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"Principal for a Day" is the first segment of the twenty-sixth episode of Recess.

Synopsis[]

T.J. is made principal for a day, and the students are afraid that the power will change him.

Plot[]

The episode begins at recess where Menlo is taking the last entries for the Principal for a Day Contest, and Randall hands him a whole box full of them. Meanwhile, the fourth graders are playing kickball against the fifth graders and T.J. is up first, and they use Gretchen's new experimental giant metal shoe which gives them a home run. But it also breaks Principal Prickly's office window, getting him caught by Miss Finster and sent to Principal Prickly's office, where Principal Prickly makes him fill out an incident report and dismisses him afterward. After T.J. leaves, Miss Finster believes that T.J. would make a good candidate for Principal for a Day, but Principal Prickly thinks that she has gone crazy, because T.J. broke his window. Miss Finster then recalls that Menlo was worse than T.J. before he was "randomly chosen" for Principal for a Day, and Principal Prickly recalls that his behavior improved dramatically after that. Then he and Finster envision how a day between him and T.J. would change him too. Prickly then worries about him not being picked, and Finster told him that she'll see to it that he is picked. At the assembly, Miss Grotke announces T.J. as the winner just as Randall was about to accept the honor, much to his disappointment, and everyone cheers.

The next day, T.J. arrives at school with a crowd of kids waiting to greet him and he goes into Principal Prickly's office and makes the morning announcements with kid-friendly flavor, including all-day recess. Principal Prickly then commends T.J. on his excellent leadership skills, but then Miss Lemon tells them that a student was caught breaking one of T.J.'s rules. T.J. says that he'd just overlook it, but then Principal Prickly changes his opinion on the matter. T.J., not wanting Principal Prickly to doubt his leadership skills, decides to tell Miss Lemon to send him in, and the offender is none other than T.J.'s rival, Lawson. Lawson comes in assuming he'd get a reward for breaking T.J.'s rule of no sharing gum, but he instead receives a detention and is dismissed by T.J. After Lawson left, T.J. fell silent, and Principal Prickly, concerned, told him about the first time he had to give a detention, but T.J. said he liked giving a detention. Then Principal Prickly praised T.J. for his leadership skills, and showed him his secret mini-golf game under the rug of his office and let him play on it. However, after he was distracted while making his putt, Principal Prickly said that the students should be back in class so he can focus more, and T.J. agrees. He then makes another announcement on the PA, telling everyone that recess is now over by sending the students to go back to class, and Principal Prickly praises T.J. for his move.

Afterwards, he tells T.J. that if he wants to be a good principal, he will need to change his image because the respect is measured by the price of a one man's suit, and he shows T.J. his wardrobe of suits, which T.J. loves very much.

So, later at lunch, T.J. makes an announcement rescinding all of his earlier rules and replaces them with new ones, and says that any violation of those rules will carry severe punishment. After that, he and Principal Prickly are receiving a massage until T.J. gets a page from Miss Lemon telling him they caught a sixth-grader running in the hall. He confronts the kid, and forces him to sign a form to be put in the Prickly Files, but as he does, T.J. sees himself in the kid. After Principal Prickly dismisses the kid, he commends T.J. on a job well done, but T.J. looks sad. Principal Prickly asks him what's wrong, and T.J. says that the discipline is not strict enough and he requests that his friends be sent up to the office and asks Principal Prickly to leave so he can handle them alone. After he does so, T.J. announces an assembly on the playground one hour before school is let out, which turns out to be a party, sending Finster and Prickly's plan to a crumble, much to their dismay.

Cast[]

Trivia[]

  • When his friends discover that TJ had been remodeled to resemble Prickly during his stint as principal when addressing the cafeteria, Mikey says "He's more machine than kid now!", referencing a line uttered by Obi-Wan Kenobi in regards to Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi.
  • Randall is revealed to be left handed.

