Original Air Date: September 22, 1995
Directed by: Richard Correll
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!
Synopsis: Carl (Reginald VelJohnson) is frustrated when Steve Urkel (Jaleel White) moves in but even moreso when Urkel’s machine shrinks them both to the size of dolls.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): In an early scene, Richie (Bryton McClure) enters the house and tries to sneak past Carl with an obviously fake cat’s tail sticking out of his jacket. Carl opens the jacket to reveal a longhair ginger tabby cat.
Carl reminds Richie that he told him not the bring the stray cat into the house. Richie replies, “But I love Mr. Buttons!”
Mr. Buttons turns on Carl when he tries to take him from Richie (actually the cat’s growls are only dubbed in . . . you can see by the gif that without sound the cat’s actions and Carl’s reactions are perfectly harmless). Carl drops the cat who then runs upstairs. Carl tells Richie to go get him.
After they have been shrunken and trapped on the kitchen table, Carl and Urkel decide to get some sleep and settle down on a piece of bread for a bed with marshmallows for pillows and a slice of American cheese for a blanket. Unfortunately the window is open and Mr. Buttons enters, jumping up onto the table.
They turn to see the cat snarling at them. Mr. Buttons chases them into a potato chip can.
An obviously fake cat then pushes the can so that it rolls around.
Urkel and Carl use a lighted match to finally scare the cat away.
When the rest of the family returns home from a trip, the machine is accidentally activated. Mr. Buttons, who was inside the machine, runs out the door.
Carl and Urkel return to normal size. But since Mr. Buttons was also exposed to the growth rays, he makes a final appearance as a giant cat looking in through the kitchen window, licking his chops.
Final Mewsings: Cats big or small we love them all!
Many thanks to Shane Jones for letting us know about the cat in this episode.
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