Bleep

Bleep is a controversal episode of Arthur.

Plot
First, Arthur talks to the viewer about the bleep. The usage is a show called The Altos (A parody of The Sopranos). Whenever an Alto curses, it is censored with a bleep. Arthur then says that it's not used in real life, but he claims it could be fun if it was. D.W. gets a hold of the bleep button, driving him crazy. After the title card is shown, D.W. goes to the crystal shop with Grandma Thora. She overhears a teenage boy arguing with his mother, and when he calls his mother a bad name (censored with a "bleep"), his mother drops the vase she is holding. D.W. wants to ask Grandma Thora (who didn't hear the argument) what the word means, but is afraid she will cause her to drop the expensive bowl she just bought. So instead, she asks Arthur the meaning of the word; he reacts by gasping and dropping the model plane he was working on, confirming D.W.'s belief that the word has the power to make people drop things. Arthur tells D.W. never to say the word around their parents, and D.W., still not clear on the meaning of the word, asks the Tibbles about it the next day at school. To get her in trouble, they tell D.W. that the word turns adults into zombie servants and that that is the reason kids aren't supposed to say it near adults.

Skeptical, D.W. repeats the Tibbles' story to Vicita, but tells her she shouldn't say it to anyone. However, D.W. knows that Vicita will say it anyway because she does not know any better, and so she watched Vicita from her room with a pair of binoculars to see what happens when she says it. She is interrupted by her mother calling her down to dinner; when her mother persists, D.W. calls her the name the boy called his mother in the store. Mrs. Read is shocked and angry at this accidental remark, so when she comes up, D.W. tests the Tibbles' claims by asking for a soda. When her mom does not become a zombie, D.W. realizes she's been lied to again. She then sees Vicita blurt out the word to her family, and when they get angry, she says that D.W. told her the word. D.W. rushes downstairs to find the Molinas and her dad very angry with her, so she says a very unconvincing, "Arthur did it".

Mrs. Read tells D.W. she is "off the hook" because she didn't understand what she was saying. As her mother is leaving, D.W. asks what swear words mean, and she responds, "I guess they mean 'I want to hurt your feelings.'" The next day, D.W. finds her friends all saying the word without knowing what they are saying. Realizing what she must do, D.W. sits down to explain to her friends how hurtful swear words are.

Trivia/Goofs

 * When Arthur is working on another model plane as a replacement for the one D.W. threw out of the window and broke in Arthur's Big Hit, he was first seen wearing socks, but after Jane opens the door, he can be seen wearing his shoes.
 * Arthur breaks the fourth wall two times. One is when he looks at the viewer. The second is when he asks the viewer to "watch and listen how the censor bleep is used". This is the first episode to have such fourth wall break--mostly Arthur breaks the fourth wall in every beginning of the episode, by looking at the viewer.
 * The Altos are a parody of The Sopranos.
 * One person thinks that the curse word is "Mexican rocks". However, this isn't true.
 * This episode's title can also have an exclaimation point at the end.
 * Running gag: A person says the curse and someone drops something.