January 6, 2001 – The Recess Episode “Lawson and His Crew” Premieres
“A royal thanks to you, kid who always wins. A royal thanks to you, friend of smart girl.”
On January 6, 2001, the sixty-second episode of the animated series Recess premiered on ABC. The episode, a twenty minute special, was to serve at the series finale, with the fifth season only lasting nine episodes; however, the show would soon be renewed for a sixth and final season. The episode was written by Phil Walsh, and directed by Howy Parkins.
The episode begins with the gang getting medals of royal thanks from King Bob after the gang stopped the school’s plan of making the students wear school uniforms. Amid the celebrations, fifth grader Lawson vents to his friends about how he hates that TJ and the others keep getting recognition, and how he wants some of that glory. He dumps his friends to find a new gang to help him achieve his dreams of victory. Later, TJ and the gang are asked to prevent war between the second and third graders. As they head to the battleground, they are stopped by a fifth grader, who shows them that Lawson is already accomplishing peace between the two grades. Lawson approaches the dumbstruck group and declares that he’s got everything under control with his crew, consisting of Randall, Kurst, Skeens, Swinger Girl, and Menlo.
TJ discusses with his friends the opportunities for pranks while Lawson performs the good deeds
Later, as TJ and his friends are talking, they realize that having Lawson and his crew take over would be a good thing, leaving them with the opportunity to play pranks instead of saving the students. They plan an elaborate prank including a cactus, but find that Lawson’s crew had already played the prank before them. The gang suddenly realizes that they have nothing left to do on the playground. Suddenly, they are alerted that the school has outlawed chocolate milk, and decide to go out there and picket. However, Lawson has once again beaten them to the punch. Lawson and his gang are rewarded by King Bob, and the gang sadly comes to the conclusion that they have been replaced.
As they sit behind the dumpster, a little girl goes over to the gang to ask them for help, but TJ retorts with “what’s the point?” When inspired by Mikey to help the kids of the playground, TJ has a renewed spirit, but that spirit is quickly dashed when, once again, Lawson and his crew have beaten them to the punch. As the kids once again sit dejected, they start question why they did all their good deeds in the first place, figuring that they did it for the glory. Mikey then realizes that it wasn’t for the sake of glory, but because they want to share their friendship with the rest of the kids. Lawson hears from Randall that TJ and his friends are miserable, and wants to go over to gloat. When Lawson and his crew see the gang having fun instead of being down, the crew begins to argue amongst themselves. As Lawson is sent to help the kindergarteners, the crew continues to argue, leading to their inevitable breakup. Lawson is left alone, and TJ with the gang rescuing the kindergarteners and resuming their place in the recess hierarchy. Lawson then reunites with his own friends, and TJ walks off happily with his own gang.
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