Our first episode with a famous (at that time) celebrity of sorts; as child actor Jeff Cohen stops by as the joker; a prankster named Webster Benadetti (Cohen had made appearances as a bratty kid in guest spots such as the Family Ties episode "4 Rms Ocn Vu" which aired not long after this episode and the short-lived CBS game show Child's Play two years earlier; with both the Family Ties and this appearance occurring around the time he was shooting his best-known role, as Chunk Cohen in the 1985 film The Goonies).
The episode begins with the kids playing outside near the P*lace where Renee sees a silver dollar...only for it to be glued to the street, with Kid equally unable to pick it up. Stacy is the only one amused by the incident, until finding the doors to the P*lace nailed shut despite the three younger band members attempts to open it. Eventually (after Riley managed to get the doors freed); the kids make it inside only for Renee to freak out over a "creature" in her milkshake (a plastic spider). Mickey then says the others need to stay alert for whoever is pulling these pranks as the band members take to the stage ("Cruel Summer"). However, Mickey forgot his advice when he gets ready to leave to do a school report (bragging that this prankster wouldn't get him). He does, having greased the doorknob. Later the girls are fretting over the pranksternote .
Not even Riley emerges unscathed, getting spritzed with water when he picks up the phone. However, he then manages to find the culprit: a kid named Webster Benadetti, who says his gags were designed to help him make friends. Clearly, he's not off to a good start by the estimation of his unwitting victims ("Baby I'm a Star"). Webster makes his way to a bench where Gloria is working on homework, and his "greatest hits" weren't exactly impressing her (as seen when he asks her to go to a movie and gets turned down, noting his pranks on her bandmates). However, Webster then accuses her (and by extension the rest of the band) of what would in modern terms be called "fat shaming", then leaves in a huff before Gloria could explain or apologize ("Easy to Be Hard").
Getting back to the P*lace, the kids try to convince Webster to show his real personality instead of using practical jokes to get attention. However, Webster is still self-conscious about his weight before Mickey and Stacy point out things they noticed that worked in his favor (Mickey notes he's a good singer, Stacy - possibly harboring a Precocious Crush of her own on Webster - notes the dimples when Webster smiled); with the goal being to get him to show more of the real Webster, which he agrees to...on the condition that he gets to sing with Kids Incorporated, which he does ("Right By Your Side") followed by introducing the band (and giving himself a Pie in the Face) before closing song "Bop 'Til You Drop".
As a postscript; following Cohen's role in The Goonies, he found himself typecast as the Fat Comic Relief role; as parts began drying up, with perhaps his most notable post-Goonies role being in the 1986 Disney Sunday Movie "Ask Max" alongside Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbarnote . By 1991; Cohen had largely retired from acting, lost weight and eventually went on to practice law in Hollywood.
Songs performed in this episode:
- "Cruel Summer" (Bananarama cover; lead vocals by Gloria)
- "Baby I'm a Star" (Prince cover; lead vocals by Webster)
- "Easy to Be Hard" (Hair covernote ; lead vocals by Gloria)
- "Right By Your Side" (Eurythmics cover; lead vocals by Gloria)
- "Bop 'Til You Drop" (Rick Springfield cover; lead vocals by Mickey and Gloria)
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Be Yourself: The episode's main aesop.
- Big Fun: What Webster considers himself.
- Pie in the Face: Webster gives himself one before the closing song.
- Precocious Crush: Webster has one on Gloria, and it seems Stacy has one on him.
- Tempting Fate: Following the opening song, Mickey forgets his own advice to stay alert for the kid pulling the pranks and brags there's no way he'd get him - right before the door he attempts to exit through turns out to be greased.
- The Prankster: Webster Benadetti
