Venture Bros.: “Momma’s Boys” (Episode 5.06)

There’s something particularly delightful to how stupid the premises for Venture Bros. sometimes are. Even within that realm, “Momma’s Boys” comes from a ludicrously dumb place and somehow builds an episode around its ridiculousness. That it’s a very good episode, with all of its plots neatly interwoven, is even more of a feat, but it’s hard to get around the fact that the entire episode is based upon Rusty’s best friend being a Teddy Ruxpin bear (or, more accurately speaking, the voice tape of a Teddy Ruxpin) whom he believes to be a real person. It’s just that wonderfully ridiculous.
Of course, this being Venture Bros., it’s not even the first time we’ve had a story featuring a Teddy Ruxpin. But apparently, between now and last season’s “Any Which Way But Zeus?”, in which Dean hid his voice from Rusty by speaking through the Ruxpin, their “friendship” has only improved. At the time, Doc propositioned the doll to let him out of a fake kidnapping, offering first drugs and then to do “things your girlfriend will never do to you.” Since then, Hank has been having the Ruxpin call up Doc and they’ve developed something as close to a relationship as you can get with an inanimate talking bear. Ruxpin’s constant talk of rainbows, though, has done little to convince Rusty he’s gone clean, and when his companion stops calling, Rusty pulls out all the stops to go rescue his non-existent friend from a non-existent jam. You know, like they do on any other show.