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(→‎Minor: Added Suzette, and removed that Francine is black? This episode neither confirms nor denies this "theory"....)
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==Plot==
==Plot==


Muffy imagines the lice on her head talk and act like soldiers.
All day at school, Muffy's head is super itchy, which distracts her from what she's supposed to do in class. When Francine scolds her for not blocking a goal in their gym class, Muffy apologizes and explains that her itchy head has been driving her crazy all day. After hearing this, Francine notes that Muffy might have head lice and advises to go to Nurse Flynn to get checked out.


--Title Card--
While in the nurse's office, Muffy argues that it's impossible for her to have head lice, as her nanny, Suzette, washes her hair every day. But Nurse Flynn reveals that Muffy does in fact have head lice, much to the girl's shock. Muffy begs Nurse Flynn not to tell anyone about this and Nurse Flynn gives Muffy special instructions for her and her family to follow to get rid of the head lice. As Muffy leaves Nurse Flynn's office, Francine's waiting for her and asks for the results. Muffy dodges the questions and leaves to go home, but forgets her hat. Francine tries telling Muffy, but keeps the hat and notices how soft it is, trying it on for herself.


All day in school, Muffy has been scratching her head, in art, music and gym class with her friends. After Francine scolds her, she explains how itchy she is and Francine suggests it may be head lice. However, Muffy doesn’t think it's possible. She explains how her French nanny [[Suzette]] always washes and does her hair to maintain it, but she soon finds out she does indeed have lice!
At home, Suzette's washing Muffy's hair with the special medicated shampoo to get rid of the head lice. Muffy's still upset about the fact that she has head lice and claims that it's the worst thing to have ever happened to her. While Suzette is washing Muffy's hair, Muffy's mother, Millicent, comes in and tries to help her daughter feel better, but a flashback to when Millicent was Muffy's age reveals that the same exact happened to her (complete with saying the same exact thing as Muffy). After Muffy's all cleaned up, Millicent notes that they'll really need to clean out Muffy's room to get rid of all the head lice. However, Millicent helps Muffy feel better by pointing out that they could use this as an opportunity to redecorate Muffy's room, which Muffy gets excited about.


She begs the nurse not to tell anyone and exits the room to find everybody waiting for the results. She claims it was only because she was thinking too hard while walking away. Francine notices her hat and picks it up, she tries to tell Muffy, but she doesn’t hear her. So Francine tries on the hat, commenting how soft it is.
At a school assemply the next day, Francine still has Muffy's hat, which gets passed around to all the students, who love how soft it is (much like Francine does) and start trying it on. During this, Nurse Flynn reveals that a student was discovered to have head lice (though she doesn't say it was Muffy) and announces that everyone at the school (students and staff alike) will be required to come down to her office to get checked out for head lice. Nurse Flynn advises the students to not share things like clothing, combs and brushes, as it's very easy to spread head lice that way. Soon, everyone's getting checked out for head lice, and one of the people discovered to have it is Mr. Ratburn.


Meanwhile, at home, Muffy’s French nanny is washing her hair and putting the Nit Hit medicated lice shampoo into her hair. She claims that is the worst thing that's ever happened to her and life is so unfair. Her mother tries to calm her down, saying that she had head lice as a child too, and claims it’s not a big deal...though apparently as a child it was; as shown in a flashback, she said the same thing that Muffy said. Her mother then explains they’ll need to really clean her room to rid of all the lice, though Muffy cheers up, hearing the chance of getting to redecorate her room!
At the Read-house, Arthur's family is taking preventative measures for the head lice in the case any of them have it. Mr. Read, for example, is putting mayonnaise in Arthur's hair (claiming that Grandma Thora did it to him when he was a kid). As David's putting the mayonnaise on his son's head, DW witnesses this and mocks her brother for it, calling him "Mayo Head." But Arthur doesn't seem too bothered by this, noting that David's going to be doing the same thing to DW once he's done with Arthur, much to DW's shock. David and Jane also get mayonnaise on their heads and Jane gets rid of DW's stuffed animals in the case they have the lice in their fur. As Arthur's laying in bed, Pal smells the mayonnaise on his head and tries eating it, much to Arthur's annoyance.


