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 origin	United States Canada
No. of episodes	30 (60 segments)
Release
Original network	PBS
Original release	October 7 (1996-10-07) – November 15, 1996 (1996-11-15)
Season chronology

Episodes

Main article: List of Arthur episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Written by	Storyboarded by	Original air date
1a	1a	"Arthur's Eyes"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	October 7, 1996 (1996-10-07)
When D.W. sees pictures of a baby Arthur without his glasses, Arthur tells her the story of why he got glasses, and how he dealt with Francine teasing him for them.
1b	1b	"Francine's Bad Hair Day"	Kathy Waugh	Jean Sarô	October 7, 1996 (1996-10-07)
With school picture day coming, Muffy tries to give Francine a new makeover, which clashes with Francine's active lifestyle.
2a	2a	"Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn"	Joe Fallon	John Pagan & Norm Roen	October 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 he is not mean after all.
2b	2b	"Arthur's Spelling Trubble"	Joe Fallon	Jean Lajeunesse	October 8, 1996 (1996-10-08)
Arthur practices for the school spelling bee and competes against Prunella, the reigning champion, and Brain, the smartest kid in his class.
3a	3a	"D.W. All Wet"	Kathy Waugh	Sylvain Proteau	October 9, 1996 (1996-10-09)
The Reads go to the beach during the summer, but D.W. refuses to swim because she thinks there are octopuses in the water.
3b	3b	"Buster's Dino Dilemma"	Matt Steinglass	Raymond Lebrun	October 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, against site rules, but later feels guilty and confesses.
4a	4a	"D.W.'s Imaginary Friend"	Ken Scarborough	Sylvain Proteau	October 10, 1996 (1996-10-10)
When Arthur and Buster find out about a new amusement park ride, they do not want D.W. and her imaginary friend to come along.
4b	4b	"Arthur's Lost Library Book"	Joe Fallon	Jean Lajeunesse	October 10, 1996 (1996-10-10)
Arthur is the first to borrow a new book from the library, but he cannot find it while going to return it. He suspects his friends have taken it, and the thief turns out to be Binky.
5a	5a	"Arthur's Pet Business"	Joe Fallon	Jean Lajeunesse	October 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 unfriendly dog Perky. When Perky goes missing on the day her owner is picking her up, Arthur fears that he is not a good pet owner. Perky gives birth, and Arthur adopts one of her puppies as payment.
5b	5b	"D.W. the Copycat"	Joe Fallon	Stéfanie Gignac	October 11, 1996 (1996-10-11)
D.W. starts acting and dressing like Arthur and following him around. Arthur's friends start excluding him because they do not want D.W. around.
6a	6a	"Locked in the Library!"	Kathy Waugh	John Flagg	October 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.
6b	6b	"Arthur Accused!"	James Greenberg	Jean Sarô	October 14, 1996 (1996-10-14)
Arthur is in charge of a fundraiser, and is accused of stealing the quarters he raised. Buster, acting as a detective, tries to prove Arthur's innocence.
7a	7a	"Arthur Goes to Camp"	Rowby Goren	Sylvain Proteau	October 15, 1996 (1996-10-15)
Arthur and his friends go to Camp Meadowcroak, where everything is a competition between girls and boys. When a rival camp pranks them, the two factions must work together to beat the rival camp in the annual scavenger hunt.
7b	7b	"Buster Makes the Grade"	Peter Hirsch	Nadja Cozic	October 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.
8a	8a	"Arthur's New Puppy"	Joe Fallon	Hana Kukal	October 16, 1996 (1996-10-16)
Arthur must train his new puppy, Pal, to behave.
8b	8b	"Arthur Bounces Back"	Tom Hertz	John Flagg	October 16, 1996 (1996-10-16)
Arthur wants Moon Boots and tries to get money to buy them. Desperate for money, he sells his mother's necklace, then regrets it and tries to get it back.
9a	9a	"Arthur Babysits"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	October 17, 1996 (1996-10-17)
Arthur thinks that babysitting is an easy job until he volunteers to babysit Tommy and Timmy Tibble, twins with a bad reputation of being destructive and mean.
9b	9b	"Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe"	Terence Taylor	Jean Charles Fink	October 17, 1996 (1996-10-17)
Arthur's parents host a family reunion. Arthur tries to avoid his cousin Mo after bad experiences with her at past reunions, while his parents deal with their eccentric relatives.
10a	10a	"Arthur's Birthday"	Joe Fallon	Stéfanie Gignac	October 18, 1996 (1996-10-18)
Arthur and Muffy have their birthday parties on the same day and neither can change the date. While their friends are split over whose party to attend, Arthur and Francine then work together to merge the two parties into one everyone can enjoy.
