The Great MacGrady (Season 24 episode)

Summary
Arthur and friends support Mrs. MacGrady after she is diagnosed with cancer, and Elwood City wrestling champion Uncle Slam shows Francine and the community how to support cancer survivors.

Plot
Everyone loves Mrs. MacGrady, the school's cook for the cafeteria, with her warm friendly ways and her excellent cooking. Until one day, while Buster is keeping record for the school lunch and making predictions for that day's lunch menu in his school lunch almanac, he and his friends observe that she did not come to school, and her nephew, Skip Bitterman is the substitute chef. Skip is completely devoid of any culinary skills; the lunches became so appalling that the students cannot even eat them. After about a week without Mrs. MacGrady, Mr. Ratburn reveals the shocking news that she is on leave because she has cancer.

The students all react differently to the news: Muffy does not entirely grasp the situation and stays optimistic while she shops for her father's birthday presents. Francine, who lost her grandfather to cancer, starts acting out in various ways, including intentionally losing a soccer game because it won't make Mrs. MacGrady feel any better. Arthur and D.W. pay Mrs. MacGrady a visit, bringing some homemade chicken soup and learning a bit about the illness from her. They promise to visit her every day with further gifts.

At Mr. Crosswire's birthday, Muffy laments about Francine being too sad to help her shop for a proper gift. Her father explains that Francine is just upset about Mrs. MacGrady's illness and encourages her to visit Mrs. MacGrady and maybe bring her a care package.

Francine stays home after having a nightmare that Mrs. MacGrady will never return to work. After school she is visited by Binky and Buster, who are planning to bring gifts to Mrs. MacGrady. Francine declines, but before they leave Binky tries to cheer her up by giving her Uncle Slam's email address explaining to a surprised Francine that he had cancer two years ago, encouraging her to write to him. Francine reluctantly does so, but to her and her friends' surprise he writes back and offers to meet with her when he visits Elwood City the following week. Muffy, who is planning on visiting Mrs. MacGrady, offers to bring Francine along so she can share the news, but Francine again refuses to visit.

Muffy arrives just as Arthur and D.W. deliver more gifts to Mrs. MacGrady, including more jars of soup and a giant stuffed bear. Muffy compliments Mrs. MacGrady's bandana, only to learn Mrs. MacGrady is wearing it as she has lost her hair from the treatment. After Arthur and D.W. leave, Muffy takes a moment to talk with Mrs. MacGrady, who assures her that she intends to get better.

Slam arrives in Elwood City and goes for a walk in the park with Francine and talks to her about how he got through his cancer diagnosis through medicine and the support of his wrestling community. Francine expresses her surprised at how someone of Slam's stature could get diagnosed with cancer, but he tells her it can happen to anyone and that his doctors were unsure about his survival rate however he put through and he made his return to wrestling with a Cancer Benefit Wrestling Tournament to raise money and awareness of the disease. Which gives Francine a simliar idea which culminates into The "Pedal for a Cure".

Muffy returns to Mrs. MacGrady's house just as her sister Martha is taking her to the doctor's office. Noticing the state of the house, she offers to clean the dishes while they are gone but has trouble doing so. When Arthur and D.W. arrive with more gifts Muffy tells that's another way to help other than bringing gifts. So they join Muffy in cleaning up the entire house, leaving a note for Mrs. MacGrady when she returns assuring her that they are her "support team."

The "Pedal for a Cure" is a huge success, with a massive turnout. At the finish line, Francine is greeted by Mrs. MacGrady and apologizes for not visiting her previously. Mrs. MacGrady assures her she understands, remarking it can be frightening to see someone you care about when they are sick.

After more than a month of Skip's terrible meals, Buster and the rest of the students almost start a revolt. Their uprising is thwarted by the return of Mrs. MacGrady, who is not quite cancer-free yet but is healthy enough to return to work. Buster corrects his school lunch almanac with a prediction that the food will be unknown, but will taste great.

