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 Sue Ellen's cousin, a teenage boy named Timothy, arguing with his mother, and when he calls his mother a bad name saying a curse word (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.

Back in class everyone was singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" but D.W. dreams. And when the other children sing "If you're happy and you know it", she says a curse word, the others gasp and Miss Morgan drops her accordion.

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 Arthur's 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 and Mrs. Read tells her that "swear words are not appropriate things to say especially for 3 and 4-year-old children".. 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.

Controversy
Despite the fact that the swear word is a full bleep instead of saying the first letter and bleep the rest of the word, it is thought that D.W and Timothy were actually saying a real curse word. It was thought to be the F word or B word. Also one thought it was Mexican rocks. Although this is not true because that word is to long and the bleep was vary short. It was parodied on Youtube by saying a real curse word ever since.

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 was wearing his shoes.


 * The Altos are a parody of The Sopranos.
 * This episode's title can also have an exclaimation point at the end.
 * Running gag: A person says the curse and someone drops something.