Prize Fighters: Difference between revisions

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'''"Prize Fighters"''' was the eleventh episode of season five of ''Daria'' (episode number 511). It first aired on MTV on June 11, 2001.
 
It was written by [[Neena Beber]].
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Daria, Jodie and Upchuck are interviewed together by [[Mr. Brower]], a Wizard employee. Jodie provides stock, conservative answers, Upchuck tries to woo the interviewer with compliments and the use of treats he knows the CEO likes, while Daria gives cynical answers. Unimpressed by Jodie and Upchuck, Mr. Brower asks Daria whether she really wants the prize. When Daria gives a lengthy negative answer addressing the Wizard Foundation employment policy, Brower expresses dismay at her decision and informs her she had received good marks for her "Light-hearted spoof" essay, a description that takes Daria by surprise (since her essay was meant to be honest and anything but light-hearted).
 
[[Image:HotDiggityDogs.png|frame|right|Five bucks on Mr D.]]
 
In the end, none of the three Lawndale students win the prize. Jodie and Upchuck lament over how they used the wrong strategies in the interview. Daria also laments not getting the prize, realizing that she did want it after all, though not enough to win it. Both Daria and Jodie lament their lack of ethics in the whole application process. Later, as Jane and Daria discuss the situation, Jane confesses the reason for her angry reaction before: she was jealous that three intelligent students were competing for a prize she wouldn't be able to apply for, due to her lack of academic achievements. Both try to figure out why they even cared about things like this, finally realizing they're growing up.
 
Meanwhile, Jake finds a way to get rid of the huge order of hot-dogs: he organizes a hotdog eating contest at Lawndale High!
 
==Timeline headaches==
 
Upchuck starting up "a dotcom" places this before the dot-com bubble burst, and written it would've been meant as a joke on how easy it was to set up a profitable dotcom ("''you've'' started a dotcom?" remarks Daria). Unfortunately, once the episode aired the bubble had burst months ago. The first stories about it being a bubble came out [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dotcom_bubble#The_bubble_bursts in spring 2000], and Daria would've mentioned this to burst Upchuck's bubble (ho ho) if she'd been aware of such stories. This episode is unlikely to be taking place too early in the year (if you assume this occurs in 2000).
 
==Trivia==
* The Wizard Foundation, as a stereotypical "evil corporation" fronted by a racist, sexist "redneck billionaire", brings to mind [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Perot H. Ross Perot's] software and services firm, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Systems Electronic Data Systems], notorious for its authoritarian corporate culture when Perot ran it.
 
* [[The Head (backgrounder)|The Head]] appears at the competition ''in two seperate places at the same time''
 
* Danada is an allusion to the Spanish expression ''de nada'' ("it was nothing"). So, his name and title could be translated as "Doctor of nothing."
 
=="Prize Fighters" and Fanfic==
 
[[Alternate universe]] versions of "Prize Fighters" include [http://thepaperpusher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=33416 Not So Different 64: Where You Might Not Expect it] by [[J-D]], featuring a [[Gender swapSwap|gay male]] alternate of Daria.
 
The presence of Upchuck alongside Daria and Jodie as finalists, as well as the creation of a functioning dotcom, is an indication of his resourcefulness and intelligence, which have often appeared in fanfiction.
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==External Links==
* [httphttps://wwwsites.outpost-dariagoogle.com/ep511.htmlsite/dariatranscripts/511-prize-fighters "Prize Fighters" SummaryTranscript] in Outpost-Daria.
* [http://www.outpost-daria.com/ts_ep511.html "Prize Fighters" Transcript] in Outpost-Daria.
* [http://dariablog2.blogspot.com/2008/06/prize-fighters-revisited-au-style.html "Prize Fighters Revisited, AU Style,"] at the [[Daria Fandom Blog II]]
* [https://archiveofourown.org/works/17623430/chapters/42187979 Episode Analysis] by [[WellTemperedClavier]]
 
{{succession box|title=Daria Episodes<br/>"Prize Fighters," season 5 episode 11|before=[[Aunt Nauseam]] (510)|after=[[My Night at Daria's]]|year=(511)}}