New Bully in the Alley (Unaired Sagwa Episode)

The Beginning of the Story

Remember one of the world's underrated shows on PBS Kids, Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat. Remember the fact the show ran for only one season. Well, it turns out that the show was originally intended for a second season.

I was walking through a old video store a year ago, to look at Sagwa VHS's and DVD's, such as Sagwa's Storybook World, Feline Frenzy, Cat Nights, Flights and Delights, and Family Fun. But there is one VHS that caught at my eye. It was a VHS named "Adventures in the Alley". Like the others, it was one dollar. So, I decided to buy it.

Once I bought it home, I looked at the episode order. First, Spreading Rumors. Then, Precious Gift, and last of all, an episode that I've never heard or seen before...New Bully in the Alley. Hmmm, that is something I never heard or seen before.

I decided to watch the full set up. When I put the VCR and pressed play, the credits played. So I had to rewind the tape back to the start, and I pressed play again. This time, everything feels perfect. Now on the last episode.

The Episode

The never seen/heard of before episode came up and I was right. The episode went:

• (The episode begins on a summer morning at China. We pan over the the palace. Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa are at their cat bedposts, as they wake up. They jump down, and stretch their paws. As this went buy, the opening titles go: "NEW BULLY IN THE ALLEY", "Written by ALAN SILBERBERG", "Storyboard by PATRICK CUNNINGHAM" and "Directed by JOSEPH JACQUES")
• Sagwa: Another wonderful summer day. The sky is clear, the birds sing and the grass is green.
• Dongwa: And because more scrolls are coming tomorrow, we get to play out in the alley.
• Sheegwa: And speaking of more scrolls, all scrolls here are finished, so let's play out here.
• Sagwa: Good idea, Sheegwa. Let's go play!
• (they run off down the stairs towards the alley. The scene translates to the alley)
• (The Miao kittens enter the alley. Moments later, Jet Jet jumps in front of him with a dragon mask, roaring at them. The Miao kittens scream)
• Sheegwa: A scary dragon!
• Jet Jet: Aha! (takes off the mask)
• Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa: Jet Jet? It's you!
• Jet Jet: Yes! Scared ya?! You guys didn't expect me wearing this! (laughs)
• Sheegwa: I thought you're a real dragon.
• Jet Jet: I'll explain where the news spread here.
• Sagwa: What is it?
• Jet Jet: A new cat is coming to the alley today.
• Sagwa: I wonder what he would look like.
• Sheegwa: Me too.
• Dongwa: Me three.
• Jet Jet: You'll just wait and see. Make sure he's welcome to our alley when he arrives, okay?
• (Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa nod "Yes")
• Jet Jet: Good. Hun Hun would bring him in once he arrives.
• (he leaves)
• (the next scene translates to the exit of the alley, where a red, tall kitten shows up)
• Hun Hun: Here he is, the arrival. His mother says he needs to learn. She says you will teach him, and show him where he would like to prefer, OK?
• Sagwa, Dongwa and Sheegwa: Okay. (Hun Hun leaves) See ya later.
• Due Shon: (in his sinister voice) Hello.
• Sagwa: Um, hi. My name is Sagwa, and these are my siblings, my older brother Dongwa, and my little sister Sheegwa.
• Sheegwa and Dongwa: Hi.
• Due Shon: My name is Due Shon. I hear that you work for the Foolish Magistrate. And look at me. I am the latest cat, who's fond of royal stuff, and I'm up to date. You would want to meet me, don't you? Ink face, can you show me around?
• Sagwa: Sure thing, and do not call me that name again. Come on.
• (she and Due Shon begin walking. Next scene shows Sagwa showing Sagwa the back alley)
• Sagwa: This is the back alley. It was where we enter.
• Due Shon: (angrily bored) That's dreadfully a silly thing. This is dreadfully boring. I'm highly sprung, and everything boring is bad for my paws.
• Sagwa: Hey! That back alley was important here. If you don't like it, I'll show you somewhere else.
• (they leave the back to go to the inside alley. They come towards the hay barrel.)
• Sagwa: Would you like to sleep in the hay barrel?
• Due Shon: (bored) No. Hay makes my fur itch. It's just wood that needs to be demolished. A lot of nonsense about it.
• Sagwa: Don't act so rude about it.
• (The montage continues, from the wood plank ramp, to the alley wall, to the other side of the alley, with Due Shon saying "no" in a bored tone)
• Sagwa: What?! I thought you would love the alley.
• Due Shon: Well, to be honest, I am more into royality stuff. Like a prince I would like to be. I always dream of being one. If I were one, everyone would come to see me. (sarcastically) But not that alley.
• Sagwa: (gets angry) Well, these are the only things you choose. A wood plank ramp, the alley way, the other side of the alley, the hay barrel or the back alley.
• Due Shon: (bored) It's Mama's orders. She is the parent I love. She comes and explains every week. "Due Shon", she says, "Never ever sleep in the alley. You're highly sprung, and sleeping in the alley is bad for your paws." So that's how it is.
• Sagwa: That's not true! I can't understand. Whatever your mother send such a feeble?
• Due Shon: (loses paitence) Feeble? Feeble?! Let me!
• Sagwa: Don't lie. If you excuse me, I have to go back to the palace, ok? (she runs off)
• Due Shon: (to himself) That is a good story. I'll do what I want to, and no more. Since I don't like this alley because it is filled with cats who buzz around loudly, I think...(smiles evily)...I had a idea! (snickers evily) Yes! A better idea!
• (transition to the next scene. Due Shon arrives in the palace's backyard)