At a school assembly, everyone is playing with Muffy's hat, trying it on, nuzzling and snuggling it. The nurse then announces they’ll be holding a lice check in her office since they had caught Muffy’s the other day. She warns them not to try on others’ clothing, as it’s easier to spread lice that way; George looks uncomfortable at hearing that.
At Binky's house, Binky's watching TV while his mom's busy coming his hair to check for head lice. Binky's initially happy about this arrangement, but soon gets bored with it and tries begging his mom to let him go to bed, but Mrs. Barnes is still busy with combing the head lice out of his hair.


Mr. Ratburn is checked, and unfortunately had gotten head lice while at home; he remarks that he knew he should’ve gone to business school.
At school, Francine's angry with how she has head lice and blames Muffy for starting this whole thing to begin with. Muffy argues that it's not her fault that this happened and expresses happiness that she no longer has head lice, but while the redecorating for her room is being done, Suzette discovers that Muffy has head lice again, much to her shock.


Arthur’s dad is putting mayonnaise on Arthur’s head. D.W. notices, and mocks Arthur, claiming how funny it is, but not wanting to take risk, they plan to put some on her head (much to her surprise), and rid of her stuffed animals for a week or so to make sure they have no lice in the home.  
Back at the Read-residence, Arthur's talking to Buster over the phone and explains that now he and his family are putting olive oil in their hair to combat the head lice. The olive oil seems to be working and Arthur notes that Pal doesn't like the taste of it. Buster congratulates Arthur on his situation, but notes that he finds kind of weird that he's the only one who doesn't appear to have head lice. As it would seem, the head lice haven't been able to survive on Buster because of his poor hygiene habits.


At Binky’s house, his mother is brushing his head and she notices he has plenty of nits in his hair. He loves it though, considering the lack of homework he’ll have to do...
While Muffy, Francine and Brain are hanging out at a diner together, the girls are arguing with each other about who's fault it is about how the head lice started in the first place. Brain tells them to stop arguing and explains that he's doing a lot of research on head lice since the outbreak started. As it would seem, with how fast head lice spreads, it's pretty much impossible to tell who gave it to whom, so there's no real point in fighting about it. Also, Brain notes that his research shows that head lice can be especially difficult to get rid of if you have long hair. To combat this, Muffy and Francine go to [[Salon de Beauté]] and get their hair cut in very short, boyish styles.


At school, Francine angrily states how they can’t get rid of her lice and she blames Muffy for starting to begin with. Muffy is just happy she no longer has it, but to her shock, she finds them at home on her head again!
Though Muffy's initially upset with their new hairstyles, Francine notes that it's probably a good thing, as there are probably lots of benefits to having short hair (namely in that it's much easier to take care of than long hair). The girls also use their new hairstyles to play pranks, such as pranking Binky into thinking that he's in the girls' bathroom after Muffy and Francine have somehow snuck into the boys' bathroom.


Meanwhile, Binky is beginning to grow tired of mindless television and begs to go to bed, but his mom tells him he can’t just yet. Arthur now is trying to use olive oil; he even remarks to Buster that it seems to work, and Pal doesn’t like to eat it. The lice don't like Buster's head as it's dirty.
At the end of the episode, George is going to get his head checked for lice, and it turns out that there's now only one surviving louse on the very top of George's antler. As George is walking down the hall to Nurse Flynn's office, he passes by Buster. The remaining louse tries getting onto Buster's head, but misses and falls onto the floor. As the bell rings and people begin filling up the hallways, a student (presumably Fern) steps onto the head louse, ultimately killing him.
 
Later at the diner, Muffy and Francine are fighting over who gives who lice, until Brain stops them. He then tells them it’s impossible to tell exactly who gave it to who, and to stop blaming each other. Brain also warns them that lice can be especially difficult to get rid of if you have long hair. To combat this, Francine and Muffy get their hair cut in very short, boyish styles; while they dislike their new haircuts at first, they ultimately change their minds, realizing the benefits of having of short hair (namely in that it's much easier to take care of than long hair) and use it to play pranks, such as going into the boys' bathroom and tricking Binky into thinking that he's in the girls' bathroom.
 
