Is There a Doctor in the House?

Is There a Doctor in the House? is the second half of the eighth episode of Season 7. It first aired on November 27, 2002, along with "The World of Tomorrow."

Summary
Arthur and D.W. face the ultimate challenge when Mom gets a bad cold and then... (gulp!)... gives it to Dad! What if Arthur has to take over Dad's catering business? And how would D.W. be an accountant if she can't count past ten? Most importantly, how will they raise Baby Kate all by themselves?

Plot
Jane is being unusually clumsy, and everything is a mess in the house! Baby Kate spilled milk on the kitchen floor, Arthur can't find his softball shirt as it is still wet from the washing machine, Jane allows him to take David's parent day shirt, and the dishes are a mess. Mrs. Tibble calls and it turns out Jane had forgotten about DW being at the Tibble Twins' house, so doesn't have time for her tea, which she pours down the sink.

[TITLE]

It skips to dinnertime where Arthur is talking about his softball game - dad's parents' day shirt is "way lucky", and D.W. is talking about paper bag puppets that cost $19.95. Jane imagines them all as clowns annoying her, and she has bags under her eyes. She yells at everyone to be quiet. She then apologizes and explains how she hasn't been feeling normal all day.

They take her temperature, and she has a fever. They say that they will take care of everything. She goes to sleep.

It is the next morning and we see Jane in a robe. She goes down to the kitchen, where she notices the dirty dishes, sighs, and walks away. D.W. is worried that David can't handle cleaning the house himself.

D.W. does the laundry. She first remarks that Mom always folds the laundry first before putting it into the washing machine, and does just that. Meanwhile, Arthur vacuums, although he's doing it in the same spot back and forth while watching TV. Arthur accidentally vacuums paper clips, keys, and a sock. He notices smoke coming out of the vacuum and turns it off. Arthur and D.W. meet up and is bringing the laundry up the stairs (while the clothes are falling out of the basket).


 * David's Parent Day shirt falls out of the laundry basket and Pal brings it outside and buries it.
 * D.W. is having trouble hanging up pajamas in the bathroom, so she cuts a hole in it so it will fit.
 * Arthur does the dishes.
 * Baby Kate starts to cry, and they assume that she has a dirty diaper. They have a quarrel about who has to change it, so they do Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot. It takes a long time and Arthur finally wins. By then, Kate is asleep.

Arthur and D.W. have ice cream in the living room. They consider the household chores to be easy. David arrives and notices that his shirt was buried. He, like Jane, has bags under his eyes. He smells something burning and Arthur tells him that the vacuum wasn't working. He tries to fix it but delays it until the morning. Kate starts to cry and David changes her. He states that he doesn't feel so good. D.W. brags that David didn't say anything about the laundry being bad. After a second, he yells "Who cut a hole in my pajamas?!"

Everybody goes to sleep and it is raining. A shadow appears near Arthur's door and it frightens him. It turns out just to be D.W. and her Mary Moo Cow doll. D.W. is scared of the storm and asks Arthur if she can sleep in his bed. Arthur allows her to.

D.W. worries about what will happen if David and Jane aren't better in the morning. Arthur says that Grandma Thora is coming, and everything will be fine.

[FANTASY SEQUENCE]

Arthur/D.W. has a dream where Arthur is in the catering business and D.W. is an accountant. D.W. then says that she sent Kate to an orphanage. Arthur is surprised, and D.W. explains that she deserves to be in a place that can change her diapers. Arthur agrees and quickly changes sides. They regret not paying attention to their mother and father's housekeeping skills. They say that they're terrible parents and they start to cry.

[END FANTASY SEQUENCE]

They both wake up at the same time and Arthur says he had the weirdest nightmare; D.W. agrees, saying "Me too". Kate then starts to cry in D.W.'s bedroom, so they go in there. They have no other choice but to change the diaper themselves. After the nightmares they had, they become more informed about cleaning. They start to get the hang of it and become responsible for their ages. They make sure to not make the mistakes the day before, and avoid taking shortcuts by washing the dishes by hand instead of trying to load the dishwasher.

Grandma Thora arrives. She is surprised at them being so responsible. In the meanwhile, David and Jane become better and Thora explains to them their accomplishments. Jane remarks that she believes she and David had trained D.W. and Arthur very well. David then jokes that they should get sick more often.

They get tired from all of the work and D.W. states that running the house is hard work. But at least there's only 2 sick people, and not more. Arthur then sneezes, showing sickness, and D.W. face-palms, saying "Oh, no". Arthur uses a dishcloth to blow his nose.

Trivia

 * This is the second time that Arthur and D.W. worry about losing their parents. The first time was "Mom and Dad Have a Great Big Fight."

Goofs

 * When Mrs. Read comes to the sink, her sleeve gets wet, but when she is washing the floors, it is dry.
 * When Mrs. Read says, "Check the washer," her lips never move.
 * After Arthur and D.W. change Kate's diaper, her diaper has hearts on it, but after she accidentally spills her breakfast and the floor gets clean, it has no hearts.
 * In the scene where D.W. goes into Arthur room at night, the Mary Moo Cow doll's horns are longer than usual.