Major

 * Leah MacGrady
 * Arthur Read
 * D.W. Read
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Uncle Slam
 * Buster Baxter
 * Binky Barnes

Minor

 * Oliver Frensky
 * Ed Crosswire
 * Nigel Ratburn
 * Martha
 * Skip Bitterman
 * Flip

Cameo

 * Alex
 * Jenna Morgan
 * George Lundgren
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Brain
 * Fern Walters
 * Francis Haney
 * Maria Pappas
 * Chip Crosswire
 * Los Dedos
 * Francis Haney
 * Molly MacDonald
 * James MacDonald
 * Sebastian
 * Sven Logger
 * Helen
 * Steve
 * Nancy
 * Jack Weasel

Mentioned

 * Francine's grandfather
 * Benny the Boa Constrictor

Trivia

 * This episode's existence was known as early as Spring 2020, when clips from this episode were included in a digital short about washing hands.
 * A screenshot from this episode was uploaded to Oasis Animation's Facebook page on May 22, 2020.
 * Some airings of this version of the episode are incorrectly listed as the Season 13 version (which has not aired nationally on PBS since 2012) in most program guides.
 * Timeline: This episode takes place after "April 9th."
 * Moral:
 * Dont be gloomy for your own benefits.
 * Dont act like nothing happend for your own benefits.
 * Running Gag: Muffy telling Francine which clothes are better but she can't decide.

Episode connections

 * D.W. is wearing a surgical mask in this episode. Her brother Arthur wore one in "My Dad, the Garbage Man," "Hic or Treat," and "Vomitrocious," and their father wore one in "Operation: D.W.!"
 * There are a couple flashbacks from "Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" which were reanimated in this version of the episode.

Cultural references

 * Bailey gives Mr. Crosswire  by Samuel Beckett. It is an absurdist play set in a postapocalyptic world.
 * Mrs. MacGrady calling the kids spartakids refers to, who led a slave revolt in the first century B.C.

Errors

 * In the title card, Jeremy O'Neill's name is misspelled as "Jeremy O'Neil."
 * When Francine is typing the email to Uncle Slam on her computer, there are no letters on the keyboard
 * Francine apologizes for forgetting about Mr. Crosswire's birthday, but she didn’t forget; she just decided not to go.
 * When D.W. pushes Chilly Billy through Mrs.MacGrady's door, he blinks for a second when he lands on the ground.

Production notes

 * This is the first episode to be a remake of a previous one, in this instance, the Season 13 episode of the same name.
 * The reason for this episode being redone was due to a that caused Armstrong to be stripped of his former victories in 2012.
 * Being that this episode is a remastered version from Season 13, Arthur Read and his friends are still in 3rd Grade and Francis Haney is still the principal. Everything stays the same, except for some minor adjustments.

Differences from the original

 * This version is animated with ToonBoom Harmony Flash animation, whereas the original Season 13 version was animated with digital ink and paint.
 * Also, Oasis Animation animated this version, whereas the original Season 13 version was animated by Cookie Jar Entertainment, with additional overseas animation/production services provided by Animation Services (HK) Ltd.
 * Francine contacts Uncle Slam in this version, whereas in the original Season 13 version, she contacted guest star Lance Armstrong. Therefore, all scenes with Lance Armstrong were eliminated and revised to include Slam Wilson.
 * Also in this episode, there is only one scene of Francine and Muffy going shopping, for Mr. Crosswire’s birthday. In the Season 13 episode, they also shop for a dress for Francine so she looks "nicer", for Lance Armstrong.  Otherwise the episode’s timeline remains the same.
 * All voices were recorded using the voice talent under contract for Season 24. A few lines of dialog were slightly modified, but the script remains mostly the same.
 * Some of the music score in this episode is different compared to the original version.
 * As is standard for all title cards post-Season 16 (and internationally post-Season 14), the title card features a scene from the new episode; the original episode used the Arthur and the Stampede title card. The title is also now narrated by Binky, rather than Muffy.
 * On PBS airings, the "And Now a Word from Us Kids" segment is shown in the middle of the episode, but it was shown at the conclusion of the two parts during the Season 13 version.

Home video
DVD: Believe in Yourself! (Replacement for the original)