Idol Time at the Mall

Idol Time at the Mall is the 10th episode of the series and of the first season. It aired on January 9, 2005, in Canada on Teletoon, and on June 11, 2009, in the United States on Cartoon Network. When a televised musical competition comes to the mall, Wyatt gets his friends to help him win. However, when he wins and gets a chance to perform, none of his friends show up to watch.

Plot
Wyatt is feeling lucky today. The reason? The hottest talent search in the country is coming to the mall, and he's ready to audition. Naturally, his friends are supportive–until Wyatt reveals he wants them to audition as well. Upon hearing this, they start to shy away, as they know that they aren't very good singers. When Wyatt explains that their poor performances will make him look good by comparison, they reluctantly agree, and soon all are signed up for Star Contest. After this, Jude brings up something he's been thinking about: money. Specifically, why not use the barter system instead? At first his friends just think that this is one of Jude's ideas, but when they see that he's actually trying to pay his debts to them with stick-its, they refuse to accept his payment.

The next day, Wyatt has spent the night writing and tightening up a new song with the help of Nikki. The upside is that he thinks the song will play well on Star Contest; the downside is that Nikki has had a lot of coffee and is totally wired–until she comes to the auditions, where she joins her friends in line but has plainly come down off of her caffeine high. When she goes onstage to audition, she does very poorly as she obviously doesn't care at all; however, that does nothing to distinguish her from her friends. Jen sings a poor cover of "Jenny from the Block," Jonesy proves he can't rap, Caitlin shows she can't sing, and Jude plays the turntables–which does not impress the judges. Finally, Wyatt is up, and he goes onstage to play his song.

Wyatt's song is about how cool his friends are. Although the judges aren't impressed by the lyrics, they do think that the melody is good, as is Wyatt's voice. Wyatt wins the competition, and is given the opportunity to open for Utility Pool that night. To make the pot sweeter, he's also able to wrangle front-row tickets for his friends to see the show.

When the gig rolls around, however, Wyatt looks into the audience and finds that only Nikki showed up–and she's asleep. There are explanations: Jen and Caitlin got distracted by a sale at Albatross & Finch, Jude is unable to buy entry using his stick-its, and Jonesy is busy selling merchandise. Wyatt is disappointed by his friends failure to show up, though, and he rewrites the song to call out all of his friends. When he performs this version, the crowd loves it even more than the original.

Later, Wyatt happens upon his friends at the Big Squeeze, and they all apologize to him for missing the show. Wyatt accepts their apologies, but soon the gang start to realize that there's something wrong: Jude gets thrown out of Spin This by Chad because "he sucks," the Clones hate Nikki more than usual, Albatross & Finch refuse to let Caitlin wear their clothes, and Jen gets a ten-minute penalty for wearing a nametag crooked. Soon, Nikki figures out what's happened, and that Wyatt's song is the reason that they're social pariahs.

Upon realizing this, none of the gang are willing to deal with Wyatt except for Jonesy, who is making money through merchandising and wants to be Wyatt's manager. However, even Jonesy doesn't want to hang out with Wyatt too much, as he ditches Wyatt to see a movie with his friends, and eventually Wyatt even loses Jonesy after his song costs Jonesy a chance at picking up a girl.

After seeing all of his friends ditch him, when Wyatt next goes onstage, he performs his original song, much to the shock of the judge and an executive from a record label. As a result, Wyatt doesn't get signed to a recording contract. However, he does get his friends back, and he believes that his friends are at the moment worth more–especially since he'll probably get another chance in the future.

Quotes
Jude: Sure. Wallets will have to change, but without change, we cannot advance as a society. Jonesy: Okay. I'm heading back to the real world now. Later bro. ''NONE OF YOU WERE THERE FOR ME! YOU SUCK!'' Recorded Wyatt: YOU SUCK! Wyatt: (nervous) Jude, how's it going? Chad: Get outta here man, you suck. Nikki: Pariahs. Jude: No, I mean the stuff they want to avoid. Like those fish, with the teeth. Jude: Will kabobs do? Nikki: (to the Clones) You guys are closing the cash tonight, right? Kirsten: Uh, yeah. Check the schedule. Nikki: Kabobs will be fine.
 * Nikki: (on caffeine) Yeah, I gotta get some sleep, because there's night, and after that there's daytime! Your face seems very vivid to me right now.
 * Jonesy: Dude, do you really think anyone will use this as currency?
 * Jonesy: Slide over, sleeping ugly.
 * Rude Judge: Only talent allowed back here! And if memory serves, you're in no danger of falling into that category anytime soon.
 * Wyatt: (singing angrily) Jonesy really is a jerk/Hits on anything in a skirt/Jude thinks he's a dude/He doesn't have a clue!/Caitlin wears a giant lemon/Thinks the shopping mall is heaven/And Jen.../She's just plain rude!/Nikki thinks she's tough/She can't even. WAKE. UP!!! (He stops playing and screams.)
 * Jude: Dude, isn't that your song?
 * Jude: Everybody in the mall's treating us like piranhas!
 * Jonesy: That's it! It is one thing to talk trash about me in your stupid song, but when that stupid song impedes my ability to score chicks, then you have gone too far, my friend!
 * Wyatt: I'll get another chance to be heard.
 * Nikki: (to Jude) And how will you be paying for that, sir?

Trivia
Reason for firing: Wyatt's mean-spirited song turned Jonesy and the others of the main six against him. When Wyatt gave up his chance for stardom to get his friends back, this resulted in Jonesy getting sacked.
 * Jonesy's job: Wyatt's manager and memorabilia seller

Errors

 * In this episode, Nikki has a bad reaction to caffeine, but in the episode "Jonesy's Low Mojo", she drank coffee without feeling any ill effects afterwards.

Episode connections

 * Jonesy's joke about chai soy lattes from the episode "A Lime to Party" is used again in this episode when speaking to the Blonde Wave Girl. In its original appearance, he used that line towards Charmaine.

Cultural references

 * The Star Contest is a parody of televised singing/music programs such as American Idol and The X Factor.
 * The Star Contest are a parody of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson, the original judges of American Idol.
 * Although the judges panel supposedly consists of three judges and three are seen, the Cowell parody is the only one to speak or actually judge.
 * During the competition, Caitlin, Jen, and Nikki sing the following songs, all of which are ringtones for their cell phones:
 * Caitlin sings "Oops, I Did It Again" by Britney Spears. On that note, this song was also referenced to in the title of a later episode.
 * Jen sings "Jenny from the Block" by Jennifer Lopez.
 * Nikki sings the song "Get This Party Started" by P!nk.
 * Jonesy claims that his dad owns a Porsche, but doesn't specify what year, make, or model it is.