Jenna's Bedtime Blues

"Jenna's Bedtime Blues"
Season/Series:	7
Number in season:	6B
Original Airdate:	November 25, 2002 January 22, 2003
Credits
Written by:	Glen Berger
Storyboard by:	Jean Saro Sylvie Lafrance
Episodes
Previous "Pick a Car, Any Car"	Next "D.W.'s Time Trouble"
Read transcript

"Jenna's Bedtime Blues" is the second half of the sixth episode in the seventh season of Arthur.

Summary

Jenna is reluctant to go to Muffy's annual slumber party because she wets the bed. She chooses to wear a pull-up to bed, but what if the other girls find out?

Plot

All the girls in Arthur's class are doing good deeds for Muffy because they are trying to get invited to one of her girls-only slumber parties at her family's mansion. Buster is not interested because it is only girls so he thinks there would be nothing that he would like, since he's a boy, but then Arthur mentions an arcade ice machine, which Buster likes the sound of, so he says that he wants to come but Francine reminds him that it's for girls only. Buster begs Francine to invite him. Then, Jenna receives an invitation because Francine, who is Muffy's best friend, managed to convince her to invite her, but Jenna is worried it would end in disaster.

One day, while playing badminton with Francine, she tells Francine that she thought that Muffy didn't like her that much, but Francine tells Jenna that Muffy just needs to get to know her more. Jenna says that she has other plans for the day of the party, but then Francine tells her the party is at night. Jenna suddenly appears angry and says, "Well, maybe I didn't want to go to her stupid party in the first place!", then storms off.

When Jenna goes back to her locker, she hears the other kids spreading rumors about her, and Buster claims he knows why she won't go to the party: it takes place at night and she is an alien crime-fighter in disguise. Later, Jenna appears and tells everyone that the rumors they have been spreading about her are false. After Buster sees the ink on her hands, Jenna simply says that her pen broke, and when Francine asks if she is going to the party, she tries to cover matters up by saying yes, but all she can say is a hesitant, unenthusiastic "Yeah... sure... I can't wait."

Then at home that same night, she talks to her father, saying that she feels doomed after seeing her alarm. After her father puts on her alarm, he says millions of kids wet the bed and that she will not be teased "forever". Then Jenna asks why has she not meet any of the other kids who wet the bed if there really are so many of them, but her father says that she probably has met them, but, like her, they are worried about being teased and they keep it a secret. Then she says; "I have done so many great things, but I still wet the bed." Then he tells her that she only does it from time to time and wearing the alarm is helping her improve. But she says that if leaves home she has to wear an old diaper and be laughed even more. But her father reminds her that it is not a diaper, it is Pull-Up. Fortunately, he also understands her problem, as he himself also wet the bed when he was a kid and didn't believe his father when he said that he would grow out of it, but he did and hopes that Jenna will do the same thing and then Jenna asks him when, but he states he does not know. After having a nightmare where she is awarded for downhill skiing and everyone finds out her secret through Arthur defining "nocturnal enuresis" and antagonize her for it, after hearing her alarm go off Jenna wakes up, feels her bed, and plans to go to the party.

When the night of the sleepover comes, Jenna's father tells her that she can always call him to come pick her up, but she says she can't. Jenna thinks that if she can hide the pull-up in her pillow, she can put it on when everyone is asleep. Jenna enjoys the party, but drinks seven colas and excuses herself to the bathroom after hearing it is a diuretic. When it is time to reveal secrets, she lies that she has a crush on George, but the next morning, even though she has gone throughout the night without any bed-wetting she has had to go to the bathroom several times and had one nightmare about water, the letter P, and Scotsmen talking about "wee lassies". In the morning, Muffy hits Jenna on the face with her pillow and the girls have a pillow fight, but Jenna's pull-up falls out of the pillow. Jenna tries to cover her tracks by teasing that the girl who owns the pull up is a baby and needs a bottle but the girls are all understanding and think Jenna is being mean. Then, Francine asks Jenna about her behavior and she tells the truth to Francine that she wets the bed. Francine understands, as she used to wet the bed as well.

The next day in class, when Jenna notices that George has been behaving differently, Francine assures her that her secret will not pass outside the girls, but then George shyly gives Jenna a flower, saying that his ventriloquist dummy, Wally, wanted to give it to her.

Characters

Major

• Jenna Morgan
• Fern Walters
• Francine Frensky
• Muffy Crosswire
• Prunella Deegan

Minor

• Arthur Read
• Bailey
• Binky Barnes
• The Brain
• Buster Baxter
• Dr. Doomsday
• George Lundgren
• Wally
• Mr. Morgan
• Radioactive Squid Woman
• Nigel Ratburn
• Sue Ellen Armstrong

Cameo

• 3rd Grade Male Cat
• Maria Pappas
• 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
• 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
• Beulah McInnerny
• Mary
• 3rd Grade Male Rat
• Jessica
• 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
• Kenny
• 3rd Grade Male Dog
• 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 2)

Mentioned

• Jenna's grandfather
• Fern's cousin

Trivia

Cultural references

• The puppets in "Can You Say P?" look similar to the ones in Wimzie's House, which also aired on PBS and was produced by Cinar, like Arthur.
• Dr. Doomsday is a parody of Mysterio, but the name is also a parody of both "Dr. Doom", and "Doomsday".
• The girls reenact the sinking of the Titanic.

Episode connections

• Jenna was able to go to Fern's Slumber Party with no problem, which means this episode is set chronologically before then.
• When playing Truth or Dare, Francine can be heard citing the time she stepped out of bounds in The Big Blow-Up.
• Jenna mentions the Athlete of the Year award that she got in The Good Sport.

Errors

• When Jenna was sitting on the water bed, she was still wearing her slippers.
• Before the pillow fight, Fern and her sleeping bag are missing from the floor.

Gallery

:Main article: Jenna's Bedtime Blues/Gallery