Welcome back to Teeny Bopper TV Breakdown! Today we recap Radio Free Roscoe, episode 13, “Sports Ray-dio.” And just in time for the end of RFR season 1, TBTB is going on an indefinite hiatus: Funemployment ends tomorrow, and since this started as a funemployment project, that means changes are coming around here too. So without further adieu, our last episode for probably at least a little while.

Immediately after an RFR recording, Ray expresses his frustration with the show’s low listenership and having to keep his identity secret - he wants his fans to know who he is! Travis plays an applause-and-cheers sound effect; while that’s not enough for Ray, who then races off with Robbie to the Cougar basketball game, it’s a good stand-in for Lily, who strums her guitar and shouts “Good night Roscoe, I love you!”

Robbie and Ray hang around in the gym after the game, pretending to commentate themselves shooting the winning basket. Kim Carlisle catches them, but instead of teasing them about it, she says that Cougar Radio is looking for a basketball reporter and asks Ray if he’s interested. Robbie tries to interject and say Ray would never work for the enemy, but Ray stays quiet as Kim tells him to think about it - seems he will.

Looks like Ray took Kim up on her offer - he’s broadcasting over the intercom for a whole two minutes as the other three sit in the cafeteria perplexed. It doesn’t help that Ray totally checks out of that afternoon’s RFR broadcast as he preps for the next day’s “Basket Babble,” forcing Travis to pick up the slack.

After fellow freshman Todd Bell scores the winning basket in the Cougars’ next game, Ray is able to snag him as a guest on Basket Babble, which scores him a Cougar Radio varsity jacket from Kim Carlisle. And after that, Ray gets lunch with Todd, forgetting that he’d had plans with Robbie. Robbie’s confidence that Ray will be back to his normal self soon may be waning…

Sure enough, Ray is late to that afternoon’s RFR, and doesn’t even go on air - he only stopped by to let them know he has to go do an interview for Cougar Radio so can’t do his segment. He tries to bribe them for forgiveness with drinks (don’t worry, just coffee, hot chocolate and tea) at Mickey’s later, swearing on their friendship that he’ll give RFR his undivided attention, but of course that’s when some of the basketball team comes in. Robbie and Lily tell Ray to go ahead and sit with them, so he does after double-checking that it’s okay, but this might be a situation where even though they said “yes” he probably should have taken it as a “no.”

Ray’s a Cougar Radio hit, so Kim tells him he needs to start going on the air after school. He tries to say “no” for about a minute so he can keep doing RFR too, but as soon as a girl draws a heart on the radio booth window, he caves and tells Kim he’s in. He goes on that very afternoon, as a perturbed Robbie and Lily listen to his broadcast from the RFR studio.

Robbie winds up confronting Ray at Mickey’s, saying, “I’ve been your best friend your entire life. We’ve been through everything together, and now you’re acting like you have no use for me or RFR anymore.” Ray doesn’t take it well, as he responds, “I’m sorry you can’t even be happy for me. It must suck to see your best friend become a radio star when that’s all you’ve ever wanted to do.” Robbie insists he’s not jealous, as Cougar Radio gives you no freedom to tell the truth. Ray doesn’t see it that way and likes that when he’s on Cougar Radio, everyone knows who he is, but Robbie’s answer to that is, “Everyone but me.”

The Cougars lose for the first time since Ray started giving his takes, and the team is NOT happy with his on-air post-game analysis. While he’s broadcasting, they come in and wrap him up like a mummy, tying him to his chair, which is apparently a pretty typical hazing ritual for them. Our other three teens hear it from the RFR studio, and Robbie immediately leaves to go check on his friend, even as he’s upset with him (Travis had a little talk with him earlier that maybe stuck more than he realized).

Kim finds Ray first, yet somehow isn’t upset with what the team did. Ray tries to say he was just telling the truth, but Kim says, “The key word at Cougar Radio is ‘cougar.’ We don’t say bad things about our teams.”

Eventually, Ray somehow gets himself untied and finds Todd in the gym. He tries to apologize, saying he rags on his friends when they screw up sometimes, but all Todd can say is, “No offense, but what makes you think we’re friends?” As Todd leaves, Robbie comes in and starts an apology of his own, sharing that he was a little jealous. Ray reciprocates, saying that in his efforts to rise to the top, he’s realized that “being a somebody makes you a nobody if you can’t tell it like it is.”

Travis and Lily are on air by themselves, and let’s just say the conversation skills of the other two are SORELY missed, so Robbie’s and Ray’s return comes at just the right time.

Thanks for being here! We may eventually be back on Teeny Bopper TV Breakdown.

Get full access to Teeny Bopper TV Breakdown at hannamfogel.substack.com/subscribe