Two Bums From Brooklyn

"Two Bums from Brooklyn" is the fifty-eighth live-action segment of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Its corresponding animated episode is "Mario of the Deep".

Plot synopsis
At home in Mario Brothers Plumbing, Mario, having just gotten off the telephone, excitedly tells Luigi that he'll never guess whom he was just on the phone with. Taking a moment to think, Luigi answers that it was Tommy Lasagna, the great baseball coach. Mario asks himself how Luigi knew who it was, and Luigi tells him that he figured it out when he overheard Mario mention Mr. Lasagna's last name while he was on the phone.

Mario then gets up and heads over to the kitchen area, where he picks up a freshly-cooked pot of Luigi's meatballs. Luigi asks Mario as to what he needs the meatballs for, and Mario tells him that Mr. Lasagna is probably coming over to recruit one of them as a player for his Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, and that he needs them to practice his pitching. Telling Luigi to give him some space, Mario winds up a fastball with one of the meatballs, which he throws across the room, breaking a window in the process. Luigi tells Mario that pitches are small potatoes, and claims that Mr. Lasagna is coming over to scout him out instead. Holding a pipe like a baseball bat, Luigi pretends that he's up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with two men out. Swinging the bat, Luigi imagines that he hit the ball over the fence, and begins to walk around a pretend baseline. Tired of Luigi's bragging, Mario picks up a meatball and tags Luigi out at home plate. Luigi argues that he hit the ball over the fence, and Mario reassures him that he has plenty more meatballs to spare.

Just then, the doorbell rings, so Luigi tells the visitor to enter, and he does, revealing himself to be Tommy Lasagna, with one a meatball caught in his mouth. Luigi tells Mario that he did indeed hit his ball over the fence, to which Mario comments that it was just a lucky shot.

Mario and Luigi show their gratitude towards Mr. Lasagna's arrival, but pay no attention at first to the fact that he has a meatball stuck in his mouth. Luigi asks Mr. Lasagna as to which of them made his team, but he just mumbles, prompting Luigi to pull the meatball out of his mouth. Finally able to speak, Mr. Lasagna tells them that he didn't come over to tell them who made his team, and that he'd still need to see their stuff. Mr. Lasagna tells Mario and Luigi to move some furniture around, so that they can have more space for a pretend baseball diamond. After being told by Mr. Lasagna that he is to pitch and Luigi is to catch, Mario claims that he can both pitch and catch, demonstrating with a baseball tied to his glove. Mr. Lasgana tells him to stop fooling around, and after winding up a pitch for a while, Mario tosses the ball way over Luigi's head, and it crashes into the backwall. Luigi asks Mr. Lasagna as to what his radar says, and reading a sign that's suddenly hanging from it, he says "Don't give up your day job". Upon hearing this, Luigi and Mr. Lasagna laugh at Mario.

Some time later, Luigi is lying on top of Mr. Lasagna, with his hand atop a pizza box being used as base. Luigi asks whether he's safe or out, and Mario tells him that he's safe, but Mr. Lasagna is out cold. Regaining consciousness, Mr. Lasagna struggles with Luigi to get up, and dawdles over to the table, where he sits down. Mario asks Mr. Lasagna which one of them made the team, and he tells them that neither did, because he came over to sample their meatballs. Luigi asks him why, so Mr. Lasagna tells him that he's opening a new restaurant in Brooklyn, and he's been looking for the famous Mama Mario meatball recipe. Mr. Lasagna takes a bite out of a meatball, and soon spits it out in disgust, claiming that it tastes like horsehide and string. Mario then whispers to Luigi that it was the secret ingredient.

Mr. Lasagna tells Mario and Luigi that since he's already tasted the meatballs, that he's going to take them back to the ballpark with him. Mario asks if he's going to feed them to the team, and Mr. Lasagna corrects him, saying that he'll cover them with leather and use them as baseballs, which can help him get out of the cellar. Luigi asks Mr. Lasagna if he meant to get out of the bottom of the league, but Mr. Lasagna clarifies that he meant their basement apartment.

Before Mr. Lasagna can leave, Mario asks what he and Luigi are left with. Mr. Lasagna tells them that there's still something they can do at the ballpark, which Mario guesses has to do with pitching. Mr. Lasagna instead tells him that he can toss peanuts, as he pulls a bag of them out of his pocket, and tosses it to Mario, followed by a second bag to Luigi. As Mr. Lasagna makes his way out of the basement, Mario and Luigi proceed to eat their peanuts.

Trivia

 * This episode was the first to give Mama Mario an official name, as she had only previously been referred to as "Mama" by Mario, Luigi, and Pietro.