External links[]


v - e - d
Recess-logo
Media
Recess (Videography) • Recess: School's Out (Soundtrack) • Recess: All Growed DownRecess: Taking the Fifth GradeRecess: Miracle on Third Street"Lax" (Lilo & Stitch: The Series crossover episode)"Codename: Electric Haircut" (Fillmore! crossover episode)
Characters
T.J. DetweilerVince LaSalleAshley SpinelliMikey BlumbergGretchen GrundlerGus GriswaldCaptain BradleyCornchip GirlThe KindergartnersThe DiggersHustler KidErwin LawsonMiss GrotkeMuriel FinsterBecky DetweilerDr. Phillium BenedictMenloBrockPeter PricklyKojakMiss SalamoneButchAshley ArmbrusterAshley BouletAshley QuinlanAshley TomassianFenwickBrandon the SingerGelmanKing BobChuckoJockoRandall WeemsKing Freddie IICheaySpencerThe MegansThe BrittanysThe TylersBob and Flo Spinelli
Episodes
Season One: "The Break In" / "The New Kid" • "The Experiment" / "The Great Jungle Gym Standoff" • "Jinxed" / "Officer Mikey" • "First Name Ashley" / "To Finster with Love" • "King Gus" / "Big Brother Chad" • "My Fair Gretchen" / "Speedy, We Hardly Knew Ye" • "I Will Kick No More Forever" / "The Kid Came Back" • "The Pest" / "The Legend of Big Kid" • "The Box" / "The Trial" • "Teacher's Lounge" / "Randall's Reform" • "Rainy Days" / "The Great Can Drive" • "The Voice" / "Kids in the Mist" • "Parents' Night" / "Swing on Thru to the Other Side"

Season Two: "The Break-up" / "The Hypnotist" • "Mama's Girl" / "Outcast Ashley" • "The Game" / "The Lost Ball" • "Gus' Last Stand" / "Operation Field Trip" • "The Challenge" / "Wild Child" • "The Substitute" / "Gretchen and the Secret of Yo" • "The Girl Was Trouble" / "Copycat Kid" • "Operation Stuart" / "Pharaoh Bob" • "The Story of Whomps" / "Weekend at Muriel's" • "Economics of Recess" / "Omega Kids" • "Yes, Mikey, Santa Does Shave" • "Bad Hair Day" / "Dance Lessons" • "Principal for a Day" / "The Beauty Contest"
Season Three: "One Stayed Clean" / "A Genius Among Us" • "Dodgeball City" / "A Career to Remember" • "Kindergarten Derby" / "The Bet" • "Space Cadet" / "Stand Up Randall" • "The Shiner" / "Lord of the Nerds" • "That Stinking Feeling" / "My Funny Valentines" • "The Barnaby Boys" / "Buried Treasure" • "The Library Kid" / "The Ratings Game"
Season Four: "The First Picture Show" / "The Big Prank" • "Hustler's Apprentice" / "The Spy Who Came in from the Playground" • "Gus' Fortune" / "Rumor Mill" • "Recess is Cancelled" / "Tattletale Heart" • "The Madness of King Bob" / "Call Me Guy" • "Prickly is Leaving" / "Randall's Friends" • "The Biggest Trouble Ever" / "The Rules" • "Gus and Misdemeanors" / "A Science Fair to Remember" • "Mikey's Pants" / "Here Comes Mr. Perfect" • "Good Luck Charm" / "Diggers Split Up" • "Schoolworld" / "Bachelor Gus" • "The Dude" / "Partners in Crime" • "The Candidates" / "This Brain for Hire" • "Spinelli's Masterpiece" / "Nobody Doesn't Like T.J." • "A Great State Fair" / "The A.V. Kid" • "Yope from Norway" / "Bonky Fever" • "Don't Ask Me" / "The Secret Life of Grotke" • "The Fuss Over Finster" / "Soccer Boy" • "Fort Tender" / "Germ Warfare" • "More Like Gretchen" / "Prince Randall" • "Me No Know" / "Good Ole T.J." • "Chez Vince" / "Tucked in Mikey" • "Old Folks Home" / "Some Friend"
Season Five: "The Coolest Heatwave Ever" / "No Strings Attached" • "Beyond a Reasonable Scout" / "The C Note" • "The Army Navy Game" / "Big Ol' Mikey" • "The Principals of Golf" / "All the Principal's Men" • "Lawson and his Crew"
Season Six: "Terrifying Tales of Recess" • "Kurst the Not So Bad" / "League of Randalls" • "Mundy, Mundy" / "Lost Leader"

Locations
Third Street SchoolOld RustyFifth and Sixth Grader ClubAshley's ClubhouseKing's Jungle Gym
Songs
We Shall Not Be MovedBorn to Be WildGreen TambourineDancing in the Street
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