Arthur (season 1)

The first season of the television series Arthur was originally broadcast on PBS in the United States from October 7[1] to November 15, 1996, and contains 30 episodes with each episode containing two 11-minute segments. Like seasons 2 and 3, this season was released on DVD in Europe only.

Arthur
Season 1
Country of originUnited States
Canada
No. of episodes30 (60 segments)
Release
Original networkPBS
Original releaseOctober 7 (1996-10-07) 
November 15, 1996 (1996-11-15)
Season chronology

Episodes

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleWritten byStoryboarded byOriginal air date
1a1a"Arthur's Eyes"Joe FallonGerry CapelleOctober 7, 1996 (1996-10-07)
When D.W. sees pictures of Arthur without his glasses, Arthur tells her the story of why he got glasses, and how he dealt with Francine teasing him for them.
1b1b"Francine's Bad Hair Day"Kathy WaughJean SarôOctober 7, 1996 (1996-10-07)
With school picture day coming, Muffy tries to give Francine a new makeover, and continuously refuses to allow her to participate in activities with her friends.
2a2a"Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn"Joe FallonJohn Pagan & Norm RoenOctober 8, 1996 (1996-10-08)
Arthur and his friends are horrified when they learn that their third grade teacher will be the infamous Mr. Ratburn. After Arthur and Buster follow him outside of class, they learn that while he is a tough teacher, he does have a soft side.
2b2b"Arthur's Spelling Trubble"Joe FallonJean LajeunesseOctober 8, 1996 (1996-10-08)
Arthur practices for the school spelling bee and competes against Prunella, the previous champion, and Brain, the smartest kid in his class. After some initial fear, Arthur wins the bee.
3a3a"D.W. All Wet"Kathy WaughSylvain ProteauOctober 9, 1996 (1996-10-09)
D.W. develops a fear of octopuses while on a field trip to the aquarium with her class. The next day, the Reads go to the beach, but D.W. refuses to swim because she thinks there are octopuses in the water. However, after Arthur and his friends get in trouble for playing a prank on D.W., she overcomes her fear.
3b3b"Buster's Dino Dilemma"Matt SteinglassRaymond LebrunOctober 9, 1996 (1996-10-09)
Buster and Arthur discover a fossilized dinosaur footprint on a class trip to a state park. Buster takes it home, which is against the park rules, but later feels guilty and decides to give it to the park.
4a4a"D.W.'s Imaginary Friend"Ken ScarboroughSylvain ProteauOctober 10, 1996 (1996-10-10)
Arthur gets annoyed with D.W. when she blames accidents she causes on her imaginary friend, Nadine. While on a trip to the amusement park after hearing about a new ride, Arthur and Buster fear D.W. will embarrass them with Nadine.
4b4b"Arthur's Lost Library Book"Joe FallonJean LajeunesseOctober 10, 1996 (1996-10-10)
Arthur is the first to borrow a new book from the library, but he accidentally drops it on his way home. Arthur recruits Binky to help him find the book by interrogating his friends, but it turns out Binky found it after Arthur dropped it.
5a5a"Arthur's Pet Business"Joe FallonJean LajeunesseOctober 11, 1996 (1996-10-11)
Arthur starts his own pet-sitting business to prove he is responsible enough to get a dog of his own, which includes watching over his neighbor, Mrs. Wood's, unfriendly dog, Perky. When Perky goes missing on the day Mrs. Wood is picking her up, Arthur fears that he is not a good pet owner until he finds that Perky has given birth to a litter of puppies. Arthur adopts one of Perky's puppies as payment.
5b5b"D.W. the Copycat"Joe FallonStéfanie GignacOctober 11, 1996 (1996-10-11)
D.W. annoys Arthur by acting and dressing like him and following him around. Arthur's friends start excluding him because they do not want D.W. around. But when D.W.'s own friends refuse to play with her, she decides to change back to her old self.
6a6a"Locked in the Library!"Kathy WaughJohn FlaggOctober 14, 1996 (1996-10-14)
Francine is mad at Arthur for a joke he made at her expense, and Mr. Ratburn assigns them to work together on a project. They go to the library together and lose track of time, getting locked inside when the library closes. As they try to find a way out, Francine and Arthur must put aside their grudges and learn to work together.
6b6b"Arthur Accused!"James GreenbergJean SarôOctober 14, 1996 (1996-10-14)
Arthur is in charge of helping the cafeteria lady, Mrs. MacGrady, with a fundraiser, but when he tries to give the money he raised to her, she is distracted by a phone conversation, so Arthur leaves the money in the kitchen. However, the money disappears and Arthur is falsely accused of stealing it. Buster, acting as a detective, tries to prove Arthur's innocence.
