The second season of the television series Arthur was originally broadcast on PBS in the United States from October 20, 1997, to April 17, 1998, and contains 20 episodes.[1][2][3] This season, like seasons 1 and 3, was released on DVD in Europe only; due to the fact that this was actually two production seasons (the first ten episodes encompassing the first and the last ten encompassing the second) combined into one long season for US airings, the first ten episodes for this season can be found on the "Series 2" DVD and the last ten can be found on "Series 3."
| Arthur | |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | |
 European DVD cover featuring the first ten half-hour episodes; labeled as "The Complete Series 2" | |
| No. of episodes | 20 (40 segments) |
| Release | |
| Original network | PBS |
| Original release | October 20, 1997 – April 17, 1998 |
| Season chronology | |
Production
editIn a September 2021 episode of Jason Szwimer's podcast Finding D.W., Daniel Brochu (Buster Baxter's voice actor) revealed that the inspiration for "Arthur's Faraway Friend" originated when he decided to take a sabbatical to Australia.[4] As the producers did not want to replace him, it was written into the show that Buster would be traveling with his father, much like Brochu himself.[4]
Episodes
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Storyboard by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31a | 1a | "Arthur Meets Mister Rogers" | Ken Scarborough | Denis Banville | October 20, 1997 | |
|
Fred McFeely Rogers stays at Arthur's house while visiting Elwood City. Arthur is scared of telling anyone that because his friends believe that his TV show is just for "babies". His avoiding actions cause Prunella, Rubella, and the Brain to jump to the false conclusion that zombies are the reason for his behavior. They try to find out what is happening, and get the police called on them by Mrs. Tibble, who mistakes them for burglars. The next day, Mr. Rogers visits Lakewood Elementary School and Arthur works up the courage to explain to his friends why he has been acting strange. | ||||||
| 31b | 1b | "Draw!" | Joe Fallon | Eric Bergeron & Gerry Capelle | October 20, 1997 | |
|
When Francine teases Fern for liking Mr. Ratburn's puppet shows, she draws a comic humiliating Francine, which everyone finds amusing. This escalates to everyone at school drawing insulting pictures of Francine, unaware of how much they're hurting her feelings. They decided to go apologize after they overhear Francine talking to Mrs. MacGrady about how she wants them to stop. | ||||||
| 32a | 2a | "Binky Barnes, Art Expert" | Joe Fallon | Harry Rasmussen | October 21, 1997 | |
|
Arthur and Buster have to work with Binky on an art report, but they are worried when Binky claims that a certain abstract picture in the museum is framed the wrong direction. They try to distract Binky and finish the assignment on their own, and are surprised when it turns out that Binky is right. | ||||||
| 32b | 2b | "Arthur's Lucky Pencil" | Peter K. Hirsch | Stéfanie Gignac | October 21, 1997 | |
|
After several days of bad luck, Arthur feels he is "cursed" until he finds a pencil on the sidewalk. Suddenly, his pencil starts to change his luck: it buys him free soda and better school lunches, and soon his friends all want to use it. With the pencil draining, Arthur hides it to keep his luck safe, but soon cannot remember where it went. | ||||||
| 33a | 3a | "D.W., the Picky Eater" | Anne-Marie Perrotta | Denis Banville | October 22, 1997 | |
|
At a restaurant, D.W. throws a tantrum over having to eat her least favorite vegetable, spinach, for dinner, and is banned permanently from all future dining-out trips. Arthur and his friends must figure out a way to get her to try new foods before Grandma Thora's birthday dinner at a popular fairy tale restaurant, which will be relocated to the Read’s if D.W. doesn’t matter change her eating habits. | ||||||
| 33b | 3b | "Buster and the Daredevils" | Peter K. Hirsch | Grace Lam | October 22, 1997 | |
|
Arthur and Buster want to hang out with two daredevils, Toby and Slink, and Buster does their embarrassing "dares" while seeking their approval. Arthur realizes that Toby and Slink are tricking Buster, and convinces him that they are making a fool out of him for their own amusement. | ||||||
| 34a | 4a | "Arthur Makes a Movie" | Peter K. Hirsch | Robert Yap | October 23, 1997 | |
|
Arthur and his friends are too young to watch a James Hound movie because it is rated PG-13, so they film their own. While the filming goes wrong, they end up enjoying their outtakes. | ||||||
| 34b | 4b | "Go to Your Room, D.W." | Kathy Waugh | Alex Szewczuk | October 23, 1997 | |
|
D.W. is impatient when she is sentenced to a ten minutes time-out in her room after bein’ mean to Kate and Jane grounds for two days Arthur. She recalls her past behavior, and with Nadine's help, she realizes how bad she treated her sister. | ||||||
| 35a | 5a | "Arthur's Underwear" | Peter K. Hirsch | Jean Lajeunesse | October 24, 1997 | |
|