Meanwhile, the single head louse is on the very top of George’s antler. He tries to jump onto Buster as he walks by so that he can hatch a new army. Fortunately, he misses and falls to the ground. He's heard shouting for help before a squish sound cuts him off as Fern steps on him with a "SPLAT!" ending the episode.


==Characters==
==Characters==

Revision as of 15:58, 9 October 2018

"The Lousy Week"
The Lousy Week 19.jpg
The Lousy Week 12.jpg
Season/Series: 5
Number in season: 5a
Original Airdate: United States October 23, 2000[1][2]
Canada January 12, 2001[4]
United Kingdom August 15, 2001[3]
Credits
Written by: Peter K. Hirsch
Storyboard by: Stéphanie Gignac
Patricia Atchison
Episodes
Previous
"The Cave" 		Next
"You Are Arthur"
Read transcript
"The Lousy Week" is the first half of the fifth episode in the fifth season of Arthur.

Summary

An army of lice has descended on the heads of Lakewood Elementary. Who or what is strong enough to defeat them? Principal Haney? Nurse Flynn? Mayonnaise?[5]

Plot

All day at school, Muffy's head is super itchy, which distracts her from what she's supposed to do in class. When Francine scolds her for not blocking a goal in their gym class, Muffy apologizes and explains that her itchy head has been driving her crazy all day. After hearing this, Francine notes that Muffy might have head lice and advises to go to Nurse Flynn to get checked out.

While in the nurse's office, Muffy argues that it's impossible for her to have head lice, as her nanny, Suzette, washes her hair every day. But Nurse Flynn reveals that Muffy does in fact have head lice, much to the girl's shock. Muffy begs Nurse Flynn not to tell anyone about this and Nurse Flynn gives Muffy special instructions for her and her family to follow to get rid of the head lice. As Muffy leaves Nurse Flynn's office, Francine's waiting for her and asks for the results. Muffy dodges the questions and leaves to go home, but forgets her hat. Francine tries telling Muffy, but keeps the hat and notices how soft it is, trying it on for herself.

At home, Suzette's washing Muffy's hair with the special medicated shampoo to get rid of the head lice. Muffy's still upset about the fact that she has head lice and claims that it's the worst thing to have ever happened to her. While Suzette is washing Muffy's hair, Muffy's mother, Millicent, comes in and tries to help her daughter feel better, but a flashback to when Millicent was Muffy's age reveals that the same exact happened to her (complete with saying the same exact thing as Muffy). After Muffy's all cleaned up, Millicent notes that they'll really need to clean out Muffy's room to get rid of all the head lice. However, Millicent helps Muffy feel better by pointing out that they could use this as an opportunity to redecorate Muffy's room, which Muffy gets excited about.

At a school assemply the next day, Francine still has Muffy's hat, which gets passed around to all the students, who love how soft it is (much like Francine does) and start trying it on. During this, Nurse Flynn reveals that a student was discovered to have head lice (though she doesn't say it was Muffy) and announces that everyone at the school (students and staff alike) will be required to come down to her office to get checked out for head lice. Nurse Flynn advises the students to not share things like clothing, combs and brushes, as it's very easy to spread head lice that way. Soon, everyone's getting checked out for head lice, and one of the people discovered to have it is Mr. Ratburn.

At the Read-house, Arthur's family is taking preventative measures for the head lice in the case any of them have it. Mr. Read, for example, is putting mayonnaise in Arthur's hair (claiming that Grandma Thora did it to him when he was a kid). As David's putting the mayonnaise on his son's head, DW witnesses this and mocks her brother for it, calling him "Mayo Head." But Arthur doesn't seem too bothered by this, noting that David's going to be doing the same thing to DW once he's done with Arthur, much to DW's shock. David and Jane also get mayonnaise on their heads and Jane gets rid of DW's stuffed animals in the case they have the lice in their fur. As Arthur's laying in bed, Pal smells the mayonnaise on his head and tries eating it, much to Arthur's annoyance.

At Binky's house, Binky's watching TV while his mom's busy coming his hair to check for head lice. Binky's initially happy about this arrangement, but soon gets bored with it and tries begging his mom to let him go to bed, but Mrs. Barnes is still busy with combing the head lice out of his hair.