7a7a"Arthur Goes to Camp"Rowby GorenSylvain ProteauOctober 15, 1996 (1996-10-15)
Arthur and his friends go to Camp Meadowcroak, where everything is a competition between girls and boys. The two teams refuse to collaborate, but when a rival camp plays a spooky prank on them, they realize they must work together to beat the rival camp in the annual scavenger hunt.
7b7b"Buster Makes the Grade"Peter HirschNadja CozicOctober 15, 1996 (1996-10-15)
Buster falls behind with his schoolwork, and is threatened with repeating third grade if he does not improve. Arthur, Muffy, and Francine tutor him, but he struggles to pay attention.
8a8a"Arthur's New Puppy"Joe FallonHana KukalOctober 16, 1996 (1996-10-16)
Following the events of "Arthur's Pet Business," Arthur is trying to train his new puppy, Pal, to behave, but Pal ends up making huge messes and causing disturbances around the house.
8b8b"Arthur Bounces Back"Tom HertzJohn FlaggOctober 16, 1996 (1996-10-16)
Arthur wants Moon Boots and tries to get money to buy them. While Arthur is cleaning the garage, his neighbor, Mrs. Tibble comes by and, mistaking it for a yard sale, offers to buy a necklace for the amount of money he needs for his Moon Boots. Arthur regrets this decision when he learns that the necklace is a present for his mother's birthday, so he tries to earn it back.
9a9a"Arthur Babysits"Joe FallonGerry CapelleOctober 17, 1996 (1996-10-17)
Arthur thinks that babysitting is an easy job until D.W. volunteers him to babysit Tommy and Timmy Tibble, twins with a bad reputation of being destructive and mean. After some initial struggles, Arthur gets the twins to behave by telling them a scary story.
9b9b"Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe"Terence TaylorJean Charles FinkOctober 17, 1996 (1996-10-17)
Arthur's parents are hosting their annual family reunion. Arthur tries to avoid his cousin Mo, who has bullied him during past reunions, while his parents deal with their eccentric relatives. When a thunderstorm forces the Reads to spend the rest of the party indoors, Arthur learns that Mo has been looking for him to ask if he could give her a piano lesson.
10a10a"Arthur's Birthday"Joe FallonStéfanie GignacOctober 18, 1996 (1996-10-18)
Arthur and Muffy have their birthday parties on the same day and neither can postpone. While everyone is frozen with indecision over whose party to attend, Arthur and Francine then work together to merge the two parties into one everyone can enjoy.
10b10b"Francine Frensky, Superstar"Joe FallonDarren BreretonOctober 18, 1996 (1996-10-18)
Feeling sorry for Francine never getting a good part in the class play, the whole class vouches for her to star as Thomas Edison in the next play. However, they regret their decision when Francine tries to take charge and acts very bossy, leading to heated disputes between her and the rest of the cast.
11a11a"Arthur's Baby"Joe FallonGerry CapelleOctober 21, 1996 (1996-10-21)
On Kate's first birthday, Arthur remembers when his mother first told him and D.W. that she is pregnant. Arthur is nervous, wondering what it will be like to have a new baby in the house. When Kate is born, Arthur is worried that she hates him, since she cries whenever he is nearby.
11b11b"D.W.'s Baby"Joe FallonGerry CapelleOctober 21, 1996 (1996-10-21)
Following the events of the previous episode, Kate finally displays her affection for Arthur. D.W. feels jealous of the attention Kate is receiving from the rest of the family and tries anything to get rid of her, but nothing works.
12a12a"Arthur Writes a Story"Joe FallonGerry CapelleOctober 22, 1996 (1996-10-22)
When Arthur is assigned to write a story, he writes about how he got Pal (from "Arthur's Pet Business"). Afraid that people will find it boring, Arthur begins fictionalizing the events using advice from different people. Once he realizes how strange the story is, he changes it back and learns that the truth is still interesting.
12b12b"Arthur's Lost Dog"Joe FallonSylvian ProteauOctober 22, 1996 (1996-10-22)
It is Downtown Day in Elwood City and the Reads attend the festival. They pass a clown giving balloons and Kate begins crying because she wants a balloon. Nobody but Pal understands why Kate is crying, so Pal runs off to get a balloon, but Arthur thinks he is running away from him.
13a13a"So Long, Spanky"Peter K. HirschJean LajeunesseOctober 23, 1996 (1996-10-23)
When D.W.'s pet bird, Spanky, dies, she leaves a can of flowers on his grave after his funeral, but finds a toad in it. The toad constantly follows D.W., but she is annoyed that it will not leave her alone. But when the toad disappears one morning, D.W. realizes that she misses it.