When Binky accidentally splits his pants in class, Arthur thinks it is funny, until he starts having nightmares about losing his pants. Buster tries to help Arthur with different ways to end his nightmares, but none of them work. When Arthur accidentally rips his pants in the cafeteria at school, Binky and Mrs. MacGrady give him advice on how to live with the brief embarrassment, putting an end to Arthur's nightmares. However, Buster starts having nightmares about losing his pants too. | ||||||
| 35b | 5b | "Francine Frensky, Olympic Rider" | Kathy Waugh | Denis Banville | October 24, 1997 | |
|
Francine attends horse riding lessons, and her older sister, Catherine Frensky, has to take her there. Catherine decides to take lessons too and quickly becomes better than Francine, as well as getting a crush on Stanley, the riding instructor. Francine gets envious and considers quitting her lessons. | ||||||
| 36a | 6a | "Buster Baxter, Cat Saver" | Joe Fallon | Denis Banville | October 27, 1997 | |
|
When Buster inadvertently saves a cat, the cat's owner glorifies his "heroics" to Buster's mother, Bitzi Baxter, causing the incident to become headline news. Buster builds his fame up, causing him to become a "big-shot". Arthur, Francine, and the Brain find out the truth and plan on showing everyone that Buster is not as big a hero as he makes himself to be. However, Buster gets another shot at fame when he saves his friends from a runaway piano. Meanwhile, Arthur is being constantly annoyed by D.W. and her new "Crazy Bus" CD. | ||||||
| 36b | 6b | "Play it Again, D.W." | Joe Fallon | Harry Rasmussen | October 27, 1997 | |
|
D.W. is still playing her "Crazy Bus" CD a thousand times (from "Buster Baxter, Cat Saver") and Arthur is furious by it, even threatening that he will break it to smithereens. When the CD goes missing, an enraged D.W. blames Arthur for taking it, with no one believing his denials. Luckily, Mr. Read says when he went to work he accidentally took the CD with him. | ||||||
| 37a | 7a | "Arthur's TV-Free Week" | Peter K. Hirsch | Stéfanie Gignac | October 28, 1997 | |
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Arthur and his friends sign a petition at school to survive one week without television. Everyone tries to resist the temptation of TV while they go through their week, with Arthur and Buster struggling in particular. | ||||||
| 37b | 7b | "Night Fright" | Joe Fallon | Gerry Capelle | October 28, 1997 | |
|
Binky has a night light and tries to go without it when Arthur sleeps over. Binky goes through another nightmare, and Arthur finds out about it. He believes that Arthur will tell everyone his secret, though Arthur is not particularly interested. Even so, Binky tries to pamper Arthur to keep his secret until Binky finally decides to admit it to avoid Arthur possibly telling everyone. | ||||||
| 38a | 8a | "Arthur vs. the Piano" | Joe Fallon | Harry Rasmussen | October 29, 1997 | |
|
Arthur's music class has an upcoming recital and everyone except for Arthur who is anxious and practicing. Arthur is confident that he knows everything well enough, until a nightmare makes him worry that he may miss a note, and he tries to restore his confidence. Meanwhile, D.W. has endless hiccups, despite numerous attempted remedies. | ||||||
| 38b | 8b | "The Big Blow-Up" | Joe Fallon | Alex Hawley | October 29, 1997 | |
|
Francine and the Brain war over soccer practice that carries into class and through the next soccer match. Arthur and Buster resolve things between Francine and the Brain with fake apology letters, before the last game of the season that will determine if they can make the playoffs or not. | ||||||
| 39a | 9a | "Lost!" | Kathy Waugh | Gerry Capelle | October 30, 1997 | |
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Arthur has to take a city bus to the Elwood City Pool for his swimming lesson, but while reading a book, he falls asleep on the bus, only to miss his stop. Ending up at the edge of town, Arthur tries to find his way home, while D.W. becomes truly scared for Arthur's safety. Arthur stops at a nearby diner for help, where he talks to a friendly bus driver named Sam, who takes him back home. | ||||||
| 39b | 9b | "The Short, Quick Summer" | Joe Fallon | Denis Banville | October 30, 1997 | |
|
Arthur loses his to-do list he planned for the summer, and another new school year is quickly approaching. As summer ends, he feels upset that his friends did fun things and he didn’t. On the last day of summer vacation, Arthur finds his list taped to his bedroom door and realizes that he did everything he wanted to. | ||||||
| 40a | 10a | "D.W. Goes to Washington" | Joe Fallon | Gerry Capelle | October 31, 1997 | |
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The Reads visit Washington, D.C. for their holiday weekend. They tour the popular landmarks, including the White House, but D.W., who wishes to go to "Pony Land", abruptly separates from the tour group and meets the President. | ||||||
| 40b | 10b | "Arthur's Mystery Envelope" | Sheilarae Carpentier Lau | Gary Scott & Nelson Dewey | October 31, 1997 | |
