- Where's God When I'm S-Scared?Episode number: 1Original release date: December 23, 1993
- Countertop Intro
The episode begins with Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber on the countertop of a kitchen. Turns out, they got a letter from a six year old girl named Lucy Anderson from Phoenix, Arizona who's really scared because she thinks that there are monsters in her closet. Larry sympathizes, saying that he once thought that there were monsters in his closet too, but later found out that they were actually his fluffy bunny slippers, which are actually "squishy" instead of "scary". After that, Bob then asks Lucy to watch a story about when Junior Asparagus got scared.
- Tales From The Crisper
Junior Asparagus is watching a late-night horror movie on TV called "Frankencelery", before his mother comes in telling him that it's time for bed. Junior wants to watch the movie for four more minutes, but his mother tells him that he needs to go to bed, before telling him that that movie is too scary for him. Junior tries to deny that the movie is scary, but while he's going up the stairs to his room, he looks at a picture of his family before imagining the picture becoming scary, which scares him so much that he quickly rushes off to his room.
While laying in bed, Junior still denies being scared, while loud noises are heard all around his room. Seconds later, Bob and Larry suddenly crash right into his room. When Junior asks them what they're doing in his room, they explain to him that they couldn't help but notice that he was scared so they dropped by to help him out. At first, Junior admits that he was scared, but quickly brushes it off by saying that he's 5 years old and that he can handle it. Bob and Larry sarcastically make note of this, before Junior wants to know why they've come. Bob and Larry explain that they've come to sing him a song.
Bob and Larry sing the song "God is Bigger", explaining to Junior that God is bigger than everything and that he should not be afraid of everything around us. When Junior looks out the window, he says that he sees lots of stars in the sky. Bob and Larry further explain to Junior that God made everything in the world and that everything that God made is special to him. Bob tells Junior that he and Larry brought someone for Junior to meet. Frankencelery then crashes into Junior's room as well, scaring Junior so much that he hides in his toy chest. However, Frankencelery's real name is Phil Winkelstein, and he's an actor from Toledo. It was his job to pretend to be Frankencelery on TV and that he's just a regular guy who would never hurt anybody. Once Junior fully understands this, he sings the next verse of "God is Bigger", before Bob, Larry, and Frankencelery also join in the song as well.
After the song ends, Junior's dad comes in to tuck Junior into bed, all while telling him that "Frankencelery" is too scary for him. When Junior tells his dad what he learned, his dad is impressed, saying that he must have been doing some thinking, before telling him that "it's time to shut the thinker down now and get some sleep". After Junior is tucked into bed, Dad tells him good night before leaving the room. Junior then goes to sleep after that, but not without singing the main verse of "God is Bigger".
- Silly Songs with Larry
Larry hops on stage while wearing an over-sized cowboy hat, where he starts to sing "The Water Buffalo Song", singing about how everyone has a water buffalo. However, Archibald Asparagus hops on stage and stops Larry, telling him that he cannot sing about everyone having a water buffalo because everyone does not have a water buffalo. After Archibald tells Larry to stop being so silly, he hops off, before the announcer concludes the segment, but not without Larry singing that everybody has a baby kangaroo, which infuriates Archibald into charging forward and tackling Larry off-screen.
- Daniel and the Lions' Den
A narrator introduces the story, explaining about how Daniel was taken from his family when he was a boy and sent to live in Babylon. Even though Daniel missed his home a lot, he still prayed to God to take care of his family and him too. Inside the palace of King Darius, a trio of wise men (played by the Scallions) approach King Darius (played by Archibald Asparagus), who explains through song that he had a dream and wants to know what it means. The Wisemen also explain through song that even with all of their wisdom, they cannot explain the king's dream, but explain even further that a man named Daniel can interpret the king's dream for him.
At that moment, Daniel (played by Larry the Cucumber) shows up and explains through song about who he is and that God will help him to explain the king's dream. After Daniel succeeds in telling the king what his dream meant, the king is happy before deciding to appoint Daniel as his second-in-command, much to the chagrin of the Wisemen. The Wisemen then start thinking of all the possible ways to get rid of Daniel in song form. They come up with an idea before they leave the palace afterwards. The next morning, the Wisemen approach King Darius and explain to him through song that there are people in Babylon who don't acknowledge the king. They give him an edict to sign, telling him that it's to gain his approval that everyone is to pray to no one but King Darius. When King Darius questions what will happen if anyone doesn't pray to him, the lead Wiseman then says that anyone who disobeys this new law will be thrown into the lions' den.
After the law has been passed, Daniel still continues to pray to God, despite the possible trouble that might come his way. However, the Wisemen quickly discover Daniel praying to God and they take him to the lions' den. The Wisemen throw Daniel into the lions' den where two of the Wisemen start teasing and jeering Daniel, before they seal up the den and leave afterwards. While in the den, Daniel isn't afraid, before he finds himself surrounded by the lions that live in the den. Daniel becomes scared that he's "about to end up as lion stew", before a messenger of the Lord appears before him telling him not to be afraid, because the Lord is watching and protecting him. The lions become docile after that.
In another area of the kingdom, the Wisemen are celebrating, happy that they were able to get rid of Daniel, while King Darius is worried that Daniel is possibly dead. The next morning, the king and the Wisemen approach the lions' den. It turns out that Daniel is alive. He climbs out of the den before saying goodbye to the lions. King Darius is surprised that Daniel was able to survive the lions' den, realizing that God was able to protect Daniel, even when he was in the lions' den. At that moment, King Darius then comes up with a new law, which is that everyone is to pray to God, instead of to him. When King Darius figures out that the Wisemen set him up, the Wisemen quickly run off into the distance, with Daniel and Darius chasing after them.
