Now Museum-Now You Don't

"Now Museum-Now You Don't!"
The Venture Bros. episode
"Okay, everyone, say, 'Go Team Venture!'"
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 9
Directed by	Jackson Publick
Written by	Jackson Publick
Production code	3-35
Original air date	27 July 2008
Guest Stars
Mia Barron as Sally Impossible Toby Huss as Scaramantula
Episode Chronology
← Previous "Tears of a Sea Cow" Next → "The Lepidopterists"
List of The Venture Bros. episodes

Now Museum-Now You Don't! is the ninth episode of Season 3 and the overall thirty-fifth episode of The Venture Bros.

Plot

The episode begins in 1969, at Spider-Skull Island. However, at this date, the island is the headquarters of the super villain Scaramantula, who leads the Fraternity of Torment (which includes Manotaur and a large-headed villain named Brainulo). The Fraternity is welcoming a new supervillain into their fold, the Japanese Dr. Fangdragon from Japananawa (actually Jonas Venture Senior in disguise) and are planning to kill Rusty. Dr. Venture reveals himself and Team Venture bursts onto the scene in the Excavator Car. Following a melee, the villains and their henchmen are soundly defeated, and only Scaramantula escapes via an underground tunnel. In his escape, he activates the self-destruct mechanism to blow up the island, as he continues down the deep subterranean passage. The mechanism inexplicably shorts out before the countdown completes, and the victorious Team Venture, topside, declare Spider-Skull Island their new headquarters. A young Richard Impossible (addressed as "Dickie") is on hand to photograph their triumph.

Fast forward to the present, Dr. Jonas Venture Jr. has decided to open Spider-Skull Island to the public by setting up a Jonas Venture Museum. Among the dignitaries are both the current Team Venture (Thaddeus, Brock, Dean, Hank, and H.E.L.P.eR.) and the former Team Venture (The Action Man, Kano, Otto Aquarius and Humongoloid (Dr. Entmann), as well as Swifty and Hector, while Ook Ook is frozen in a block of ice). Col. Horace Gentleman arrives to round out the team, explaining that he was not dead when the Venture boys previously found him in Twenty Years to Midnight, but that he was in a diabetic coma; he also punches Thaddeus in retaliation for "breaking [his] stepdaughter's heart". Also at the party is Conjectural Technologies (Master Billy Quizboy and Pete White), various government dignitaries, and the Fraternity of Torment themselves (excluding the deceased Manotaur).

Although they are retired and officially at peace with each other, The Fraternity and the original Team Venture still bear deep ill-will towards each other. They spend most of the evening bickering over old scores.

Additionally, the Pirate Captain is run ragged around the island by order of Jonas Junior. Much annoyed by the consistent order giving Jonas Junior, the Pirate Captain unintentionally walks into Sally Impossible's room where she is changing. The Pirate Captain sees Sally naked while she is changing clothes, which causes the two to scream frantically.

A disheveled Professor Richard Impossible arrives, whom Jonas Junior invited as a dignitary. Not only is he drunk and bitter, but his estranged wife Sally is furious that he was invited without her knowledge. Meanwhile, the Pirate Captain and his ex-ghost pirates (who now work as butlers and valets) are getting more and more fed up with Jonas Junior's condescending method of management. On top of everything else, Thaddeus/Rusty gets annoyed that Jonas Junior seems to be trying to erase him from the Venture legacy.

Unbeknownst to all, Brainulo, while pretending to be senile, is using his psychic powers to amplify the bad feelings of everyone in the room. Richard awkwardly tries to commit suicide in front of everyone by jumping off a catwalk (the fall doesn't injure him at all, but embarrasses Sally), while Jonas and Sally begin to have a series of unseemly arguments in front of the guests, and finally, the Captain and his crew attempt a mutiny (and are immediately set upon by the Original Team Venture). Brainulo has little effect on Pete White because, apparently, Peter's major thoughts at the time are about the mother from the TV show Growing Pains, played by Joanna Kerns.