10b	10b	"Francine Frensky, Superstar"	Joe Fallon	Darren Brereton	October 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, the role goes to Francine's head, causing her to take control of the play, and the rest of the cast revolt.
11a	11a	"Arthur's Baby"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	October 21, 1996 (1996-10-21)
On Kate's 1st birthday, Arthur remembers when his mom 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.
11b	11b	"D.W.'s Baby"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	October 21, 1996 (1996-10-21)
In a flashback, D.W. feels jealous of the attention Kate is receiving and runs away with Grandma Thora.
12a	12a	"Arthur Writes a Story"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	October 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.
12b	12b	"Arthur's Lost Dog"	Joe Fallon	Sylvian Proteau	October 22, 1996 (1996-10-22)
Kate wants a balloon at a street carnival, confusing Arthur's parents, who are unaware of why Kate is crying. Pal runs off to get a balloon, but Arthur thinks he is running away from him.
13a	13a	"So Long, Spanky"	Peter K. Hirsch	Jean Lajeunesse	October 23, 1996 (1996-10-23)
D.W.'s pet bird, Spanky, dies. She leaves a can of flowers on Spanky's grave after his funeral, but finds a toad in it. The toad reappears several times, following D.W., but she is annoyed that it will not leave her alone. When the toad does not reappear, D.W. realizes that she misses it.
13b	13b	"Buster's New Friend"	Matt Steinglass	Jean Lajeunesse	October 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.
14a	14a	"Arthur the Wrecker"	Joe Fallon	Stéfanie Gignac	October 24, 1996 (1996-10-24)
Arthur is addicted to a new computer game, disobeying his mother's rules to play it. When the computer shuts off while Buster visits, they believe that have broken the computer, and look for Brain so he can help them fix it before Arthur's mom comes home.
14b	14b	"Arthur and the True Francine"	Kathy Waugh	Angus Bungay	October 24, 1996 (1996-10-24)
In a flashback to second grade, Muffy arrives to town and becomes quick friends with Francine. When Francine tries to study for a test, Muffy chooses to enjoy her lavish lifestyle instead. When their teacher confronts them after the test, pointing out theirs are the exact same, Muffy lies about cheating, causing Francine to be punished with detention. 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.
15a	15a	"Arthur's Family Vacation"	Thomas LaPierre	François Brisson	October 25, 1996 (1996-10-25)
Arthur's family goes on a catastrophic road trip, until Arthur finds things he enjoys doing with them.
15b	15b	"Grandpa Dave's Old Country Farm"	Matt Steinglass	John Pagan & Norm Roen	October 25, 1996 (1996-10-25)
Arthur and D.W. go to visit their Grandpa Dave, who lives on an old, rundown farm. Grandpa Dave does not want help running it. Arthur and D.W. are concerned by the state of things and try to help him fix up the farm with the help of one Grandpa Dave's friends.
16a	16a	"Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest"	Peter K. Hirsch	Jean Lajeunesse	October 28, 1996 (1996-10-28)
Arthur is determined to win a year's supply of Crunch cereal by composing a jingle. He hears D.W. singing a song about Nadine and copies it. Arthur feels guilty, so he mails it with D.W.'s name instead of his, and it wins the contest.
16b	16b	"D.W. Flips"	Peter K. Hirsch	Gerry Capelle	October 28, 1996 (1996-10-28)
D.W. is jealous of Emily's performance in their gymnastics class. D.W. is determined to be better than her, which endangers her when she climbs on a high balance beam. Afterward, D.W. and Emily apologize to one another and become friends.
17a	17a	"Meek for a Week"	Joe Fallon	Jean Charles Fink	October 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.
17b	17b	"Arthur, World's Greatest Gleeper"	Matt Steinglass	Myron Born	October 29, 1996 (1996-10-29)
Buster claims that Arthur is the world's greatest "gleeper" to stop them from being teased by Binky and his friends, only to find out later that "gleep" means "steal." Arthur lets the lie grow into a school-wide rumor, which alienates him from his friends, while Binky's gang pressure him into their ranks.
18a	18a	"Arthur's Chicken Pox"	Kathy Waugh	Russel Crispin	October 30, 1996 (1996-10-30)
Arthur gets chicken pox, and D.W. is jealous of the attention he gets while Grandma Thora takes care of him.
18b	18b	"Sick as a Dog"	Joe Fallon	Jean Charles Fink	October 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 had been eating non-human food, he has to apologize to D.W. and learn how to properly take care of Pal.
