A Father Should Be... - Episode Guide

#5205-66 A Father Should Be...
Written by Christy Marx

Synopsis:
Ba Nee is longing for her father more than ever, she says that without him she doesn't want to live anymore. Jerrica and the Holograms decide to track him down, by looking for men who fit the little description they have to go by.

Characters:
Jem/Jerrica and the Holograms, The Misfits, The Stingers, Rio, Lin-Z, Starlight Girls (Ashley, Ba Nee, Krissie, Deirdre, Terri, Lela, Anne, Marianne, Joellen, Becky, Nancy, Delaree), Mrs. Bailey, Randy James drummer, Martin O'Carolan, Hope London, Leonard Martin, Andy Martin, Dr. Sakai, Kieu Chinh.

Focus on:
Ba Nee.

Locations & vehicles:
City Elementary School, Starlight Mansion, Stingers Sound, Riot's home, the military camp, Glitter 'n Gold Roadster, Veterans Administration Hospital, Ace Packing in Nebraska, Casino in Las Vegas, O'Carolan's gallery in LA, Andy's car, Old zoo in LA, village of An Loc in Vietnam.

First appearance of:
Martin O'Carolan, City Elementary School, O'Carolan's gallery.

Songs:
"Family Is" Jem and the Holograms
"A Father Should Be" Ba Nee
"This Is Farewell" Jem and the Holograms/The Stingers/The Misfits

Instrumentals:
"Destiny" by the Stingers, "Perfect Match" by the Stingers, "All's Right With The World" by Jem and the Holograms.

Genres:
Action, Drama, Message, Mystery, Humor.

Original airdate:
2 May 1988.

Releases:
Released on DVD.

International:
Italy: Aired on TV. The episode title was "Cercasi Papá" (Daddy wanted).
France: Aired on TV. Released on DVD. The episode title was "Le rôle du pére" (The role of the father).
UK: Aired on TV.

Behind the Scenes:
Kieu Chinh is a real life actress whose life was portrayed in "The Children Of An Loc" a television movie that Christy worked on early in her career.

The episode ends by Jem waving good bye. The people who made the cartoon knew it was the last episode, and Christy Marx got to write the final episode, and she was saying good bye through Ba Nee leaving.

Trivia:
Ba Nee was born in An Loc.

Ba Nee is 9 years old in this episode and goes to the city elementary school. Ba Nee has a real talent for art according to her art teacher Hope London. But she does give all her men red hair.

Jerrica and the Holograms knew that Ba Nee's father was a soldier in Vietnam 1976 and he married Ba Nee's mother who died before reaching america, but before that the name she gave for the father was Martin. Ba Nee's mother told Ba Nee that her father had red hair.

After Ba Nee's parents married in vietnam in the middle of the war, Martin made his wife go away to a safer place, and that was the last time they saw each other. Ba Nee's father was a prisoner of war an was brought to the Veterans Administration Hospital to recuperate. He was in bad shape and had amnesia.

Ba Nee's father Martin O'Carolan is a painter. He painted Ba Nee's mother by seeing her face in his dreams.

Ba Nee's father Martin O’Carolan is named after a Celtic musician Christy is a fan of.

This is the third appearance of Randy James, who only appeared in episodes by Christy Marx.

Pizzazz and Riot actually rehearse togheter at Stingers Sound.

Riots father was an officer in army intelligence.

The computer at the army says:
"1 Service: Army 1976
2 Status: Honorable discharge
3 Hair color: Red"

Some of the books in Ba Nee's bookshelf are "The Fox", "Pach Peach", "Omnibus", "Mimiko", "Popo", "Autumn", "Spring", "The Fairies", "Robin Hood", "Sherlock Holmes".

This is the second time Ba Nee is trapped in an animal cage in a zoo. The previous time was in the episode The Jem Jam Part 2, also written by Christy Marx.

The Misfits and Jem call a truce.

Rio has a singing line in the song "This Is Farewell" by Jem and the Holograms/ The Misfits/The Stingers.

The song "A Father Should Be" by Ba Nee is re-used. Previously appeared in the episode "The Jem Jam Part 1".