"The Switching Hour" is the Halloween episode of the Nickelodeon animated series Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. It originally aired as the series premiere on October 29, 1994, as part of a special Halloween-themed edition of SNICK that also included the premieres of The Adventures of Pete & Pete episode "Halloweenie" and the hour-length Are You Afraid of the Dark? special "The Tale of Cutter's Treasure".
Synopsis[]
A small human named Nicky is taking out the garbage when he spots Ickis, who startles him. Nicky alerts his older brother Jake of this monster, who thinks that Nicky is crazy and just saw a bunny rabbit.
The next day, the Gromble announces to all of his monster students that it is Halloween and that monsters are banned from walking out of the dump, saying that he has three punishments for anyone who disobeys him: "Bad", "Really Bad", and "You Don't Want to Know". Ickis doesn't want to disobey the Gromble, but his roommates, Oblina and Krumm, convince him otherwise.
Out in the city, the trio escapes from the dump and see some kids getting candy. They attempt to scare the kids, who instead just think that they are other kids in costumes. To blend in with the costumed kids, the monsters pretend to be trick-or-treaters and crash a Halloween party. Meanwhile, Nicky, who has designed his Halloween costume to look like Ickis, gets separated from Jake and his friends as they start egging and T-P-ing the neighborhood. In the process, one of Jake's friends mistakes Ickis for Nicky, while Krumm and Oblina mistake Nicky for Ickis.
Nicky is taken back to the trio's dorm where they find out Ickis is Nicky in costume, but they are unable to get him back out right now. As a result of the switch, Nicky is taken to Monster Academy, while Ickis, disguised as Nicky, goes to a human school, where he gets detention for talking about the dump when the teacher asks him to tell his classmates about his house. After school, Jake's friends come over to trade their Halloween candy when Ickis attempts to escape. But when Jake rips off Ickis' hat, they get into a fight, which eventually triggers Ickis' scare mode and frightens Jake and his friends. Afterwards, Krumm and Oblina bring Nicky home safely, telling him not to tell anyone else about them, and are then reunited with Ickis.
Back at the Monster Academy, the Gromble reveals that he's now found out that Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm did indeed sneak out on Halloween, and at first praises them for doing so. However, he then adds that he still has to punish them for disobeying him, and tells them to select their punishment. Ickis asks what the third punishment, "You Don't Want to Know", is, but the episode ends before the viewers can learn what it is.
Availability[]
The episode made its home video debut on the Aaahh!!! Real Monsters: Monsters' Night Out VHS, originally released by Sony Wonder on August 22, 1995. The tape also included a later, regular-length episode from the show's first season, "The War's Over." After the Nicktoons video license was moved to Paramount Home Video in 1996, the tape was re-released on July 8, 1997, with two episodes from the second season added - "Mayberry UFO" and "Rosh-O-Monster".
The episode made its DVD debut when the show's first season was released as a manufacture-on-demand DVD set, exclusively on Amazon.com, on August 10, 2010. After Shout! Factory obtained the video rights for Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, the first season's DVD set was given a retail release on October 4, 2011. Shout! Factory also included "The Switching Hour" (plus another full Real Monsters episode, "Monsters Are Real" / "This Is Your Brain On Ickis") on the Out of the Vault Halloween compilation DVD, released on September 1, 2015.
Trivia[]
- Before Jake pins Ickis to the floor, Ickis was in his Nicky disguise, but when Ickis is on the floor the disguise clothes disappear.
- In 2007, this episode was ranked #53 in The 100 Greatest Nicktoon Episodes countdown, and was also the only Aaahh!!! Real Monsters episode to make it into the countdown.
Cast[]
| Voice actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Charlie Adler | Ickis |
| Christine Cavanaugh | Oblina |
| David Eccles | Krumm |
| Gregg Berger | The Gromble |
| Steven L. Hartman | Nicky |
| Andrew Leeds | Jake |
| Susan Blu | Mom Hair Kid #4 |
| Gabrielle Boni | Kid #2 Girl |
| E. Faye Butler | Teacher Monster #1 |
| Jim Cummings | Herb Monster #3 |
| Debi Derryberry | Little Girl Kid #5 |
| Jarret Lennon | Kid #1 |
| Aaron Michael Metchik | Kid #3 Kid #9 |
| Ron Taylor | Monster #2 |
| Erik Von Detton | Vic Tough Kid |