13b13b"Buster's New Friend"Matt SteinglassJean LajeunesseOctober 23, 1996 (1996-10-23)
Arthur and Buster work on a project together, but Buster does not have the time for the project or for Arthur, instead talking about his new friend, Mike. When Buster keeps forgetting about him, Arthur decides to end his friendship with Buster, until he learns who Mike really is and Buster apologizes.
14a14a"Arthur the Wrecker"Joe FallonStéfanie GignacOctober 24, 1996 (1996-10-24)
Arthur borrows a new computer game from Brain, but his mother, who is very busy, needs to use the computer for work. When Buster visits, he and Arthur accidentally knock the keyboard to the floor, causing the computer to shut down. They try to figure out what is wrong with the computer before Arthur's mother comes home.
14b14b"Arthur and the True Francine"Kathy WaughAngus BungayOctober 24, 1996 (1996-10-24)
While playing a game of Truth or Dare with Muffy, Francine recalls the time they first met and became friends. Muffy lies about cheating on a test, causing Francine to be punished with detention for a week. When Francine is needed for a crucial softball game, and Muffy's lies finally catch up to her, she finally comes clean, allowing Francine to return to the game.
15a15a"Arthur's Family Vacation"Thomas LaPierreFrançois BrissonOctober 25, 1996 (1996-10-25)
Arthur is sad that he cannot go to Camp Meadowcroak with Buster since he is going on a road trip with his family. The Reads face many mishaps such as their hotel reservation getting cancelled and it rains consistently until the last day of their trip. When Arthur gets back, he finds out that Buster had an even worse trip than him.
15b15b"Grandpa Dave's Old Country Farm"Matt SteinglassJohn Pagan & Norm RoenOctober 25, 1996 (1996-10-25)
Arthur and D.W. visit their Grandpa Dave, who lives on an old, rundown farm. Grandpa Dave does not want help running it, but Arthur and D.W. are concerned by the state of things and try to help him fix up the farm with the help of his friends.
16a16a"Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest"Peter K. HirschJean LajeunesseOctober 28, 1996 (1996-10-28)
Arthur is determined to win a year's supply of Crunch cereal by composing a jingle, but he cannot come up with any ideas. He hears D.W. singing a song about Nadine and copies it. Arthur feels guilty, so he mails the song with D.W.'s name instead of his, and it wins the contest, much to D.W.'s confusion.
16b16b"D.W. Flips"Peter K. HirschGerry CapelleOctober 28, 1996 (1996-10-28)
D.W. is jealous of Emily's performance in their gymnastics class and is determined to become better than her, which endangers her when she climbs on a high balance beam and nearly hurts herself. Afterward, D.W. and Emily apologize to one another and become friends.
17a17a"Meek for a Week"Joe FallonJean Charles FinkOctober 29, 1996 (1996-10-29)
Annoyed by Francine's attitude, Muffy bets that she cannot be nice for a week. Noticing how straining the bet is on Francine, Arthur, Buster, and the Brain try to get her to lose her temper, but Francine manages to keep it under control until the bet is over.
17b17b"Arthur, World's Greatest Gleeper"Matt SteinglassMyron BornOctober 29, 1996 (1996-10-29)
When Arthur and Buster have to eat lunch with Binky's gang, the Tough Customers, they tell Arthur they think he has never "gleeped" anything, but to impress them, he tells them he has, only to find out later that "gleep" is slang for "steal." Rumors spread about Arthur being a thief, while Binky's gang pressures him into their ranks.
18a18a"Arthur's Chicken Pox"Kathy WaughRussel CrispinOctober 30, 1996 (1996-10-30)
Arthur is looking forward to his family's trip to the circus, but he gets chicken pox, and is unsure if he will get better in time for the circus. When Grandma Thora visits to take care of Arthur, D.W. gets jealous of the attention he gets and tries to pretend she has chicken pox, too.
18b18b"Sick as a Dog"Joe FallonJean Charles FinkOctober 30, 1996 (1996-10-30)
Arthur is sad when Pal has to stay at the vet overnight for being sick. He blames D.W. for this, but when the vet tells him that Pal has been eating human food, he has to apologize to D.W. and learn what Pal is and is not supposed to eat.
19a19a"D.W. Rides Again"Joe FallonGerry CapelleOctober 31, 1996 (1996-10-31)
D.W. gets a two-wheel bike for a bike-riding fundraiser after the Tibble twins tease her for her tricycle. She tries to learn to ride it with Arthur's assistance. After several failed attempts, D.W. gets the hang of riding her bike.
