Louie Anderson and Mike Grunewald have been best friends since the day they exited their mother's wombs. Um... define friend. Mike is always teasing Louie and taking advantage of him, but in retrospect, he almost qualifies as a friend, so I guess he'll do. Andy and Earl Grunewald have been bosom buddies for many years too, working side by side at John Doe. However, something happened one fine day that would shake the very fabric of their universe. On this day, conveniently a Take Your Kid to Work day, they would be announcing a big promotion at the plant, and I think we can already guess who is NOT getting it. You've seen this story many times before. It's Earl, not Andy, who gets promoted to upper middle management. Well, that just bites, getting passed over for a promotion right in front of your child. Well, if you think a promotion wasn't going to change Earl or his son, think again. He struts around the tractor factory like he owned the place and bragged to his former co-workers about the executive washroom, while Mike showed off his brand spankin' new Nightsniffer lunch box with chocolate milk! Brown gold, Holland tea! So, after Grunewald brags to the other kids about going skiing that weekend, Louie tries to show him up by saying he and his family always went skiing and that they're won numerous events. Therefore, the Grunewalds invite the Andersons along with them, mostly in hopes that Louie could teach Mike how to ski. Ha ha, oh Louie, you just bought about ten dozen double-glazed, double-filled donuts from the bakery of lies, and you're about to get a serious stomach ache. En route to Winter Wonderland, Andy complains about Earl's promotion and knows this whole trip was just to toy with him, and Louie eventually confesses about his lying to the Grunewalds that they were expert skiers. As a result, Ora tells him that as soon as they get there, he would come clean and admit the whole thing was a filthy lie. And then what? Drive all the way home? It'll be a pretty short episode if we can't watch Louie and Andy try to ski and fall on their asses. Oh, don't worry, we'll get plenty of Anderson ski slapstick in good time.
Louie's lie spread like wildfire, and the Grunewalds' friends want to meet the world-famous skiers and witness the magic themselves. I think perhaps he should change his name to Lou-nocchio. Every time he tells a lie, his stomach grows. Oh, but we all know what a braggart Andy can be, and so he goes along with Louie's fib, even adding his own fictional feats to the tale. The truth will out eventually, and it won't be more apparent than when the Andersons actually try to ski. First up, Louie is entered in the expert level ski competition, even giving him the nickname "Iceman," because he's a real... top gun. So, down the hill the Iceman goeth. He trips over a rock and slams into a tree, but he still won. Lady Luck is on his side, but will she be as generous with Andy? Unfortunately not, as right when Earl correctly suspects Andy has no idea what he's doing (gee, what gave it away?) his loud voice triggered an avalanche. So after accidentally winning his second ski competition in a row, Louie heads up to the final jump with Mike, and when something has "Dead Man" in the title, you know it isn't good. As they headed for the summit in the ski lift, Louie comes clean about never been skiing in his life and only bragged because Mike was waving his chocolate milk in his face. As they fight, Grunewald accidentally knocks one of Louie's skis off, which ends up jamming the works, breaking the fan belt and causing the lift to because a roller coaster, sending the kids on a wild ride. All the while, Andy and Earl bicker endlessly about the latter's promotion and that Andy practically invented widgets, as he's a world-class widget spinner... er, tightener. Seeing their sons in jeopardy made them set aside their differences and run to the rescue. Luckily it's the widget in the mechanism that was causing the ruckus, so both men work together and get it shut down. With everything okay, Anderson and Grunewald fathers and sons make amends and are all friends again. After that, everyone hung up their skis and things went back to normal, and because of a new Deus Ex Machina policy at the plant, Earl was given his old job back. All was well... until Grunewald announced an upcoming rafting trip and, well, because Louie didn't learn a thing from last time, history was about to repeat itself.
While this episode isn't as enjoyable or entertaining as the others, it's still fun to watch and has a very good message about friendship, and about how bragging and lying can get you in serious trouble. Me, personally, I've never been skiing and I don't think I'll attempt it any time soon, but if that's the sport for you, then go for it. I think we can agree that both the Andersons and Grunewalds have their differences and their faults, but when the chips were down, they sure knew how to put them aside. It was also humorous at how gullible the Grunewalds and their friends were, buying Louie's ski lies and thinking Ora's simple winter coat was a European fashion statement. Well, maybe it was, I don't know one fashion from another. So, if you like skiing and want to see more Life With Louie snow follies, then go along on an Anderson Ski Weekend... bring a parachute.
Louie's lie spread like wildfire, and the Grunewalds' friends want to meet the world-famous skiers and witness the magic themselves. I think perhaps he should change his name to Lou-nocchio. Every time he tells a lie, his stomach grows. Oh, but we all know what a braggart Andy can be, and so he goes along with Louie's fib, even adding his own fictional feats to the tale. The truth will out eventually, and it won't be more apparent than when the Andersons actually try to ski. First up, Louie is entered in the expert level ski competition, even giving him the nickname "Iceman," because he's a real... top gun. So, down the hill the Iceman goeth. He trips over a rock and slams into a tree, but he still won. Lady Luck is on his side, but will she be as generous with Andy? Unfortunately not, as right when Earl correctly suspects Andy has no idea what he's doing (gee, what gave it away?) his loud voice triggered an avalanche. So after accidentally winning his second ski competition in a row, Louie heads up to the final jump with Mike, and when something has "Dead Man" in the title, you know it isn't good. As they headed for the summit in the ski lift, Louie comes clean about never been skiing in his life and only bragged because Mike was waving his chocolate milk in his face. As they fight, Grunewald accidentally knocks one of Louie's skis off, which ends up jamming the works, breaking the fan belt and causing the lift to because a roller coaster, sending the kids on a wild ride. All the while, Andy and Earl bicker endlessly about the latter's promotion and that Andy practically invented widgets, as he's a world-class widget spinner... er, tightener. Seeing their sons in jeopardy made them set aside their differences and run to the rescue. Luckily it's the widget in the mechanism that was causing the ruckus, so both men work together and get it shut down. With everything okay, Anderson and Grunewald fathers and sons make amends and are all friends again. After that, everyone hung up their skis and things went back to normal, and because of a new Deus Ex Machina policy at the plant, Earl was given his old job back. All was well... until Grunewald announced an upcoming rafting trip and, well, because Louie didn't learn a thing from last time, history was about to repeat itself.
While this episode isn't as enjoyable or entertaining as the others, it's still fun to watch and has a very good message about friendship, and about how bragging and lying can get you in serious trouble. Me, personally, I've never been skiing and I don't think I'll attempt it any time soon, but if that's the sport for you, then go for it. I think we can agree that both the Andersons and Grunewalds have their differences and their faults, but when the chips were down, they sure knew how to put them aside. It was also humorous at how gullible the Grunewalds and their friends were, buying Louie's ski lies and thinking Ora's simple winter coat was a European fashion statement. Well, maybe it was, I don't know one fashion from another. So, if you like skiing and want to see more Life With Louie snow follies, then go along on an Anderson Ski Weekend... bring a parachute.
