The Contest/Transcript

Introduction

Arthur, Francine, Muffy, Binky and Brain are lying in the grass looking at the sky.

Binky: yawns)

Francine: Too bad this isn’t TV.

Brain: Why?

Francine: Then I could change the channel. This is the boringest day ever.

Arthur: Can’t you think of anything to do, Buster?   They all look up.   Buster?

Binky: I bet that rat’s doing something cool without us.   The kids start searching.

Kids: (Buster! Where are you?! etc.)

Francine: Oh my gosh!    She waves at the others.

Muffy: Look! Francine found something!       All gather beside Francine.

Brain: Is he doing what I think he’s doing?

Arthur: Maybe we should call the nurse.       Buster is sitting under a tree and writing in a notebook.

Francine: Calm down, guys. He might not be doing homework.     They walk up to Buster.

Buster: No, no, it’s not homework.    He holds up a magazine.   It’s this contest in TV schedule for the “Andy and Company” show. You’re supposed to….     He looks at Francine’s watch.   Oh no! What time is it? It’s starting right now!

Title Card: Stampede

On the “Andy and Company” show, Andy is sitting at his desk while his little sister jumps around.

Andy’s Sister: (laughs)

Andy: Mom!

Arthur and his friends are watching from the couch.

Muffy: Why does he always call for his mother when his little sister bothers him? She’s like a slave.

Buster: Shh. TV.

Brain: If they’re animals, does their school serve bugs and garbage for lunch?

Francine: I’d like to know how a mouse has a pet dog. Wouldn’t the dog eat him?

Arthur: Andy’s not a mouse, he’s a…  something. I forget.

TV Announcer: Hey, kids! Come up with a story about you and your friends and we’ll announce the winner’s name right on our show. It could be you!

Francine: Wow! That is so cool!

Brain: What story did you write, Buster?

Buster: Well, like they said, it’s a story about us.

Kids: (Tell us!)

Buster: It's called “The Day The Earth Was Saved”.

Buster’s story, style: “South Park”

Buster stands on a hill looking up at the sky.

Buster: Hello! Hello, up there! Hey, I’m talking to you!    Brain, Francine and Arthur come up.

Brain: You're not waiting for aliens again?

Buster: They've gotta come sometime.

Francine: I'm outta here!     Buster’s friends leave.

Arthur: Yeah, let’s go!       A flying saucer appears.

Buster: Arthur! Hey look, they're here! I told you! Hey, aliens! Over here! Land here! Hurry!    The saucer lands on top of him. Ow!    The others come back.

Francine: Hey, you squished Buster! Hey, come out!   

A door opens. Two aliens float out and drag Arthur into the saucer.

Arthur: Hey! Let go!    Arthur is put on a plate.   Hey! You're not going to eat me!    Hey!    An alien zaps him with a gizmo. Arthur’s clothes except his underwear disappear. The alien looks at the gizmo and frowns. Arthur is thrown out of the saucer.     Aaaah! Oo!    The saucer flies away.    What the...?!

Brain: It appears that you were too high in cholesterol for them, Arthur. These aliens, though evil, must be health conscious.

Brain+Arthur+Francine: The Earth is saved!    Buster gets up.

Buster: Ohh.  What happened?     Ouch!

The story ends.

#

Buster: The end.

Arthur: What do you mean, I’m high in cholesterol?

The kids walk out of the house.

Francine: I want to write one! When is the contest over?

Buster: You have to mail it by tomorrow.    Arthur catches up with Buster.

Arthur: You don’t think aliens would eat me?

Muffy: I'm going to write one too. I can write a great story about us.

Brain: We can all get together tomorrow and read them.

Arthur: I'm just as edible as anybody!    Everybody looks at him.    I mean... I'm writing one too!

#

While Arthur is writing in the Reads’ kitchen, he has a fantasy of Andy handing him a trophy.

Andy: That was a really cool story, Arthur. Do you wanna hang out with us and be our friend.

Arthur: Yeah! Er… hm…   He wants to start writing, but has no ideas. A periscope looks over the tabletop at the cookies beside Arthur. D.W.’s hand reaches out. Arthur looks under the table. D.W. grins and runs away with a cookie.

Arthur: Mom!     He smiles and starts writing.

#

The kids meet at the Sugar Bowl.

Muffy: Maybe if they like my story they’ll let me write one for the show.

Brain: Well, first you have to win. Why don’t you read us your story.

Muffy: Gladly. "My Life As A TV Show” by MuffyCrosswire.

Muffy’s story, style: “Beavis and Butt-Head”

A fashion show. In the audience are Arthur as Beavis and Buster as Butt-Head.

Announcer: And now, the new fall fashions!     Muffy walks onto the runway in a green space costume vaguely resembling a teletubby.

Buster: Hey, look! It's the fifth Teletubby!

Arthur: Heh-heh! Yeah!

Buster: Heh-heh!

Muffy: Hmpf!

D.W. walks out on the runway in a pink costume.

Audience: Wow!

Buster: Wow! Look at that!

Muffy: I knew this was going to happen. Well, time to switch to Plan B.  

The story ends.

#

Francine: What's Plan B?

Muffy: Stink bomb!

Francine: That's totally you! It’s so believable that you’d do that.

Muffy: I am a jealous person.

Brain: But kids believe what they see! If kids watch your story, the next time they had a problem, instead of figuring out how to solve it, they might send an evil robot after everyone.

Francine: That's ridiculous! What kind of kid has an evil robot at home?     Brain whistles innocently.

Arthur: What's your story, Brain?

Brain: I have a story that’s exciting, but won’t give kids bad messages. It starts with me in my laboratory.