Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law/Death by Chocolate

Death by Chocolate
Season 1, Episode 4
Airdate	July 14, 2002
Production Number	10-04
Written by	Michael Ouweleen Erik Richter
Directed by	Ben Jones
← 1x03 Shaggy Busted	1x05 → Shoyu Weenie
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law — Season One

Death by Chocolate is the fourth episode of the first season of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and the fourth episode overall. Boo Boo Bear is arrested by the ATF as a suspect in the Unabooboo terrorist strikes.

Guest Stars: Tom Kenny (Boo Boo), Maurice LaMarche (Yogi Bear), Steve Landesberg (Doctor Quincy), Frank Welker (Avenger/Fed 1/Juror), Erik Richter (Yogi No. 2), Ken Brady (Cop No. 1), Luca Magnanini (Cop No. 2), Matt Peccini (Bear)

Plot Overview

In Jellystone Park, Yogi and Boo Boo are subdued by an ATF squad who has evidence that one of them is a wanted domestic terrorist.

Harvey is called in to Phil Ken Sebben's office and is assigned to defend Boo Boo Bear at the trial for sending explosive devices to corporate heads under the guise of the "Unabooboo." At the trial, Reducto puts forward the argument that Boo Boo is an anti-social beast who rejected society in order to plot against the society which has spurned him. Reducto claims that Boo Boo confessed, but a live action segment shows that he was brutally coerced into confessing by the police. Birdman proves that Boo-Boo couldn't have committed the crimes he was accused of because he couldn't possibly type the letters in evidence without electricity. He also proves that Yogi, Boo Boo's friend and cavemate, can't read and it's likely that Boo Boo can't either.

Despite Boo Boo's testimony that corporations need to be destroyed by "any force necessary," he is acquitted of the crimes he was charged with. But, Birdman discovers a generator and a typewriter in Boo Boo's cave after inexplicably staying the night there. Although the typewriter doesn't have a misaligned T, Birdman misaligns it on purpose and recoils in horror. He flees the cave and hides in his room from Boo Boo, who only wants to give him a cookie bouquet. Birdman shoots the bear with his ray beam and cries on Phil's shoulder. Yogi declares that Birdman is going to pay, but they all wind up laughing about it (including the "dead" Boo Boo).

Trivia

The Show

• First Appearance: Phil Ken Sebben makes his first appearance in the series in this episode. He is based off of Falcon 7, from the Blue Falcon cartoons, and is voiced by Stephen Colbert.

Behind the Scenes

• Production Studio: This episode is the final one produced by Allied Arts and Science.

Allusions and References

• Yogi Bear: Yogi and Boo Boo Bear are the main characters from The Yogi Bear Show, a Hanna-Barbera cartoon about two bears that live in a national park called Jellystone. The two (mostly Yogi) get into trouble with Ranger Smith when they pull stunts like bothering the visitors and stealing their picnic baskets. The two originally appeared as a segment in The Huckleberry Hound Show but grew out of it when they became popular.

• Unabomber: Boo Boo's alias, "The Unabooboo," is a reference to the Unabomber, otherwise known as Ted Kaczynski. The Unabomber targeted large corporations and also attempted to bring down corporate society with booby-trapped packages and lived off the grid in a shack. Although Boo Boo was acquitted, the actual Unabomber was not and was sentenced to life in prison.

• Jagged Edge: The entire plot of the episode is a riff on 1986's Jagged Edge starring Jeff Bridges as the accused killer and Glenn Close as his girlfriend / defense lawyer. It also features a typewriter with elevated Ts, and a more or less beat-for-beat climactic break-in and showdown.