Elwood City Turns 100!

Elwood City Turns 100! is the fifth episode of Season 7, and the 100th episode of Arthur. It first aired on October 14, 2002.

''Song lyrics are on a separate page to save space. View them here.''

Summary
Lakewood Elementary has been chosen to put on a musical tribute for Elwood City's centennial. Problems occur with the choice of roles and creative differences, but these are eventually resolved.

On opening night, Muffy has a guest list of past celebrities, guest stars, and Marc Brown, who are all sitting in the front row. However, Francine, the narrator, has not arrived, and the UFO prop is accidentally destroyed.

Plot
The episode begins in 1903, at the ceremony where Elwood is made an official city. President Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford, and town founder Jacob Katzenellenbogen, a wealthy lumber magnate, were all in attendance. Katzenellenbogen was not happy because he wanted the town to be named Elmwood, not Elwood, and he was even more upset over the statue that Morgan and Ford had donated to the city. Then the episode forwards to the present where Mr. Ratburn announces to the class that Lakewood Elementary was chosen out of 15 schools in the city to stage a musical production about the town's history, and then he has the class randomly pick roles for the show. Arthur is the narrator, Brain is the writer, and Buster is the director. After the parts were picked, Muffy talked to Mr. Ratburn about doing the publicity for the musical. However, chaos starts after Francine sings the narrator part, forcing Arthur to call her a show off. Matters then become worse after Muffy invited Celebrities such as Michelle Kwan, Yo-Yo Ma, and Mr. Rogers. Then Mr. Ratburn asks Muffy if they would want to see this chaos. So Muffy gathers a speech about helping out and etc. Arthur was having trouble getting the narrator's singing part right, so he trades parts with Francine one week before the show. On opening night, everyone was there except for Francine, who was running late, so Arthur had to go onstage in her place as the Narrator. At first, everything was going okay until the UFO scene. Since the flying saucer that was going to be used was crushed in Oliver Frensky's garbage truck, Buster locked himself in the janitor's closet, upset and disappointed. Then Brain changes the scene last minute to write the flying saucer out of the show. When Buster realized that the show continued without him, he goes onstage as Dr. Ector, the alien, and sings a song about flossing teeth to the tune of Yankee Doodle. His hook tears a hole in the set, forcing an intermission. When everyone realizes that the show is ruined, Francine appears. She encourages her classmates by letting them know their audience loves the show, and the show ends well for everyone.

Oh Elwood! Cast and Crew
Cast:


 * Arthur Read/Francine Frensky - Narrator and themselves


 * Alan Powers - Jacob Katzenellenbogen and himself


 * Fern Walters - Green-Tailed Grebe and herself


 * Buster Baxter - Dr. Ector the Alien (which actually said Director) and himself

Crew:
 * Binky Barnes, Jenna Morgan, George Lundgren, Sue Ellen Armstrong - Ensemble themselves


 * Mrs. Morgan and Jenna- Costumes
 * Mr. Lundgren and George- Props
 * Buster Baxter- Director
 * Alan Powers- Writer
 * Ms. Krasny- Musical Direction
 * Muffy Crosswire- Stage Manager and Publicity
 * Mr. Ratburn- Supervision
 * Assorted Lakewood Students- Band
 * Prunella Deegan - Lights

Trivia

 * This is the first two-part episode.
 * This is the second time that Mr. Ratburn uses a hat for the students to choose jobs at random. The first time is in "Citizen Frensky."
 * Marc Brown made a cameo in this episode. He was not only on the guest list, he was seen in the row with the other celebrities while Arthur narrated after Fern's song. Jeremy O'Neill was also on the guest list.
 * This was the first episode that didn't show the "And now back to 'Arthur'."  title card with the kids saying it. Instead, Larry King said "Thank for tuning in, folks. And Now back to 'Arthur'."

Goofs

 * The car that Francine & her father took a ride on was either from UK or Australia or Japan, due to the location of the steering wheel.
 * In the audience, viewers see a man in a green suit and wearing glasses. But, in the next 40 seconds, viewers see him giving Francine and her dad a lift to the play.
 * Also, in the audience, Mr. Frensky can be seen in the crowd before they arrived.