Ah, extracurricular activities, after-school programs existing for the sole purpose of keeping you longer after school. When Louie was pressured to join one of them, none quite seemed like a good fit. They included opera appreciation, geology club and even the male cheerleading squad, all of which were crashed and thoroughly ridiculed by Glen Glenn. However, to avoid being cast in a musical for the drama club, Louie lied about being in the chess club, and so he was personally escorted there by Principal Halloran, probably to ensure he actually went. Louie is then introduced to the only other 3 members in the club: all dorky, know-it-all kids with the exact same voice, and all named Melvin. So now he had a choice: either tough it out and learn to play chess, or jump out the window. After watching two of the Melvins play for a considerable amount of time, Louie makes an offhand suggestion on where to move the knight, and surprisingly, it results in a checkmate. As is typical for stories such as these, Louie discovers he's some sort of chess wizard and he fit right in and beat the Melvins at every game. They comment how he might even be a better player than... The Great One (gasp!) And they don't mean Jackie Gleason. They're talking about a masked chess player from long ago, and through slides and exposition, they tell Louie the legend of the Great One... oh, and three guesses who it is. Those glasses are a dead giveaway. Not sure if that was intentional or not, probably was, but yeah, he looks pretty darn familiar. Anyway, like your typical masked hero, he appeared out of nowhere, won every chess game across Wisconsin, and then one day, he just disappeared... or got drafted into the war, came home and had 11 kids. Nobody knows... but WE do. Anyway, when Louie goes home and asks Ora if they have a chessboard, he pretends the Melvins are imaginary friends, which she thinks is adorable as Louie had never been able to make imaginary friends before. I dunno, if it were a choice between imaginary ones and Grunewald, Toddler and Jeannie, I think I'd take the former. But when Andy finds out Louie is going for his old chessboard, he nears blows his top. Gee, he sure doesn't try to "mask" his feelings, does he? Doesn't try to "cover up" his emotions? He needs to keep his temper in "check."
Andy immediately tries to dissuade Louie from playing chess, in a similar way that parent tries to get their child to not do drugs. This is your brain, this is your brain on CHESS. Any questions? So, yeah, Andy puts down chess and chess players with such vitriol that you'd think a chess player killed his family. No, the real reason behind Andy's attitude (well, here, at least) is that he's got a deep, dark, secret that he never wanted to get out. See, when Andy was a lad, he played chess (No!) and he was ridiculed endlessly, as a child, a teenager, even during the war, his chess set made him a laughingstock among the Germans. Well, despite Andy's exaggeration, he was right about chess players being ridiculed, mostly if they were weak, neurotic kids who let stupid, wiener-head bullies steal their chess pieces and destroy them. Look at it this way, Melvins, in 20 years these guys will be snaking your toilets, so start filling up on chalupas and double-chili burritos now. So, how will Louie avoid being laughed at and ridiculed himself? Learn from his father... er, I mean, the Great One, and wear a mask. Louie in a mask generates the Clark Kent effect, as nobody can seem to tell it's Louie under there. He's ready to enter the Cedar Knoll Chess Tournament, which the Melvins went behind his back to sign him up for, wasn't that nice? When Andy hears about the appearance of a masked chess boy, he suddenly has to slip out, as this is a job for the Great One. Yeah, it seems not even Ora knows Andy's "true identity." Back at the tournament, his friends learn his identity by placing an animation cel of Louie over the Masked Chess Boy. Now that's a break-the-fourth-wall moment if ever I've seen one. What else could it be? It's an animation cel of Louie that exists inside this universe for some reason. Just then, the Great One bursts onto the scene. Hi, Andy! So, Masked Boy and Masked Man go head to head, all the while Glen Glenn shouts from the stands to "take it off!" The masks, you sickos. Luckily, some big kids who are chess fans drag him outside. Good, stick a few pawns and rooks where the sun don't shine. Louie removes his mask, and then, Andy removes his. The match is a tie, and Andy is finally honest with himself about his true feelings on chess. So all was well again, as Louie and his pals learned that it's okay to like stuff other people don't approve of, and to not care what other people think.
