| The Name | |
|---|---|
| Production code | 1.1 |
| Series | 1 |
| Preceded by | N/A |
| Followed by | The Prototype |
The Name is the first episode of season 1 of the Dilbert animated series.
Plot (contains spoilers)
Dilbert has a dream that he is laying eggs with tops shaped like his hair. He wakes up and gets in a voice activated shower that works by Dilbert saying a number that he wants the water temperature to be. Dogbert uses this to his advantage by tricking Dilbert into saying extremely high or extremely low numbers to change the temperature.
At work, Dilbert tells Alice and Wally about his dream. They then tell him about a man who had that same dream and became "The Chicken Man." This man was put in charge of a certain project that had no name, and finding the name for this project was the cause of him going crazy and turning into a chicken man. The Pointy-Haired Boss calls a meeting about their new product killing everyone who used it (thanks to anthrax being an ingredient.) PHB decides to counteract with a new product, starting with the name as he believes the name is more important than anything. Dilbert counters this, angering PHB who puts Dilbert in charge of the project. Dilbert then starts to show signs of becoming a chicken man. At home, Dilbert is playing Scrabble with Dilmom and Dogbert (who cheats by creating more tiles under his chair.) Dilmom suggests making the new name the Gruntmaster 6000, a new product less advanced than the Gruntmaster 9000 but just as fun, an idea Dilbert rejects.
Back at the office, a meeting is held deciding the new name. Dogbert tells the group that all names are copyrighted but there are plenty of free names left in the categories of Greek mythology and diseases. One of Dogbert's suggestions is Salmonella, and Wally's suggestion is Siberia (pronounced si-ber-EE-a.) After a long discussion, Dilbert angrily shouts out "Acorn" which is copyrighted by a small-time laundromat in a strip mall. Dilbert and Dogbert try to convince the "French" owners to sell the name, but they angrily kick the two out. Dogbert counteracts by going to the spa in the same strip mall and turning on all of the massage chairs, causing a huge ruckus in the mall which causes all the chairs to explode and catch the spa on fire. The fire spreads to stores with products susceptible to fire and eventually to the laundromat.
With ownership of the name, the company's chief executive is called in to sign off on the name. Before they can tell him the name, the CEO tells a story of his youth swimming in a pond, and how he was humiliated by a turtle who stole his trunks. In his embarrassment he stayed in the pool as long as he could to hide his private areas and eventually cramped up to an acorn shape, giving him the haunting nickname "Acorn," which his French parents named their laundromat after. In this peril, PHB quickly changes the new name to Salmonella. He thinks this is a car, but Dilbert corrects him on this. The CEO wonders why they gave this new product a car name and wants a new name. Dilbert reluctantly chooses the Gruntmaster 6000, which the CEO loves. Then the CEO notices the faint smell of a chicken.
The episode ends with Dilmom glad that her son used the name she suggested and getting up on the table doing a dance that Dilbert despises.