D.W., the Picky Eater (episode)

I am not scared! Fish smells funny and I hate food that smells funny! -D.W. on Dead fish

D.W., the Picky Eater
Season	2
Episode no.	33a
Date aired	October 6, 1997
Episode Guide
Previous Arthur's Lucky Pencil	Next Buster and the Daredevils

"D.W., the Picky Eater" is the first half of the 3rd episode of season 2 of the animated children's series Arthur. It originally aired on October 6th, 1997.

Plot

Jane and Arthur come back from the grocery store and start to put away the groceries. D.W. come in and asks if Jane bought her red Freezy Pops because she only likes the red kind. Arthur tells her that the other Freezy Pop flavors are good too, but D.W. insists that red tastes better. Jane tells D.W. she can have a Freezy Pop if she helps put away the groceries and hands her a fish. D.W. drops the fish and exclaims that it's looking at her. Jane reminds her that she's eaten fish before, but D.W. says never the kind with the head still intact. Arthur taunts her for being scared of the fish. D.W. says she isn't scared, but hates food, like fish, that smell funny. Jane hands D.W. a jar of olives and D.W. asks if they're green eyeballs. Arthur explains that they're olives and they're not looking at her. D.W. goes to the shopping bag and unpacks it herself. She takes out cucumbers and tomatoes and calls them "yucky," but then happily unpacks bread and jars of peanut butter and jelly because she likes them. Arthur tells the viewers that D.W. is a very picky eater. D.W. takes out a package of spinach and exclaims that she hates it and that it's the most disgusting food in the universe.

{Title Card}

That night at dinner, D.W. lists off more foods to an annoyed Arthur that she doesn't like. David serves everyone Hawaiian shrimp. As the rest of the family, including Kate, enjoys the shrimp, D.W. immediately refuses to eat it because they're "a smelly fish family." Arthur tells D.W. that she doesn't like anything. D.W. says she likes to eat peanut butter and jelly, strawberries, chocolate, birthday cake, and chocolate ice cream.

One night Jane, David, Arthur, and D.W. go out to eat at a restaurant and D.W. orders a salad. But when she finds out that there's spinach in it, she angrily punches the salad right on the waiter and everyone stares at them. The waiter angrily quits his job and storms away. Jane and David look angrily at D.W. and Jane says "Dora Winifred Read!". At home Grandma Thora is babysitting Kate when the family returns and she asks if they had a good time. Arthur tells Grandma Thora about D.W. punching her salad and having it exploding all over the waiter and everyone was staring at them. Jane sends D.W. to her room, telling her she won't go to any more restaurants until she controls her behavior and tries new foods. Arthur asks about Grandma Thora's birthday party at the Once Upon a Restaurant next week and Jane says that D.W. will not be joining them. While Arthur is secretly happy about this, Grandma Thora asks to instead have her birthday at their house because her birthday wouldn't be happy if D.W. wasn't there. Arthur really wants to go to the restaurant and unhappily asks if he has to do everything with D.W. He imagines himself as an astronaut who is denied a space trip to Jupiter because D.W. isn't there with him. Arthur decides to get D.W. to try something new to eat and maybe they can still go to the restaurant.

