Glasnuts

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! live-action segment
"Glasnuts"
Production number	146
Airdate	November 9, 1989[?]
Guest star(s)	Martin Garner
Title reference	Glasnost
Cartoon episode	"Plummers Academy"
Zelda preview	"A Hitch in the Works"
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"Glasnuts" is the forty-ninth live-action segment of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Its corresponding animated episode is "Plummers Academy."

Plot

The episode opens in on Luigi on the phone. The caller claims to be the President of the United States, which Luigi does not believe. He calls Mario over and lets him know. They both have a good laugh over it before the caller informs Luigi Mikhail S. Gorbachev is coming to the United States and wishes to meet them. Luigi jokingly accepts before handing the phone over to Mario. Mario asks the president if his refrigerator is running. When the president responds "yes", Mario tells him to go catch it. They bust out in laughter before Luigi takes over the phone and thanks him for calling, promising to give his best regards to Gorbachev before hanging up. They decide the whole thing is a prank before the doorbell rings. Mario goes to answer it, opening the door to find someone who introduces himself as Boris, who then sends in Gorbachev, much to Mario's shock. Gorbachev happily walks in and tells them he was informed they made the best pizza in Brooklyn and wants to learn how. Luigi simply looks up at them before turning back to the telephone silently.

Later on, Mario and Luigi are demonstrating to Gorbachev how to make their pizza, sprinkling cheese on top. Gorbachev informs them he does not have much time and proceeds to add his own ingredients from his briefcase. Mario tells him he is ruining Mama Mario's recipe, to which Gorbachev ignores. Mario and Luigi excuse themselves and agree that while Gorbachev may know a lot about running the nation, he knows nothing about making pizza. Luigi realizes when Gorbachev eats the pizza, he will become angry, and nothing good will come of that.

Once the pizza is complete, Mario tells Luigi that while it at least looks like pizza, he is not sure about the caviar and borscht. They begin to imagine how things could go wrong, such as headlines and stories in the paper. As they bring the pizza over to Gorbachev, Luigi tries to convince him not to try the pizza, leading him out to try an All-American hot dog at Yankee Stadium. Gorbachev refuses and goes back to try a bite of the pizza. He declares that it is not good, but great, surprising the brothers. This makes them relieved as well as extremely happy, as Gorbachev reveals his plan to open his own pizza place, promising Mario and Luigi they will be famous throughout Russia, having opened his mind about America. Just before he leaves, Mario asks him if his pizzeria will deliver, to which he responds by promising delivery in 30 days or the order is free. Mario and Luigi agree that it is not a bad idea.

Trivia

• Just over eight years after the segment's initial airing, the real Mikhail Gorbachev coincidentally starred in a Pizza Hut advertisement in which a politically divided group of patrons unites in appreciation for how his policies resulted in the fast food chain arriving in Russia.