What An Idiot / Rugrats

It’s a little more justified that babies would make idiotic decisions- but why do they do it when grown up?

Rugrats

• "Where's Grandpa?": Tommy and his family go to a Canadian themed tourist attraction. Chuckie and Tommy go on a kiddie train that nearly drives them off a cliff and Stu goes chasing after it. The train stops, Tommy and Chuckie get off and gravity makes the train go backwards, and Stu is still on the track.
  You Expect: Stu would jump off to the side and let the train pass him.
  Instead: Stu apparently went to the Prometheus School of running away from things, as he runs away from it in the same direction the train is going and, given his appearance at the end of the episode, is presumably hit.

• "The Big Showdown": Didi feels Reptar is too violent and is scaring Dil so she tries to get Tommy & Dil interested in a new toy, Goober the Gopher. Tommy shows a dislike to it so Didi takes him to a fair where a man dressed as Goober approaches them. The guy tries to give Tommy a stuffed Goober, but Tommy wants to keep his Reptar toy. The Gopher guy steals his Reptar and forces him to have his stuffed toy, making Tommy cry.
  You Expect: Didi to raise a fuss at the man in the Goober costume for doing such a thing, then take back the Reptar toy and usher Tommy and Dil far away from Goober. Maybe she can file a complaint about him in the process.
  Instead: Didi is appalled at Tommy for reacting the way he did and apologizes to the guy who made Tommy cry.

• "Silent Angelica":
  • Angelica tries to be quiet because her mom is having an important business call (and because she was promised toys if she was quiet). However, the babies are brought over for a visit.
    You Expect: Angelica would whisper to the babies and explain that they need to be quiet.
    Instead: She doesn't say a thing, and whenever the babies do something loud, she stops them and shushes them. This leads the babies to think that there's something wrong with her, and she ends up paying for it in the end.
  • There's a part in the episode where the doorbell rings. Angelica goes to tell Drew, who is watching a badminton game with Stu.
    You'd Expect: Drew would recognize the sound of his own doorbell, get up, and go see who's at the door.
    Instead: "Pumpkin, could you please find out which of the babies is causing that racket?"

• In "Chuckie Is Rich", in which Chaz wins $10 million in the American Dunderhead Sweepstakes, Drew allows him to invest in an invention called "the ear-whiz" which supposedly decreases waxy buildup in the ear canal and thus will make a lot of money.
  You Expect: Drew, with his wife being a CEO and being an investment banker himself, would know how risky the stock market is and invest an amount that Chaz won't miss if it's gone, but will still make a decent profit if it works.
  Instead: Drew invests almost all of Chaz's money, and when the company ends up going bankrupt after the invention is revealed to actually increase ear wax build up, Chaz loses everything he got from the contest.

• In "Spike The Wonder Dog", Angelica uses her new toy, her "Jr. Miss CEO cellular two-way telephone" to make the babies think that Spike can talk, and tricks them into the stealing a jar of cookies for her. She ties a yellow ribbon around Spike's neck and hides the phone in it.
  You'd Expect: The babies would notice that "Spike's" voice sounds a bit like Angelica's (and also that he addressed Stu and Didi as Uncle and Aunt), and wonder who tied the ribbon around Spike's neck, and notice that Spike is somehow able to talk without moving his mouth, and thus realize that Angelica is behind this.
  Instead: They are simply impressed by Spike's apparent ability to talk, and don't even get suspicious when he tells them to get him the cookies and leave them on the picnic table (rather than letting him eat them).

