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"Local News Legend" is the fourth episode in Season Seven (and one hundred and eighty fifth overall) of Regular Show. It first aired on August 20, 2015.

Synopsis[]

Margaret wants to host a weekly segment on the local nightly news, catching bad guys. But her co-worker Jackie brings big trouble to the news.

Plot[]

The episode begins with a meeting being held at the Channel 6 News Studio. After Margaret gives the station manager a coffee, the manager gives the final announcement of the meeting. He states that everybody on Channel 6 is doing such a great job, that he announces that he wants everybody to look for a good story with that “Wow!” factor. He explains that whoever gets the best footage will get their own weekly news segment on Channel 6. Once everybody leaves, Margaret, Frank Smith, and Frank Smith’s co-worker, Jackie Carmichael, are left alone in the room. Jackie declares that she’s going to win the weekly news segment, mainly because she never missed a day of work and winning a traffic award. Frank Smith thinks that Margaret would win, despite Margaret being hesitant first, before thinking that it would be amazing. Frank encourages Margaret by stating that he was able to fly Chopper 6 before getting his pilot’s license and not wearing contacts. Learning that Frank never gave up, Margaret decides to go for it.

At Eileen’s house, Margaret is explaining to Mordecai, Rigby, and Eileen that she needs an idea for a good weekly segment, something that has a “Wow!” factor. Eileen suggest something cerebral, like a think place. Interested, Margaret asks for more ideas, and Mordecai and Rigby suggest car chases because of how the policemen are always tell the dirt bags to exit their cars when they’re caught. Upon hearing “dirt bags,” Margaret decides to go as an undercover reporter. Back at Channel 6, Margaret tells the idea to Frank, and thinks of calling it “Margaret Always Mar-gets the Bad Guy.” Despite not liking the title, Frank thinks that the idea is great. Jackie comes into scene, and thinks Frank should reconsider his decision to not let Margaret go undercover because of the high mortality rates for undercover reporters. However, Frank believes that her daughter has the courage for such a dangerous task. Frank informs Margaret that the news station has an anonymous-tip hotline that could possibly help Margaret. Del Hanlon claims that the hotline helped him.

Late at night, Margaret is sitting in front of a phone, bored when it doesn’t ring. Margaret’s cell phone chimes, it turns out to be Mordecai, who asks if she got anything yet. After replying with no, he sends some ACSII art of him waving. Fascinated at the image, the phone finally rings, and Margaret quickly answers it. On the other side, a deep distorted voice tells Margaret to meet him at a parking lot. Accepting the offer, Margaret heads there. At the parking lot, Margaret meets the tipster in an alley. The tipster asks Margaret if she’s ever heard of Cheezer’s. Replying with yes, the tipster hands Margaret a piece of paper that claims that the restaurant is using meat in a vegetarian sandwich. Suddenly, the tipster vanishes.

At Cheezer’s, Margaret, under the disguise of an old woman, walks up to the counter, removes her disguise, and shows the cashier the paper, declaring that she busted them. However, the cashier corrects Margaret by saying that the memo was wrong, and shows an ad that promotes the real message: “Grade-A Meat-LESS products.

Margaret, humiliated at what happened yesterday, claims that she could no longer visit that Cheezer’s because of the humiliation and states that she now has to go the one across town. The phone rings, and the tipster is on the other line. Margaret asks if he has anything good because the Cheezer’s story was a bust. The tipster claims he has something better. He tells her to meet him at the same parking lot tomorrow at 10:00. The tipster, hiding in a cardboard dumpster, tells Margaret that the park manager (Benson) is using taxpayer money to run a secret gambling ring. Margaret however, doesn’t believe him, because she knows the park workers, but convinces her wrong by giving her an image depicting Skips as a blackjack dealer.

Margaret, now disguised as a man reading a newspaper on bench, overhears Benson and Skips‘ conversation. She hears the following:

Benson: Yeah. This one is the best gambler in town.
Skips: Nice. How much did he run ya?
Benson: Couple hundred. But I got something out of it. (shows a large stack of money) Read ‘em and weep.
Skips: (fascinated) Ho, ho, ho! Does he count cards?
Benson: Does a full house beat a straight?

Margaret comes out her suit and interrogates the two. Margaret thinks that the two are running a secret gambling ring using taxpayer's money, however, the money Benson was showing was the rebate he got after buying a new lawnmower, surprisingly called “The Gambler.” When she asks about the counting cards, Benson corrects her by telling her that they were talking about employee ID cards, which are used to start The Gambler, no keys required. Still not believing them, Margaret shows the picture, and Skips tells her that the photo was from their community casino night. All the evidence finally hits Margaret, and declares that they aren’t gamblers, and that the tipster gave her bad info again.

At the Coffee Shop, Margaret explains to Mordecai, Rigby, and Eileen about her unsuccessful attempts. Eileen suggests that Margaret do something more simple like a cooking show. Margaret reminds her that the studio wants a story with a “Wow!” factor, not a “Hmm…” factor. Suddenly, the tipster texts Margaret for the first time. The text reads “Got another tip for you. THE BIGGEST ONE YET. URGENT!!!”

