Arthur (season 13)

The 13th season of the television series Arthur was originally broadcast on PBS in the United States from October 12, 2009 to April 9, 2010 and contains 10 episodes. All episodes from this season aired on several countries outside the U.S., such as CBBC in United Kingdom and TVOKids in Canada, prior to their U.S. air dates.

Arthur
Season 13
Country of origin
  • United States
  • Canada
No. of episodes10 (20 segments)
Release
Original networkPBS
Original releaseOctober 12, 2009 (2009-10-12) –
April 9, 2010 (2010-04-09)
Season chronology

Episodes
Main article: List of Arthur episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleWritten byStoryboarded byOriginal air date
1561"No Acting, Please"
"Prunella and the Disappointing Ending"[1]		Cusi Cram
Jonathan Greenberg		Elie Klimos, Nadja Cozic & Élise Benoît
Robert Yap		October 12, 2009 (2009-10-12)

"No Acting, Please": Fern worries that she won't do good in a play, so William Toffman, voiced by actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, teaches Fern be a star.

"Prunella and the Disappointing Ending": Prunella and Marina compete to see who can read a novel first.
1572"The Silent Treatment"
"Kung Fool"[2]		Claudia SilverRobert YapOctober 13, 2009 (2009-10-13)

"The Silent Treatment": George wonders whether anyone would notice if he just disappeared, and vows not to speak until someone notices him.

"Kung Fool": Fern volunteers to help an elderly neighbor, who she learns is a retired kung fu master.
1583"Arthur's Number Nightmare"
"Brain Gets Hooked"[3]		Peter K. Hirsch
Matt Steinglass		Elie Klimos & Élise Benoît
Aliaksei Kazakou & Michel Carbonneau		October 14, 2009 (2009-10-14)

"Arthur's Number Nightmare": Buster finds a piece of paper with names of his classmates and numbers beside them. Arthur, Buster, and Francine believe it's a class ranking system. The paper turns out to be a seating assignment chart.

"Brain Gets Hooked": Brain gets addicted to a TV show.
1594"MacFrensky"
"The Good, the Bad, and the Binky"[4]		Jonathan Greenberg
Claudia Silver		Michel Carbonneau & Stéphanie Gignac
Gerry Capelle		October 15, 2009 (2009-10-15)

"MacFrensky": Francine and Muffy frame Brain into doing a bad deed so Francine can become Student of the Month. The two girls continue to frame other students in fear of being caught from their first plan.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Binky": Binky babysits Emily, and his rude behavior has a bad influence on her.
1605"The Great MacGrady"[5]Peter K. Hirsch & Leah RyanZhigang WangOctober 16, 2009 (2009-10-16)
Mrs. MacGrady is diagnosed with cancer, and the children react differently: Arthur and D.W. rush to support her, Francine is worried, and Muffy is initially unaware of Mrs. MacGrady's condition, but jumps to action when she realizes how to help. Lance Armstrong guest stars for the second time in the series.
1616"When Carl Met George"
"D.W. Swims with the Fishes"[6]		Peter K. Hirsch
Cydne Clark & Steve Granat		Gerry Capelle & Nick Vallinakis
Robert Yap		April 5, 2010 (2010-04-05)

"When Carl Met George": George meets a new friend named Carl, who has Asperger syndrome. George is unsure about how to act around his new friend, but Brain helps put autism in perspective for him so he can understand some of Carl's mannerisms. Note: In some countries, this episode goes by the title "George and the Missing Puzzle Piece."

"D.W. Swims with the Fishes": D.W. and James enter the preschool swim meet and recruit their older siblings to coach them.
1627"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Tibble"
"The Secret Guardians"[7]		Peter K. Hirsch
Guy Lancaster		Nick Vallinakis & Daniel Miodini
Daniel Decelles		April 6, 2010 (2010-04-06)

"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Tibble": The Tibbles make paintings and sell them for money to buy a toy.

"The Secret Guardians": Arthur, Binky, and Sue Ellen find a woodland oasis near their homes and vow to keep the area a secret. Soon, they start to find evidence of human habitation and wonder if they've discovered an ancient civilization.
1638"Fernlets by Fern"
"Prunella and the Haunted Locker"[8]		David Steven Cohen
Gentry Menzel		Zhigang Wang
Nick Vallinakis & Sylvie Lafrance		April 7, 2010 (2010-04-07)

"Fernlets by Fern": Fern and Muffy start a greeting card business.

