Win, Lose, Tie is the tenth episode of the second season in the series A Little Curious, and the 35th episode in total. It aired on March 6, 2000. It focuses on the subjects of the words win, lose, and tie.
Segments[]
Win, Lose, or Tie (Round 1) (Cel)[]
On a rainy day, Doris and Mr. Shoe host a game show indoors, with Bob and Little Cup playing against Mop and Mr. String. Whoever gets the answer of a question Mr. Shoe asks right wins the round, but if they fail the question they lose. He reads the first question, which is "Little Jack Horner, sat in a corner, eating his Christmas... what?" Mr. String answers "cookies", but it is incorrect. Bob and Little Cup win when the latter person guesses "pie". For Mop and Mr. String, the losers, Doris launches a pie which splats on Mr. String, which he states "Chocolate, my favorite!"
A Little Reality[]
In this segment, a group of grown people have a race on tricycles. A man dressed in a green shirt wins the race.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race (Cel)[]
Bob, Mary Jane, Little Cup, and Lacey are running in a race, but Mary Jane complains that she's so slow and can't be fast. Pad and Pencil tells her the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, and how the tortoise challenged the hare to a race, and won when the hare took a nap. Pencil asks if she understands the moral of the story, and she says "you snooze, you lose" and runs off.
Losing Patience (Cel)[]
Mop gets a bath ready for Little Cup, but he wants his submarine. She finds it under a towel, but then Little Cup needs his castle. So she finds it, but then Little Cup asks for his rubber ducky. Mop tells him she's beginning to lose her patience, and Little Cup says he'll help her find it.
Song: Mop (Watercolor)[]
The Mop song "Swinging Safari" is played.
Win, Lose, or Tie (Round 2) (Cel)[]
In the second round of Win, Lose, or Tie, the question Mr. Shoe asks is "Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye, four and twenty blackbirds baked in a.... what?". Bob guesses cake, but is wrong, then Mop guesses pie and wins the round. Doris launches a pie at the two losers, but they dodge and it splats on Mr. String again.
A Little Reality[]
In this segment, kids have a race where they hold onto another kid's legs as they crawl on their hands. The end result is a tie.
Don't Lose Your Cool (CGI)[]
At a tic-tac-toe game, Mop beats Bob which frustrates him. Pad and Pencil inform him that winning isn't everything and to be a good sport, so the two and Mop perform a song. Upon the song, Mop and Bob play another game of tic-tac-toe, and he loses again, but he says he still had fun even if he lost.
A Little Reality[]
A boy and a girl play "Tic-Tac-Toe" with the girl always winning with X and the boy losing hope until he finally wins a game with O.
Tying a Bow (Cel)[]
Plush is woken up by Mop telling him to wrap a present because they're going somewhere special, so he gets up and attempts to tie it, most of the time getting himself knotted in the ribbons. So he ends up solving the problem by using his ears to tie up the present.
A Little Reality[]
A montage is shown of various people tying their ties.
Winning Smile (Cel/Mixed Media)[]
The cast of characters sing about Bob's "winning smile", showing various clips from previous shorts.
Tie Your Shoe (Stop Motion)[]
Mr. String, who was swinging on a swing, quickly informs Lacey to tie her laces, so he shows him with a jingle, but she doesn't get it a few times. Eventually, he ends up tying himself up, and Lacey eventually gets it. She walks off and leaves him all tied up.
Hit the Bell, Win a Prize (Stop Motion)[]
At the carnival, the Shoe Family goes over to a high striker game, where they have to ring the bell to win a prize. Mr. Shoe goes first and hits the button with the hammer which hardly makes the hitter go up. He hits it harder, and it rings the bell. He gets a prize a little white donkey plush which he gives to Mrs. Shoe. Then, Mary Jane goes next, and she rings the bell on the first try, which gives the two a prize a large bunny plush.
Song: The Shoe Family (CGI)[]
The Shoe Family song is played.
Win, Lose, or Tie (Round 3) (Cel)[]
In the final round of the game show segment, the two teams win in the previous rounds, which makes the two teams tied, so this round is a tie-breaker: a leapfrog race through whipped cream. As they hop over to the finish line, Mr. String accidentally springs himself in Mop's hair, making her trip and sweep everyone to the ending, which causes a tie. Doris launches pies at all the members, and as she sings "you always get pie", they throw it all back on her.
Trivia[]
- In Don't Lose Your Cool, Pencil is cut off at the final scene when Mop crosses the X's.
- Winning Smile contains scenes from the following shorts: Echo Below, Rough Sailing, Bubble Love, Front and Center, Move Over, Bob Bounces Back, Pop Goes the Weasel, Sidekick, High Jump, Closed for Monkey Business, Bubble Bath, Pop Go the Balloons, Doing the Thin Thing, Fast Ball, and The Long Yawn.
- The segment contains scenes from Fast Ball, Pop Go the Balloons, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Move Over, all of which were featured only in episodes that were removed from syndication in 2004. This is the only footage of said shorts to air after their removal (outside of promos).
- This is the only Season 2 episode with The Shoe Family song. In fact, according to the credits, Pencil's song "Scribbling On" was intended to play in its place.
- The second live action segment features an instrumental version of the Square Dance song from Step to the Front.