The thirteenth season of the television series Arthur was originally broadcast on PBS Kids Go! 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 | |
| No. of episodes | 10 (19 segments) |
| Release | |
| Original network | PBS Kids Go! |
| Original release | October 12, 2009 – April 9, 2010 |
| Season chronology | |
Episodes
edit| No. overall | No. in season [1] | Title | Written by | Storyboard by | Original air date | Prod. code [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 156 | 1 | "The Great MacGrady"[3] | Peter K. Hirsch & Leah Ryan | Zhigang Wang | October 19, 2009 | 163B 164B |
|
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 the severity 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 but is replaced in a remake of this episode in Season 24. Note: This episode was dedicated to the loving memory of Leah Ryan. This episode was pulled from live TV in 2021 due to controversy over Lance Armstrong happening shortly after this episode was released and in its place is the Season 24 remake of the same episode. | ||||||
| 157a | 2a | "The Silent Treatment"[4] | Claudia Silver | Robert Yap | October 13, 2009 | 153B |
|
Being silent, a shy George wonders if any of Arthur's friends notice him, and he has a great idea: he decides to remain that way until being noticed. When Arthur's friends throw a party as soon as they finally notice silent George, it backfires when they need to avoid him while planning the event. | ||||||
| 157b | 2b | "Kung Fool"[4] | Claudia Silver | Robert Yap | October 13, 2009 | 163A |
|
Fern volunteers to help an elderly Asian neighbor, Tony Wu, with his household chores and she learns is a retired kung fu master. Fern then imagines being a student and she becomes a kung fu master herself. | ||||||
| 158a | 3a | "Arthur's Number Nightmare"[5] | Peter K. Hirsch | Elie Klimos & Élise Benoît | October 14, 2009 | 154B |
|
When Arthur's friends discover what looks like a class-ranking list in Mr. Haney's office, they are all in for a big surprise. If Arthur's really #2, he must be really smart. #11 for Buster is his new lucky number, but there's a way for Francine to move up a rank. Fortunately, all numbers come to mean much more than they should to all the Lakewood students on the list. | ||||||
| 158b | 3b | "Brain Gets Hooked"[5] | Matt Steinglass | Aliaksei Kazakou & Michel Carbonneau | October 14, 2009 | 154A |
|
The Brain gets hooked on a latest tween reality series, "Junior Island". When he starts to avoid his friends and fall behind on his schoolwork, he knows he's got a problem. With Fern's help, the Brain gets over his addiction by skipping to the final episode of the show. | ||||||
| 159a | 4a | "MacFrensky"[6] | Jonathan Greenberg | Michel Carbonneau & Stéfanie Gignac | October 15, 2009 | 159A |
|
Francine is in the lead for Student of the Month until the Brain did a several good deeds that put him ahead of her. Muffy persuades Francine into framing the Brain for stealing Buster's alien toy, so Francine can take back the lead. The plan works, but Arthur and Buster don't believe the Brain stole Buster's toy, and the girls frame them for cheating on a test in fear of being caught from their first plan. | ||||||
| 159b | 4b | "The Good, the Bad, and the Binky"[6] | Claudia Silver | Gerry Capelle | October 15, 2009 | 159B |
|
As Binky babysits Emily for a day, he introduces his charge to the world of professional wrestling and teaches her some fierce moves. But when Emily ruffles the feathers of other preschoolers on the playground, Binky is let down that he hasn't been the best role model in wrestling. | ||||||
| 160a | 5a | "No Acting, Please"[7] | Cusi Cram | Elie Klimos, Nadja Cozic & Élise Benoît | October 12, 2009 | 158B |
|
Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman guest stars as director William Toffman about theater and the arts. When Fern lands a role in Elwood City's community production of "It Began With a Whistle", she is anxious that she won't be talented very well for a star actress. Luckily, Mr. Toffman teaches Fern how to enjoy her moment and truly shine. | ||||||
| 160b | 5b | "Prunella and the Disappointing Ending"[7] "Prunella Deegan and the Disappointing Ending"[2] | Jonathan Greenberg | Robert Yap | October 12, 2009 | 157A |
|
The final volume of the Henry Screever series has been released and Prunella and Marina compete to see who can finish the novel first, but the duo learns that "speed-reading" does not always pay off. Note: In other countries, this episode is titled "Prunella Deegan and the Disappointing Ending". | ||||||
| 161a | 6a | "When Carl Met George"[8] "George and the Missing Puzzle Piece"[2] | Peter K. Hirsch | Gerry Capelle & Nick Vallinakis | April 5, 2010 | 164A |
|
George is excited about spending time with his new friend, Carl. who seems to know all kinds of cool facts about steam engines and... well a lot of things. Suddenly, George learns that Carl has Asperger syndrome, a form of autism that makes Carl see the world differently than most people. Note: In other countries, this episode is titled "George and the Missing Puzzle Piece." | ||||||
| 161b | 6b | "D.W. Swims with the Fishes"[8] | Cydne Clark & Steve Granat | Robert Yap | April 5, 2010 | 150A |
|
D.W. and James enter the preschool swim meet and recruit their older siblings to coach them. It all goes swimmingly until Arthur and Molly take their jobs too seriously, prompting the youngsters to wonder just who this race is about. | ||||||
| 162a | 7a | "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Tibble"[9] | Peter K. Hirsch | Nick Vallinakis & Daniel Miodini | April 6, 2010 | 150B |
|
The Tibbles set out on their new business venture and sell their preschool art masterpieces for money to buy the coveted Krummy Kreepy Kastle. | ||||||
