Richie’s first appearance, when he claimed to be a rock star called Rockin’ Rich, showed that he doesn’t exactly have the best of relationships with the truth. This particular episode elaborates on that, with his penchant for exaggerations coming back to bite him when no one believes he saw a gorillanote .
The episode kicks off, somewhat fittingly, with a performance of “I Heard a Rumor”note . As the kids perform the song, a gorilla shows up, later moving to the counter. During the break; Richie asks if the others saw a guy from the local paper who was supposed to have appeared in a fur coat and had supposedly been contacted by Richie. The others aren’t convinced, bringing up several examples of his less-than-close relationship with the truth (among them, Richie claiming to have seen a flying saucer…only for it to have been a Frisbee). No reporter shows up; though for some unexplained reason we do see Riley in a fur coat that he calls the “bee’s knees” (much to Connie’s confusion) before the band returns to the stage…and the mysterious gorilla returns as the band goes into “Would I Lie to You?”
Back in the store room; Richie and Kid (the only band member who seems at least somewhat willing to give him the benefit of the doubt) are moving some drums as Kid tries cheering Richie up. Richie does concede his tendency to exaggerate; but vows to stick to the truth from now on…which quickly gets put to the test when he sees the gorilla where Kid, who had stepped out for an unknown reason, had been. Richie quickly runs out, drags Renee to the storeroom…only for the gorilla to have moved on; leaving a very annoyed Renee in the process. Later, the others arrive for a band meeting (which Connie just makes it to before the meeting began); throwing out suggestions for a future event - with Stacy suggesting a park concert, only for Connie to point out there’s no way to promote it on such short notice. No sooner does Richie attempt to answer the call for a “new idea” that Renee - citing the gorilla incident - shoots it down; while Ryan proceeds to reference the fable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” and Connie raising a valid question of how one would know when Richie is telling the truth, with Kid the only one attempting to defend their drummer, while staying back as the others go inside to brainstorm in order to show Richie some tough love in the process, setting up a slightly-rewritten “In Too Deep”.
Soon after, vindication arrives as the others and Riley walk out carrying a portable radio announcing a rock ’n roll loving gorilla named Choo-Choo has escaped from the zoo, which finally convinces the others Richie was telling the truth…before realizing Choo-Choo was what Richie mistook for a reporter - meaning a gorilla’s loose in the P*lace (“Rhythm is Gonna Get You”), after which they eventually find her (as she has apparently fallen for the fur coat sporting Riley) before being returned to the zoo, upon which the others apologize to Richie for not believing him. Richie, for his part, vows to have learned his lesson about “monkeying around with the truth” before Stacy arrives with a copy of the newspaper where they made the front page for returning the gorilla as the episode closes with “Twisting the Night Away”…with Choo-Choo making a special visit at the end.
Songs performed in this episode:
- “I Heard a Rumor” (Bananarama cover; lead vocals by Stacy, Renee and Connie)
- “Would I Lie to You?” (Eurythmics cover; lead vocals by Stacy)note
- “In Too Deep” (Genesis (Band) cover; lead vocals by Kid)
- “Rhythm is Gonna Get You” (Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine cover; lead vocals by Kid and Renee)
- “Twisting’ the Night Away” (Sam Cooke cover; lead vocals by Ryan)
Tropes associated with this episode:
- Coincidental Broadcast: The radio bulletin that confirms that Richie did in fact see a gorilla.
- Crosscast Role: Of a sort; as a female gorilla is played by a male actor.
- Crying Wolf: The title is an allusion to “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”; or gorilla in this case.
- Honesty Is the Best Policy: Richie has to learn this lesson again.
- Imagine Spot: The setting of “Rhythm is Gonna Get You” involves the band members trying to chase down the gorilla.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The realization that Choo-Choo, the gorilla Richie had spent the episode trying to convince the others he saw, was still loose in the P*lace.