• In "A Visit From Lipschitz", Didi invites Lipschitz to the Pickles' house for dinner after catching him at a book signing, much to the disagreement of Stu, Lou, and Chaz who would rather have spent the evening at a baseball game. In the middle of the evening, the guys have had enough of Lipschitz and leave for the game. Lipschitz recommends Didi leave the house (being the only legal adult of familiarity to Tommy & Chuckie) and follow them to the game to bring them home.
  You'd Expect: Didi would refuse to leave the house without bringing the kids with her.
  Instead: She leaves the house with no hesitation leaving Tommy and Chuckie at home with Lipschitz, a person with whom they have no familiarity.
  Fortunately for her: Dr. Lipschitz agrees to watch Tommy and Chuckie, who have wandered off.
  You'd Expect: The doctor to look for the babies and then actually watch them.
  Instead: He decides to take a bubble bath in a stranger's home and proceeds to strip naked in front of a hiding Tommy and Chuckie, upsetting them.

• In "At the Movies," Stu, Didi, Chaz, Betty and Howard take the kids to see their first theatrical movie, The Dummi Bears in the Land Without Smiles.
  You'd Expect: The parents to hold onto the babies and/or keep a close eye on them throughout the movie so they don't wander off.
  Instead: They set the babies on the floor and turn their undivided attention to the movie.
  As a result Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil end up wandering off to explore other areas of the theater (first the snack bar, then the projection booth).
  You'd Expect: A theater employee to discover this and alert someone.
  Instead: The snack bar attendants, Larry and Steve, are too busy arguing with each other, and the projectionist too busy reading his "Slimeman" comic book, to notice the very obvious fact that a group of babies are running loose and making a mess of things right behind their backs.
  As a result: The theater is left in shambles, with the confused patrons wondering why their film ended so abruptly and why the popcorn tasted of soda pop. At one point, Grandpa Lou gets bored with the movie and decides to go get some snacks. While there, he finds the babies and takes them back to the movie.
  You'd Expect: Grandpa Lou to tell the other parents that the babies escaped, so they'll keep a closer eye on them next time.
  Instead: Without the least bit of concern, he comments that the babies must have gotten bored with the movie too, and says nothing to the other parents.

• In "Spike Runs Away", Stu and Didi try buying new pets to replace Spike, who has run away. After a few attempts, the former settles on gerbils.
  You'd Expect: Having already talked once with the pet store owner that Stu would ask for advice before buying any gerbils. Particularly, he should learn about their reproduction habits and/or consider buying a neutered male.
  Instead: Stu buys two gerbils: one male (and unneutered), the other female (Rupert and Tanya by name). Tommy and Chuckie release them from their habitat, and by the time they're found two weeks later, they've mass-reproduced in the basement.

• In "Garage Sale", Didi tries to sell Stu's old disco suit only for Stu to catch her in the act. Unbeknownst to either of them, the Rugrats bring it out to be sold. Steve finds the suit and asks Didi for an offer.
  You'd Expect: Didi to find Stu and ask him if he really wants to sell his disco suit.
  Instead: She assumes Stu changed his mind and sells Steve the suit for $5.

• In "Angelica Breaks a Leg", Angelica sees a soap opera, where a man tends to a woman's needs because she has a broken leg. This gives her the idea to pretend she broke her leg to garner attention from Stu and Didi. Stu and Didi take Angelica to the hospital for an X-ray to determine whether or not her leg is really broken. Around the same time, a football player named Antonio Peaches, who really did break his leg, is sent to the same hospital. Both his and Angelica's X-rays are left in the hands of the young Dr. Hoagie Doozer.
  You'd Expect: Dr. Doozer to keep proper track of Angelica and Antonio's names and corresponding X-rays.
  Instead: Dr. Doozer refers to the Pickles family as "Peaches" and pulls out Antonio's X-ray.
  As a result: He believes that Angelica's leg is truly broken, and tells Stu and Didi to keep it in a cast. Didi is still unsure that Angelica's leg is really broken, and tells Dr. Doozer that they may need a second opinion from an older, more experienced doctor.
  You'd Then Expect: Dr. Doozer to realize that Didi has a point and send Angelica and Antonio's X-rays to a more experienced doctor.
  Instead: Dr. Doozer insists that he's a highly-trained professional who knows a broken leg when he sees one despite his young age.
  As a result: Angelica, knowing her leg isn't really broken, continues to pretend it is and torments Stu and Didi with ridiculous demands, up to and including making her chocolate pudding at 4 AM, only to later decide she doesn't really want it. Not only that, but Antonio Peaches plays in a football game, injuring his broken leg even more. Only at this point does Dr. Doozer realize his mistake and calls Didi and Stu, the latter of whom very nearly has a major breakdown, about the mix-up with the X-rays.

