Sam Spud: Par-Boiled Potato Detective

Sam Spud: Par-Boiled Potato Detective (or The Adventures of Sam Spud: Par-Boiled Potato Detective) is a recurring segment from Between the Lions. The segment stars a potato-headed private investigator named Sam Spud, and is a parody of the Sam Spade detective stories by Dashiell Hammett. The segment makes heavy use of sight gags based on word play (''such as the narrator referring to the entrance of a "tomato" — 1930s slang for an attractive woman — who is revealed to be a real tomato).

Another running gag involves a neon sign outside Sam's office window that literally blinks words and phrases which initially seem to be turns of phrase used by Sam. For example, after Sam remarks on the endless blinking, the sign is revealed to be blinking the word "Endless."

Also Sam had a partner name "precious" as Sam referred to her. He also some time's he'll say she's a real peach [a slang that phrase some one very pleasant and likeable] probably Sam likes her.

Sam Spud is voiced by series co-creator Michael K. Frith and Precious Peach is voiced by puppeteer Jennifer Barnhart.

In most cases, the segments would end with a real-life girl or boy watching Sam Spud on television and calling out to his or her mother that "There's a talking potato with a hat on and no mouth!" (or some variation), and the mother calling from off-screen telling the kid not to worry because it's educational television, so it must be good for him/her or it's good for him/her. On one occasion, a segment ends with a mother telling a girl never to say the word "dumb" after she uses the word to describe a pickle with a zipper on it. These ending sequences were phased out after Season 1.

The Sam Spud segments became rarer in Season 2, and mostly disappeared after that.

The segment frequently follows installments of "What's Cooking? with Theo and Cleo" in episodes of the show.

Inside the Office

 * Cool as a Cucumber [cowl or cool]
 * A Couple of Really Bad Eggs [not really bad iggs]
 * Raw Hamburger [Humbarger or Hamburger]
 * A Terrible Pickle with a Zipper on It [pickle, not pockle]
 * A Real Jam [not real jim]
 * A Real Ham and Her Name was Honey Glaze [Same Spud or Same Spud]
 * A Real Tomato [knuck at my door or knock at my door]
 * Orange [Banana, not Binini]
 * A Real Lemon Holding a Box of Cookies [the kid walked in, not the kud walked in]

Outside of the Office

 * Nutty as a Fruitcake [real pooch or real peach]
 * French Fry [masher in the neighborhood, not neighbor in the masherhood]
 * Slippery as an Eel [not slippery as an owl]

At the Library

 * Sam Spud: Par-Boiled Potato Detective with Lionel Lion [knuck at the door or knock at the door]

Correct Words and Names

 * eggs
 * pickle
 * jam
 * Banana
 * kid
 * masher in the neighborhood
 * eel

Incorrect Words and Names

 * iggs [only a false word]
 * pockle [only a false word]
 * jim [only a false word]
 * Binini [only a false word]
 * kud [only a false word]
 * neighbor in the masherhood [only a false word]
 * owl

Choose a Word and Name

 * cowl or cool
 * Humbarger or Hamburger
 * Same or Sam
 * knuck or knock
 * pooch or peach

Appearances

 * 1) The Lost Rock
 * 2) Farmer Ken's Puzzle
 * 3) Shooting Stars
 * 4) Touching the Moon
 * 5) The Boy Who Cried Wolf
 * 6) To the Ship! To the Ship!
 * 7) The Chap with Caps
 * 8) Lionel's Great Escape Trick (without the girl watching TV in the end)
 * 9) Hug, Hug, Hug!
 * 10) The Ram in the Pepper Patch
 * 11) The Lucky Duck (without only Sam Spud: Par-Boiled Potato Detective)
 * 12) The Old Man
 * 13) A King and His Hawk
 * 14) The Roar That Makes Them Run
 * 15) The Fox and the Crow
 * 16) Be Bop
 * 17) Teacher's Pet
 * 18) The Last Cliff Hanger
 * 19) Quest, Quest, Quest! (without the girl watching TV in the end)
 * 20) Tweet! Tweet!
 * 21) It's Red! It's Green!/Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (without the boy watching TV in the end)
 * 22) The Three Legged Pot/When Jabo Jammed (without the boy watching TV in the end)
 * 23) Stone Soup / Bee-Bim Bop! (without the boy watching TV in the end)

Dialogue variations (Kids)

 * Girl: "Mom, there's that talking potato with no mouth again. This incessant word play's making me queasy.", from The Lost Rock and Be Bop.
 * Girl: "Mom! There's a talking potato with a hat on, and no mouth!", from Farmer Ken's Puzzle, Touching the Moon and Hug, Hug, Hug!.
 * Girl: "Mom! There's a talking potato on a stick... with a hat on, and no mouth!", from Shooting Stars and The Ram in the Pepper Patch.
 * Girl: "Mom! There's a potato talking to a dumb-looking pickle with a zipper on it!", from The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
 * Girl: "Mom! There's a talking potato... with a hat on, and no mouth!", from The Roar That Makes Them Run.
 * Boy: "Mom, there's a talking potato with no mouth... and a talking jam jar! What's going on?", from To the Ship! To the Ship! and A King and His Hawk.
 * Boy: "Mom, there's a talking potato, and he's got no mouth, and he's doing knock-knock jokes!", from The Chap with Caps and The Old Man. This boy also makes a brief appearance in The Lucky Duck, where he tells his mother, "Mom, there's a statue with a duck coming out of the top of his head!".
 * Boy: "Mom, there's a talking potato on a stick with a hat on, and no mouth!", from The Fox and the Crow.

Dialogue variations (Kid's mothers)

 * "It's educational television, dear! Remember, sometimes things that are good for us are hard to swallow!", from The Lost Rock.
 * "Don't worry, sweetie. It's educational television. It must be good for you.", from Farmer Ken's Puzzle, Shooting Stars, To the Ship! To the Ship!, and A King and His Hawk.
 * "That's okay, dear. It's educational television. I'm sure it will help you in school... somehow.", from Touching the Moon.
 * "Don't worry, sweetie. It's educational television. It's good for you. And you shouldn't say "dumb". It's not nice.", from The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
 * "That's okay, dear. It's educational television. I'm sure it will help you in school, somehow.", from The Chap with Caps, The Old Man, The Fox and the Crow, and Be Bop.
 * "Don't worry, sweetie. It's educational television. It's good for you.", from Hug, Hug, Hug!, The Ram in the Pepper Patch, and The Roar That Makes Them Run.
 * "Why a duck?", from The Lucky Duck.

List of Food Items and Animals

 * spud or potato 🥔
 * cucumber 🥒
 * eggs 🥚🥚
 * hamburger 🍔
 * pickle Pickle.jpg
 * jam Raspberry jam.png
 * ham Canned ham.jpg
 * honey 🍯
 * tomato 🍅
 * orange 🍊
 * lemon 🍋
 * pooch 🐶
 * peach 🍑
 * fruitcake Fruitcake.jpg
 * French fry 🍟
 * eel Eel.jpg

Trivia

 * The stock clips of Slippery as an Eel and Nutty as a Fruitcake flies around during the virus in The Good Seed.

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