"Smile Valley Farm" is the first segment of the sixteenth episode of the second season of The Ghost and Molly McGee, and the sixty-ninth episode overall.
It premiered on November 4, 2023 simultaneously on Disney Channel and Disney XD, alongside "The Grand Gesture".[1]
Synopsis[]
After talking smack about Smile Valley Farm, a virtual farming game that the entire town of Brighton got hooked on, Scratch tries to hide having the same online gaming bug after actually trying it.
Plot[]
Scratch is baffled by the lack of dinner, or the McGees for that matter, and finds them all in the living room on their smart pads playing a game called Smile Valley Farm, a farming simulator game where you collect rewards and prizes. Scratch cannot wrap his head around the game and finds it dumb, despite the McGees' enthusiasm towards it. Darryl in particular has taken advantage of the promotional minifigures and offers a team up with Sharon to collect and sell them for high prices, beckoning her with the possibility of him going to college. To Darryl's surprise, Sharon obsessively takes to it, declaring that his scheming came from her.
Scratch attempts to have a late night snack when he notices that the game is still on. Bothered by the message it is sending, he decides to play the game so he can "rag" on it, only to play well into the morning. Realizing that he will be caught, Scratch enacts "plan B", which is to simply play in secret and not have the McGees find out. This becomes difficult when Scratch learns of a event that happens at sundown that he wants to have access to, only for Molly to want to devote her time to him. Meanwhile, Darryl and Sharon start selling minifigures and earn lots of money. Darryl then warns Sharon about the possibility of the fad passing and tells her to cash out, but she does not listen.
Scratch continuously attempts to evade Molly so that he can play Smile Valley Farm, but it gets increasingly difficult. At one point, Molly brings down the sundown event which begins to eat away at Scratch and he finally admits that he likes playing the game and has been this whole time. Molly also reveals that she knew all along because Scratch accidentally sent her a friend request while playing (he couldn't read Molly's username N_H4P1F13R). They decide to witness the sundown event, but after it finishes, the two have suddenly outgrown the game and decide to go outside. True to Darryl's word, nobody wants minifigures anymore, much to Sharon's dismay.
Cast[]
Main article: Smile Valley Farm and The Grand Gesture/Credits
- Ashly Burch as Molly McGee
- Dana Snyder as Scratch
- Jordan Klepper as Pete McGee
- Sumalee Montano as Sharon McGee
- Michaela Dietz as Darryl McGee
Additional voices[]
- Ashly Burch as Tabitha Turnip, Farmer Carrot
- Rob Cantor as Fake Rake (singing)
- Michaela Dietz as Farm Rake (speaking)
Mentions[]
Song[]
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.
Trivia[]
- The episode's original plot was Andrea Davenport attempting to get the McGee family addicted to the game, but the writers decided it would be more universal if the entire town of Brighton was hooked on Smile Valley Farm without revealing who started the fad.
- Fans already compare Scratch's refusal to play the game to the plot of the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham, but this is most likely a happy accident as it's really based on one of the creators of the show being a contrarian and prone to hide it when he likes when everyone else likes.
Revelations[]
- Sharon reveals Darryl got his scheming from her side of the family, though she doesn't have his ability to sense when the fads are about to change, leading to poor business decisions.
- Because the Ghost World doesn't get anything new until it "dies", especially when it comes to technology, it still runs on dial-up internet, which Scratch admits out loud is too slow for online gaming.
- Scratch's online identity is "DEFINATELY_NOT_SCRATCH", while Molly McGee has gone by the name "N_H4P1F13R".
Allusions[]
- Stardew Valley / Animal Crossing - Smile Valley Farm is based on these virtual farming games, and possibly more.
- "Bingo was his Name-O" - "The Ballad of Farmer Scratch" has the same feel as this particular children's song.
Videos[]
TBA
References[]
- ↑ "November 2023 Programming Highlights". Disney General Entertainment (October 18, 2023).