• "Babies in Toyland":
  • The families are excited to see the Christmas Wonderland Stu has created for Charlotte's company to celebrate Dil's very first Christmas. A train arrives to take them around to the different areas but isn't big enough for everyone.
    You'd Expect: The families to decide to take turns, perhaps Didi and Stu taking their boys with the Finsters, then the other families catching the next train.
    Instead: It is decided that all the adults save one will go on by themselves and the babies will just have to stay in the first little area.
    You'd Then Expect: The parents to select someone such as Didi (who is most emotional about Dil's first Christmas), Kira, or even Howard to stick around and watch the kids.
    Instead: They let Lou, who is known to fall asleep and once already lost track of the kids and nearly got them killed when they became lost in the forest, stay and watch the kids
    As a result: Lou instantly falls asleep and the babies once more become lost.
  • Stu has been given a massive project for Charlotte's company to create a Winter Wonderland that is going to bring in not just a lot of money but, if successful, more attention to Pickles Toys
    You'd Expect: Stu to invest in the proper equipment and to be very worried about making sure everything is perfect
    Instead: He lazily uses paperclips to connect wires and when he sees they aren't working just tries to jerryrig things.
    As a result: One of the machines malfunctions and he gets his entire family snowed in a cabin, causing them to almost miss Christmas.

• In "The Seven Voyages of Cynthia", Tommy and Chuckie are playing in a stream of water and decide they need a captain for their make-shift boat.
  You'd Expect: Tommy to find some other toy he brought or to simply make a captain.
  Instead: He grabs Cynthia, Angelica's most favorite toy, and uses that as captain. Chuckie sees this, tells him that Cynthia belongs to Angelica, and that he doesn't think using her is such a good idea.
  You'd Then Expect: Tommy to listen to Chuckie.
  Instead: Tommy tells Chuckie that he will only need Cynthia for a little while and that he will return her to Angelica when he's done with her.
  As a result: Cynthia gets lost and Angelica nearly beats Tommy and Chuckie up for their stupidity when she finds out.
  Fortunately for all three of them: Spike finds Cynthia at the garbage dump and brings her back to Angelica.

• In "Party Animals", Stu and Drew have an argument over who's king of the jungle— Tarzan (Stu's costume of choice) or King Kong (Drew) at a costume party that Drew and Charlotte throw at their house. Stu and Drew eventually decide to step outside, or at least Stu does before Drew closes the door and locks his brother out. Stu knocks on the window, but when Drew sees him, he pulls down the blinders, obviously having no intention of letting Stu back in.
  You'd Expect: Stu to knock on the front door or ring the doorbell, that way, another adult can let him back into the party, and he can tell Drew off for locking him out.
  Instead: After spotting an open window on the second floor, Stu decides to climb up the gutters and enter the house through said open window.
  As a result: He slips, and ends up hanging off the gutter by his loincloth. When the police pull up to the window, they mistake him for a burglar. Stu tells him that he's trying to get back into his brother's house after he locked him out, but the police don't believe him and he gets arrested.

• In "Give and Take" Stu makes a brand new toy for Tommy that he can tell Tommy absolutely loves! Chuckie later falls in love with the toy and decides he wants it and railroads Tommy into giving him said toy, a large blow up clown named Mr. Boppo.
  You'd Expect: Didi, Stu, or Chas to tell Chuckie no, you can't take Mr. Boppo home with you.
  Instead: The parents just assume it's perfectly natural for a 2 year old to steal a 1 year old's brand new toy that he got an hour ago.
  As a result: Tommy is left a sobbing wreck.