The next day Arthur and D.W. ride bikes together and Arthur takes her to Once Upon a Restaurant. Arthur then tells D.W. she can see the princess and the unicorn at the restaraunt if she eats new foods. D.W. gets excited about the unicorn, but misses Arthur's point and asks if she can take the unicorn home with her. Then, Arthur hatches a plan thanks to Buster and calls up D.W. in the treehouse. Arthur and Buster offer D.W. a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and D.W. happily eats it. Suddenly, D.W. notices there is spinach in the sandwich and vomits it out. At school the next day, Muffy suggets that D.W. needs to see someone she that admires eat spinach and volunteers herself for the task. Arthur takes D.W. to Muffy's house as Bailey serves Muffy a plate of spinach. Muffy tells D.W. that spinach is her favorite food and starts to take a bite. Just then a fly lands on her fork and Muffy freaks out, tossing the spiniach in the air. D.W folds her arms and smirks at Arthur in a satisfied way. With only two days left until Grandma Thora's birthday, Francine gets an idea. Arthur and Francine feed Kate some spinach and Kate has no problem eating it. D.W. frantically runs into the kitchen telling Kate it's a trick and not to eat it. Arthur corrects her by saying that Kate is big girl because she doesn't throw her food and have trantrums like a baby. D.W. exclaims that she's not a baby and the two of them start to argue. Francine stops them and tells D.W. that if she's not a baby, then she has to prove it by eating the spinach. D.W. takes the spoon with spinach on it and is about it eat it, but then Kate spits up a mouthful of spainch. D.W. says she's glad she's not the only one with good taste and hastily puts down the spoon, which spills the spinach onto Arthur's shirt.

Trivia

• The waiter who D.W.'s spinach lands on and the one at the Once Upon a Restaurant (who tells her the Little Bow Peep Pot Pie is full of Spinach) are the same character.

Differences from the book

• When the family is eating the Hawaiian shrimp, D.W. complains that they're a "smelly fish family" and pushes the bowl away from her. In the book, D.W. secretly feeds Pal the shrimp while Arthur watches and whispers "I saw that!"
• When D.W. receives a bowl of spinach, she quickly shouts that she hates it, and pounds on the bowl, and the bowl lands on the waiter's head. In the book, D.W. pounds on the bowl with her fist which causes the spinach to fly around, and shouts "NO!", and spills her carton of milk.
• When everyone gets annoyed by D.W.'s behavior, Jane says D.W.'s full name; although in the book, she simply says she's embarrassed about what D.W. did.
• Jane told D.W. that there would be no more restaurants for her, because of the way she behaved; although in the book, David told D.W.
• Arthur's friends: Buster, Francine, and Muffy are seen; although in the book, Arthur's friends were not seen, but D.W. went to her friend Emily's house, since the book focused mainly on D.W.
• Arthur was getting advice from his friends on how D.W. should learn how to try the spinach and like it; although in the book, Arthur's family was going out without D.W., and a babysitter named Mrs. Cross was babysitting her.
• For Grandma Thora's birthday, the family went out to Once Upon a Restaurant; although in the book, they went to The Derby.

Notes

• While Grandma Thora was babysitting Kate, Kate had a pacifier in her mouth. Kate mainly had the pacifier in her mouth when she was just a baby in Arthur & D.W.'s Baby, but has rarely had it in her mouth since she turned one year old.

Quotes

• Dad: Mmm....looks good!
• (Waiter serves the food)
• D.W.: Cucumbers, yucky, mushrooms, yucky, onions, yucky and smelly. (Sees that the salad has spinach) Hey, this isn't lettuce. What kind of a salad is this?
• Arthur: Uh-oh, she's going to pop!
• D.W.: This is spinach!
• Waiter: Is something the matter?
• D.W.: This is spinach, AND I HATE....SPINACH!!!!!!!!!!!!! (D.W.'s bowl goes flying and it goes into the waiter's face and everyone else gasps) Uh-oh.
• Waiter: THAT'S IT! I QUIT!
• Mom: Dora Winifred Read!
• Grandma Thora: (Stands up) Back so soon? Did you have a good time?
• Arthur: (about D.W. punching her salad and the bowl going on the waiter) D.W. punched her salad and it exploded........(His mother looks at him)..........A-All over the waiter and everyone was staring at us.

• D.W.: They were not! Everybody's making this into such a big deal!
• Mrs. Read: No more restaurants for you, young lady, until you can behave and learn to eat what's placed in front of you! Now go to your room!
• (D.W. heads upstairs)

• Arthur: What about Grandma Thora's birthday at Once upon a Restaurant next week?

• Mrs. Read: D.W. will not be joining us.