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A word about our "Episode
Commentaries"
"The
Little Rascals" and Little Rascals characters © and TM
King World Productions, Inc. This website based in part upon a television
series distributed by King World Productions and Turner Entertainment
Company / MGM.
Beginner's
Luck
Alfalfa's first episode ("Them's fightin' words, pardner!!").
Spanky gets bombarded with peashooter projectiles while reciting
"Friends, Romans, Countrymen…". Watch carefully to
see Alfalfa get accidentally poked in the eye in his very first
scene. Later he makes his crooning debut with "She'll Be Coming
Round the Mountain".
Teacher's
Beau
Alfalfa and Spanky plot to keep their favorite teacher from bailing
on them over the semester break. The "horseradish" episode.
Sprucin'
Up
Alfalfa and Spanky actually wash and groom ( ! ) and then stage
a chin-up contest while a spider spins its web perilously close
to their noses, all to impress a new neighborhood cutie-pie. In
a brief but priceless scene, Alfalfa sings "She'll Be Coming
Round the Mountain" while applying lard to his hair in front
of a mirror.
The
Lucky Corner
The lemonade stand episode. Alfalfa makes his fourth singing appearance:
"Little Brown Jug".
Little
Papa
Alfalfa helps Spanky get his sister (or his niece; it is unclear
which) to take her nap so they can play football. Alfalfa sings
"Go To Sleep, My Baby".
Little
Sinner
Spanky, Buckwheat, and Porky get lost in the woods. Alfalfa has
only a bit part in this one. This episode banned over the years
by many local programmers.
Our
Gang Follies of 1936
We want the Flory-Dories!! One of the very best Little Rascals episodes,
and Alfalfa's breakthrough performance. He sings two tunes, "She'll
Be Coming Round the Mountain" and "The Object of My Affection"
to Darla, making her very first Little Rascals appearance.
Divot
Diggers
The golf course episode. "Ooh, my clubs !!!" An
unusually silent Alfalfa and his castmates (including a mischievous
chimpanzee) all in fine form.
The
Pinch Singer
This episode features Alfalfa singing the legendary "I'm In
the Mood For Love". Prior to this, he also sings parts of "On
the Road To Californy" in three different guises (including
blackface, in an Alfalfa performance usually censored by local TV
programmers.) Alfalfa wins amateur hour contest thanks to the call-in
votes of the rest of the gang.
Second
Childhood
Grouchy neighborhood "Grandma" is won over by the gang's
exuberance and is soon sling-shotting her pill bottles to smithereens.
Alfalfa sings "Oh, Susanna", teaming with Spanky and Grandma.
Believe It Or Not Department: Zeffie Tilbury, the actress who plays
the roller-skating Grandma, was actually blind in real life!
Arbor
Day
Alfalfa and Spanky's school puts on an Arbor Day program in which
joy is allowed to be unconfined. Alfalfa sings a brief Arbor Day
ditty followed by a musical version of Joyce Kilmer's "Trees".
While doing so he moves people to tears, but for the wrong reason.
Bored
of Education
Alfalfa and Spanky scheme to get out of school for the day. In the
confusion, Alfalfa swallows a balloon. To get back in his teacher's
good graces he must sing "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing
Young Charms".
Two
Too Young
Firecracker fun during recess for Alfalfa, Spanky, Buckwheat, and
Porky. Alfalfa recites "Charge of the Light Brigade",
one of the most memorable performances in Little Rascals history.
Pay
As You Exit
"Onions !!" The gang puts on a performance of "Romeo
and Juliet". By the time it's over, Buckwheat is understudying
as Juliet, opposite Alfalfa's "Homeo". This episode one
of the all-time champs.
Spooky
Hooky
Alfalfa and the boys get trapped inside school on a dark and stormy
night as the result of another school-dodging caper.
Reunion
in Rhythm
The crew puts on a Follies-style show for some Our Gang alumni.
Alfalfa makes an appearance as a traffic cop in one number, and
later sings "I'm Through With Love".
Glove
Taps
Poor Alfalfa is tricked into boxing Butch, the new neighborhood
bully. Tommy Bond returns after a three-year absence to play Alfalfa's
nemesis.
Hearts
are Thumps
The "He-Man Woman Haters" are born. Cream puffs and cheese
sandwiches spiked with soap. Even though he's "not in the mood",
Alfalfa sings "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". Alfalfa never
better than in this one.