Meanwhile, the current Team Venture prudently leaves before the fracas reaches a fever pitch. Brainulo tries to activate Futuro, his old attack robot (on display in the museum), with his psychic energy but is unsuccessful. During the melee, a projector is knocked on, which shows a quick film describing what a positive impact Dr. Jonas Venture Sr. had on the world. This display of sentimentality causes everyone to stop fighting. Still trying to activate Futuro, Brainulo overexerts himself and short-circuits his neural implants. Jonas Jr., seeing that his party is back online, asks Rusty Venture to speak only to find that his brother has already left. This surprise is cut short by the re-activation of the Spider-Skull Island self-destruct mechanism. Brainulo and Scaramantula escape after unsuccessfully trying to disarm it and the current Team Venture leaves just as the countdown begins, with Thaddeus mocking the situation. The countdown continues as the credits roll.

In the epilogue, Spider-Skull Island seems covered in Professor Richard Impossible's expanded body. It is revealed that he put his mouth over the device and contained the blast within his own elastic body, saving everybody. Sally and Jonas Jr. thank him for his selfless act and welcome to their home anytime. As they leave, Professor Impossible retracts back to normal and lies on the floor, the Pirate Captain appears and tells him to admit he was trying to kill himself.

Episode Cast

• James Urbaniak: Dr. Venture, Dr. Jonas Venture Jr.
• Patrick Warburton: Brock Samson
• Mike Sinterniklaas: Dean Venture
• Christopher McCulloch: Hank Venture, Brainulo, Pirate Captain, Col. Gentleman, The Action Man, Ned, Prof. Impossible, Pete White, Additional Voices
• Doc Hammer: Billy Quizboy, Extra Pirates
• Paul Boocock: Dr. Jonas Venture Sr., More Pirates
• Mia Barron: Sally Impossible
• Stephen DeStefano: Dr. Entmann
• Toby Huss: Scaramantula

Museum Opening Attendees

A variety of people attended the grand opening of the Jonas Venture Jr. Museum of Jonas Venture on Spider-Skull Island, all connected to Jonas Venture Sr. in some way. Attendees included:

Boys Brigade

• General Manhowers
• Professor Impossible

Brisby Corporation

• Mandalay
• Roy Brisby

Conjectural Technologies

• Billy Quizboy
• Pete White

Fraternity of Torment

• Brainulo
• Futuro (dormant)
• Scaramantula

Gargantua-1

• Bud Manstrong
• Mrs. Manstrong

Miscellaneous

• Action Johnny
• Augustus St. Cloud
• Mexican University Administrator

Original Team Venture

• Colonel Gentleman
• Dr. Paul Entmann
• Kano
• Ook Ook (frozen in ice)
• Otto Aquarius
• Swifty
• The Action Man

Super-scientists

• Dr. Quentin Ball
• Unnamed Jetpack Scientist

The Venture Family

• Brock Samson
• Dean Venture
• Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture
• Hank Venture
• H.E.L.P.eR.

Venture Techno Industries

• Dr. Jonas Venture Jr.
• Hector Molina
• Ned
• Sally Impossible
• The Pirate Captain
• Various Pirates

Connections to Other Episodes

Twenty Years to Midnight

• Colonel Gentleman explains that he was not dead when the Venture boys found him in Twenty Years to Midnight, but that he had fallen into a diabetic coma from eating too many Mallomars (washed down with a Yoo-hoo chaser) after getting into a fight with his lover, Kiki.
• The Pirate Captain brings the members of original Team Venture and the Fraternity of Torment to Spider-Skull Island aboard the X-2. He established in Twenty Years to Midnight that J.J. had made him the new ship's captain for the X-2.

Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman

• When Colonel Gentleman punches Dr. Venture, he says "that's for breaking my step-daughter's heart." He's referring to Dr. Venture's treatment of Tara Quymn in Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman.
• Talk show host Dick Cavett was previously seen in a flashback as a guest at the "key party" at the Venture compound in Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman.

Spanakopita!

• Colonel Gentleman claims astronaut Wally Schirra was one of his lovers. In a flashback to 1968 in Spanakopita!, when L. Ron reveals his plans to interfere with the splashdown of Apollo 7, Colonel Gentleman exclaims "Wally's on that mission!"

Cultural References

A Christmas Story (1983)

• Dean dares Hank to press his tongue to the block of ice encasing Ook-Ook, betting him that it will stick. Hank's tongue gets stuck to the ice, freezing him to it, similar to the character Flick in the 1983 film A Christmas Story, who became stuck to a freezing cold flagpole after he pressed his tongue to it on a "triple dog dare".

Andre The Giant

• Dr. Entmann, in his Humongoloid form, physically and audibly resembles the actor/wrestler Andre The Giant.

