Oddly enough, I found the first minute or so with Buckwheat and Big Shot discussing the dog to be fairly endearing. Sure, their acting still isn't on a par with what the Roach kids were capable of, but it's still rather a warm scene. Buckwheat's decision to call the dog "Smallpox" is rather contrived, though, as is the rest of the gang's discovery. (They don't even think for half a second that they may have misunderstood what they overheard; they just overreact and run away. Well, time IS running short, I guess.) There are a couple of funny little digs at gossipy housewives (who all attended the Margaret Hamilton finishing school, it seems) and the phone booth bit IS kind of amusing (but is there no other phone booth in this dang town?) but, alas, it's all capped off by another lecture, which seems to be the only thing MGM honed down to a fine science in these shorts.<br /><br />Better than the usual MGM short, because there's some attempt at gags and some characterization, but still nothing to write home about. (Or even to write to someone two feet away about.)