• In "The Mysterious Mr. Friend", Stu creates Mr. Friend, a motion-activated walking clown doll that rhymes about friendship and safety lessons. He decides to test Mr. Friend out on Tommy and Chuckie, but he scares them when they first activate him.
  You'd Expect: Stu to think that Tommy and Chuckie's fear or Mr. Friend is rational and to maybe slowly introduce playtime so that they can warm up to him more. If not, maybe he can give Mr. Friend to Angelica, Susie or another kid their age.
  Instead: Stu assumes that Mr. Friend just needs a little fixing, and he decides to put Mr. Friend in Tommy's crib while he's sleeping.
  As a result: Tommy accidentally activates Mr. Friend which wakes him up and makes him cry.

• In "The Word of the Day", Angelica learns a swear word from Miss Carol, the host of her favorite television show. She repeats Miss Carol's phrase with the word in it in front of Charlotte and Didi, so Charlotte and Drew lecture her about it later that day. Angelica asks which word in the phrase she said was the bad one.
  You'd Expect: Drew or Charlotte to be on point with Angelica, tell her the bad word, and explain why she shouldn't repeat it.
  Instead: Drew just tells Angelica not to say any word in the phrase.
  As a result: Angelica treats it as guessing game with her parents, much to their annoyance. When she does, they revoke her privileges to audition for Miss Carol's show.
  Later: Drew and Charlotte eventually renege after Angelica apologizes, and they take her to see Miss Carol's show.
  You'd Expect: At some point for either parent to properly warn Angelica about the bad word.
  Instead: They don't, and Angelica repeats Miss Carol's phrase verbatim.
  Fortunately: Angelica accidentally gets Miss Carol to admit that she said the phrase with the bad word on it and repeats it on live television.

All Grown Up!

• In the Rugrats: All Grown Up! episode "Bad Blood", Dil has stolen a video that claims to show an alien autopsy and he invites Tommy's friends and various other people to watch it. They would be punished if his parents found out but his Grandpa Pickles is babysitting that night. However Tommy and Dil's other Grandpa comes and wants to upstage Grandpa Pickles. Eventually, Tommy and co get both grandpas to settle down. As they go to watch the video, they hear a crashing noise and have to stop the video.
  You'd expect: - Dil to leave the video in the VCR while coming up to solve the problem.
  Instead: - Dill takes the video with him and as a result, the video gets destroyed and Tommy and co are in a disaster situation. Seriously, what the hell?! So this is not just an idiotic moment, this is also an example of Deus ex Machina!

The Rugrats Movie

• Sergei and Igor, the owners of the Banana Bros. Monkey Circus, stop their train at a station for coffee and donuts. When they get off, they argue over which one of them will go into the station to get coffee and donuts while the other stays behind to look after the monkeys.
  You'd Expect: The two to find a way to settle their argument, such as playing a game of rock-paper-scissors, with the loser having to look after the monkeys.
  Instead: They both go into the station, leaving the monkeys unsupervised.
  As A Result: While they argue over whether coffee is better in St. Petersburg or Kiev, the unsupervised monkeys make their way to the engine, starting the train up again. When Sergei and Igor find out, they rush outside, but are too late to stop the monkeys. Once the monkeys are far ahead of them, they speed the train up too fast, ignoring a sign that says "DANGER SLOW CURVE" and causing the train to derail and end up in the forest, where the babies eventually find them when they get lost.
• Phil and Lil attempt to take Dil back to the hospital in an attempt to make Tommy happy. Tommy, himself, refuses to let that happen and they all get in the Reptar Wagon and drive off. As it leaves the house, Chuckie tells himself to stay out of the conflict.
  You'd Expect: Considering that he's not involved with the conflict, Chuckie would either stay out of the conflict or cry to draw attention to Grandpa Lou and get help.
  Instead: He gets in the wagon and ends up having to suffer the same consequences as his friends ended up in.

