"They Call Him Mr. Ed" is the 9th episode of Season 4 and the 86th episode of Ed, Edd n Eddy. In this episode, Eddy decides to go nowhere but up and as such creates a business known as Ed Co. He then starts convincing people in the Cul-de-Sac to work for his new corporation and go nowhere but up.
For once, Edd is hanging out with Ed without any interference, and naturally he wants to run some tests on Ed to see his aptitude. To this end, he has rigged up a "Maze of Inevitable Despair", and if Ed completes it, he'll be given a full box of Chunky Puffs (part of a complete breakfast). Ed loves Chunky Puffs, so he naturally is raring to go, and when Edd tells him to go through the maze, he quite literally goes through it by simply running through the cardboard walls on a race to the exit, where the cereal is. Once there, he ingests the cereal despite Double D's irritation due to the fact that he went through the maze incorrectly. Suddenly, Eddy arrives, and tells them that he's come up with a great idea: up! Double D is confused, but Ed gets it, and Eddy drags his friends off to his driveway to set up the scam.
Soon enough, the scam is set up, complete with Eddy having a desk with a phone on it. Of course, the purpose is to go up, so Ed is leaping into the air. Unfortunately, he can't stay up, so Eddy turns to Double D, who has constructed an elevator for that express purpose. After seeing it demonstrated, Eddy is suitably impressed and returns to his desk, while Ed decides to continue working on the elevator. When Eddy gets back to work, however, he finds Jonny wants to know what they're doing. As Double D escorts out the boy Eddy terms the "never-ending forehead", he explains that opportunities come up in the blink of an eye at Ed Co., and hands over his card. Jonny is impressed that Edd has a card, and soon informs Nazz and Jimmy as to what is going on.
A few minutes later, business is booming at Ed Co., with six phones now sitting on Eddy's desk, all of them ringing off the hook. Edd soon disturbs the boss, however, when he brings in Nazz, who wants a job. A nervous Eddy hires her on as secretary, and soon enough calls Edd in for another job. Eddy wants a go-getter, an up-and-comer, a maverick to move the plot along, so whom better to ask than (much to Edd's surprise) Jimmy? Eddy has Double D call Jimmy into the office, but this means that Jonny will be up next. Thinking quickly, Edd sticks Jonny in the mailroom, while Eddy hires on Jimmy.
Soon, Jimmy has become the office decorator and has made the office in a veritable paradise. Rolf has taken on a position as well, as security guard, which in his mind has several parallels to being a shepherd, namely that he now guards his own flock of simple-minded creatures. Kevin then arrives, however, and the office is quickly thrown into disarray, as he keeps using the word "down". When Rolf tries to throw him out, a fight breaks out, and all of Jimmy's hard work is wrecked. When Eddy sees that Rolf might be defeated, he comes out and angrily berates Rolf, asking what he pays Rolf for anyway.
Hearing Eddy mention pay, the kids all suddenly realize that they aren't getting paid at all. They angrily ask for an explanation, but the only one that can be offered up by Edd is that the company is a nonprofit, which causes all the kids to angrily leave. Upset about his business going down, Eddy begs Edd for some relief and a way to go up. Double D has no ideas, but he does spy Ed acting strangely, and asks what he's up to. Ed naturally hasn't a clue, but Eddy does, and he makes his friends get in the elevator, which they ride...and ride...and ride...until they come out in outer space. Shocked, Double D asks if Ed spent his whole day doing this, but Eddy and Ed are too excited to listen and instead clamber upon the crescent moon, sure they've gone as up as possible. Unfortunately, their weight is too much for the moon, and it shakes and comes loose, leaving them hanging precariously over Earth. Seeing their position, Eddy instantly changes his tune, and his friends follow suit, as now they want to go nowhere but down.
Memorable Quotes
Ed: [blindfolded] "Fe fie fo fum! I smell Chunky Puffs!" [Ed sticks his tongue out.]
Eddy: [to Edd as he's being pestered by Jonny] "Does the never-ending forehead have an appointment?"
