Animal Practice Episode 1.06 The Two George Colemans

It's late, and Dorothy's working overtime. The hospital is dark and empty, and Dorothy gets the feeling someone's watching her. She carefully walks the halls keeping her guard up, when suddenly Rizzo jumps at her wearing a Freddy Krueger mask. Moments later, she finds a ghoulish Yamamoto hanging in her closet but she's unfazed. Clearly, Crane Hospital is stoked for Halloween.

Jill and George face off during an operation. Jill likes to do things her way, but George warns her not to overstep. He is, after all, the Chief of Surgery. Meanwhile the rest of the hospital is atwitter over Halloween. Decorations adorn the hallways, and Dorothy, who's dressed as Charlotte's Web, is judging a pet costume contest. Angela, dressed as the Annie to Juanita's Daddy Warbucks, wants to enter her dog Rascal, now "Shark Dog," which means he's wearing a grey fin on his head. Angela thinks Rascal will have no problem sweeping the competition since she's friends with Dorothy, but Dorothy promises to remain impartial. Elsewhere in the hospital, George is offended when he discovers that Jill has dressed as Dr. George Coleman. She's got an immaculate wig, a stuffed monkey on her left shoulder and a knack for uncanny impressions.

Dorothy asks Doug how rooming with Yamamoto is going. Doug goes on a long rant about living with diminutive, neurotic Asian fellows who sleep with the lights on and don't shut the bathroom door. At that very moment, Yams slides into Doug's office. A slight roommate mix-up has resulted in both of them dressed as the Lone Ranger, instead of Yam's being dressed as Tonto, as previously discussed. Emotions flare, and the two friends volley insults back and forth. If Doug didn't play so much Sister Hazel, maybe Yams wouldn't have so many sexual dreams! Well if Yams didn't cry over his failed marriage so loudly, Doug wouldn't have to blast killer jams to drown him out!

George walks into the break room to find Jill eating a cobb salad. When Rizzo sticks his finger in the salad to conduct a test, the dressing turns out to be ginger soy, which only George puts on his cobb salad - Jill stole George's salad! Jill denies that and malfeasance, so George marches to Dorothy's office to complain about Jill. Two alpha males are fighting for dominance, and as hospital administrator, Dorothy has to do something about it. Dorothy's merely amused, so George takes matters into his own hands and sneaks into Jill's office to look for the bottle of ginger soy salad dressing she claims to keep there. Instead, he finds Jill's letter to the hospital board offering herself up as George's replacement.

When George learns that Jill's about to perform surgery on an ostrich from the Bronx Zoo, he sends Rizzo to trick-or-treat the nurses as a distraction, then sneaks the enormous ostrich out of the room when no one is looking. While manning the costume sign-up booth, Dorothy meets Hubert Queel with his dog Scrumptious, who's dressed as Andy War-howl. Hubert, who's apparently well off and well-known in the pet costume world, tries to bribe Dorothy, telling her he'll donate a hefty sum of money to the hospital if she gives him the trophy. Dorothy stands her ground, and Hubert huffs off. Yams returns to Doug's office. He's changed into his Tonto costume, sadly admitting that he's always been the sidekick. Doug tries to lift Yamamoto's spirits by telling him Dolly Parton would be jealous of the fringe all over his costume.

Juanita begs Angela to stand next to her. She's sick of being mistaken for Samuel L. Jackson, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Montel. She's not a sexy black man; she's Daddy Warbucks! But when Dorothy comes over, Angela rushes off, still hurt that Dorothy won't throw the costume contest to Rascal. Dorothy vents to Juanita - who knew it would be so hard to run an animal costume contest with integrity!? When Juanita hears Hubert offered to be a Golden Elephant Donor in exchange for the win, she orders Dorothy to throw the contest. That's a lot of money for the hospital! Dorothy's unsure, but decides to go for it.

When Jill discovers her ostrich patient has flown the coop, George takes it upon himself to alert the entire hospital. George scolds an already hangdog Jill: a good vet never loses track of a patient. Moments later, George discovers he too has lost a patient - the ostrich really is on the loose! Jill and George discard their white coats and roam the hallways like skilled predators, tranquilizer guns in hand. Once again, they're competing to see which of them is the more able vet. After sharing an elevator ride with two dogs dressed as Sherlock Bones and Dr. Watson, Angela realizes most of the other contestants actually put thought into their costumes. She apologizes to Dorothy for asking her to let Rascal win.

Doug and Yamamoto are taking the ostrich hunt very seriously. Although Yams is the sidekick, he goes off without Doug, following his instincts. Jill and George decide to put their differences aside. The most important thing, after all, is the safe return of the ostrich. With Rizzo's help, the two doctors corner the ostrich, but they're unable to put away their egos and wind up shooting each another with tranquilizer darts. The ostrich leaps away. Meanwhile, Dorothy judges the pet costume contest. At the last minute, Angela runs in with Rascal, who's now dressed in an elaborate costume that looks like two small dogs carrying a pumpkin. The contestants all "ooh" and "ahh." Looks like Dorothy has a difficult moral decision in front of her: does she do what's best for the hospital, or humanity?

When an unsuspecting Doug turns around to find the ostrich inches from his face, he falls over with fear, dropping his tranquilizer gun. Thinking fast, Yamamoto drops a sheet over the ostrich, confusing it, and allowing Doug to trap it in the operating room. Yams has saved the day, and he's down with being a sidekick! Keeping her integrity intact, Dorothy awards Angela the pet costume contest trophy. Angela decides to hand the trophy over to Hubert, but only if he promises to be a Golden Elephant Donor. When Jill and George slowly regain consciousness, George asks her why she's trying to steal his job. Jill claims she's willing to respect George as her boss, but only if he's willing to admit she's just as qualified as he is. Though the still heavily drugged doctors can barely move, the feud ends as Jill and George declare a truce.