Live-Action Plot: Luigi bonks his brother over the head with a pipe, which promptly confuses Mario enough to make him think he is a chicken. The green one calls up “head doctor” Sigmund Fruitcake for help. The doctor manages to convince Mario that he is not a chicken by instead making him believe he is a monkey. Luigi doesn’t think this is good enough, however, as chicken Mario would at least provided eggs. Eventually, Mario is talked out of being both a chicken and a monkey, and returns to his senses.

Very Special Guest: Sigmund Fruitcake is, of course, a lazy Sigmund Freud parody. He talks with what might, in some child’s mind, vaguely resemble a German accent, he’s bald, and he has some facial hair.

Animated Plot: Mario, Luigi, Toad, and the Princess head to a benefit dinner for orphaned mushrooms, but things are not what they seem. It turns out the Roman style coliseum holding the event is run by Emperor Augustus Septemberus Octoberus Koopa (that is to say, King Koopa), and he’s set the whole thing up as a trap for our noble plumbers. Over the course of the episode, both orphan mushrooms and spaghetti are repeatedly mentioned, which prompts me to wonder about the conflation of mushrooms as food and living, humanoid beings in the Mario universe. Are the mushrooms Mario eats related to the ones who repeatedly help him on his quests? Are there orphan mushrooms in the spaghetti sauce? How would Toad taste?

Horrible Stereotype Alert: After a disappointingly inoffensive episode last week, I am thrilled to report that the fat jokes have “rebounded.” The whole plot of the animated episode revolves around Mario’s unceasing appetite. When his food intake is threatened by a plumbing problem, Mario declares “we can fix anything, if there’s spaghetti involved.”