At the same parking lot, the tipster, in a truck tells Margaret that the coffee they sell at the Coffee Shop is all fake. Margaret, not believing the story, tells the tipster that what he said isn’t true, because of the fact that she used to work at the Coffee Shop. Believing that Margaret is not accepting his tip, the tipsters suggests that Margaret leave, but as he tells her to do so, a voice box falls out of his jacket, suddenly changing his deep, garbled voice to a more feminine voice. Noticing the change in voice, Margaret tells the tipster to talk. The tipster, still in his feminine voice, tells Margaret to go away. Margaret, now really suspicious, tears off the costume on the tipster, revealing it to be Jackie Carmichael. With her plan revealed, Jackie declares that she refuses to let Margaret win the weekly news segment. Margaret, one step ahead of Jackie, has secretly recorded the whole thing with a video camera she hid under her ascot. Margaret declares that once she reveals this footage to the news station, Jackie is sure to permanently lose her job. Margaret calls over a news van with a cameraman, and they dash off. Jackie, infuriated, begins to chase after them.

As Jackie recklessly advances towards the news van, Margaret quickly places the video camera’s SD card into a laptop to transfer the data to Channel 6. Margaret then sets up a camera in front of her, and goes live. At Channel 6, Margaret’s report is shown on the monitors and begs the manager not to cut her off, as she has critical information. She reports that Jackie is on a hot pursuit with her because she’s holding evidence that will ruin Jackie’s career. Channel 6 workers, Benson, Skips, Mordecai, Rigby, and Eileen all witness this report, and Margaret claims that she joined the local news because it informed and helped people, and told everybody the truth, not to create fake stories just for personal gain. Frank, who also witnesses the report, heads towards Chopper 6 to help her.

As the SD card continues to download the footage into the laptop, Jackie climbs out of her truck, and jumps onto the news van. The driver attempts to shake her off. But just as everything seems normal, Jackie grabs onto the driver, and throws him out the window, seemingly killing him. As a panicking Margaret heads to the driver seat to take control of the van, Jackie furiously tears off the roof of the van, somehow possessing superhuman strength, much to the horror of Eileen, Mordecai and Rigby.

Luckily, Frank arrives on Chopper 6, and activates a missile that launches towards Jackie. However, Jackie has survived the strike, and with a hole on her body, fuses back together (like the T-1000 from Terminator). Jackie jumps into the van, and informs Margaret that she’s from the future. She tells her that she was sent back in time to destroy local news, because in the future it’s an embarrassment, like a blemish sticking out. She claims that local news is just people reading interesting info that could be found on the internet. Jackie tries to persuade Margaret to give her the footage, and she claims that everything that has happened will all disappear. Seeing the rescue ladder fall behind, Margaret gives in, and hands Jackie the laptop with the downloaded footage. Seeing Margaret escape on Chopper 6 while reciting her quote “Margaret Always Mar-Gets the Bad Guy,” Jackie claims that she will never get used to that name. Suddenly, because no one was behind the wheel, the van slams onto a highway barrier, causing the van to explode, and 'killing' Jackie for good. Mordecai, Rigby, Eileen, and the Channel 6 workers celebrate Margaret’s success, and CJ, who was watching the report, couldn't care less due to her dislike for Margaret, and immediately changes the channel.

Inside Chopper 6, Margaret is amazed that the helicopter had a missile, but Frank informs her that they just had one. Margaret claims that she never knew that Jackie was a robot, much to hers and Frank’s surprise. Despite a cameraman getting killed, and the destruction of the van costing the news station millions worth of dollars, Frank is proud of Margaret.

At the destruction of the van, where firefighters, medics, and the police investigate, a small silver blob slithers away, revealing that Jackie hasn’t been killed completely, and possibly indicating that Jackie might return very soon.

Characters[]

S7E04 Local News Legend Credits

Locations[]

Trivia[]

  • Jackie Carmichael reveals that she is a robot sent from the future to destroy local news, because in the future, it's considered to be an embarrassment.
  • Towards the end of the episode, Frank shoots Jackie with a missile, but manages to survive the shots, revealing a hole of a fluid, regenerating her body.
    • In the end, after she was left to die inside the car, crashed into the dead end, and the characters thought she was killed off for good, but she is then regenerated as a small fluid and moves off-screen.
  • Margret reveals that there is another Cheezer's across town.
  • This episode was briefly pulled from circulation in the US a week after its initial broadcast due to a frighteningly similar incident, where a Virginian news anchor and cameraman were attacked and killed by a rival reporter live on television.[1]
  • This episode deals with adult themes in a kids cartoon, like steroid use (which is a drug), and gambling. This is not revealed in the UK as this is censored.
  • CJ has a brief cameo after Jackie's death, where she still dislikes Margaret by quickly changing the channel when Margaret's news segment airs.

Episode Connections[]

  • This is Jackie's second appearance since his debut in Season Six (TV: 1000th Chopper Flight Party).
    • She is also shown to be wanting Frank's attention like she did from "100th Chopper Flight Party."

Pop Culture References[]

  • Jackie's origins, regenerating, and her survival as a small amount of fluid is a reference to the T-1000 of the Terminator franchise.
  • The sound Margaret's notification sounds sound similar to iOS, and the operating system resembles Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
  • The movie CJ changes the channel to is a reference to the 1969 Kaiju film Gamera Vs. Guiron.[2]

Goofs[]

  • The title card reads "Local News Legends" with an "S" at the end when all sources said "Local News Legend".
    • The added "S" originated from a subplot ultimately dropped at the last minute, where Margaret would be inspired by watching a video of previous legendary Channel 6 news reporters, most notably Larnie Delmonico. [3]
  • Jackie's grey gloves (as part of her disguise) constantly disappear and reappear after Margaret reveals her identity.
  • Margaret claims that the coffee shop doesn't serve lattes, yet Mordecai and Rigby ordered them in the episode, "Peeps", although they could have discontinued them over time.
  • Muscle Man is listed in the credits, but doesn't make an appearance.

References[]

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