And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids

"And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids"
File:And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids Title Card.png
Season/Series:	3
Number in season:	4B
Original Airdate:	October 12, 1998
Credits
Written by:	Joe Fallon
Storyboard by:	Stefanie Gignac
Episodes
Previous "Background Blues"	Next "The Chips are Down"
Read transcript

And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids is the second half of the 4th episode of season 3. It originally aired on October 12th, 1998 along with Background Blues.

Synopsis

The Magic Toolbox show is coming to Mr. Ratburn's class to put the kids on TV! The kids prepare for stardom, all practicing their various talents. Brain is the only one not interested in appearing on the show, but when it turns out that the segment is not what the other kids expect it to be, they need Brain's help.

Plot

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Trivia

• On the TV show, Let's Talk to Some Kids that Arthur, Buster, and D.W. were watching, there is an aardvark girl with a hairstyle similar to Francine's and with barrettes, but shorter.
• The Magic Toolbox show's title is a parody of that of The Magic School Bus.
• During the intro, Pal can be heard talking like Mr. Ratburn, but wasn't officially given the ability to speak until in The Secret Life of Dogs and Babies.
• There are two parodies of the Arthur intro in this episode: One is when Buster is imagining himself on TV, and the other is when Francine is imagining the Brain having his own TV show. The latter parody also includes a parody of Arthur's New Puppy  titled "Brain's New Puppy".
• This episode implies that Arthur and Francine marry in the future and have not seen Buster in a long time.
• The name of the episode is a play on the phrase, "And now, a word from us kids," referential of the segment featuring actual children shown as interstitial content between stories on most Arthur episodes, save those which featured "Postcards from You."
• Buster hoping to get his own show is foreshadowing Postcards From Buster (although almost all the kids imagined having their own show).
• First appearance of the Unknown Male Cat's Mom.

Goofs

• Francine mentions that she didn't get a puppy last Christmas, despite the fact that she and her family are Jewish. In the book Arthur's Christmas that was first published fourteen years before this episode went on the air, Francine was seen sitting on Santa Claus's lap, but never revealed which holiday she celebrates with her family.
• In the final scene that takes place more than fifty years later, Francine (now an elderly woman) plays The Magic Toolbox on VHS; but DVDs that were introduced in 1996 (two years before this episode aired) were starting to outsell VHS. The only non-goof is the large LCD TV that was starting to outsell CRT ones years after this episode first aired.
• When the kids watch the completed episode of the show in school, Francine's interview comes last. When the elderly Arthur and Francine watch the tape again in the future, Francine appears before Muffy and Buster. (But this could have been editing done after recording the tape)

Home Video

DVD:

• Arthur Goes To Hollywood

VHS:

• Arthur Goes To Hollywood