"Doug's Runaway Journal" is the first part of the tenth episode of season one of Nickelodeon's Doug.
Synopsis
Doug loses his beloved journal, and is more upset than anything to find out that Roger Klotz has found it, and might expose his innermost thoughts to the rest of Bluffington!
Recap
Intro
In Doug's room, he tells Porkchop, who is listening to music, to put his headphones on while he writes his latest event in his journal. When Doug discovers that his journal is missing, he goes on a search for in and discovers that it is lost.
Main episode
Doug continues to search for his journal, but Judy tells him to "sleep on it", adding that he'll know what to do by morning. Doug still gets negative thoughts as he wonders what would've happened to his journal.
Doug's imagination: At a local junkyard, a bunch of junk are accelerated on a conveyor belt, being crushed by a large boot. Doug's journal is seen on the conveyor belt and calls for help as it is about to be crushed by the boot.
Doug wakes up the next morning to realize that "sleeping on it" was a terrible idea. He takes Porkchop along with him to go outside and retrace his steps. Skeeter comes around and joins in after Doug reminds him of his missing journal. The three buddies go to the Honker Burger and Doug asks a worker via drive thru voice box if his journal was in the restaurant, to which the worker says she hasn't seen it. So Doug checks the library, only for the librarian to tell him that it wasn't seen there either. When the three buddies reach the front of the school building, Doug then realizes that he had it with him at school. So he goes inside and looks around, worrying that someone might have read his personal thoughts.
Doug's imagination: Everybody appears as a large head each adjacent to a much smaller Doug talking about the information he had written down in his journal. Beebe laughs at the fact that Doug thought his mosquito bite was his pimple, Roger mocks him for being afraid of taking the trash can out after dark, and Mr. Bone berates him for writing down that his ears wiggle when he is mad, threatening to put the fact on his permanent record in the process.
Ms. Wingo comes around and after Doug tells her the story, Ms. Wingo tells him that some of the greatest writers have had their journals published, giving them their deepest insights into their genius.
Doug's imagination: Doug has had his book published and at the By the Book store, he is being interviewed, stating that he likes to write about people he knows.
As Ms. Wingo orders him to run to class, Doug feels a little better when he feels that it might not be so bad. When he runs into Patti, he tells her about his missing journal. Patti tells him that she will keep her eyes peeled for it and walks away.
Doug's imagination: Roger and his gang reads an article on the newspaper divulging Doug's love for Patti, thanks to his journal, and laugh at this.
Doug later makes a flyer to let everyone know about his missing journal. He then returns home and attempts to find replacements of his missing journal, using a multicolored paper book and toilet paper. But they both prove to be irreplaceable. He later hears Judy telling him that he got a call from someone at the Honker Burger who has his journal. Doug feels relieved, until he learns that Roger has it, and is horrified that he will reveal his personal secrets to everyone.
Doug's imagination: Roger is reading Doug's written thoughts at the Chuckle Hut speaking in a fake Italian-Brooklyn-like accent. He reads the part where Doug thought he grew hair under his arms, but it turns out it was just grass. He also reads that Doug had to staple the seat of his pants after splitting them. Things get edgy when he tells everyone that Doug is allergic to mustard and likes mayonnaise - Patti Mayonnaise - and the audience heartily laugh.
When Doug confronts Roger at the Honker Burger, the latter is a little more than annoyed because he couldn't reveal Doug's secrets due to not being able to read Doug's handwriting, much to Doug's relief. Roger then offers Doug back his journal, telling him that he should learn how to type right before leaving.
Doug is back in his room, writing about how he missed his journal. As he starts from the beginning, Porkchop's headphones comes off, maximizing the volume of the radio he is listening to, which an annoyed Doug tells him to turn down.
Characters
- Doug Funnie
- Porkchop
- Judy Funnie
- Skeeter Valentine
- Patti Mayonnaise
- Beebe Bluff
- Lamar Bone
- Roger Klotz
- Mrs. Wingo
Trivia
- In this episode, Doug is annoyed by people calling his journal a diary. Ironically, in the episode Doug Can't Dance, he starts his journal entry as "Dear diary."