|
Featured Article This page has previously been in the spotlight as this wiki's featured article, during: November 2011 |
"House Rules" is the eighth episode of Regular Show's third season (and forty-eighth episode overall). It first aired on November 14, 2011.
Synopsis
Mordecai and Rigby stumble upon an anarchy after trying to find a place not governed by rules.
Plot
Mordecai and Rigby are playing video games when Benson arrives and tells them to have a look at a rules booklet as he has added a some new rules such as "No food on the table/floor". When the duo find out that one of the new rules revolves around "no video games", the two try to get Benson to remove it to no avail. As a result, they move out of the house and find somewhere else to live. The two's plan to camp outside overnight is foiled by another one of Benson's rules (118), and the duo's plan to camp overnight at the coffee shop doesn't go to plan either as Margaret's manager doesn't allow anyone to camp overnight. After trying their luck at other places to no success, Mordecai and Rigby make their way to an alley where they meet the No Rules Man, who knows the kind of place they are searching for. Mordecai and Rigby follow the No Rules Man to a place with no rules (which is just inside a big box full of garbage). It's a couch in the middle of the desert with a video game.
Things start to go out of hand when Mordecai is punched in the head by No Rules Man. After Rigby points out that the No Rules Man took Mordecai's wallet, they meet an "old" version of Mordecai who hints to the younger version of himself that he'll "miss" Rigby. Moments later, the unicorns from "The Unicorns Have Got to Go" are resurrected. Mordecai tells No Rules Man to get rid of the unicorns, but this angers him because he thinks they told him what to do. As a result, everyone in the No Rules Land start to attack Mordecai and Rigby. Upon finding out that it's not against the rules to have rules, Mordecai summons Benson's rule book to kill off the unicorns and ban stuff like "Rock, Paper, Scissors". After being shown the way out, the duo go back to Benson so he can accept them back into the house. Benson believes that they have learned their lesson, but Benson notices that one rule is ripped out and Mordecai asks which one it was. Meanwhile, No Rules Man is playing the game, "Karate Choppers," when a piece of paper lands on his lap. On the piece of paper is the missing rule (which was "no video games"), and when he reads it, he explodes, leaving the no rules land abandoned.
Characters
- Mordecai
- Rigby
- No Rules Man
- Benson
- Muscle Man
- Margaret
- Unicorns
- Kevin
- Punchies Paraders
- Gunther
- Margaret's Boss
- Dude
- Al
- Jeffy
Locations
Trivia
- Margaret's manager doesn't allow anyone to camp outside the coffee shop.
Episode Connections
- Some of the rules reference past episodes:
- No Prank Calls[1]
- No Rock, Paper, Scissors[2]
- No Punchies[3].
- No Unicorns[4]
- The said unicorns from "The Unicorns Have Got to Go" make a return in this episode.
- Mordecai also references "Peeps" when he threatens to point a laser pointer in No Rules Guy's only good eye.[5]
- The No Rules Man would be seen in season four Exit 9B.
- Ironically, Benson had imposed rule 47 as, "No yelling," when he himself has the biggest yelling problem out of all the characters.
Pop Culture References
- This episode has some references to 1865 Lewis Carroll's English novel Alice in Wonderland and it's adaptations:
- Land of No Rules is a parody of Wonderland.
- No Rules Man is a reference to White Rabbit (when he lead Mordecai and Rigby to his place) and the Queen of Hearts (as villain of this episode).
- The scene where Mordecai falls though the hole leading to Land of No Rules is similar to scene where Alice falls though the rabbit hole which leaded to Wonderland.
Production Notes
- This episode received 2.298 million views worldwide.
Goofs
- At the start of the episode, when Benson walks up to Mordecai and Rigby with the rulebook in his hand, the book itself appears to have small punched holes on both its long edges.
- Some of the food on Rigby’s side of the table that was dumped onto the floor changes position when he exclaims, "That's going way too far!".
- When Mordecai prepares to read rule #117 (the last new rule), he flips the page to the right, meaning he's going back a page.
- During Benson’s confrontation with Mordecai and Rigby in his office, his desk mat at first appears to have a small black triangle missing from one of the corners. However, in any medium shot showing Benson at his desk, a small white triangle appears instead.
- The closed sign on the coffee shop door is not present in a wide shot.
- In the same scene where Mordecai and Rigby are talking to Margaret, there is a shot where the coffee shop building’s layout is entirely different compared to the originally established shot.
- When Mordecai and Rigby sit down on a bench owned by Gunther, his name at first wasn’t engraved on the bench. However, it does appear when Gunther directs Mordecai and Rigby’s attention to the engraved name.
- When the No Rules Man whispers to Mordecai and Rigby, his skin is a different shade. It returns to normal when he is shown again.
- The numbers "01" on the Unicorn's race car changes to "10" in a few shots.
- When Mordecai and Rigby are surrounded, Rigby's tail is missing.
- Towards the end of the episode, the wooden chair Benson is sitting on, the width of the chair stiles are altered in various shots.
Official Releases
- On iTunes and Amazon Prime, the episode was paired with "Rap it Up" under "Volume Three". It was released digitally on November 14, 2011 for the price of $2.99 in HD, or $1.99 in SD.
- This episode is available as part of the following DVD sets: