim apologizes for missing lunch. Turns out that Lisa's the one who asked him to the dance. He doesn't look particularly excited about it. Becky sighs that she'll see him at the dance, and even manages to make a wistful little joke about somebody having a baby in the bathroom.
Becky klassily gets dropped off by her mom, who has a date and needs to borrow the car. Rather than going inside, Becky decides to crawl GI Jane-style through the bushes to peer through the gym windows and spy on Lisa and Tim. Everything's peachy until she looks over, and discovers it's Russell, the boy with head lice. Becky finally gives him decent advice: everyone has to grow up at their own pace. Russell thanks her, then asks, if he can touch her breast
Breast
The breast is the upper ventral region of the torso of a primate, in left and right sides, which in a female contains the mammary gland that secretes milk used to feed infants.Both men and women develop breasts from the same embryological tissues...
, to which she calmly replies "No sweetie". With leaves from the bushes sticking out of her hair, Becky says some people think she doesn't have time for a life of her own. But now that her dad has run off, her mom needs her. Becky gets offered a ride home by the nerdish girl whose outfit matches hers. But just then she sees Lisa and Tim coming out of the gym. Becky runs away, trips, and falls spectacularly down behind a parked car. There, she crouches and hides as Lisa and Tim talk nearby. Lisa cries about how hard it is for her to be single, but Tim says she’s not alone – he and Becky are single, too. Lisa laughs that Becky's desperation is kind of pathetic. Tim proves that he's a truly awesome guy by saying he knows she can be awkward at times, but that's why he's so impressed. Becky's always so positive. The next day, Bruce is his usual snapish self about Becky's absence at the dance. She tells him she was there, helping out Russell. She dreamily looks out the window and, seeing Tim walking up to the school, sighs that she loves her job. It's like her car. Her whole life she wanted that car, and now she can't believe she's so lucky. Right about then, a taxi backs into said car in the parking lot. Becky takes a sip of tea, trying to suppress the nervous twitch I think she may be developing.
Cultural references
- Becky dances to the tune of
by Salt N Pepa.
- Becky and Ed the Wheelchair Man are the sole members of their Highschool Milli VanilliMilli VanilliMilli Vanilli was a pop/dance music project formed by Frank Farian in Germany in 1988, visually fronted by Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. The group's debut album achieved international success and earned them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist on Feb. 21, 1990. Milli Vanilli became one of the most...
club.
Critical reception
The show received a 63 out of 100 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, indicating "generally favorable reviews", with the most positive review from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
saying "MG is wonderfully absurd and the supporting cast is satisfyingly straight-faced" [21 Mar 2008, p. 53] while the most negative review from Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, which said "Beyond Greer's latter-day Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms. Moore is best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show , in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as...
shtick, there's not a note or character that doesn't feel warmed over."