Behind Blank Eyes

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Matt Newton and Amy Sedaris

Season 2, Episode 2, Behind Blank Eyes, aired on January 24th, 2000.

Jerri finds herself attracted to the blind boy at school, and while she tries to learn what a world without sight is like, he fights for the right to play on the football team.

1 Quotes
2 Background Signs & Oddities
3 Trivia
4 Guest Appearance
5 Crew
6 See also

[edit] Quotes

All right, everybody out of the water. We've got a dead body in the pool. — Principal Blackman
Alan, whats it like being blind? Is it like having your eyes closed, or is it like being in a dark room and not being able to find the lightswitch? — Jerri

Jerri, it's hard to explain to someone who can see. — Alan

Oh. What's your favorite color? — Jerri

Jerri, can we just change the subject? — Alan

Absolutely. Do you close your eyes when you sleep? — Jerri

I can't have him bumping into my valuables during one of his sightless, destructive seizures! — Sarah Blank
Apparently there is some 'law' that says you can't discriminate against the disabled! — Roger, President of the Board of Education
Dear Lord, thank you for giving this game your undivided attention. We'll try to be brief, so you can return your energies to the movement of the stars and the condemnation of the Jews. Please hand us an easy victory. I'm not saying that if we lose we'll turn away, but do you really want to take that risk? — Principal Blackman

[edit] Background Signs & Oddities

The school pool has several signs around it, reading "No Swimming," "Stay Out of the Water," and "Pool Staff is Not Responsible for Lost or Contaminated Items."
The lifesaver hanging on the pool wall says "Titanic."
There are several electric appliances being used in and around the pool.
The rest of the background oddities have to do with being blind: "Visualize Victory" on the school's signboard, Alan's white stick poking through Principal Blackman's eyes, and possibly even the fact that Jerri Blank is wearing rabbit fur (as rabbits have excellent eyesight).

[edit] Trivia

Greg Hollimon cannot swim, and was afraid of being in the canoe in the pool scene.
Steve Carrell was originally written into this episode as a retarded lawyer, but Comedy Central wanted the writers to soften it, and they decided to cut it.
Amy Sedaris has mentioned several times that her favorite thing in the world is candy glass, and said that her blind rampage through the house, breaking things with a badminton racket, was her favorite shoot during the whole series.
This episode was Matt Newton's first acting role.
The monkey drowning the duck was part of a stock reel, and resurfaces later as Jerri Blank's thought process in The Blank Page.
A scene in To Love, Honor, and Pretend leads us to believe that Principal Blackman is Jewish, but in this episode he promises God to be brief, so that the Lord might return his attention to the "condemnation of the Jews." It's possible that he is Jewish and is bitterly asking God for His help, or that he simply converted sometime between episodes.