Plot synopsis
Jimmy and friends find a strangely marked rock from outer space. After decoding the message written on the rock -- a riddle, with implications of intergalactic prestige for any planet that answers it -- he and his friends (Libby, Cindy, Carl, Sheen, Goddard and Bolbi) sneak onto the military installation holding the rock to inscribe the answer. (The riddle was "In the dark, they appear without being fetched; in the light, they are lost without being stolen." The answer was the stars.) After being "beamed up" to their destination, they find themselves in an alien television studio, representing Earth in ''Intergalactic Showdown'', a popular alien reality show hosted by a shifty host by the name of Meldar (voiced by Tim Allen). Three other teams are represented in this particular episode: the Brains, an evolved species with only brains and eyes for bodies; the Needleheads, high pitched, neurotic beings that indeed somewhat resemble nerve cells; and the Gorlocks, a warmongering, martial race (and the only humanoid team aside from the Humans).Jimmy, overestimating his intellect and its usefulness in the games, causes the Human team to lose the first two events: "Florgus Ball", a strange hybrid of polo, jai-alai and (perhaps) Quidditch, with large mechanoid mantis-like beings named Florguses as transportation, and a test of speed and cunning, in which the team must retrieve a glowing mushroom from the mouth of a cave guarded by a deceptively cute, but powerful beast.
After the Survivor-inspired scene in which the team is forced to vote one of their members off the team (the vote is a 3-way tie between Jimmy, Cindy and Bolbi before Bolbi's misunderstood vote against himself casts him off), April (real name "Shee-AHHH!-toh"), the small but spry female Gorlock (voiced by Alyssa Milano), colludes with Jimmy, convincing him to work together to overthrow Meldar and the show itself.
In the next event, a Fear Factor-style eating contest, Jimmy (despite having calculated the exact strength necessary to spin the wheel and choose any generally human-palatable food) reluctantly allows Carl (who, given his appetite, could literally eat anything) to spin for the team. After a Needlehead fails to stomach a banana cream pie, Carl tries, and is enraptured with, an odd alien dish known as a "Plutonian Gut Chunk". After this event, Cindy sees Jimmy agreeing to ally with April and the Gorlocks, an alliance sealed with what Jimmy and Cindy interpret as a kiss, but is in fact a seal of trust to April's people. Both Cindy and April's teammate disapprove of this and stop the discussion.
In the meantime, the parents of Retroville have found themselves receiving the galactic cable network that supplies ''Intergalactic Showdown'', and while Hugh Neutron has trouble staying away from the billions of other channels his television set now carries (especially a soap opera called "Andromeda 90210"), the other parents convince him to keep watching the game show while they build a contraption to save their children.
Eventually, Jimmy truly learns how to swallow his pride and work as a team to defeat the Brains in an obstacle course (including a false shortcut that leads to a mass hallucination on the part of the children). The children, their parents (who arrive in time for the end of ''Showdown''), and the other three races combine their forces to fight Meldar and his robotic minions, take the gadgets that endowed him with the power to coerce his contestants into playing, and end the show forever, ensuring the safety of all planets involved from the wrath of Meldar.
Trivia/Goofs
*This is probably the first Nicktoon movie to be more than the usual hour long.*"Andromeda 90210" is a parody of the teen drama soapie Beverly Hills 90210 which ran from 1990 to 2000.
*At the end, Jimmy is responding to April's rock, and is abruptly stopped in the middle by Cindy, and the rock is sent back without Jimmy finishing his message, but if you look closely, you can faintly see Cindy still walking away.
*The creature from the cave bears shocking similarities to Twonkies, characters that would not appear until the next episode to air. Such a coincidence is odd. It could be because the creators loved the design and decided to use it in an episode (which would turn out to be a television movie and the next episode, as well as next television movie)
*When Jimmy and the gang go to the military installation, background music is played. The music played is a parody to the Mission Impossible theme, which has a different theme in it.
*There are several audience members in the game show. A list:
**The germs from '''Journey to the Center of Carl'''
**The giant lima bean from '''I Dream Of Jimmy'''
**Bonzilla from '''The Retroville 9'''
**The Space Bandits from '''A Beautiful Mine''' and '''Men at Work'''
**The Junkman and his dog, Roxxie, from '''The Junkman Cometh'''
**A green Tyranosaurus Rex-type dinosaur
**The boss of the Junkman, seen in '''The Junkman Cometh'''
**Yolkians from '''Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius''' and '''The Egg-pire Strikes Back'''
*List of teams
**'''Team Earth''' (a.k.a. the Jellybags): Jimmy Neutron, Cindy Vortex, Carl Wheezer, Sheen Estevez, Libby Folfax, Bolbi Stravonowski, Goddard, Hugh Neutron (life-line)
**'''Team Gorlock''': Shee-AHHH! Poink (a.k.a. April), April's Father, April's Mother
**'''Team Brain''': Three brains
**'''Team Neadlehead''': Four Needleheads
*List of challenges
**'''Florgus Ball (Earth vs. Gorlock)''': Gorlocks win 586-0.
**'''Greased Martian Toss (Needlehead vs. Brain)''': (Unseen) Needleheads win.
**'''Retrieve a Mushroom from the Cave (Earth vs. Needlehead)''': Needleheads win.
**'''Can You Eat This?: (Earth vs. Needlehead)''': Carl against a needlehead. Needlehead: Banana Cream Pie. Carl: Plutonian Gut Chunks. Earth wins.
**'''Race (Earth vs. Brain)''': Brains use illusion to distract Earthlings. Earth still wins.
**'''Jeapordy (Earth vs. Gorlock)''': Gorlock (April's father) rings the gong. Trivia is on Andromeda 90210 (the soapie Hugh was watching earlier). Gorlocks fail trivia. Earth contestant: Jimmy. Lifeline: Hugh. Hugh succeeds. Earthlings win tournament.
*Intergaltic Showdown is a parody of the Tv Show Xiaolin Showdown.
Quotes
*'''Meldar''': (Screams in pain) This really hurts (Screams in pain) This is quite painful (Screams in pain)*'''Living lima bean''' audience member: (after Sheen appears on a TV in the studio) I never heard of Ultra Lord or Clam Crabs!<br>'''Other audience member''': But if it's on Network TV it must be true!