19a	19a	"D.W. Rides Again"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	October 31, 1996 (1996-10-31)
D.W. wants 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.
19b	19b	"Arthur Makes the Team"	Tom Hertz	Jean Lajeunesse	October 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.
20a	20a	"Arthur's Almost Boring Day"	Joe Fallon	Stefanie Gignac	November 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 allow Arthur to have a great school project.
20b	20b	"The Half-Baked Sale"	Ken Scarborough	Jean Lajeunesse	November 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 it while not hurting her feelings.
21a	21a	"Sue Ellen Moves In"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	November 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.
21b	21b	"The Perfect Brother"	Joe Fallon	Stefanie Gignac	November 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.
22a	22a	"D.W.'s Snow Mystery"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	November 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, as a detective, investigates, listening to biased accounts of those present the day the snowball disappeared. They argue and accuse each other, and eventually, D.W. lets the incident go as the first snowfall of the year appears.
22b	22b	"Team Trouble"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	November 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.
23a	23a	"Bully for Binky"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	November 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.
23b	23b	"Misfortune Teller"	Joe Fallon	Luc Savoie	November 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.
24a	24a	"Arthur's Tooth"	James Greenberg	Jean Charles Fink	November 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 mocking 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.
24b	24b	"D.W. Gets Lost"	Joe Fallon	Kevin Currie	November 7, 1996 (1996-11-07)
D.W. wants earrings because her friend Emily has them. D.W.'s mom takes her shopping for earrings, and while at the superstore, D.W. wanders off and gets lost. When she sees that Emily's earrings have turned her ears green, D.W. changes her mind.
25a	25a	"D.W. Thinks Big"	Judy Rothman	Gerry Capelle	November 8, 1996 (1996-11-08)
At Aunt Lucy's wedding, Arthur is the ringbearer and their dramatic cousin Cora is the flower girl, and D.W. is "too little" to help out. However, when the wedding ring gets lost in the pipe organ at the wedding, D.W.'s smaller size allows her to crawl in and retrieve it.
25b	25b	"Arthur Cleans Up"	Matt Steinglass	Jean Charles Fink	November 8, 1996 (1996-11-08)
After complaining about the state of the park, Arthur's dad happily volunteers him and his friends to clean it up. Arthur's friends are not pleased with the idea and do not help him, leaving Arthur to do the job himself with only Francine's father advising him. When Arthur manages to get Binky and his gang to help out, his friends change their minds.
26a	26a	"My Dad, the Garbage Man"	Kathy Waugh	Jean Sarô	November 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 dad's job as a garbageman and tries to cover it up by informing her classmates that he is in a secret organization and just pretends to be a garbageman for cover. When they figure out that he really is a garbageman, they are impressed and find it cool.
26b	26b	"Poor Muffy"	Ken Scarborough	Gerry Capelle	November 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.
27a	27a	"D.W.'s Blankie"	Tom Hertz	Stéfanie Gignac	November 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.
27b	27b	"Arthur's Substitute Teacher Trouble"	Joe Fallon	Nadja Cozic	November 12, 1996 (1996-11-12)
Mr. Ratburn loses his voice and his sister, Rodentia, substitutes for him. Rodentia 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.
28a	28a	"I'm a Poet"	Joe Fallon	Kevin Currie	November 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 challenges them all to write poems for the competition, and in doing so, they find writing poetry fun. Guest star: Jack Prelutsky as himself.
28b	28b	"The Scare-Your-Pants-Off Club!"	Terence Taylor	Angus Bungay	November 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 father is a leading figure in the parental group. Everyone gets a surprise when the books' author arrives to defend her books, and it happens to be Muffy's father's former teacher.
29a	29a	"My Club Rules"	Joe Fallon	Gerry Capelle	November 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.
29b	29b	"Stolen Bike"	Kathy Waugh	Angus Bungay	November 14, 1996 (1996-11-14)
Francine's bike is too small for her, so her dad finds his old bike, except she is embarrassed by the rusty old bike. She hides it and pretends it is stolen. The bike then gets thrown out, and when Francine's dad finds it, they work on fixing it up.
30a	30a	"Arthur's First Sleepover"	Joe Fallon	Jean Lajeunesse	November 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 do not agree, so D.W. plays a prank on them with fake UFOs in retaliation, and they then turn the tables on her.
30b	30b	"Arthur's New Year's Eve"	Joe Fallon	Darren Brereton	November 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

• "Arthur Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
• "Arthur: Episode Guide". MSN TV. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
• "Arthur Season 1 Episode Guide". TV.com. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
• "Seasons 1-3". Arthur episodes. PBS parents. Retrieved March 7, 2010.

External links