Grandma Thora Appreciation Day

Summary
Arthur and D.W. plan a surprise party for Grandma Thora together, but forget one detail: the guest of honor.

Plot
Arthur tells the viewers what happened when he and D.W. visited Grandma Thora's house the other night. It was not a fun experience because they watched only public television and not cable television, ate low fat potato chips, and saw grandma's teeth. When Arthur and D.W. were in bed that night, Grandma Thora was glad that D.W. and Arthur came over because she feels lonely when they aren't around. After she turns out the lights, Arthur thinks Grandma Thora must be a very sad person since she has no cable, non-tasting chips, and has to keep her teeth in the glass. D.W. thinks Grandma Thora feels so lonely without her. She thinks it's time to do something so Grandma Thora won't feel bad.

Grandma Thora Appreciation Day

After Arthur explains to his parents that they should throw a surprise party for Grandma Thora, David asks why. Jane says because she feels sad and lonely. She thinks it's a great idea for the kids to throw a party like that. David calls it a "Grandma Thora Appreciation Day" and approves of the idea as well. After Arthur and D.W.'s parents think of many ideas, Arthur and D.W. stop them and tell them that they are going to do the planning themselves since it was their idea.

The next morning, Jane says that planning a party is tons of work. D.W. thinks it's easy because she thinks they can invite the guests and come. Jane thinks this should be a nice, small, quiet party. The guests should be only Grandma Thora's closest friends. D.W. thinks that is boring, but Jane says a nice, small, quiet party. Jane then checks on Arthur to see if he was listening, and he did listen.

At school during lunch, after Arthur tells about the party, his friends get very excited and cheer. He tells them to stop cheering and that he is only asking Mrs. MacGrady to come. It's a party for old people and Arthur says that they can't come. Later, at recess, Arthur continues to explain why they shouldn't come to the party. Everyone feels upset, even though Brain is understanding. Arthur finally gives up and says that they can come, but not to tell anyone else. Arthur's friends don't listen and they just cheer and then chant "Party!"

Back at home, things are not going well for Arthur and D.W.'s "Grandma Thora Appreciation Day" Party. They have been planning for one day and things are not going their way. Arthur thinks they will forget, but on the list, there are 25 people. D.W. gets worried and thinks that Jane will freak out. When D.W. tries to say something else, Jane goes into Arthur's room and checks on the kids to see how the planning is going. She asks what they are up to and they are writing the list to make the perfect party. Jane thinks it's responsible of them to do that, and that she's always available for help. Arthur, relieved, thanks D.W. for not telling. D.W. says that they are in this together. If he goes down the drain, she does too. The first thing has been accomplished on the list, which is to invite people. The next thing is to buy the food.

The next day, Jane takes Arthur and D.W. to the supermarket. She is unsure if she's okay with the kids shopping by themselves. D.W. tells her that she and Arthur want to do everything by themselves, but Jane already knows. She approves and D.W. assures her that everything will be alright. In the supermarket, D.W. looks under the flaps of the gumball machines. Arthur tells D.W. to hurry up and stay with him. He then realizes that he forgot his shopping list! Without worry, D.W. pulls out her list. Really, it's just scribbles on a piece of paper. She thinks it says candy, but Arthur doesn't think so.

When Arthur and D.W. get back home, Jane asks if they bought anything else other than candy. Arthur said that was the only thing on D.W.'s list. D.W. says that the candy was cheap and they needed a lot of food. Jane then asks how many people they invited. Arthur nervously takes a wild guess, but then he said he couldn't help it and told the whole truth about when he told his friends at school. D.W. then adds on, with angry comments, like he never listens to her.

After Arthur checks off the second thing on the list, D.W. tells him that he was lucky, because if she were a mother, Arthur would be living in the garage. The next thing on the list is to think up ways to invite Grandma Thora. They both think up of sending a message via fortune cookie delivery. At the Chinese Restaurant, Grandma Thora and Mrs. MacGrady are sitting at the table waiting for their food. The waiter then arrives with the fortune cookie and Mrs. MacGrady reads it first. She doesn't understand D.W.'s illegible reading, so she hands it over to Grandma Thora. It really says, "Please go to D.W.'s house for a surprise party." Arthur thinks that idea is absolutely ridiculous, but only because he didn't think of it, according to D.W.. He thinks calling Grandma Thora is a much better idea, which leaves one last thing on the list. That is, DECORATE!

Later that evening, Arthur and D.W. decorate the living room with streamers. D.W. hands Arthur a balloon and she requests help from him to blow the balloons because she has small lungs. D.W. tries to blow up a balloon, despite Arthur's stress on having to blow up all the balloons. Arthur thinks she's not helpful in decorating. The balloon flies towards Arthur, causing him to fall down with the streamers. Jane comes in and asks for help, and Arthur says yes. D.W. doesn't think they need help since they are doing it by themselves. Arthur thinks that they'll never get the decorating done by tomorrow, but D.W. thinks so by telling him not to goof around.

