Difference between revisions of "To Beat or Not to Beat"

"To Beat or Not to Beat"
Season/Series:	4
Number in season:	7B
Original Airdate:	October 13, 1999; January 25, 2000;
	Credits
Written by:	Barney Saltzberg
Storyboard by:	Jeremy O'Neil
	Episodes
Previous; "Binky Barnes, Wingman"	Next; "1001 Dads"
	Read transcript

Latest revision as of 17:07, 16 February 2024

This article is about To Beat or Not to Beat. You may be looking for To Eat or Not to Eat.

"To Beat or Not to Beat" is the second half of the seventh episode in the fourth season of Arthur.

Summary[edit]

Francine is practicing her singing and drumming for the talent show, but her friends just think she's making a terrible racket.

Plot[edit]

Arthur explains that Francine is great at many activities, such as baseball and winning arguments. Francine manages to fly, which Arthur is surprised at. Once he tells her that kids cannot fly, she falls to the ground.

To Beat or Not to Beat

Lakewood Elementary's talent show is coming up, and Arthur, Buster and Brain each discuss what they are going to do. They hear a loud noise coming from Francine's apartment building. Buster believes it's an exterminator that uses sound, and Arthur thinks it's a large machine.

They discover that the noise is coming from Francine singing and playing the drums, which is her act for the talent show. The boys leave and wonder if they should tell Francine that her singing and drumming sounds really bad. Arthur doesn't want to see Francine humiliate herself at the talent show, while Brain worries about hurting her feelings. Later that night, Arthur dreams about two different scenarios: one where Francine cries after being told the truth, and one where she is relieved at first, but then finds out that her song made someone else famous.

The next day, Brain thinks they should tell Francine about her singing while Arthur has doubts about telling her. Buster comes up with an idea: tell Muffy about Francine's act since she knows what's popular. Brain points out that Muffy would never say anything bad about her best friend. They disguise themselves and get a recording of Francine's singing without her knowing.

Muffy agrees that the recording sounds awful. Arthur reveals that it's Francine singing and playing the drums at the same time. Muffy is confused on how why Francine sounds so bad since she is normally a great drummer, then Brain realizes that the singing is affecting her drumming skills. The four of them realize that they do not need Francine to drop out of the talent show, just convince Francine not to sing. They head back to Francine's apartment to tell her, although she refuses to listen.

At the tree house, the four of them complain about Francine not listening to them and they worry that Francine will be humiliated. Francine arrives with the recording of her, asking what the terrible noise is. Arthur says it is her voice and that they recorded her while she was playing the drums and singing. Francine complains about no one telling her the truth, until Arthur says that everyone did. Francine feels guilty, and her friends comfort her, saying that she's still an amazing drummer. Francine says that she is not ready to do two things at once and takes her friends' advice.

At the Talent Show, Francine shows up but without her drums. Instead, she sings. Arthur and his friends fear the worst, but, much to her friends' amazement, she sings beautifully. She does not win the talent show (George does), but her friends still enjoy her performance. Francine says that she will still practice playing the drums and singing until she get better at it.

Characters[edit]

Major[edit]

Minor[edit]

Cameo[edit]

Trivia[edit]

Part of Francine's song, the line "you can fly," is used in the season 6 ending credits.
With the exception of the blackout part, the Prunella Deegan, Fortune Teller title card is taken from this episode.
In the Brain's fantasy of the talent show, Mr. Ratburn's question is "If a train carrying 1,873 scoops of ice cream leaves Chicago at 7 AM and the freezer stops working, how fast would it have to travel to reach New York before half the ice cream melts, factoring in a melting rate of 6 scoops per minute?" The answer is 5 miles per minute, or 300 miles per hour.
Timeline: The talent show is named the "Spring Talent Show" implying that this episode takes place during the spring.
The sound of the termites screaming in the fantasy with the exterminator who uses sound to get rid of them is a sped-up version of Arthur and the kids screaming.

Cultural references[edit]

The title of this episode is a pun on the phrase "to be or not to be" from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Episode connections[edit]

Francine's inability to sing and drum at the same time becomes a bit of a running gag in the series, with her still unable to do it later in the episode "Citizen Frensky" and the special Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n' Roll.
This episode has a similar title to "To Eat or Not to Eat."