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Mr. Haney gives an envelope to Arthur to give to Mrs. Read. Arthur is worried about the contents of the envelope, thinking that he might go to summer school, so he tries to hide it from her. D.W. insists on showing the envelope, so she can see how much Arthur is going to get into trouble. When Arthur finally reveals the envelope, it turns out to be Mr. Haney's tax returns, as Mrs. Read is his accountant. | ||||||
| 41a | 11a | "D.W.'s Deer Friend" | Joe Fallon | Robert Yap | April 6, 1998 | |
|
The Reads spend the weekend camping and D.W. befriends a deer, whom she names him Walter. Willing to take him home, Mr. & Mrs. Read teach D.W. a lesson that taking away an animal from its habitat is forbidden and against the law. | ||||||
| 41b | 11b | "Buster Hits the Books" | Joe Fallon | Jeremy O'Neill & Ivan Tankushev | April 6, 1998 | |
|
Buster needs to write a book report, but has never managed to finish a book. His friends try to find one that is easy for him to read, but Buster can’t pay attention long enough to read one in its entirety, until he finds one that interests him: Robin Hood. | ||||||
| 42a | 12a | "Arthur's Faraway Friend" | Joe Fallon | Brian Anderson | April 7, 1998 | |
|
Arthur and Buster finish reading Robin Hood (from "Buster Hits the Books"), and decide to write their own continuation of the book, but it gets sidetracked when Buster tells him that he is leaving for a couple of months with his father, who is a pilot. Arthur tries to find a way for Buster to stay, until Sue Ellen points out how it will be hard for him to go away. Arthur has to become supportive to Buster until he leaves, and both are upset. Buster soon sends Arthur a surprise gift in the mail: chapters of their book based on his travels. | ||||||
| 42b | 12b | "Arthur and the Square Dance" | Peter K. Hirsch | Gerry Capelle | April 7, 1998 | |
|
Arthur and Francine are made partners for Mrs. MacGrady's square dancing class. Binky thinks that Francine is in love with Arthur and starts a rumor about it. The two avoid each other because they are afraid of getting cooties. | ||||||
| 43a | 13a | "Water and the Brain" | Peter K. Hirsch | Robert Yap | April 8, 1998 | |
|
Muffy is throwing a party at a water park, and everyone is invited, except the Brain. Arthur and Binky discover that the Brain is afraid of water and try to help him get over this fear so he can go to Muffy's party. | ||||||
| 43b | 13b | "Arthur the Unfunny" | Joe Fallon | Stéfanie Gignac | April 8, 1998 | |
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In a letter to a far-away Buster, Arthur tells him that he is struggling with being funny when his friends act as clowns for a carnival. Arthur cannot learn any clown tricks, and his friends fear that he will ruin the carnival. Arthur learns that he has his own style of being funny that works: playing the piano while making faces with Kate. | ||||||
| 44a | 14a | "Sue Ellen's Lost Diary" | Peter K. Hirsch | Ivan Tankushev | April 9, 1998 | |
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Sue Ellen loses her diary in the library, so Muffy, Francine, Binky, and Arthur team up to find it, and think that it contains her opinions on them and whether to open it or return it unread. | ||||||
| 44b | 14b | "Arthur's Knee" | Sheilarae Carpentier Lau | Marisol Gagnon & M. Cuadrado | April 9, 1998 | |
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Arthur sneakily goes into the Elwood City dump to retrieve a wheel for his school project, but accidentally cuts his knee on a sharp can lid. He hides the injury and makes D.W. promise not to tell anyone because he is not allowed to trespass into the dump, but D.W tries to convince him, with the Brain's help, that he has to confess to Mr. and Mrs. Read before his injury gets worse. | ||||||
| 45a | 15a | "Grandma Thora Appreciation Day" | Kathy Waugh | Angus Bungay | April 10, 1998 | |
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Arthur and D.W. feel sorry for Grandma Thora because she does not have cable TV, cannot eat any good snacks, and has to keep her dentures in a glass. They plan a surprise party for her, but struggle to make things work and do not want any help planning the party. | ||||||
| 45b | 15b | "Fern's Slumber Party" | Sandra Willard | Nelson Dewey | April 10, 1998 | |
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Fern's mother, Mrs. Walters, wants her to host her own slumber party to help her expand her social skills, but Fern is very reluctant. Her guests, Francine, Muffy, Jenna Morgan, Sue Ellen, and Prunella, get bored quickly, and the party is a fiasco. When Francine's bracelet goes missing, Fern uses her detective skills learned from Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery. | ||||||
| 46a | 16a | "Love Notes for Muffy" | Sandra Willard | Robert Yap | April 13, 1998 | |
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The Brain and Francine use fake love notes to get vengeance against Muffy after her science project gets more credit. Their joke has unintended consequences, which means they must fix it before things get worse. | ||||||
| 46b | 16b | "D.W. Blows the Whistle" | Barry Rinehart & Ian Saunders | Robert Yap | April 13, 1998 | |