19b19b"Arthur Makes the Team"Tom HertzJean LajeunesseOctober 31, 1996 (1996-10-31)
Arthur and his friends try out for the baseball team, and Arthur struggles with catching the ball while Francine is unable to throw accurately. When Francine wishes for her father to kick Arthur off the team, thinking he is the reason for the team not doing well, he makes Arthur and Francine coach each other to get better.
20a20a"Arthur's Almost Boring Day"Joe FallonStefanie GignacNovember 1, 1996 (1996-11-01)
Arthur and his friends are assigned to write about what they do over the weekend, but the rain ruins plans. Arthur and D.W. bother each other and are sent to Grandma Thora's, where Thora shows them old home movies and comic books that give Arthur a great idea for his assignment.
20b20b"The Half-Baked Sale"Ken ScarboroughJean LajeunesseNovember 1, 1996 (1996-11-01)
Grandma Thora is oblivious to the fact that she is a poor cook, and when she bakes cookies for a school bake sale, Arthur and D.W. try to stop her bad cooking from ruining the bake sale without hurting her feelings.
21a21a"Sue Ellen Moves In"Joe FallonGerry CapelleNovember 4, 1996 (1996-11-04)
Rumors circulate about Sue Ellen Armstrong and her family, who have just moved into the neighborhood. Buster jumps to the false conclusion that they are aliens and tries to expose them, but everyone else learns about how Sue Ellen traveled the world and change their opinions of her.
21b21b"The Perfect Brother"Joe FallonStefanie GignacNovember 4, 1996 (1996-11-04)
Brain spends the weekend with the Reads while his parents visit an ice cream convention. Brain is neat, finishes his homework early, and reads to D.W., making Arthur look bad. When Brain invites Arthur over to his house, Arthur learns that Brain is not neat and was just acting polite because he was a guest.
22a22a"D.W.'s Snow Mystery"Joe FallonGerry CapelleNovember 5, 1996 (1996-11-05)
D.W. keeps a snowball in the freezer from "the best day of her life," but it goes missing. Buster and Francine investigate, listening to biased accounts of those present the day the snowball disappeared. After several arguments and accusations, D.W. lets the incident go as the first snowfall of the year appears.
22b22b"Team Trouble"Joe FallonGerry CapelleNovember 5, 1996 (1996-11-05)
Arthur, Buster, and Francine are assigned to do a group project on Ancient Rome. They separately work on a comic book, which ends up being inconsistent and not working due to disagreements. They learn that they have to work together to make a good project.
23a23a"Bully for Binky"Joe FallonGerry CapelleNovember 6, 1996 (1996-11-06)
Binky bullies Sue Ellen, who demands that he apologize. When he does not, she challenges him to a fight to settle it. He gets nervous when he finds out she knows Tae Kwon Do, and tries to beat her in music instead. When Sue Ellen is better than him in that as well, Binky accepts that Sue Ellen is tougher than him.
23b23b"Misfortune Teller"Joe FallonLuc SavoieNovember 6, 1996 (1996-11-06)
For her half-birthday, Prunella's older sister, Rubella, gives her a cootie catcher. Rubella claims that it can tell the future and the answers it gives do come true. Arthur and his friends begin following the advice of the cootie catcher. When the cootie catcher is ruined, they realize that they should not let it control their lives.
24a24a"Arthur's Tooth"James GreenbergJean Charles FinkNovember 7, 1996 (1996-11-07)
Arthur has a loose tooth, but he is the only one in his class that has not lost any of his baby teeth yet. He tries to pull it out to get Francine to stop teasing him. Arthur learns that people lose their baby teeth at different ages and tells Francine, only for her to accidentally hit him with a ball and knock out his loose tooth.
24b24b"D.W. Gets Lost"Joe FallonKevin CurrieNovember 7, 1996 (1996-11-07)
D.W. wants earrings because her friend Emily has them. D.W.'s mother takes her shopping for earrings, and while at the superstore, they run into Muffy's father, who needs to speak with D.W.'s mother. Impatient, D.W. wanders off and gets lost in the store. While trying to find her way back to her mother, she runs into Emily and sees her earrings have turned her ears green. Upon returning to her mother, D.W. changes her mind.
25a25a"D.W. Thinks Big"Judy RothmanGerry CapelleNovember 8, 1996 (1996-11-08)
D.W. wants to help out at Aunt Lucy's wedding, but she is too little. Arthur is the ringbearer and their rude cousin Cora is the flower girl. During the wedding, Cora distracts Arthur, causing him to accidentally throw the ring into the organ pipes. Arthur is too big to crawl into the organ and Cora does not want to get dirty. D.W. volunteers and successfully retrieves the ring. As a reward, Aunt Lucy allows D.W. to be both the ringbearer and the flower girl.