Errors[edit]

Because stock footage from "Buster's Growing Grudge" is used, Mr. Ratburn is seen wearing his red necktie in one scene, and then his blue bow tie in the next scene.

Gallery[edit]

Francine finishing her song
Francine singing
"Now, I'm gonna fly!"
AHHHHHH!

References[edit]

[1] ttps://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20000407/

[2] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120413104003/http://ww3.tvo.org/program/157024/arthur

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Bad picture|reason=Could we get one of Francine singing and playing drums?}}{{Episode infobox
+{{youmay|To Beat or Not to Beat|[[To Eat or Not to Eat]]}}
+{{Episode infobox
 |ep. name = To Beat or Not to Beat
-|image = tbontb.png
+|image = To Beat or Not to Beat Singdrum.PNG
 |season = [[Season 4|4]]
 |us= October 13, 1999<ref>https://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20000407/</ref>
@@ Line 7: / Line 8: @@
 |next episode = [[1001 Dads]]
 |writers = [[Barney Saltzberg]]
-|storyboarders = [[Jeremy O'Neill|Jeremy O'Neil]]|number = 7B|titlecard = To Beat or Not To Beat Title Card.png|can = January 25, 2000<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120413104003/http://ww3.tvo.org/program/157024/arthur</ref>}}{{EpisodeHeader|2|7|4}}
+|storyboarders = [[Jeremy O'Neill|Jeremy O'Neil]]
+|number = 7B
+|titlecard = To Beat or Not To Beat Title Card.png
+|can = January 25, 2000<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120413104003/http://ww3.tvo.org/program/157024/arthur</ref>
+}}
+{{EpisodeHeader|2|7|4}}
 ==Summary==
-Francine is practicing her singing and drumming for the talent show, but her friends just think she's making a terrible racket.
+[[Francine Frensky|Francine]] is practicing her singing and drumming for the talent show, but her friends just think she's making a terrible racket.
 ==Plot==
-Intro: Arthur is at the playground, talking about how Francine can do a lot of great things: she can hit a baseball farther than anybody he knows. She can also argue about anything better than anything knows. A flashback is shown where Francine verbally enforces herself on a frightened Binky at school, and Binky unwillingly lets her win her argument that a tomato is a fruit, and not a vegetable. Arthur then says that Francine will try to do something that he thinks she should not: flying. Buster tells Arthur to tell Francine to stop because she could hurt herself. Arthur does, stopping Francine from flying and landing in a pile of leaves. He then admits hating to burst somebody's bubble.
+Arthur explains that Francine is great at many activities, such as baseball and winning arguments. Francine manages to fly, which Arthur is surprised at. Once he tells her that kids cannot fly, she falls to the ground.
-The episode begins in Mr. Ratburn's class where he tells the class that he knows they've been concentrating on Friday's Spring Talent Show and that he's giving them extra homework so they won't forget what's really important to which the class awes over.
-After school, Arthur, Buster, and the Brain walk home together and Buster tells them that he's telling jokes and asks What's orange and sounds like a parrot? A carrot.
-Arthur then spots Francine getting on her bike and asks her what she's doing for the talent show to which she tells him and the others that she's not telling them and that they'll be surprised like everyone else.
-Buster asks Arthur what he's doing for the talent show and Arthur says that he's been practicing tricks with Pal (in a flashback Arthur and Pal are doing tricks for D.W. and Kate and Arthur tells Pal to sit to which Pal does and Arthur tells Pal to shake his tail to which he has to help Pal with and D.W. sighs with boredom and says Oh brother).
-Back in present day, Arthur says that he and Pal aren't quite ready yet, but Pal is smart. Buster then asks Brain what he's doing for the talent show to which Brain says that he will be correct the human calculator and that the audience will shout out math problems and he will do them instantly in his head.
-When Arthur asks what will happen if Ratburn asks a question, Brain has a thought about himself standing up on stage and Mr. Ratburn asking a really difficult question which is If a train carrying 1,873 scoops of ice cream leaves Chicago at 7:00&nbsp;a.m.
-The freezer stops working how fast would it have to travel to reach New York before half the ice cream melts factoring in a melting rate of six scoops per minute. After finishing the thought, Brain tells Arthur that he might juggle instead.
-They then hear a horrible sound and wonder what it is and walk in the direction that it's coming from to which Buster thinks it might be a sound that an exterminator uses to get rid of termites in houses (in Buster's imagination an exterminator uses a machine with the sound in it to get rid of all the termites in a house.