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When D.W. saves a little boy from getting run over by a car by blowing her whistle, she becomes an overzealous safety control freak. Arthur and his friends try to stop her from ruining the upcoming soapbox race, while D.W. learns the hard way that her obsession with finding everyone else's safety faults causes her to jeopardize her own safety. | ||||||
| 47a | 17a | "Francine Redecorates" | Sandra Willard | Stéfanie Gignac | April 14, 1998 | |
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Francine and Catherine are both fed up of sharing a room with each other. So Catherine moves out to the family living room, leaving Francine alone with their old room. They both struggle with adjusting to their new environments and later decide to compromise with each other as Catherine moves back. | ||||||
| 47b | 17b | "Arthur the Loser" | Joe Fallon | Brian Anderson | April 14, 1998 | |
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Arthur has a losing streak when he continues to be dominated in the new No Guessing! board game, so he resorts to cheating to win. His friends are annoyed by his sore-winner attitude and tag along with Binky to make Arthur lose. When Arthur sees everyone rooting against him, he has an imaginary conversation with Buster, who is still away with his father, and makes him see the error of his ways. | ||||||
| 48a | 18a | "Arthur vs. the Very Mean Crossing Guard" | Ken Scarborough | Gerry Capelle & Marisol Gagnon | April 15, 1998 | |
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Arthur and the Brain confront a new crossing guard who charges $10 every time someone crosses the street and threatens to send his "goons" after them. They think of ways to avoid him, until they learn that he is a friend of Grandma Thora's and that he was just teasing them, after overhearing how Arthur constantly teases D.W. the same way. | ||||||
| 48b | 18b | "D.W.'s Very Bad Mood" | Kathy Waugh | Guy Lamoureux & Robert Yap | April 15, 1998 | |
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D.W. has been very aggressive for several days straight. Francine and Arthur spy on D.W. and discover that she is enraged over not being invited to a classmate's birthday party. Francine tries to tell D.W. that she cannot have everything that she wants, but when D.W still struggles to manage her anger, Francine consoles her by inviting D.W. to her birthday party. | ||||||
| 49a | 19a | "D.W.'s Name Game" | Joe Fallon | Robert Yap | April 16, 1998 | |
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Arthur and D.W. make fun of each other with different insulting nicknames. After Arthur calls by her full first name, D.W. has a nightmare and learns that calling people names can hurt them. | ||||||
| 49b | 19b | "Finders Key-pers" | Chris Moore | Stéfanie Gignac | April 16, 1998 | |
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Arthur, Binky, and the Brain find a key in the grass while looking for their lost baseball. Arthur theorizes that it is the key to the city, Binky hopes it belongs to a sports car, and the Brain thinks that it opens an upcoming science museum. They war over who gets to keep the key, despite none of them knowing what it unlocks. It is later revealed to open the sprinkler control system for the school's baseball field. | ||||||
| 50a | 20a | "How the Cookie Crumbles" | Joe Fallon | Brian Anderson | April 17, 1998 | |
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Muffy is having difficulty coming up with a recipe for a strawberry-themed contest. Her friends suggest a cookie recipe, which turns out to taste delicious, and she takes all of the credit, much to her friends' anger and disgust. Muffy learns the hard way about taking credit for someone else's work when she tries to bake the cookies herself, but cannot remember the recipe. | ||||||
| 50b | 20b | "Sue Ellen's Little Sister" | Peter K. Hirsch | Stéfanie Gignac | April 17, 1998 | |
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Sue Ellen feels left out without a brother or sister, so she tries to pretend having her friends as siblings, but they each have their own flaws. During a playdate with D.W., Sue Ellen learns about the dangers of having a younger sibling and gets bullied by D.W. Soon after, Sue Ellen gets a letter from a boy named Tenzin living in Tibet, who becomes her new pen pal. | ||||||
References
edit- ^ Schultz, Paul (October 14, 1997). "KING 'ARTHUR' PBS' GENTLE AARDVARK RULES KIDS' TV; HIS SECOND SEASON BEGINS ON MONDAY". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ "PBS Schedule X Daily Schedule: 10/20/1997". PBS. Archived from the original on October 14, 1999. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ "Monday, October 20, 1997". KET. Archived from the original on January 30, 1998. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ a b Szwimer, Jason (September 14, 2021). "12 - Finding the Real D.W." Finding D.W. (Podcast) – via Podbay.
- 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 2 Episode Guide". TV.com. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
- "Seasons 1-3". Arthur episodes. PBS parents. Archived from the original on September 6, 2009. Retrieved March 7, 2010.