- Countertop Outro
Back on the countertop, Bob is amazed by the story, before congratulating Larry for his part in the story, to which Larry replies that it was his finest hour. Bob and Larry hop over to a computer named Qwerty, explaining that it's time to talk about what they've learned. The "What Have We Learned" song starts to play, much to Bob's consternation. After the song ends, Bob and Larry review what they've learned in the stories that they saw, before they consult Qwerty for a verse. Qwerty brings up a recipe for yummy meatloaf by accident before bringing up the verse, which is "So do not fear; for I am with you. Isaiah 41:10". After the verse is given, Bob tells Lucy that before she goes to bed, she should pray to God and kiss her mom and dad goodnight. Bob and Larry sign off, ending the episode.
Character Introductions: Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, Junior Asparagus, Mom Asparagus, Dad Asparagus, Frankencelery, Archibald Asparagus, the Scallions
Tropes:
- Aside Glance: Scallion 1, who does this when Daniel reveals he and the lions spent the night eating pizza.
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: The lions, which is all we see of them.
- Cannot Tell a Joke: One of the Wisemen (played by Scallion # 3) attempts to make a lion-based pun, which ends up falling flat.
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase: "Daniel and the Lion's Den"
- Chased Off into the Sunset: At the end of "Daniel and the Lions' Den", the Wisemen run off into the distance as King Darius and Daniel chase after them.
- The Darkness Gazes Back: In "Daniel and the Lions' Den", once Daniel is thrown into the den, only the lions' eyes can be shown gazing at him in the darkness.
- Dark Reprise: Daniel sings a quick reprise of "Oh No" when the lions come out, but this time trembling in fear.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Frankencelery/Phil Winklestein remains monochrome even when he appears in Junior's house in "Tales from the Crisper".
- The Door Slams You: In "Daniel and the Lions' Den", when the Wisemen catch Daniel praying to God instead of to King Darius, they quickly open the door before it closes again. When the door opens again, we see that Scallion # 3 was the victim of getting hit by the door.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- This video used the Two Shorts format that would be mostly abandoned after the fourth installment.
- Instead of Bob and Larry paraphrasing the opening letter, an actual child would read it out.
- Instead of Bob or Larry narrating the Bible story segment, it would be an unnamed female narrator.
- Larry's voice is notably deeper than in future installments.
- In the first segment, Bob and Larry insert themselves into the story As Themselves.
- The Bible story in the video is presented as a full-on Musical. Musical numbers would become a staple of the franchise, but here the story is told almost completely through song as opposed to simply having musical segments interspersed throughout.
- Eye Pop: Happens to Junior in "Tales From The Crisper" when he sees the picture of him and his family turning scary.
- Fear Song: Defied with "God is Bigger than the Boogeyman," which is basically an anti-fear song. The song teaches that God is bigger and stronger than anything you might be afraid of, and that trusting in Him is the best solution to fear.
- Homage: Daniel and the Lions' Den is one to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
- Incredibly Long Note: In "The Water Buffalo Song", Larry holds an "oo" sound at the end of the first verse that lasts about six seconds. Being a Silly Song, this is played for laughs, with Larry gradually tipping back throughout the entire note.
- Kids Shouldn't Watch Horror Films: At the beginning of "Tales From The Crisper", Junior is watching a "Frankencelery" movie on TV, which his mom thinks is too scary for him.
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: To show Jr. that he has nothing to be afraid of, Bob and Larry bring Phil Winkelstein, the actor who plays Frankencelery, to meet him. Phil is shown to be a normal nice guy from Toledo whose role is just that, a make believe role.
- Oh, Crap!: This was Junior's initial reaction to Frankencelery dropping into his bedroom in "Tales from the Crisper", and Daniel's reaction in "Daniel and the Lions' Den", after the Wisemen catch him praying to God, as well as the reaction of the wise men to Daniel's survival.
- Oh Wait, This Is My Grocery List: At the end of the episode, Bob has Qwerty bring up the episode's verse. The first attempt brings up a recipe for meatloaf.
- Production Foreshadowing: In the song "Oh No! What We Gonna Do?", one of the ideas for Daniel's fate is to have him eaten by a whale, foreshadowing the production of Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie nine years later.
- "Psycho" Strings: In versions prior to 2008, these are heard when the wisemen approach Daniel when they invade his home.
- Shout-Out:
- The Incredibly Long Note Larry holds during "The Water Buffalo Song" is a reference to the one which the ¡Three Amigos! hold in their title song.
- When Bob is showing Junior how God created the stars, he asks him what he sees out the window. Junior says he sees his curtains.
- Surprisingly Creepy Moment: "If they don't obey, any citizen (zoom in on Scallion #1's eyes as everything becomes dark red out of nowhere) will be thrown into the lion's den."
- Triumphant Reprise: "Fear Not, Daniel" and "You Were in His Hand" are both reprises of the King Darius Suite, but in a moment of triumph for Daniel.
- The Unseen: The lions in "Daniel and the Lions' Den" are never shown (except for their eyes).
- Vegetarian Carnivore: The lions, arguably, given that a cucumber (albeit a sentient one) is thrown into their den for them to eat.
- Villain Song: Played for Laughs with "Oh, No!" from "Daniel and the Lions' Den".
