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"Momdark" | Premiere Order "Copping an Aptitude" |
"A Failed Lab Experiment" | 
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"The Mock Side of the Moon" | Production Order "Copping an Aptitude" |
"A Failed Lab Experiment" |
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| Copping an Aptitude | |
| Season 3, Episode 4a | |
| Episode name reference to/pun on: The idiom "Copping an attitude", meaning to behave rudely. | |
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| Air date | November 30, 2001 |
| Production number | 304a |
| Storyboard by | Kevin Kaliher |
| Directed by | John McIntyre Chris Savino |
Copping an Aptitude is the first segment of the fourth episode in season 3 of Dexter's Laboratory. It first aired on November 30, 2001 as part of Cartoon Network's weekly block Cartoon Cartoon Fridays.
In this episode, Dexter gets sent to college to find that the students prefer to "party now, study later." When Dexter becomes overworked from studying too much, he decides to party when the students all start studying.
Plot[]
Mom and Dad both drop Dexter off at a university, where he goes inside a dormitory and heads to his assigned room where he meets Gabriel, his roommate. In the dining hall, Gabe tells Dexter about a party that's happening that night and invites him to come along. Dexter isn't interested, but Gabe reminds him to take it easy on studying or he'll burn himself out. Later, as Dexter gets adjusted to his college life, he spends most of his time looking for quiet places to study while the other students spent time enjoying themselves. In a dorm room, Dexter tries to study while three other students all play a racing video game. In the men's bathroom, Dexter goes in to study, but finds both a guitarist and a drummer in there playing a song. In the dorm's laundry room, three football players are giving a nerd a spin cycle in a washing machine.
Dexter then went to the resident advisor to file a disturbance complaint, and the advisor subsequently yanks Dexter inside by his ear, where a party was taking place. The advisor then shows everyone his invention: A party hot tub where everyone except Dexter runs inside and gets in. When winter comes, Dexter, after spending so much time studying, finally cracks from the pressure when he runs back to his dorm room and tells Gabe he's ready to party, but Gabe doesn't want to party as he's working on his final paper. Dexter then went around telling the other students it's time to party, only for them to decline.
At the university's central square, Dexter comes up with the idea of using a large didgeridoo that Gabe was working on as a barrier for a hot tub, which he cuts into large pieces and has his robots stick into place. The next day, several students notice the large hot tub that Dexter dives into. Back inside his dorm room, Gabe, after pulling an all-nighter, prepares to save his document, but gets washed away by the water from Dexter's hot tub. The barriers around the hot tub give way, and splashes everyone in range with a torrent of water. Dexter lays on the grass, repetitively saying "Party".
Later, when Mom and Dad came to pick Dexter up, he tells them the only thing he learned in college was "Party now, study later." Dad, disappointed in Dexter, says that he's going back to grade school as he pulls out of the university and drives down the street.
Characters[]
Production[]
"Copping an Aptitude" was directed by John McIntyre and Chris Savino, with Kevin Kaliher serving as storyboarder and David Smith worked as an art director. The episode originally aired on Cartoon Network in the United States on November 30, 2001.
Trivia[]
Production Notes[]
- Although this episode premiered in the United States on November 30, 2001, it was produced the same year according to the credits.
- This episode was finished in June of 2001.[1]
Notes[]
- Another episode when Dexter isn't in his lab.
- Running gag: The college students telling Dexter to shut up when he mentions partying.
Cultural References[]
- In one of the dorm rooms, three students are seen playing a video game that references the Mario Kart series of games.
- "Eat your dust, Toad!" references Toad, a playable character in all Mario Kart installments.
- "Oh yeah? Well, here comes the Leader Shell!" references the Spiny Shell (A.K.A. "Blue Shell), Mario Kart's most infamous item.
- "Here's Lightning for both of you" references the Thunderbolt.
- Near the end of the scene, a sound when entering the second lap on Mario Kart 64 is heard playing.
- The band in the bathroom is a parody of the punk rock band "The Ramones".