Muffy Gets Mature

Summary
Muffy starts reading Mature Miss magazine and looks for more sophisticated friends. But is she in over her head?

Plot
Muffy is sitting with Francine in the school cafeteria. She tells Francine about reading Mature Miss magazines and the fact that the models are eating salads, and says that Francine is embarrassing her for eating sandwiches and carrying a childish lunchbox.

Later, Muffy is at a sleepover with Francine and sees that Francine's pajamas are footie pajamas and called different and old in her opinion since Mature Miss proclamined that it is mature to wear cool long leg and colorful pant pajamas. However, Francine gets offended by the remark and telling Muffy that if she doesn’t want hang out with her, then she should find mature friends. Muffy then calls for her limousine and while she is waiting, she hears Catherine and then convinces her to purchase an outfit for a party.

The next day, Muffy hangs out with Catherine. Muffy chooses an outfit and Catherine admits that she actually likes it. Then, Muffy convinces Catherine to get a pedicure and she is impressed with how small her feet look. Then, Muffy treats her to lunch. Arthur and Francine observe Muffy while going to the roller rink and are surprised to find out that Muffy hanging out with Catherine. Francine mentioned that Catherine and her friends wouldn’t want to hang out with Muffy because she is a third grader and they are in high school but Muffy does not listen to Francine. Then, Muffy persuades Catherine to give her a ride saying that she can go to the party since she is mature and have the magazines to guide her.

At the party, Muffy tells Catherine's friends that she is very mature and they ask her to join them. She accepts, but they talk about teenage topics like kissing and poetry of song lyrics, which Muffy doesn’t understand. Then they play music to which Muffy starts to dance, since she read an article in Mature Miss about these mature dance moves, but stops when they mention that they don’t dance to music, they just listen to it. Then Angi offers Muffy some coffee, but Muffy mentions that in Mature Miss, it says that coffee stunts growth spurts but Angi proclaims that Muffy shouldn’t listen to everything in those type of magazines because they are just opinions. Angi and two of the other friends go to the kitchen and say how funny Muffy is, which leaves Muffy depressed and humiliated, but Catherine comforts her saying that she is cool for her age, but not ready to be around high schoolers yet. Muffy agreed realizing that she is not ready to hang out with teenagers yet. Muffy calls her limo and places the magainze in a wastebasket.

Then, at lunch, Francine surprised that Muffy is eating a sandwich out of a kiddie lunchbox. Then after school, Muffy invites Francine to a slumber party, which at first Francine rejects due to not having “the right pajamas”, but Muffy proclaims that Francine can wear whatever she wants at the party. When Francine questions Muffy’s generosity, Muffy admits that she is not as mature as she thought she was, and is not prepared to hang out with teenagers yet. Francine accpets her apology and slumber party invitation, and even admits that she even thinks about being a teenager sometimes. Muffy asks Francine about getting rid of the footie pajamas and Francine tells Muffy not to go that far. Muffy is just kidding, and the girls bond with each other and are best friends again.

Characters

 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Francine Frensky
 * Catherine Frensky
 * Debi
 * Angi
 * Tami
 * Arthur Read
 * Binky Barnes
 * The Brain
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Buster Baxter(cameo)
 * George Lundgren(cameo)
 * Kenny(cameo)
 * Laverne Frensky(mentioned)
 * Ed Crosswire(mentioned)

Trivia

 * This is the last episode where Arthur is voiced by Michael Yarmush.
 * However, Yarmush would later return to voice him one more time in the show's final episode of the show, but only as the adult version of the character.
 * This is the last episode to use the original color palettes.
 * It is revealed that Catherine's feet are a size 11.
 * This is the final Arthur episode released in the 20th century.
 * Karma: Muffy hang out with teenagers, instead of Francine, so she was alone and upset.
 * Moral: You'll have to grow up sooner or later, so enjoy childhood while you can. But don’t rush into adulthood.

Cultural references

 * While Muffy and Catherine are clothes shopping, a red sweater with an A on it can be seen in the background. This could be a reference to .
 * The plot and moral is similar to A Tale Of Two Tables and Future Tense

Errors

 * When Catherine puts down the phone, in the close-up, her hand is lighter than normal.
 * When Muffy realizes that she is not ready to hang around teenagers, Catherine tells her that Francine has been missing her all week. This is incorrect, as Muffy and Francine only fought the night before.

Production notes

 * This is the last episode in which Lucie Touchette is the production accountant.

Episode Connections

 * Muffy also showed an interest in the Popular Girls magazine from "Popular Girls"
 * Muffy imagines herself kissing Buster and turning into a frog. A similar dream sequence occurs with D.W. in "Kiss And Tell".