Rob, Sally, and Buddy work together with Mel to break Buddy's contract to The Alan Brady Show so that he can accept a better position with another program. However, the new job falls through, and Mel refuses to rescind the firing. The two remaining comedy writers team up to get their big-mouthed partner his job back.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Crossing the Burnt Bridge: After deliberately getting fired by Mel to accept a position on another program, only for the job to fall through, Buddy is forced to suck up to Mel in order to get his job back.
- "Eureka!" Moment: When Sally says that Buddy couldn't have said worse things to Mel if he tried, Rob pauses a moment and then grins, having come up with a solution — get someone even more irritating than Buddy.
- Height Angst: While begging Buddy to turn down the insults after barely managing to get him rehired, Rob asks him why he's so nasty to Mel anyway. Buddy answers that he dislikes Mel being too tall. Sally points out that so is Rob, and Buddy responds that at least when Rob stands near him, he slouches a little.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Having discovered that only if he's fired can he leave The Alan Brady Show, Buddy gets a letter written (by Mel, who's altogether too happy to do so) about how undesirable his performance has been. Unfortunately, this backfires on him when the hiring manager for the new show sees the letter.
- Inadvertent Entrance Cue: Sally tells Rob that anyone who would work for Dan Howard has got to be insane. At just that moment, in comes Buddy with the announcement that he accepted the position.
- It Has Been an Honor: Inverted by Mel and Buddy, who take advantage of the last chance to insult each other before Buddy leaves the show.Mel: One last yecchhh!
- Insult Comic: Jackie Brewster, a nightclub insult comic, is hired to replace Buddy after the latter leaves The Alan Brady Show. Jackie's job is to roast Mel so badly he'll beg them to hire Buddy back instead.
- Nepotism: Sally brings up the concern that Mel might have seen him in a nightclub, which would give the game away. Rob says that Mel hasn't been to any nightclubs, and Sally adds that Mel hasn't been anywhere. When Jackie asks how Mel won the producer's position, Sally drily answers that he married Alan's sister.
- Platonic Kissing:
- Sally, who knows Buddy is married and devoted to his wife, gives him a goodbye kiss on the cheek when he announces his plans to leave The Alan Brady Show.
- When Jackie Brewster successfully irritates Mel into letting Buddy back on the show, a grateful Rob says he'd like to kiss him — again, presumably not anything sexual because he's Happily Married to Laura. Jackie says that if Rob wants to do something for him, he could let Sally kiss him, which Sally is happy to do.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title refers to the song "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"
- Rapid-Fire Comedy: Most of the scene once Rob brings Mel into the office to meet Buddy's replacement is Jackie slinging one quip after another, most of them insults at Mel's expense.
- Sarcastic Devotee: Sally is snarky about Buddy, calling him a slob and implicitly comparing him to Jack the Ripper when Rob initially comes up with the idea to get a worse replacement. However, she wants her old coworker back as much as Rob does and cooperates with him the whole way to make sure it happens.
- Self-Deprecation: Jackie Brewster tells Sally that it won't matter if Mel's been in a nightclub because almost nobody knows who he is. He quips that more people know him as "Who's he?" than by name.
- We Want Our Jerk Back!: Invoked by Rob and Sally. When Buddy gets himself fired, Rob and Sally get a nightclub comic to replace him, instructing the guy to abuse Mel ten times worse than his predecessor. After several minutes of hardly anything but concentrated insults, Mel screams, "GET ME BUDDY!"
- You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With: Played for Laughs when Mel uses it on Buddy's replacement, who has been instructed to heckle him incessantly until he gives his permission for Buddy to rejoin the staff.Mel: Listen, do you know who I am?Jackie Brewster: Don't you know who you are? [beat] If you find out, don't tell anybody!