Rolf: [sitting in his security cubicle] "Ah, life is good, Victor. The son of a shepherd now protects his own flock of simpleminded creatures." Kevin: [mocking Rolf's outfit] "What's with the 'Car 54' get up, Rolf? Afraid someone might steal your box?"
Rolf: [fighting with Kevin] "May you break out in lather and pass a turnip from your nose!"
Kevin: "Down for the count, dorks!" Jimmy: [as Eddy's business collapses] "My artistic vision sullied! I'm so downhearted!" Nazz: [annoyed] "Downright lame, if you ask me." Rolf: [angry at not being paid] "Downtrodden rabbit radishes! Come, Victor!" Jonny: [obliviously happy] "Hey guys! Did everyone get to see Plank's butt?" Edd: "I'm afraid it's downhill from here, Eddy." Eddy: [about to crack] "Nowhere but up, Double D!"
Eddy: "Ed! What are you up to?" Ed: "Uhh, is that a quiz or something?"
Nazz: [looking at Jonny's picture] "What is this?" Jonny: "Plank photocopied his butt!"
Trivia
Goofs:
When Ed was sniffing a piece of Chunky Puff, his tongue was purple, but in the next scene it's light blue (which is Ed's regular tongue color).
Inside the elevator, at first it is brown and blue. However, two more colors appear inside it later on.
When Ed is in the air and says "Whoa!" his mouth doesn't match up with his line.
If you listen to the elevator music it is the same jingle used in a Cars.com commercial and was also used in the 1996 PC game Pajama Sam in No Need To Hide When It's Dark Outside.
Ed was able to build the elevator to the moon despite him having a fear of heights in other episodes. Ed probably conquered his fear at some point after "Gimme, Gimme Never Ed," but it might have come back due to what happened here as he was left dangling on the crescent moon at the end of the episode.
If you look closely at the elevator, you can see a coffin that bears the inscription "RIP Evil Tim."
All the ups in They call him mister Ed
All 71 "ups."
The word "up" is said 71 times in this episode. That means that "up" is uttered more than 6 times per minute, or approximately once every 9 seconds.
Kevin references the 1960s TV sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? when he asks Rolf, "What's with the Car 54 get-up?"
Ed carrying the large building piece with a clone of himself on the side opposing him is a reference to a classic cartoon gag where a character carrying something heavy would do the same thing. This gag has famously been used with Mickey Mouse and Looney Tunes characters.
This is the second time the Eds go into outer space, but the first time they go to the moon. The first time the Eds went into outer space was in "A Pinch to Grow an Ed."
The purpose of Ed Co. is never explained, despite Edd and Nazz receiving several phone calls by various customers. Edd did mention it was a nonprofit organization, but he probably used that as an excuse for not paying the workers.
According to Edd's calender, this episode takes place in July.
At Ed Co., each of the people in this nonprofit organization has their own position (or had one, from highest to lowest):
Eddy: President of Ed Co.
Edd: Vice-president of Ed Co.
Nazz: Secretary of Ed Co.
Rolf: Security officer at Ed Co. (with Victor by his side at his post)
Jimmy: Office decorator at Ed Co.
Jonny & Plank: Mailroom of Ed Co.
Ed: At large, no positions but to keep Ed Co. going up (literally)
Kevin was the only person in the episode who didn't join Ed Co.
When Edd asks Kevin to leave, Jimmy hangs up a picture of the skyline of Vancouver, Canada in the background, a reference to the location of AKA Cartoon. The skyline of Vancouver also bears a striking resemblance to the skyline of the city from Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show.
When Nazz paged Edd into Eddy's office, she can be seen reading a magazine titled "Meet D. Brad." This is a reference to D. Brad Gibson, one of the show's storyboard artists.
The tie Eddy was wearing is the same one from "Ed, Ed and Away."
"Where's the cash?!?" – Eddy Please consider downloading this episode of the show in high definition from iTunes in order to support the creators' hard work.
"Rolf's television seems… dated." – Edd We're sorry, but the video of They Call Him Mr. Ed is not currently embedded. You can download the episode from iTunes or watch a free, lower-quality version here.