| 162b | 7b | "The Secret Guardians"[9] | Guy Lancaster | Daniel Decelles | April 6, 2010 | 160A |
|
When Arthur, Binky, and Sue Ellen discover a private woodland oasis, they vow to keep the place a secret. However, they find evidence of human habitation by sailing a model ship on the river. | ||||||
| 163a | 8a | "Fernlets by Fern"[10] | David Steven Cohen | Zhigang Wang | April 7, 2010 | 158A |
|
As part of her latest business venture, Muffy talks to Fern about writing poetry for greeting cards, and they both become Elwood City's big hit. However, when booming business causes Fern to burn out, she and Muffy finds out to make writing fun again. | ||||||
| 163b | 8b | "Prunella and the Haunted Locker"[10] | Gentry Menzel | Nick Vallinakis & Sylvie Lafrance | April 7, 2010 | 157B |
|
Prunella has to use a locker that is rumored to be haunted and she denies believing this, until mysterious and unexplained obstacles cause Prunella's mind to play tricks on her. Prunella get to the bottom of the frightening mystery, she have seven years of bad luck. | ||||||
| 164a | 9a | "Paradise Lost"[11] | Jonathan Greenberg | Nick Vallinakis & Daniel Miodini | April 8, 2010 | 153A |
|
As Kate is beginning to grow up, she's started saying her first words. But strangely, the more words she learns, the less she seems to understand Pal. They head to a children's zoo in search of a "Dolly Llama" for an explanation, and to see if they can reverse the process. Luckily, they soon learn that growing up is inevitable and not too unsettling. | ||||||
| 164b | 9b | "The Pride of Lakewood"[11] | Peter K. Hirsch | Zhigang Wang, Jeremy O'Neill, Nick Vallinakis & Gerry Capelle | April 8, 2010 | 165B |
|
To boost school pride, Arthur's friends form the Lakewood Pride Committee, fervently adding a lot of members and creating special chants. Brain and Sue Ellen are feeling too pressured to join in and are accused of hating Lakewood Elementary, they both prove that they are proud of this school. | ||||||
| 165a | 10a | "Looking for Bonnie"[12] | David Steven Cohen | Daniel Miodini & Jeremy O'Neill | April 9, 2010 | 165A |
|
Dean Lomax, a famous rock musician, visits Elwood City and asks Mr. Lundgren to fix his equally also-famous guitar, Bonnie. Legend says that Bonnie is magical, and Buster and George are convinced that one strum will give them special powers. They sneak into Mr. Lundgren's garage during a sleepover to find out if it's true. | ||||||
| 165b | 10b | "The Secret Origin of Supernova"[12] | Jonathan Greenberg | Robert Yap | April 9, 2010 | 160B |
|
Arthur is dismayed when he learns that an energy drink endorsed by his favorite comic character is overloaded with sugar, and it won't give him energy or magic powers, so he ends up inventing his own superhero. | ||||||
Production
editEpisodes 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.[13]
The episode premiered during the week-long programming block A Very Special Arthur. The episode's ending features a dedication to Leah Ryan, who died in 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
editPhilip 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
editA 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.[14]
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 [15] along with several other public libraries.
A Very Special Arthur
edit"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[16] 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.[17]
References
edit- ^ "Season 12 - 14". Arthur episodes. PBS parents. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ a b c From the GBH Open Vault: "GBH Open Vault - Search [search: "Arthur"]". GBH Open Vault. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ "The Great MacGrady". MSN TV. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ a b "Silent Treatment; Kung Fool". MSN TV. Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ a b "Arthur's Numbers Nightmare; Brain Gets Hooked". MSN TV. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ a b "MacFrensky; The Good the Bad and the Binky". MSN TV. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ a b "No Acting Please; Prunella Deegan and the Disappointing Ending". MSN TV. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ a b "When Carl Met George/D.W. Swims With The Fishes". KLRU. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Portrait Of Artist As Young Tibble/The Secret Guar". KLRU. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Fernlets By Fern/Prunella And The Haunted Locker". KLRU. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Paradise Lost/The Pride Of Lakewood". KLRU. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
- ^ a b "Looking For Bonnie/The Secret Origin Of Supernova". KLRU. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
- ^ "Arthur Season 13 Press Release: PDF" (PDF). WGBH. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ "When Someone You Know Has Cancer". PBS. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ Sara Wagner. "Free Pre-Screening of Arthur's "The Great MacGrady"". WITF. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ "A Very Special Arthur". PBS on YouTube. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ "ARTHUR episode -- "The Great MacGrady"". OETA. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- General references
- "Season 12 - 14". Arthur episodes. PBS parents. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- "Arthur Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- "Arthur: Episode Guide". MSN TV. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- "Arthur Season 13 Episode Guide". TV.com. Retrieved 7 March 2010.