Blue Dots
Encyclopedia
"Blue Dots" is the eighth episode of the first series of the Fox 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 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.
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.
) 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 scholarship
s 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 who's 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.
In its original American broadcast on November 16, 2010, "Blue Dots" was watched by 5.9 million households, according to Nielson ratings. Its ratings were higher than the previous two episodes, "Family Secrets" and "The Sniffles". "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.
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". 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. 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.
Raising Hope
Raising Hope is a television comedy program first aired on September 21, 2010 on Fox. The series airs on Tuesdays at 9:30 pm. On January 10, 2011, Fox renewed Raising Hope for a second season, which premiered on September 20, 2011....
. The episode was written by Liz Astrof, her first for the series, and was directed by Eyal Gordin
Eyal Gordin
Eyal Gordin is American cinematographer and television director.He began his career as a camera operator working on the films Kansas , Highway to Hell and Kalifornia...
. The episode premiered November 16, 2010 on Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
. The plot follows Jimmy' attempt to get Hope into a better daycare, the revelation that Burt is a sex offender
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
, and the rest of the family becoming sex offenders from the resulting attempt to get Burt's conviction overturned.
The episode featured actresses Kate Micucci
Kate Micucci
Kate Micucci born March 31, 1980) is an American actress, comedian and singer-songwriter, whose first major television exposure was as Stephanie Gooch in Scrubs, and later as Shelly in Raising Hope...
and Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
in their recurring roles, and the first appearance of Lou Wagner
Lou Wagner
- Filmography :* Raising Hope ** episode Blue Dots ... as lawyer* Artificially Speaking ... as Dr. Lionel Bainbridge* My Name Is Earl** episode Stole P's HD Cart ... as Mr. Covington* Yes, Dear...
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
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, 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 MicucciKate Micucci
Kate Micucci born March 31, 1980) is an American actress, comedian and singer-songwriter, whose first major television exposure was as Stephanie Gooch in Scrubs, and later as Shelly in Raising Hope...
) is serenading the dogs at her daycare when Virginia
Virginia Chance
Virginia Chance is a fictional character on Raising Hope played by Martha Plimpton.Virginia is Hope's grandmother, Jimmy's mother, and Burt's wife. Virginia conceived Jimmy when she was fifteen...
(Martha Plimpton
Martha Plimpton
Martha Campbell Plimpton is an American actress and singer and former model. Plimpton is a screen, stage and television actress. She first appeared as Jonsy in the feature film River Rats before rising to prominence in the Richard Donner film The Goonies portraying the character Stef...
) 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
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom...
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
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award...
) 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 scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
s 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
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
lives near the pre-school, highlighted by a blue dot on a Megan's Law
Megan's Law
Megan's Law is an informal name for laws in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Individual states decide what information will be made available and how it should be disseminated...
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
Jimmy Chance
James "Jimmy" Chance is fictional character on Raising Hope. He is played by Lucas Neff.Jimmy is a 23-year-old who is clueless about raising a child and everything else. One night when he was driving back to his home after picking up bubblegum ice cream, a girl named Lucy jumped into his van while...
(Lucas Neff
Lucas Neff
Lucas Neff is an American actor from Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for his work in the role of James "Jimmy" Chance in the sitcom Raising Hope....
) looks it up on the internet, finding out that the registered
Sex offender registration
Sex offender registration is a system in various states designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the residence and activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences. In some jurisdictions , information in the registry is made available to the...
sex offender is in fact Burt
Burt Chance
Burt Chance is a fictional character on Raising Hope played by Garret Dillahunt.Burt is Hope's grandfather, Jimmy's father, and Virginia's husband. Burt conceived Jimmy with Virginia when he was seventeen. He has a gardening business which he runs with Jimmy.Burt has been seen in several episodes...
(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
Lou Wagner
- Filmography :* Raising Hope ** episode Blue Dots ... as lawyer* Artificially Speaking ... as Dr. Lionel Bainbridge* My Name Is Earl** episode Stole P's HD Cart ... as Mr. Covington* Yes, Dear...
) 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
Exclamation mark
The exclamation mark, exclamation point, or bang, or "dembanger" is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high volume , and often marks the end of a sentence. Example: “Watch out!” The character is encoded in Unicode at...
. 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
Indecent exposure
Indecent exposure is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. Indecent exposure laws vary in different...
.
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
Sanity
Sanity refers to the soundness, rationality and healthiness of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational...
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
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
. 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
Police car
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a...
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
Solicitation
Literally, solicitation means: 'urgently asking'. It is the action or instance of soliciting; petition; proposal. In criminal law, it most commonly refers to either the act of offering goods or services, or the act of attempting to purchase such goods or services...
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 who's hand was injured in the war in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
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.
Ratings
Reviews
Michelle St. James of Daemon's TV praised the episode, welcoming the return of Cloris Leachman after her absence in the previous episode and stated that all the main characters had good moments. John Kubicek at BuddyTVBuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
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". 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. At Gather.com
Gather.com
Gather or Gather.com is a social networking website designed to encourage interaction by discussion of various social, political and cultural topics. Its headquarters are in Boston, Massachusetts...
, 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.
External links
- "Blue Dots" at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
- "Blue Dots" at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...