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 35
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 35^th episode of The Venture Bros. and is part of Season 3.

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 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" (as seen in "Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman"). 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 Sea Captain is run ragged around the island by order of Jonas Junior. Much annoyed by the consistent order giving Jonas Junior, the Sea Captain unintentionally walks into Sally Impossible's room where she is changing. The Sea 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 Sea 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 Junior thank him for his selfless act. As The Professor retracts back to normal and lies on the floor, the Sea Captain suggests he was trying to kill himself.

Cultural references

• 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).

• 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.

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

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

• Brainulo is a parody of the DC comics villain Brainiac and bears a strong resemblance to the Marvel villain M.O.D.O.K..

• 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.

• 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.

• When Colonel Gentleman punches Dr. Venture, he says "that's for breaking my daughter's heart." This is a reference to the events of Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman.
• Colonel Gentleman mockingly refers to Scaramantula and Brainulo as Spider-Man and The Great Gazoo.

Production notes

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

References

Preceded by: "Tears of a Sea Cow"

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

Followed by: "The Lepidopterists"