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"Gerald's Tonsils" is an episode of Hey Arnold!.

Synopsis[]

Gerald's voice is deepened after having his tonsils out, just a few days before the school recital.

Plot[]

The kids are practicing the song "Moonlight Bay" for their performance at the Spring concert in two weeks. Mr. Simmons is especially impressed by Gerald's enthusiasm. Gerald is awaiting the concert eagerly. After school he tells Arnold how great he finds that nearly everyone is coming to the concert. On their way home they meet Harvey the mail man who recommends Gerald to take care of his voice.

The next day, Gerald has a sore throat. Dr. Steiglitz suggests that to take out his tonsils would be best. Gerald recovers pretty fast from the surgery, unlike his voice which now sounds totally different. When he calls Arnold, his friend doesn't recognize his new voice. At practice Gerald sounds even worse, so that Stinky offers to take on Gerald's solo.

However, Gerald doesn't give up so easily. He gargles a mixture of water, lemon juice, honey and salt, practices his scales for hours and takes a vapor-bath. However, nothing helps. Gerald is desperate and doesn't want to go to the spring concert anymore. Arnold suggests that they ask Dr. Steiglitz for advice.

The doctor says that he remembers only one person who has had exactly the same problem before: Harvey the mail man. So, the boys ask him, and Harvey tells them that at that time he felt just like Gerald. However, he then decided to follow the example of his favorite blues singer and started to accept his new raspy voice.

Gerald is finally confident enough in himself again that he can sing at the concert, and his performance at the Spring concert is a huge success.

Production[]

At the time, Gerald's voice actor Jamil Walker Smith was going through puberty and his voice changed dramatically. The production staff had faced this issue before with the voices for Arnold and Eugene and simply replaced them. However, they could not find a suitable replacement for Gerald. Instead, Craig Bartlett decided to write this episode in order to explain Gerald's voice change and keep Jamil in the cast. From this point onward, Jamil's voice for Gerald was digitally mastered to a higher pitch by using sound audio.

See also[]

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