Goodbye, Hello is an episode of Ramona.
Synopsis[]
The Quimbys are at dinner, but Ramona Quimby is complaining that she had a bad time at the Kemps -- Hobart Kemp came over and gave Willa Jean Kemp an accordion and Howie Kemp a unicycle and teased Ramona about being Howard's girlfriend. Then, Willa Jean broke the accordion and Mrs. Kemp blamed Ramona for "letting" Willa Jean break the accordion. Ramona then declares she will never go back to the Kemps because Mrs. Kemp dislikes her. The parents think that Mrs. Kemp is just sick of babysitting, but Ramona wants her and Beezus to stay home alone. The parents worry that the girls will neglect their homework to watch TV and think they are too young, so Mrs. Quimby suggests just telling Mrs. Kemp she hurt her feelings, but Ramona thinks that will make her come across as a "crybaby".
While the parents mull the decision over, the family (except Mrs. Quimby) eats dessert, and eventually Mr. Quimby decides to let the girls stay home alone after school for one week, but bans TV and visitors. In the bathroom, Ramona asks Beezus why she is no longer visiting Pamela, and Beezus reveals that it is because Pamela is mean to her about Mr. Quimby being a jobless college student. She then suspects that Mrs. Quimby is pregnant since Aunt Bea is always wants to know how her sister feels, and Mrs. Quimby threw up after breakfast twice around Thanksgiving. Beezus likes the sound of a baby, but Ramona doesn't want there to be another sibling. She goes over to Mr. Quimby, who is thinking of rearranging the house, and asks him if he would want another little girl. He replies, "I don't know; I like little girls".
The next day, on the way to school, Ramona discusses the plan with Howie, while letting him know that she still wants to be his friend. That afternoon, Ramona is reading, but Beezus chastises her for leaving an apple core. Ramona throws the core away and continues reading, but then Beezus asks her to let Picky-Picky Quimby in and then Howie comes over and offers to let Ramona ride his bike. However, when Ramona lets Beezus know, she berates her for not asking permission, prompting the girls to argue over whether Beezus is too bossy, ending on Ramona yelling, "So long, pizza face!" and going off with Howie.
Then, she falls off his bike and cuts her leg. She can't reach the band-aids, and Beezus helps her but is still angry at Ramona for calling her "pizza face", thinking she was implying her face was red and spotty like a pizza. Later, she feeds Picky-Picky while rubbing in the fact that Ramona forgot to feed him. Then, she calls him over and they find him motionless on the back porch.
Initially, the girls think Picky-Picky is just sick or tired, but then Ramona pokes him with a stick and determines he is dead. She considers leaving the body for the parents to deal with, but Beezus points out that Mr. Quimby said not to "upset" Mrs. Quimby. The girls hold a funeral for him and then decide to pray, so Ramona recites a variation on "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" (saying he will "wake" in his next life as he is a cat). The girls make up for their argument.
When the parents come home, the parents wonder why the girls are muddy and the girls sheepishly explain that they dug a grave and that Picky-Picky died. The parents are proud of their daughters' behaviour, and then Mr. Quimby says that he and his wife have great kids and remarks, "Wanna try three-for-three?", revealing that Mrs. Quimby is pregnant. The parents decide that the girls are now allowed to stay home alone from then on. Ramona then tells all the various news to Howie. That evening, Mrs. Quimby assures Ramona that just because she is going to be the middle child doesn't mean she is no longer special.
Trivia[]
- In the book, Mrs. Quimby says, "Children don't watch themselves, they watch TV". Here, she says, "And I don't want you to be tempted to watch television all day".
- In the book, Willa Jean breaks the accordion by sitting on it once. Here, she sits on it twice and spreads it out in between, eventually breaking it when she stretches it out a third time.
- In the book, Beezus says, "But ladies who are going to have babies sometimes throw up in the morning." Here, she says, "Yeah, but ladies who are pregnant sometimes wake up in the morning and want to throw up." Also, in the book it is rice pudding that nauseates Ramona, but here it is pumpkin pie.
- In the book, Ramona tries to get back on Beezus's good side by saying, "I had a bad fall" in a deliberately pitiful voice. She does not do that here.
- In the book, Beezus calls her face "blotchy", while here she calls it "spotty". The line is also delivered at the funeral in the book, but before the funeral in the episode.
- In the book, the girls tell the parents that Picky-Picky died after Mrs. Quimby reveals that she bought cat food. Here, they tell them when the parents wonder why the girls are dirty.
- Ramona's reason for calling Beezus "pizza face" was a variation on "pieface", based on the fact that the family had eaten pizza the night before. In the show, there is no reason given for Ramona calling Beezus "pizza face".