25b25b"Arthur Cleans Up"Matt SteinglassJean Charles FinkNovember 8, 1996 (1996-11-08)
When Arthur complains about the state of the park, his father starts a brigade for Arthur and his friends to clean the park. Arthur's friends get angry at him for starting the brigade, despite him trying to explain that it was his father's idea, not his. As a result, Arthur has to do the job himself with only Francine's father advising him. However, the next day, Arthur stands up to Binky and his gang when they tease him and orders them to help him clean the park. Arthur's friends decide to help him after overhearing the incident with Binky's gang.
26a26a"My Dad, the Garbage Man"Kathy WaughJean SarôNovember 11, 1996 (1996-11-11)
Mr. Ratburn's class goes on field trips to several of the students' parents at work to learn about careers. Francine is embarrassed by her father's job as a garbage man and tries to cover it up by informing her friends that he is in a secret organization and just pretends to be a garbage man for cover. However, Francine eventually decides to admit that her father is really a garbage man when everyone sees that he built a playground out of things he found at the dump.
26b26b"Poor Muffy"Ken ScarboroughGerry CapelleNovember 11, 1996 (1996-11-11)
Muffy is allergic to the new carpet in her house, so she stays with Francine while the carpeting is being removed. During Muffy's stay, Francine cannot handle Muffy's spoiled attitude and Muffy cannot deal with the less-than-wealthy condition in which Francine's family lives.
27a27a"D.W.'s Blankie"Tom HertzStéfanie GignacNovember 12, 1996 (1996-11-12)
D.W. cannot find her blankie and enlists the help of Arthur to search for it, retracing her steps over Elwood City.
27b27b"Arthur's Substitute Teacher Trouble"Joe FallonNadja CozicNovember 12, 1996 (1996-11-12)
Mr. Ratburn loses his voice and his sister, Ms. Rodentia Ratburn, substitutes for him. Ms. Ratburn is a kindergarten teacher, and although the class is glad to have some easy work at first, they soon get bored and they realize they miss Mr. Ratburn's tougher classes.
28a28a"I'm a Poet"Joe FallonKevin CurrieNovember 13, 1996 (1996-11-13)
Fern is the only one in class to enter a poetry contest, which is to be judged by famous poet Jack Prelutsky. The others think poetry is uncool, and start making fun of her. Fern bets them if they cannot write and submit their own poems, they must join the poetry club for a year. In doing so, Fern's friends find writing poetry fun.
Guest star: Jack Prelutsky as himself.
28b28b"The Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club!"Terence TaylorAngus BungayNovember 13, 1996 (1996-11-13)
When their favorite series of books is banned from the library by a parental organization who believe scary books are bad for children, Arthur and his friends get together a petition to get them back — all except Muffy that is, as it turns out her parents are the founders of the parental group. Everyone gets a surprise when the books' author arrives to defend her books, and she happens to be Muffy's father's former teacher.
29a29a"My Club Rules"Joe FallonGerry CapelleNovember 14, 1996 (1996-11-14)
Arthur and his friends create a club to exclude D.W., but they cannot agree on the rules. Everyone starts creating their own clubs with strange rules, alienating those who want to join.
29b29b"Stolen Bike"Kathy WaughAngus BungayNovember 14, 1996 (1996-11-14)
Francine's bike is too small for her, so her father finds his old bike, except she is embarrassed by the fact that it is old and rusty. When her friends tease her about the bike, she hides it and pretends it is stolen. The bike then gets thrown out, and when Francine's father finds it, they work together on fixing it up.
30a30a"Arthur's First Sleepover"Joe FallonJean LajeunesseNovember 15, 1996 (1996-11-15)
Arthur has a sleepover with Buster and Brain, even with all the talk of UFOs. D.W. wants to join them so that she can take a picture of a UFO. The boys refuse to invite her, so D.W. plays a prank on them with a flashlight in retaliation, and they get back at her by scaring her with a fake alien, then tricking her into spotting a fake UFO.
30b30b"Arthur's New Year's Eve"Joe FallonDarren BreretonNovember 15, 1996 (1996-11-15)
Arthur has never stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve. His friends all have different claims on what happens at midnight, so Arthur tries to stay up until New Year's Eve to find out what occurs. He is disappointed when he sleeps through it, although Grandma Thora reassures him that the following year will be exciting.

References

  1. "Arthur on TV". Archived from the original on December 25, 1996. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
General references
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