Rugrats in Paris

• Coco Labouche's boss is departing and Coco wants to make a good impression.
  You'd Expect: Coco to bring up achievements she's done and how hard she worked for her boss, and to wish her luck in her future endeavors.
  Instead: Coco lies to the boss that she has a husband and a child.
  As A Result: The boss expresses a wish to meet the husband and child, sending Coco scurrying to quickly marry some unlucky chap with a kid. That unlucky chap happens to be Chaz.
• Chaz finds himself being wooed by a lady who'd like a child during his vacation in Paris. She tends to act oddly around Chuckie, giving off the impression that something's not quite right. This lady also expresses a desire to marry Chaz.
  You'd Expect: That Chaz wouldn't rush headfirst into a relationship that seems doomed to fail. Even if they could make the problem of living in two separate countries work, he just met this woman and she already wants to marry him. The ever-paranoid Chaz should easily see this as a massive red flag.
  Instead: Chaz has a Horrible Judge of Character and agrees to marry Coco. He's completely oblivious to her ulterior motives.
  As A Result: Chaz only realizes what kind of person Coco is at their wedding, when her assistant runs in saying that the children had escaped, along with her subsequent tantrum.
• Coco Labouche is trying to marry Chaz to get promoted in her job, but has to deal with Chaz's child, Chuckie, along with Chuckie's friends.
  You'd Expect: Coco would allow the children to attend the wedding. That way, she would make the chances of marrying Chaz much higher if she remains nice until after the wedding.
  Instead: She has her assistant, Jean-Claude lock the children up until after the wedding, which they manage to escape and crash the wedding, shocking the parents and making them wonder where they were.
  Although You'd Also Expect: That the parents would ask Coco where their children were in the first place.
  Instead: They don't.
• Expanding on the above point, the adults want to take their babies to the wedding:
  You'd Expect: That the adults would take their children themselves so that they could watch over them.
  Instead: They leave the babies in the hands of what's effectively a complete stranger.
  As A Result: Said stranger (Jean-Claude) attempts to lock up the babies in a different location so they'd be out of the way, and later resorts to attempted murder when the babies escape.
• The parents realize that their children are not in fact at the wedding like Jean-Claude promised them:
  You'd Expect: That the parents would completely lose it and obtain the help of local authorities, or at least look around the area where they were last seen. They could also talk to Jean-Claude, the stranger they entrusted their kids with for some reason.
  Instead: They carry on with the wedding ceremony without so much as a second thought.
  As A Result: The adults are completely blindsided when they find out that their kids were nearly murdered by a madman in a mollusk mech.
• Kira and Coco Labouche are on the way to the church for Coco to get married, and Kira finds out the real reason Coco wants to marry Chaz.
  You'd Expect: For Kira to keep her mouth shut and wait for the limo to arrive at the chapel, so she can tell Chaz the truth.
  Instead: She runs her mouth and says she will tell Chaz the truth!
  As A Result: Coco throws her out the limousine.
• After Jean-Claude was beaten by Chuckie, he makes his way to Notre Dame to inform Coco about what just happened.
  You'd Expect: Jean-Claude would keep his mouth shut about the babies or better yet, not go inside and explain the situation right after the wedding.
  Instead: He tells Coco right in front of everyone that the babies escaped.
  The Result: Chaz calls off the wedding and Coco gets fired from her job.

Rugrats Go Wild

• The family has been shipwrecked on a tropical island and Stu, who everyone blames for the incident, place him on baby watch duty.
  You'd Expect: Stu, wanting to prove he can do something right AND realizing that they are on a dangerous island, keeps watch on the kids, staying close by even as he thinks of other ways to help.
  Instead: Stu INSTANTLY wanders so far away he can't even see the makeshift playpen, turns his back on the kids, and then tells a THREE YEAR OLD to watch his sons and their friends.
  As A Result: The babies wander off and Stu once more looks like an utter fool whose actions have endangered his children.