Nicked by a Name

"Nicked by a Name"
Season/Series:	14
Number in season:	3A
Original Airdate:	October 13, 2010 November 3, 2010 November 9, 2010 December 17, 2012
Credits
Written by:	Ken Pontac
Storyboard by:	Jim Craig Rob Clarke
Episodes
Previous "D.W. Unties the Knot"	Next "The Play's the Thing"

"Nicked by a Name" is the first half of the third episode in the fourteenth season of Arthur.

Summary

There is a virus spreading through Lakewood Elementary! It changes the way everyone behaves and how they treat each other - it is the new nicknames! Can Brain stop the virus he created or will everyone be mean to each other forever?

Plot

      Arthur starts the show by saying that mean words can really hurt you, and sometimes one little word can make you feel so rotten you just want to disappear.

One hot, sunny day when Francine and her friends win a game of soccer against Mighty Mountain, Brain cheers Francine on by calling her Francine the Soccer Queen. Binky asks Brain to give him a nickname, too, which he does, calling him Tall Order.

When Brain goes to the library to find a book on advertising, Buster also asks him for a nickname; Brain calls him Bust-A-Gut due to his good sense of humor.

Later that day, George goes to Brain's ice cream shop in search of a good nickname. He thinks the nicknames Wally made for him, such as the Dummy Kid, will give people the wrong idea. Brain names him Head Gear, which George likes because he thinks it sounds futuristic.

When George exits the ice cream shop, Arthur sees him and goes inside to get a nickname as well, but Brain says that he is busy at the time.

Later, as Arthur and his friends play another soccer game, Brain becomes annoyed by Arthur as he asks again for a nickname. Having trouble thinking of a good name for him, Brain blurts out that Arthur's nickname will be Average Arthur.

At school, Arthur is by Binky teased because of his nickname, and upon hearing this, Brain approaches and asks Binky how would he feel if he were called Stinky Binky. The negative nickname starts a fast trend, a virus of bad nicknames, when the rest of the gang hears what Brain called Binky and starts making up new unflattering nicknames for each other.

At the next soccer game, Brain plans to introduce a new nickname virus, and the gang starts calling each other by positive nicknames, including Awesome Action Aardvark, Barnstormer, and Eat-My-Dust, and together they became the Goal-Getters. After the gang wins the game, they try to find a good nickname for Brain because they say he doesn't have one yet. They all begin suggesting possibilities as Brain protests that he already has a nickname, the Brain.

Characters

Main

• Alan Powers
• Francine Frensky
• Muffy Crosswire
• Arthur Read
• Buster Baxter
• Binky Barnes

Minor

• 3rd Grade Female Bear
• George Lundgren

Cameo

• Tom Tapir
• Nancy
• Luke
• Jenna Morgan
• Alex
• 3rd Grade Male Aardvark
• Jack Weasel
• 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 5)
• Sam Scarborough
• Mighty Mountain Bowler No. 8

Trivia

• The Mighty Mountain Cheerleaders singing "Pass it to Antenna Ears!" might be a reference to the book, Arthur and the True Francine, where Muffy referred to Buster by that name.

Cultural references

• When Brain has his imagine spot, it's most likely a parody of Mad Men, a show about an Ad business in the 1960s.

Errors

• In the opening scene, Muffy is shown cheering the soccer team on wearing a skirt, but by the end of practice, she is depicted wearing normal soccer shorts like everyone else on the team.
• When Arthur enters the ice cream shop, Mr. Armstrong and Sue Ellen suddenly appear in line behind him. But in the next shot, they disappear.

Gallery

:Main article: Nicked by a Name/Gallery

References