• Due Shon: Now, I'll pretend that I am a puppet, and then move very hard, to scare someone. (laughs. He lays down and sleeps like a puppet)
• (Sheegwa is playing with a kite, laughing. She soon spots Due Shon)
• Sheegwa: Is that a puppet? (she moves towards him) Look at this. This puppet looks like a cat sleeping. (she is about to touch Due Shon when...)
• (...Due Shon stands up and roars at Sheegwa. She screams)
• Sheegwa: IT'S ALIVE! RUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!! (she runs off in panic)
• Due Shon: (laughs) Scaredy cat!
• (next scene translates to Shei Hu walking at the palace backyard)
• Shei Hu: (sniffs the air) Ahh. Another day to get some water from the kitchen extra quick.
• Voice: Hey, mouse!
• Shei Hu: (looks up) What?
• (it reveals to be Due Shon as he is on the tree)
• Due Shon: Do you know what I am going to do?
• Shei Hu: What is it?
• (Due Shon has a small bucket of sand. He snickers evily)
• Shei Hu: No please!
• (Due Shon dumps the sand on Shei Hu)
• Shei Hu: (groans) Oh, no!
• Due Shon: Gotcha!
• (next scene translates to Jet Jet sleeping, when Due Shon walks up to him)
• Jet Jet: (wakes up) Uh, what?
• Due Shon: (has a rock on his paw and throws it at him)
• Jet Jet: Ow! Ow ow ow ow! My head!
• (next scene shows Fufu flying into the ground)
• Fufu: Whew! That's a nice exercise of flying!
• (Due Shon jumps in front of him)
• Due Shon: (scares Fufu) BOO!
• Fufu: (screams) RUN!
• (flies away)
• (next scene translates to Sagwa going outside, when Sheegwa, Fufu, Shei Hu and Jet Jet show up)
• Sagwa: Hey guys, what happened?
• Sheegwa: I was playing with a kite, when I saw Due Shon. I thought he was a puppet. So I was about to touch him when he scared me badly.
• Shei Hu: I was going to get water from Cook's kitchen when he then dumped sand all over me and my clothes are all messy, so I had to clean them up.
• Jet Jet: I was asleep when he threw a rock on me.
• Fufu: I was finished with my flying exercise, when he scared me horribly.
• Sagwa: (gasps) Oh dear. That sounds awful! It looks that he is a big bully.
• (Dongwa and the rest of the alley cats arrive)
• Dongwa: Sorry, Sagwa, we're almost late. Well, this new cat, as I found he is indeed a bully, pushed me into the pond while I was practicing Tai Chi.
• (everyone gasps)
• Lik Lik: Me and Wing Wing were busy playing with a pinecorn out in the back alley, but all of a sudden...
• Wing Wing: ...he threw mud pies at us.
• (everyone gasps)
• Hun Hun: Me, Fem and Ling are having a conversation about my aunt's birthday coming up in a few weeks, when that bully called us "Stick in the clay's".
• (everyone gasps, even a horrified Sagwa)
• Sagwa: Oh no, sounds like he's really troublesome. Now, all we have to do is to stand up to Due Shon and teach him a lesson.
• (all agree, and we fade to the next scene where they're lined up together at the alley)
• Dongwa: When Due Shon comes, we'll teach him a lesson.
• Sagwa: And we'll have a little reception, just for him.
• (Due Shon returns to the alley)
• Due Shon: Hey, fraidy felines! Are you ready for more?!
• Sagwa: No! You can't be causing trouble! You here are much worse than any other bully!
• Sheegwa: We're tired of being pushed around...
• Dongwa: ...made fun of...
• Fufu: ...being scared by you...
• Shei Hu: ...and being harmed by you!
• Jet Jet: Well, we may make fun of innocent felines at times, but we care for them. And you are much worse!
• Hun Hun: If you don't stop, we'll throw buckets of clay from the village!
• Due Shon: Oh no! No no no! (freaks out and runs off, only to trip at the edge of the pond and falls in the water) Oh, I now look wet! Now what was Mama gonna say?!
• (scene translates to Due Shon's mother coming up to him)
• Due Shon's Mother: Due Shon, Sagwa and the other felines told me what you did to them! I am not happy about it! You will be going home right now, and you'll never ever come back to the alley ever again!
• Due Shon: Yes, mama.
• (they leave, as Due Shon is ashamed)
• Sagwa: Now we'll never see Due Shon again.
• Fufu: He's now gone.
• Sheegwa: Yeah.
• (fade to night, where at the palace, Sagwa, Dongwa, Sheegwa and Mama are at the cat bedposts)
• Sagwa: Mama, today, a cat named Due Shon has come to the alley. I showed him every part of the alley. He finds it boring, so he decided to bully us. We're tired of it, and we stood up to him. And his mother found out and she took him home, never to see him again.
• Mama: Oh, I am so proud of you for standing up to a bully. If a bully does something wrong, you need to stand up to them.
• Sagwa: I knew what I can do, Mama. (yawns) Goodnight, Mama.
• (everyone goes to sleep, and the episode ends, going to the end credits)

The Aftermath

So far, I enjoyed this episode, and I decided to explain this to the manager at the video store. I asked him where the VHS came from, so he led me into the back room.

The man, who originally worked with the Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat crew, was one of the creator of certain VHS's/DVD's. He even composed the VHS "Adventures in the Alley". And he told me that the episode "New Bully in the Alley" is originally intended to be for a second season of the show. After "Cia Bow Sow Wow / The Mutt Who Became King" of "Season 1", the writers decided to make a second season of Sagwa, with episode ideas like the one I saw on the VHS, an episode named "Hun Hun's Parents", where Sagwa and Baba visit Hun Hun's mother Izayo and father Makeo, and an episode "Fufu's Mom", where Fufu meets his mother.

But sadly, PBS feels like there's enough Sagwa work, and ordered the crew to end the show after one season.

After that, I decided to keep the VHS and watch it all what I want, like I did with my other Sagwa VHS tapes.