Three
Smart Boys
Alfalfa, Spanky, and Buckwheat make believe they have measles to
(what else?) get out of going to school. The famous episode in which
Buckwheat receives white measles (courtesy Spanky) and then is mistaken
for a monkey by Alfalfa and Spanky. No surprise that many nervous
local programmers insisted over the years that this episode be heavily
censored.
Rushin'
Ballet
Alfalfa and Spanky try to avenge Buckwheat and Porky's tomato-based
harassment at the hands of Butch and his sidekick Woim. They end
up joining a performance of an all-girls ballet recital. Among the
most popular Little Rascals episodes.
Roamin'
Holiday
Alfalfa and crew run away to escape their baby-sitting duties. They
wander into a general store owned by a kindly husband and wife couple
who play a good-natured trick to teach them a lesson about their
errant ways.
Night
'N' Gales
Due to a sudden storm, Alfalfa, Spanky, Buckwheat, and Porky have
to spend the night at Darla's house to the eternal annoyance of
her beleaguered father. Worthwhile if for no other reason than seeing
Alfalfa and the boys dressed in Darla's borrowed nightgowns during
their late-night raid of the Hood family icebox. "Ma-maaa
!…"
Fishy
Tales
Alfalfa fakes a broken leg to avoid getting whomped by Butch. In
the process his "broken" leg gets nibbled by hungry crabs
and tickled with a feather (it's a long story…)
Framing
Youth
It's Alfalfa vs. Butch again, this time in a more genteel competition
(did you know that Butch led a double life as a violin player?)
Alfalfa ends a five-episode solo singing drought with "Just
An Echo In the Valley", accompanied by a stowaway frog.
Pigskin
Palooka
Alfalfa brags to Darla about his supposed football prowess and is
later forced to back up his claims on the field. Let's put it this
way, he's no Johnny Unitas.
Mail
& Female
Follow-up to first "He-Man Woman Haters" episode ("Hearts
are Thumps"). Alfalfa appears in drag as "Cousin Amelia".
Our
Gang Follies of 1938
The "Barber of Seville" episode. Watch poor Alfalfa get
pelted with rotting produce (ouch!!) In addition to "Seville"
excerpts, he sings "Learn to Croon". Perhaps the most
well-known Alfalfa episode of all, and one of the best.
Canned
Fishing
Another hooky scheme gets Alfalfa and Spanky involved with rescuing
little Junior from all sorts of trouble. "No more hooky for
us!" the duo wail at the end, and they must have meant it—this
was the final hooky-themed episode in the Hal Roach Little Rascals
series. Frankly, this episode is not one of the boys' best.
Bear
Facts
Eager to impress Darla and her circus-impressario father, Alfalfa
enlists the aid of his cohorts to verify his bear-hunting boasts
(Darla and her father must have been really fooled there for a while,
huh?) Alfalfa does a soft-shoe with "Fi-fi the Bear".
Three
Men in a Tub
Boat race pitting Alfalfa vs. Harold Lloyd redux Waldo in a bid
for Darla's affection. Alfalfa at his hammy best, and would somebody
please hit Waldo (and Darla, for that matter) with a pie in the
face?
Came
the Brawn
Wrestling-themed follow-up to "Glove Taps". "Wildcat"
Alfalfa climbs into the squared circle to face Butch, a.k.a. The
Masked Marvel (although he thinks it's Waldo). Alfalfa's talents
on full display.
Feed
'Em and Weep
Alfalfa, Porky, and a Buckwheat stand-in named Phillip invite themselves
to Mr. Hood's 32nd (as if!) birthday party. Alfalfa sings "Many
Happy Returns of the Day" for Mr. Hood (and to think that this
could happen to him on his natal anniversary!) This was the final
singing performance by Alfalfa in the Hal Roach Little Rascals productions.
The
Awful Tooth
Alfalfa, Buckwheat, and Porky try to raise some cash for a catcher's
mitt by hocking their teeth to the Tooth Fairy. They soon get a
lesson taught to them by a good-natured dentist. This episode, appropriately,
is reminiscent of a visit to the dentist's office; not one of their
best.
Hide
and Shriek
Alfalfa a.k.a. "X-10 the Sooper Slooth" makes like Sherlock
Holmes (or "Sherlocks Home", as Alfalfa calls him) and
winds up taking a scary trip through a spookhouse with Buckwheat
and Porky. The last Hal Roach-produced Little Rascals film and a
pretty good swan song at that.
"The
Little Rascals" and Little Rascals characters © and TM King
World Productions, Inc. This website based in part
upon a television series distributed by King World Productions and
Turner Entertainment Company / MGM.
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