Brainiac

• Brainulo is a parody of the DC Comics villain Brainiac.

Dick Cavett

• Jonas Venture Sr. is interviewed by tv talk show host Dick Cavett in the film strip shown in the museum.

Gore Vidal

• Col. Gentleman mentions having a three-way with author Gore Vidal and astronaut Wally Schirra.

Growing Pains (1985-1992)

• Pete White fantasizes about the episode of the TV show Growing Pains where mother Maggie Seaver (Joanna Kerns) was shown in the bathtub.

He-Man

• Colonel Gentleman refers to Brock as "Prince Adam", who is the alter-ego of the blonde, heavily-muscled protagonist, He-Man, in the Masters of the Universe animated series.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

• Jonas Junior explains to a group of party-attendees that a weapon on display is the "real atomic secret" the Rosenbergs tried to sell to the Russians. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were American citizens who in 1951 were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union.

Mallomars

• Colonel Gentleman blames his consumption of an entire package of mallomars (graham cracker and marshmallow coated with dark chocolate) for previously putting him into a diabetic coma and causing his "tits" to come back.

Menorah

• The Action Man acknowledges his low opinion of Hank and Dean's intelligence by referring to them as "not exactly the brightest bulbs on the ol' menorah." A menorah is a multi-branched ceremonial candelabrum historically used by Jews for ancient temple rituals (seven branch menorah) and for celebrating the holiday of Hanukkah (nine branch menorah).

M.O.D.O.K.

• Brainulo bears a strong resemblance to the Marvel Comics villain M.O.D.O.K.

Spider-Man

• Colonel Gentleman mockingly refers to Scaramantula as "Spider-Man".

Supercar (1961- 1962)

• When Ned jumps into the Impossicar he shouts, "Yay! Supercar go-car!" This may be a reference to the Gerry Anderson supermarionation children's show, Supercar, that centered around the titular Supercar, a vertical-takeoff-and-landing craft.

The Great Gazoo

• Colonel Gentleman mockingly refers to Brainulo as "The Great Gazoo".

The Man With The Golden Gun (1974)

• Scaramantula is parody of James Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga from the film The Man With The Golden Gun.
• When in his Dr. Fangdragon disguise, Dr. Venture claims to have a third nipple. This is the same physical characteristic of James Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga.

The Omen (1976)

• When Richard Impossible jumps off of the balcony, he yells, "Sally! It was all for you!" This is a parody of the nanny's suicide from The Omen, in which the nanny says, "Look at me, Damien. It's all for you," before hanging herself by jumping off a roof.

V for Vendetta

• Rusty's comments about childhood memories where The Action Man would wake him up in the middle of the night by putting an empty gun to the boy's head, pulling the trigger, and stating "Not tonight, Rusty..." mirrors the actions and threats of Derek Almond to his wife Rosemary in V for Vendetta.

Wally Schirra

• Col. Gentleman mentions having a three-way with author Gore Vidal and astronaut Wally Schirra.

Wilhelm scream

• The Wilhelm scream can be heard in the opening scene.

Yoo-hoo

• Following his fight with Kiki, Colonel Gentleman puts himself into a diabetic coma by eating an entire box of Mallomars and washing it down with a Yoo-hoo chaser. Yoo-hoo is a chocolate beverage.

You Only Live Twice (1967)

• The old interior of Spider-Skull Island resembles the lair of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (including the trap door-bridge that Rusty is precariously balanced on).

Production Notes

• One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) gets to have a "nickname" inserted into his credits. For Now Museum-Now You Don't! the credits reads Kimson "Ook Ook" Albert.
• This is the first episode since The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay (the pilot episode) in which Stephen Colbert does not voice Richard Impossible. He is instead voiced by Christopher McCulloch.

Trivia

• After Brainulo preys on Professor Impossible's thoughts, Impossible is asked to take Team Venture's photo. As he arrives, he is momentarily shown to be holding a pair of blue thong-style panties; the Professor stole his ex-wife Sally's panties.
• First reference to the Boys Brigade. Two former members, Professor Impossible and General Manhowers, attend the museum opening. A photo of the group from 1966 hangs on the museum wall.

References

Preceded by: "Tears of a Sea Cow"

The Venture Bros. episodes Original Airdate: July 25, 2008

Followed by: "The Lepidopterists"