Arthur's Number Nightmare

Summary
When Arthur and friends discover what looks like a list of their class rankings in Principal Haney's office, they are all taken for a surprise. If Arthur's really Number Two, then he must be really smart! And is there anything Francine can do to move up rank?

Plot
The episode begins with Mr. Haney at his office organizing his papers when he receives a phone call advertising a trip to Fiji. During the call, his papers are blown about by the open window, with one sheet flying into the playground. It lands at Buster's feet, who later shows it to Arthur and Francine in the treehouse. Francine suggests that it must be their class rankings, and is stunned when she's ranked last in the class while Arthur is second and Buster is eleventh. Buster becomes convinced that eleven is his lucky number, and Francine wonders how she could be last and wishes to know how they were all ranked.

The next day, Buster wakes up for school. He takes everything eleven as a sign of good luck, especially when he finds eleven cents on the street. He tries to tell a doubtful Arthur that this is his true lucky number when they are interrupted by a geography test Arthur forgot to study for. Buster reassures him that he'll do fine as he's #2 in the class. Later, Francine goes to confront Mr. Haney about her ranking, but fears being ranked even lower if she objects. When Mr. Haney catches her as she leaves, she brushes off her concerns and tries to impress him by agreeing to his offer for her to help with the school's annual fall festival.

At the ice cream shop, Arthur is relieved to say the test was easy, and when Buster asks for the capital of Denmark Arthur tells him "Capetown". When the Brain corrects him and tells him the correct answer is actually "Copenhagen", Arthur becomes defensive and insists that Brain's just jealous that he was ranked #5 in the class. Brain sees the list and is not convinced that it is of their ranks, so Arthur storms off in denial. Buster tips the Brain, but it is only of the eleven cents he found earlier, much to Brain's annoyance. When Francine discusses their rankings with Muffy while writing her speech for the festival, Muffy rejects the notion that it is of their rankings because she's only #12 and dismisses how "average" it labels herself. Eager to find out what the truth is, Francine meets Mr. Haney the next day to determine her rank. While he's distracted, she tries to find her rank on his desk but instead knocks over his bowl of grapes, which she hurriedly eats to avoid getting in trouble. Thus, she's unable to comment on Mr. Haney's questionable costume design for her when he shows her the image.

At the fall festival, Francine is dejected that she must wear a heavy pumpkin suit as part of her speech. Buster continues counting things by eleven and Arthur reveals that he only got a C- on the geography test. Buster then guesses that there are eleven chestnuts in a jar Prunella is holding a contest on, and becomes angry when Prunella states that clearly his answer is wrong, so Arthur leads him away. The three are now upset that they ever saw the list and realize it probably isn't of their ranks.

Mr. Haney then arrives to collect Francine for her speech, but sees that the kids had the list of seating assignments for all the kids. He reveals to them that the school does not rank its students, as it leads to wrongful impressions. Francine is stunned that she got roped into her speech for nothing, and Mr. Haney sounds off their places. Buster is to be seated in the second chair, and he comments that this is amazing as he has two cents in his pocket. Aggravated, Arthur and Francine warn him not to start up again.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * D.W. Read
 * Francine Frensky
 * Buster Baxter
 * Francis Haney

Minor

 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Prunella Deegan
 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Alan Powers

Background

 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
 * Binky Barnes

Trivia

 * PC bank is a parody of TD bank.
 * At the end of the episode, Mr. Haney can be heard saying, "And let's bump Arthur to twenty-four..."

Errors

 * When Buster's mom pours out cereal for Buster, first there are 10 cereal pieces, but in the next scene there are 11.
 * When Francine tries to put the brochure, "World Class Ranking Cruises", under the bowl of Mr. Haney's grapes she has Fern's sleeve.
 * Steve's name can clearly be seen on the list. However, Steve is in the fourth grade, not in Mr. Ratburn's class, which teaches third grade.

Episode Connections

 * Mr. Haney later mentions the Harvest Day Celebration in Prunella and the Disappointing Ending.
 * On the poster, the boy in the costume had a white tongue, referencing to season 1 where the characters had white tongues and foreshadowing season 16 where the characters will have white tongues again.

Prodution Notes

 * On Amazon Instant Video, this episode is called "Arthur's Numbers Nightmare".

Home Video
Other Formats:
 * Arthur Favorites: Volume 1 (LeapFrog)

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