Breezy Listening Blues

Summary
Brain gets the disastrous grade of B- on a test and wonders whether the new "breezy listening" background music at the Ice Cream Shop is sapping his intelligence.

Plot
Mr. Ratburn is handing back test papers. He questions if Alan was feeling okay when he took the test. Brain is shocked to see that his grade is a B-, and immediately asks if this is correct. Mr. Ratburn tells him it is, and tells him not to take it too hard. Arthur and Buster try to tell him that a B is a good grade, with Buster wishing he'd gotten one (he got a C). Brain freaks out because that is only one grade above a C+ and he hasn't ever gotten a B- before. Arthur shrugs it out and tells him he'll do better next time. Brain again freaks out saying that he might not do better and instead will do worse and worse, until he becomes like Buster. He proceeds to fantasize himself as Buster, confusing a dirigible with a UFO and eating a cupcake out of the garbage. Back in the classroom, he says that this could be the start of something very bad.


 * Breezy Listening Blues

As Buster and Arthur are getting their milkshakes at Brain's Ice Cream Parlor, Arthur inquires what Brain did the day before the test. Brain goes through the events of the day and realizes the music in the ice cream shop has changed. Arthur says that the music sounds familiar (and is in fact an easy listening remix of the Arthur theme song). The Brain then discovers that the Breezy Listening CD is the problem and tests this on the Tibbles with horrible results. He later listens to it while having a dream about a mall. He later reports to his parents that the Breezy Listening CD is affecting his brain, so they put Brain in charge of the music. First he tries Koko Taylor, but it made Buster lose his appetite. Molly suggests Mutakrude, but it didn't work. Muffy then tries Carmen, but Molly turns it off. Francine then puts on U Stink to Muffy's frustration. Arthur and Buster then sing the We Stink song while Muffy replays Carmen, but Brains turns it off saying it's an ice cream shop, not a jukebox and declares silence, leading to everyone going to the Sugar Bowl. The next day, Brain gets an A plus. Later, he made a CD of the customers' favorite songs called the Sundae Hits, finishing the episode.

Major Roles

 * Alan Powers
 * Arthur Read
 * Buster Baxter
 * Molly MacDonald
 * Nigel Ratburn

Minor Roles

 * Timmy and Tommy Tibble
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Francine Frensky
 * Mr. Powers
 * Mrs. Powers
 * Miss Turner

Background

 * Binky Barnes
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Mr. Morris
 * George Lundgren
 * Fern Walters
 * Mrs. Armstrong
 * Bitzi Baxter
 * Mrs. Wood

Trivia

 * During Brain's dream in a giant mall, he stops by a Chickin Lickin' - a restaurant chain first features in "Sue Ellen Chickens Out".
 * Also during Brain's dream, he finds a "Library" where Miss Turner shows Brain that books have been replaced with simpler versions called "bookazines". An Arthur doll is seen reading Call of the Mild, a spoof of Call of the Wild by Jack London; and Miss Turner is seen reading Peace, a spoof of War and Peace by Tolstoy.
 * The Breezy Listening music Brain plays in the shop is a muzak version of the Arthur theme song. Arthur mentions that he "knows that tune from somewhere".
 * Several singers and bands are featured when the Brain changes music at the ice cream shop:
 * Koko Taylor from "Big Horns George" has her song "Tired of That" played. The Brain also mentions her songs "Bills, Bills, Bills and More Bills", "Evil" and "I Cried Like a Baby".
 * Mütakrüde from "The Law of the Jungle Gym" has an unreleased album, Shinsplits, played.
 * Rodney Gilfry from "Lights, Camera...Opera!"
 * U Stink and We Stink from Arthur, It's Only Rock and Roll are mentioned. U Stink's Nothing But the Music is played, and Arthur and Buster sings the We Stink Song.
 * This is Alex Hood's last episode as Brain.

Home video
This is episode is available on the DVD Binky Goes Nuts, along with Law of the Jungle Gym, Arthur Weighs In, and Binky Goes Nuts.

Goofs

 * When Brain looks at his paper with a B-, he has Mr. Ratburn's sleeve.
 * When Brain is listening to some of the music he puts his headphones on in a weird-looking position, because of the location of his ears. But sometimes when Arthur listens to music he puts his headphones on in a way that a human would wear them.
 * In the opening, Mr Ratburn says to Muffy that Congo is a country, not a dance. But when he hands the paper to her, it's graded A. However, that could've been the only question she got wrong, so all it did was bump her down from an A+ to an A.