Top Ten Episodes of G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero - Number 07

"Once Upon a Joe"
Written by Buzz Dixon

This is probably one of the more widely remembered episodes on my list, probably because it's funny! Stalwart Joe writer Buzz Dixon turns in one of the funniest and most lovable episodes of the show. It has a lot of fun with the standard storytelling format and, despite being a second season episode, stars fan favorite, Jack Nicholson infused Shipwreck.

The episode begins, like so many others, with Cobra attempting to steal a Macguffin weapon, in this case, literally called The MacGuffin Device. For some reason, the laboratory that holds the MacGuffin Device is next to an Orphanage, which unfortunately gets burned down in the ensuing battle. The bulk of the episode is centered around Joes rebuilding the Orphanage. Shipwreck causes a bunch of havoc and shirks the work. He ends up telling the homeless orphans a story while Zartan sneaks around the construction site looking for The MacGuffin Device lost in the previous night's battle.

The story Shipwreck tells, a wacky story starring a fantasized version of himself, is animated in a suitably appropriate Looney Tunes style.

My favorite joke is probably when Leatherneck kicks Shipwreck out of the group of kids, sending him out into the forest to search for mines(?) from the previous battle. Leatherneck takes over the storytelling duties, but all he can think to talk about is different types of artillery which bores and disappoints the children.

Eventually, Zartan disguises himself as Shipwreck and steals The MacGuffin Device, but before he can leave, the kids find him and make him finish the story. Zartan, of course, tells a twisted version of the story in which the bad guys win, which tips off one of the little girls that something is wrong. The girl finds the real Shipwreck tied up in the forest and frees him. Shipwreck finds Zartan just as he's finishing the story and takes back The MacGuffin Device and uses it on the incoming Cobra Raven force. The MacGuffin Device causes Shipwreck's imagination to come to live, and the little cartoon characters from his story defeat Dr. Mindbender by throwing pies in his face.

This is a very silly, tongue in cheek episode. Tonally, it seems to feel more at home with contemporary comedy show The Venture Bros. (which takes obvious influence from G.I. Joe) than with the rest of the 80's catalog. This episode even features two Cobra Vipers that look like prototypes of Henchmen 21 and 24. Said Vipers even have comedically villainous voices often used in The Venture Bros.