At school, Francine's angry with how she has head lice and blames Muffy for starting this whole thing to begin with. Muffy argues that it's not her fault that this happened and expresses happiness that she no longer has head lice, but while the redecorating for her room is being done, Suzette discovers that Muffy has head lice again, much to her shock.

Back at the Read-residence, Arthur's talking to Buster over the phone and explains that now he and his family are putting olive oil in their hair to combat the head lice. The olive oil seems to be working and Arthur notes that Pal doesn't like the taste of it. Buster congratulates Arthur on his situation, but notes that he finds kind of weird that he's the only one who doesn't appear to have head lice. As it would seem, the head lice haven't been able to survive on Buster because of his poor hygiene habits.

While Muffy, Francine and Brain are hanging out at a diner together, the girls are arguing with each other about who's fault it is about how the head lice started in the first place. Brain tells them to stop arguing and explains that he's doing a lot of research on head lice since the outbreak started. As it would seem, with how fast head lice spreads, it's pretty much impossible to tell who gave it to whom, so there's no real point in fighting about it. Also, Brain notes that his research shows that head lice can be especially difficult to get rid of if you have long hair. To combat this, Muffy and Francine go to Salon de Beauté and get their hair cut in very short, boyish styles.

Though Muffy's initially upset with their new hairstyles, Francine notes that it's probably a good thing, as there are probably lots of benefits to having short hair (namely in that it's much easier to take care of than long hair). The girls also use their new hairstyles to play pranks, such as pranking Binky into thinking that he's in the girls' bathroom after Muffy and Francine have somehow snuck into the boys' bathroom.

At the end of the episode, George is going to get his head checked for lice, and it turns out that there's now only one surviving louse on the very top of George's antler. As George is walking down the hall to Nurse Flynn's office, he passes by Buster. The remaining louse tries getting onto Buster's head, but misses and falls onto the floor. As the bell rings and people begin filling up the hallways, a student (presumably Fern) steps onto the head louse, ultimately killing him.

Characters

Main

Minor

Cameo

Mentioned

Trivia

  • Francine and Muffy had their hair buzzed off for purposes of lice elimination, but in all later shows, they still have their long hair.
  • D.W. said that she did not have "mice", which rhymes with lice.
  • There was a toy marketed for Insight Pharmaceuticals based on this episode which was released in 2006. It resembles Arthur with mayo on his head with a string on his back, a 8-inch hole in his head, and many things that remove lice from someone's hair that can be put into the hole. When the string is pulled, an odor will appear and get rid of the lice on that person's head. It was discontinued in 2007.[6]
  • Both Muffy's mother and Catherine had lice when they were younger.
  • Mr. Ratburn's first name is changed from Emil to Nigel starting with this episode. Later, in "Bitzi's Beau" in the same season, his middle name Charles is revealed.
  • The lice army is all in the kids' imagination.
  • Muffy is the only character shown itching with head lice, even though the main symptom of head lice is itchiness.
  • The South Park episode 'Lice Capades' (which first aired in 2007) shares a lot of parallels with this episode, including a humanization of the lice themselves, the humiliation of one particular student with lice (Muffy in this episode and Clyde in the South Park episode), the eventual outbreak of lice throughout the school and the eventual defeat of the lice.

Cultural references

  • The General of the Louse Army greatly resembles United States General Douglas MacArthur.
  • The Louse General's line "I love the smell of hair gel in the morning. It smells like a-" is a reference to the movie Apocalypse Now, in which the character Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore says "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like victory."

Episode connections

Errors

  • When the general lice says that the comb took off its fifth leg, it was mistaken as its fourth leg.

Home video

DVD

VHS

Gallery

:Main article: The Lousy Week/Gallery

References

  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20001109024700/http://www.pbs.org:80/wgbh/arthur/tv/2000-10.html#505
  2. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20170616021547/https://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20000505/
  3. ↑ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/2c9013d3a1f04a67b5dbaaf89ad0b396
  4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120413104003/http://ww3.tvo.org/program/157024/arthur
  5. ↑ http://www.klru.org/schedule/episode/182576/
  6. ↑ http://marcbrownstudios.com/arthur_facts.asp



Episodes
Season 5
Full list
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