Based on a True Story

Based on a True Story is the first episode of Season 16 and also the first to be produced by 9 Story Productions. It is a two-part episode that first aired on October 15, 2012.

Summary
A new family moves to Elwood City, and their daughter, Ladonna, is going to be at Lakewood Elementary. Her gift of storytelling gains her new friends, but she soon runs out of stories to tell, and makes one up. Her fib is caught, and the kids begin doubting if any of the other stories were true either. How can she redeem herself?

Plot
The episode begins with Ladonna and her family leaving their home in Louisiana for a sixteen hour car drive to Elwood City. They soon arrive and unpack their things at their new house, which is four blocks away from where the Read Family lives. Arthur and D.W. are walking down the street to meet the Compson Family.

Ladonna invites them into the house. After introducing one another Arthur then gives Ladonna a pie his dad made. Ladonna likes the pie and begins telling stories to both Arthur and D.W., but the two have to go to Grandma Thora's house.

After they left Bud who had been spying said to her older sister that she talks too much and that she scared them away. Ladonna was a bit annoyed that Bud had been spying on her. The next day at Lakewood, Mr. Haney introduces the class to Ladonna. At lunch the gang asks Ladonna questions about where she is from and what she does. Ladonna then starts telling false stories about her family and soon everyone starts listening to her stories. Many are impressed with her stories and she even went as far as telling the Tough Customers the stories. Meanwhile Bud tries to impress D.W. with his animal sounds. He did a pig and then a whale. D.W. wasn't impressed and subsequently left. Bud is feeling sad that D.W. didn't like the animal sounds and Ladonna reassures him it takes time to make friends. Bud then questions how Ladonna made friends and even asked if she was paying them. His sister tells him that his new friends liked her stories then Bud asks what will happen when she runs out of stories. The next day at the playground at school Ladonna is telling stories, but this time Arthur and Buster have heard of the stories before. Soon Arthur and Buster start talking about Dark Bunny and Ladonna feels sad and a bit left out. She soon starts to leave and her friends ask where she is going and which she replies she is going to get her mittens. Later on at night Ladonna is sleeping and she soon dreams about what happens when she no longer has any interesting stories to her new friends. She then wakes up and starts writing down made up stories to tell her friends. The next day at school in the cafeteria she starts to tell her "new" made up stories and soon her friends start to question her new stories. Soon she admits that she fibbed the story. Soon most of her new friends leave her as she should of told them the truth. PLOT TO BE CONTINUED.

Trivia

 * This was the first installment of Arthur to be broadcast in the United States on PBS Kids in widescreen high-definition, though this option had been available in some non-U.S. markets for at least a couple of previous seasons, and savvy U.S. viewers could find recordings of these broadcasts online.
 * When Ladonna is telling a story to The Tough Customers, 4th Grade Male Dog and Kieper are present, but Slink is not. The former two are original Tough Customers from Season 1, but Slink did not officially join the gang until Season 6.
 * Art Radley's pocketwatch is a reference to Boo Radley giving Scout and Jem a pocketwatch in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.
 * The soap opera that the alligators watch is the same one that Arthur watches in "Is There a Doctor in the House?," and in fact appears to be a repeat of the same episode.
 * Gussie switches the show to the Crosswire Motors duck commercial from "Flippity Francine."