"Prunella and the Haunted Locker": Prunella's locker is under repairs, so she has to use one that is rumored to be haunted.
1649"Paradise Lost"
"The Pride of Lakewood"[9]		Jonathan Greenberg
Peter K. Hirsch		Nick Vallinakis & Daniel Miodini
Zhigang Wang, Jeremy O'Neill, Nick Vallinakis & Gerry Capelle		April 8, 2010 (2010-04-08)

"Paradise Lost": Baby Kate begins to learn to talk, but starts to not be able to understand Pal anymore. They go to the Dolly Llama for an answer.

"The Pride of Lakewood": To boost school pride, Arthur and his classmates form the Lakewood Pride Committee. Sue Ellen and Brain do not join the group and are accused of not loving their school.
16510"Looking for Bonnie"
"The Secret Origin of Supernova"[10]		David Steven Cohen
Jonathan Greenberg		Daniel Miodini & Jeremy O'Neill
Robert Yap		April 9, 2010 (2010-04-09)

"Looking for Bonnie": Rock musician Dean Lomax visits Elwood City and asks George's dad to fix his guitar. George and Buster sneak out to see the guitar, and imagine themselves making the world a better place with music.

"The Secret Origin of Supernova": Arthur tries to find a superhero to dress up as for a convention, and ends up inventing his own.

Production

Episodes from this season were produced together with season 12. As a result, the episodes from this season were aired on several countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia, prior to the U.S.

One of the most notable episodes, "The Great MacGrady" (co-sponsored by the Lance Armstrong Foundation) deals with the topic issue of cancer (a topic that had only been addressed once in an animated series). Executive producer Jacqui Deegan comments on the WGBH press release:

Cancer affects nearly everyone in some way. We hope that this two-part episode will empower kids, families and caregivers to talk about all the feelings that can come up when a loved one has cancer, and how they can work together and remain positive and hopeful through difficult times.[11]

The episode premiered during the week-long programming block A Very Special Arthur. The episode's ending features a dedication to Leah Ryan, a former Arthur writer who died from leukemia on June 12, 2008. The character of Mrs. MacGrady was renamed Leah MacGrady in Ryan's honor.

"No Acting, Please / Prunella and the Disappointing Ending" is listed as the fifth episode of this season on PBS's official episode guide and "The Great MacGrady" as the first, although they are flipped in order according to original U.S. airdate.

Celebrity guests

Philip Seymour Hoffman guest starred as himself on the episode "No Acting, Please".

Lance Armstrong guest starred as himself — for the second time on the series — on the episode "The Great MacGrady".

Promotion

A book version of the episode has been released on the PBS Kids website in English and Spanish before its airing date, along with information about cancer.[12]

The Lance Armstrong Foundation Headquarters and WGBH Boston Studios have shown pre-screenings of "The Great MacGrady" a week before its television premiere. In addition to viewing the episode, children had the opportunity to participate in activities in response to the contents of the episode. WITF Public Media Center also held a pre-screening event [13] along with several other public libraries.

A Very Special Arthur

"The Great MacGrady" was aired on October 19, 2009 at Arthur's regular time. This programming block was promoted as A Very Special Arthur. A promotional video[14] was shown the week before the programming block in between Arthur and other PBS Kids GO! television programs.

The decision for A Very Special Arthur was made by PBS and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Their goal was to make the episode as accessible as possible to children, families, and educators so they would have the tools to discuss about the heavily impacting topic.[15]

References
  1. "No Acting Please; Prunella Deegan and the Disappointing Ending". MSN TV. Archived from the original on November 21, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  2. "Silent Treatment; Kung Fool". MSN TV. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  3. "Arthur's Numbers Nightmare; Brain Gets Hooked". MSN TV. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  4. "MacFrensky; The Good the Bad and the Binky". MSN TV. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  5. "The Great MacGrady". MSN TV. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  6. "When Carl Met George/D.W. Swims With The Fishes". KLRU. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  7. "Portrait Of Artist As Young Tibble/The Secret Guar". KLRU. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  8. "Fernlets By Fern/Prunella And The Haunted Locker". KLRU. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  9. "Paradise Lost/The Pride Of Lakewood". KLRU. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  10. "Looking For Bonnie/The Secret Origin Of Supernova". KLRU. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  11. "Arthur Season 13 Press Release: PDF" (PDF). WGBH. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  12. "When Someone You Know Has Cancer". PBS. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  13. Sara Wagner. "Free Pre-Screening of Arthur's "The Great MacGrady"". WITF. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  14. "A Very Special Arthur". PBS on YouTube. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  15. "ARTHUR episode -- "The Great MacGrady"". OETA. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
General references
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