I think this episode presents a very relatable situation for Louie, and for Andy as well. Nobody likes to be ridiculed and made fun of for what they do, but as pointed out by Ora, those who pick on those who do something well are just jealous. Yep, green eyed monsters. They should be pitied, not feared. This was the first appearance by the 3 Melvins, and as you may have noticed, they're all voiced by the same man: Eddie Deezen, your go-to guy anytime a nerdy character needs a voice. This episode was also one of only two to be released on video, along with "For Pete's Sake." I wish they'd ALL get released to DVD or Netflix or even for purchase on Louie Anderson's web site. Hope he considers that some day. While this episode isn't great, it's still got a great message, and while I generally despise that Glen Glenn kid, he was pretty funny trolling those extracurricular classes at the beginning. I do recommend The Masked Chess Boy, because aside from how absurd it is that people can't tell it's Louie and Andy under those masks, it's still got it where it counts.
Andy immediately tries to dissuade Louie from playing chess, in a similar way that parent tries to get their child to not do drugs. This is your brain, this is your brain on CHESS. Any questions? So, yeah, Andy puts down chess and chess players with such vitriol that you'd think a chess player killed his family. No, the real reason behind Andy's attitude (well, here, at least) is that he's got a deep, dark, secret that he never wanted to get out. See, when Andy was a lad, he played chess (No!) and he was ridiculed endlessly, as a child, a teenager, even during the war, his chess set made him a laughingstock among the Germans. Well, despite Andy's exaggeration, he was right about chess players being ridiculed, mostly if they were weak, neurotic kids who let stupid, wiener-head bullies steal their chess pieces and destroy them. Look at it this way, Melvins, in 20 years these guys will be snaking your toilets, so start filling up on chalupas and double-chili burritos now. So, how will Louie avoid being laughed at and ridiculed himself? Learn from his father... er, I mean, the Great One, and wear a mask. Louie in a mask generates the Clark Kent effect, as nobody can seem to tell it's Louie under there. He's ready to enter the Cedar Knoll Chess Tournament, which the Melvins went behind his back to sign him up for, wasn't that nice? When Andy hears about the appearance of a masked chess boy, he suddenly has to slip out, as this is a job for the Great One. Yeah, it seems not even Ora knows Andy's "true identity." Back at the tournament, his friends learn his identity by placing an animation cel of Louie over the Masked Chess Boy. Now that's a break-the-fourth-wall moment if ever I've seen one. What else could it be? It's an animation cel of Louie that exists inside this universe for some reason. Just then, the Great One bursts onto the scene. Hi, Andy! So, Masked Boy and Masked Man go head to head, all the while Glen Glenn shouts from the stands to "take it off!" The masks, you sickos. Luckily, some big kids who are chess fans drag him outside. Good, stick a few pawns and rooks where the sun don't shine. Louie removes his mask, and then, Andy removes his. The match is a tie, and Andy is finally honest with himself about his true feelings on chess. So all was well again, as Louie and his pals learned that it's okay to like stuff other people don't approve of, and to not care what other people think.
I think this episode presents a very relatable situation for Louie, and for Andy as well. Nobody likes to be ridiculed and made fun of for what they do, but as pointed out by Ora, those who pick on those who do something well are just jealous. Yep, green eyed monsters. They should be pitied, not feared. This was the first appearance by the 3 Melvins, and as you may have noticed, they're all voiced by the same man: Eddie Deezen, your go-to guy anytime a nerdy character needs a voice. This episode was also one of only two to be released on video, along with "For Pete's Sake." I wish they'd ALL get released to DVD or Netflix or even for purchase on Louie Anderson's web site. Hope he considers that some day. While this episode isn't great, it's still got a great message, and while I generally despise that Glen Glenn kid, he was pretty funny trolling those extracurricular classes at the beginning. I do recommend The Masked Chess Boy, because aside from how absurd it is that people can't tell it's Louie and Andy under those masks, it's still got it where it counts.