Sam Spud: Par-Boiled Potato Detective

Sam Spud is the spoof of the Sam Spade detective stories, after it segued into What's Cooking? With Theo and Cleo, this segment portrays a par-boiled potato who types out the voice-over narration typical of film noir on a late night, making and correcting typographical errors that demonstrate word sounds.

This segment makes heavy use of sight gags based on wordplay (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 wearing a costume; or a neon sign that blinks the words "Bright" and "Dark", "Flicker Flicker", "On" and "Off", "Crackle Crackle", "The Fritz", "Endless Endless", "Buzz Buzz", "Flash Flash", "Loose Bulb", "Zap Zap", "Eek Eek", and "Creak Creak").

In most cases, the segments would end with a live-action boy or girl 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 offscreen telling her child not to worry and that it's educational television, so it must be good for him/her. On one occasion, it ends with the mother telling it is not nice to say one of the words.

Segments

• raw hamburger
• terrible pickle
• cool as a cucumber
• real jam
• tomato [knock at my door]
• bad eggs
• frozen ham
• banana [orange]
• lemon [kid]
• real peach
• masher in the neighborhood
• slippery as an eel

Incorrect Words

• raw humbarger
• terrible pockle
• cowl as a cucumber
• real jim
• knuck at my door
• bad iggs
• Same Spud
• binini [orange]
• kud [lemon]
• real pooch
• neighbor in the masherhood
• slippery as an owl

Appearances

• The Lost Rock
• Farmer Ken's Puzzle
• Shooting Stars
• Touching the Moon
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf
• To the Ship! To the Ship!
• The Chap with Caps
• Lionel's Great Escape Trick
• Hug, Hug, Hug!
• The Ram in the Pepper Patch
• The Old Man
• A King and His Hawk
• The Roar That Makes Them Run
• The Fox and the Crow
• Be Bop
• Teacher's Pet
• The Last Cliff Hanger
• Quest! Quest! Quest!
• Tweet! Tweet!
• It's Red! It's Green!/Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
• The Three Legged Pot/When Jabo Jammed

Trivia

• The girl calling the quote of a TV from a variation, "Mom, there's a talking potato with a hat on, and no mouth!", from Farmer Ken's Puzzle, Touching the Moon, Hug, Hug, Hug!, and The Roar That Makes Them Run.
• The girl calling the quote of a TV from a variation, "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.
• The boy (a girl in Shooting Stars) calling the quote of a TV from a variation, "Mom, there's a talking potato on a stick with a hat on, and no mouth!", from The Fox and the Crow.
• The girl calling the quote of a TV from a varation. "Mom, there's a potato talking to a dumb-looking pickle with a zipper on it!", from The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
• The boy calling the quote of a TV from a variation. "Mom, there's a talking potato, and he's got no mouth, and he's doing the knock-knock jokes!", from The Chap With Caps, and The Old Man.
• The mother calling the quote from a girl watching a TV from a variation, "It's educational television, dear! Remember, sometimes things that are good for us are hard to swallow!", from The Lost Rock.
• The mother calling the quote from a girl watching a TV from a variation, "Don't worry, sweetie. It's educational television. It must be good for you.", from Farmer Ken's Puzzle, and Shooting Stars.
• The mother calling the quote from a girl watching a TV from a variation, "That's okay, dear. It's educational television. I'm sure it will help you in school, somehow.", from Touching the Moon, The Chap With Caps, The Old Man, The Fox and the Crow, and Be Bop.
• The mother calling the quote from a girl watching a TV from a variation, "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.
• The mother calling the quote from a girl watching a TV from a variation, "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.