The door then opens and Jane greets Grandma Thora happily. Arthur and D.W. then see her and hide. The reason why Grandma Thora came to the house this late at night because her car broke down at the end of the street. Jane tells the kids the news about coming into the house very excitedly, but Grandma Thora asks if she's alright. Jane then asks how the kids are doing and they are doing just fine. Grandma Thora thinks if she can walk home and call the mechanic, but Jane insists on staying over for the night.

Just before bedtime, Arthur doesn't know why Grandma Thora came here. She says Hank, her mechanic, can't fix the car until tomorrow. D.W. warns Grandma Thora about Kate snoring and she'll never get her beauty rest. After mentioning that they don't have any extra toothpaste, D.W. calls Arthur.

In the middle of the night, while everyone else is asleep, Arthur shines a flashlight on D.W. and quietly asks if she's ready. When they are tiptoeing in the living room, Arthur reminds her that they have to be very quiet. But Arthur trips on a toy horn, and D.W., in return, reminds Arthur to be quiet. But Arthur is relieved no one woke up. Then Arthur and D.W. decorate the house like crazy, putting up streamers and blowing up all the balloons.

After decorating the house, Arthur and D.W. get tired and they can finally go to sleep. But D.W. realizes that there is one more thing on the list they forgot. That is to bake the cake. In the kitchen, Arthur and D.W. look at some cakes in a cook book, and they choose a pound cake because it's simple. They then try to read the recipe, but carry on following some of the instructions. After following one cup of milk on the recipe, Arthur turns on the mixer, but the batter goes all over the place. At that point, Jane and David come into the kitchen and Arthur and D.W. finally ask for their help baking the cake. After everyone cleans up, the cake is done. David also made some cupcakes for everyone to have. Arthur and D.W. asks can we make Taffy too but David and Jane say no.

The next day, Grandma Thora sees that the kids are not waking up. This worries her. She then calls up Hank and tells him what happened last night. She then goes outside to wait in the driveway. Believe it or not, today is the actual day of the big surprise party! All of the guests are having a good time, even D.W. and Arthur. Jane then tells everyone to hide because Grandma Thora could be coming soon. She was supposed to come at 2:00, but Arthur and D.W. get extremely worried. D.W. tries to call her on the phone, but she isn't answering. Arthur feels ashamed about not inviting Grandma to her own surprise party, but David (after Binky says it before him), tells them that there's one thing to do: party!

The party still continues successful as planned, and Jane and David carry out the sandwiches. Then, Grandma Thora enters, making Arthur and Jane surprised. D.W. is extremely happy and hugs her. Grandma Thora was worried about the kids sleeping in earlier in the morning. She wonders what's happening, and then Arthur tells her to come into the living room.

When Grandma Thora enters the living room, everyone jumps out and yells, "SURPRISE!" She knows it's not her birthday, but Arthur explains that he and D.W. threw the party so she wouldn't feel sad. I'm not sad Thora says. But Thora finally admits she was a little sad. No longer feeling lonesome and upset, Grandma Thora happily joins the party. Then David taps her then they dance together.

Characters

 * Arthur Read
 * D.W. Read
 * Thora Read
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Brain
 * Binky Barnes
 * Leah MacGrady
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Fern Walters (cameo)
 * Maria Pappas (cameo)
 * Kate Read (cameo)
 * Prunella Deegan (cameo)
 * George Lundgren (cameo)
 * Jenna Morgan (cameo)
 * Kenny (cameo)
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (cameo)
 * Jessica (cameo)
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2) (cameo)
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3) (cameo)

Trivia

 * Binky shows his softer side after Arthur and D.W. explain to Grandma Thora why they set up the celebration for her by crying.
 * In the introduction, Arthur addresses the camera while in Thora's house, even though the events in Thora's house happened the previous night and he is supposed to be narrating from one day later.
 * 4th Wall Break: The kids’ reaction to Thora only getting public television is a self-deprecatory reference to PBS, which is public television.

Errors

 * Possible:
 * When Arthur and D.W. go to the grocery store getting food for Thora's surprise party, D.W. mentions she'll read and Arthur will buy, but she's always mentioning in other episodes that she can't read.
 * When Arthur turns on the blender, D.W. falls off her chair but in the next scene she is standing back on her chair again.
 * When Arthur checks "decorate" off his list, the crayon is yellow, but he marks it off in black.

Cultural references

 * Arthur does not recognize the abbreviation for pound (lb). It derives from libra, which is both the Latin word for scales and a Roman unit of weight roughly equivalent to a pound.

Home Video
DVD: VHS:
 * Arthur's Celebration
 * Arthur: The Complete Series 3
 * Arthur's Celebration