"Live and Let Dye" is the 16th episode of the fourth season of Pepper Ann. It aired on February 16, 2000.
Synopsis[]
Pepper Ann tries to dye her hair blue to stand out in the middle school crowd, but the blue dye turns her hair green and she begins to stand out for all the wrong reasons. Meanwhile, Lydia dates a handsome country line-dancing teacher.
Plot[]
Pepper Ann tries to be a trendsetter with a mini backpack, but everyone else has one. She becomes despondent over the thought of not being noticed. After learning that she is not the only student with red hair, she decides to dye it green instead. Meanwhile, Lydia is still depressed over being single and Janie tries to get her to go out and search for a man while she becomes obsessed with trying to save the Whooping Crane's migration. Lydia spots an ad for country dance lessons after seeing who the instructor, Tex Yokel, looks like.
Pepper Ann dyes her hair green and is surprised to find that Lydia is okay with it. On the way to the dance lesson, Janie gets out after seeing the cranes nested in a street lamp. Lydia arrives at the class and meets Tex who thinks that her name is "Lyla" after she stutters. Pepper Ann goes to school the next day and immediately is hit with admiration by her peers for being so daring. Her hair is enough for teachers to get distracted and for students to offer her snacks. As Lydia picks up Pepper Ann from school, they run into Tex and invite him over for dinner.
Lydia becomes smitten with Tex and continues to take the class. Pepper Ann arrives in school and quickly learns that even though her peers admire her hair, they continue to call her "Green Hair" and treat her more like property. Trinket even tells her that despite everything she is accomplishing, everyone is simply interested in her hair. While Lydia's dancing is only mildly better, Tex is convinced that she is a professional and suggests that she attend a dance theater with him. Wanting to keep up the charade, she agrees to it.
Pepper Ann finally decides to return her hair to normal as she can no longer stand the attention, only for Janie to turn off Hazelnut's water in a form of protest, forcing her to use wipes. Lydia, inspired by Pepper Ann's epiphany, goes to Tex to tell him the truth. Tex reveals that his real name is Bernie Guberston and that he himself does not like country dance all that much. Touched by his honest, Lydia asks Bernie out. Sometime later, it is revealed that Janie was put under house arrest for her protesting while Pepper Ann notices another girl dyed her hair green, which she mocks.
Cast[]
- Kathleen Wilhoite as Pepper Ann Pearson
- Jeff Bennett as Dieter Liederhosen, Shelf McClain
- Danny Cooksey as Milo Kamalani
- Clea Lewis as Nicky Little
- Pamela Adlon as Moose Pearson, Shouty Kid
- April Winchell as Lydia Pearson, Grandma Lillian
- Jim Cummings as Roland Carter
- Tino Insana as JoJo Diggety
- Kathy Najimy as Coach Doogan
- Bebe Neuwirth as Bronte Bladdar
- Kath Soucie as Cissy Rooney
- Susan Tolsky as Janie Diggety
- Jenna von Oÿ as Trinket St. Blair
- Travis Tritt as Tex Yokel / Bernie Guberston
Desk Gag[]
"Here's my remote control!"
~presses buttons until the screen goes blank~
Trivia[]
- The title of the episode is a play on the 1973 James Bond movie Live and Let Die featuring Roger Moore for the first time as the new James Bond character.
- This episode marks the first appearance of Bernie and the beginning of Lydia's only relationship that lasts more than one episode.
- Milo reveals that his hair is actually black and that it simply "projects" blue due to the lighting.
- Lydia refers to Pepper Ann's humor as "Seinfeldian", a reference to the sitcom Seinfeld.