-Brain thinks the sound belongs to an engine to which Arthur says it have to be one giant engine, (in Arthur's imagination a workman is trying to get control of his cleaning machine in which its engine is making the horrible sound).
-Back in present day, Buster points out that whatever the sound is it's coming from Francine's roof and they climb to the top of the roof of Francine's apartment and find Francine playing her drums and singing revealing that it's her who's making the sound.
-She sees the guys and tells them that she wanted it to be a surprise to which the boys tell her they're surprised and she asks them what they think, but before they can answer she volunteers to start from the beginning to which Brain says he has to go type up the errors he found in the encyclopedia.
-Arthur says he has to clean his room and wash Pal and Buster says he has to dry Pal and they leave. Arthur, Buster, and Brain go to the Sugar Bowl and have shakes and Arthur tells Buster and Brain that they need to tell Francine that her singing is bad or else everyone is going to boo her off the stage, but Brain says they shouldn't because they could hurt her feelings.
-That night, Arthur lays in bed thinking of what will happen if he tells Francine that her singing is bad (in Arthur's 1st imagination he tells Francine that her singing is bad and she cries heart broken).
-Arthur also wonders if he could be wrong, (in Arthur's second imagination he tells Francine that her singing is bad and she thanks him for telling her, but then they hear a girl on TV singing the song that Francine was singing and that the girl's song is hitting records all over the world to which Francine gets angry at Arthur as she has lost her chance at becoming famous).
-Back in the present night, Arthur begins to think maybe Francine's singing isn't so bad. The next day, Arthur, Brain, and Buster meet at the tree house where Brain says he agrees with Arthur and that they should tell Francine that her singing is bad, but Arthur says he thinks maybe Francine's singing could be the next big thing and make millions.
-Buster suggests that they secretly record Francine singing the song and have Muffy listen to it to decide if her singing is good or not. The boys disguise themselves as bushes and use Brain's remote control car to carry the tape and Brain puts the car next to Francine's chair and records her singing, but then the boys accidentally fall backwards down the stairs and cause the car to drive off the roof into the bushes where they manage to get it.
-They then take the tape to Muffy's where she listens to it and she calls it the worst and the boys tell her it's Francine practicing for the talent show on Friday.
+<center>'''To Beat or Not to Beat'''</center>
-When Muffy asks why Francine sounds so bad, Brain says that her singing is effecting her drumming to which Arthur says that they don't need Francine to quit the talent show she needs to stop singing. Muffy and the boys go to Francine's Apartment where Muffy tells Francine, but she doesn't believe her.
+[[Lakewood Elementary School|Lakewood]] Elementary's talent show is coming up, and Arthur, Buster and Brain each discuss what they are going to do. They hear a loud noise coming from Francine's apartment building. Buster believes it's an exterminator that uses sound, and Arthur thinks it's a large machine.
-Arthur, Buster, and Brain also try to tell Francine without any luck. Back at the tree house, Muffy, Arthur, Buster, and Brain can't believe that Francine didn't believe them. When Francine arrives holding the tape of her singing and asks them what it is, saying it sounds awful, like an elephant crushing Ratburn's car.
+They discover that the noise is coming from Francine singing and playing the drums, which is her act for the talent show. The boys leave and wonder if they should tell Francine that her singing and drumming sounds really bad. Arthur doesn't want to see Francine humiliate herself at the talent show, while Brain worries about hurting her feelings. Later that night, Arthur dreams about two different scenarios: one where Francine cries after being told the truth, and one where she is relieved at first, but then finds out that her song made someone else famous.
-Arthur tells Francine that it's her singing and playing the drums. When Francine asks them why they didn't tell her that her singing was bad they said they did and she proclaims that she isn't ready to do two things at once and plans to only do one of them and rushes off to practice for the talent show.
+The next day, Brain thinks they should tell Francine about her singing while Arthur has doubts about telling her. Buster comes up with an idea: tell Muffy about Francine's act since she knows what's popular. Brain points out that Muffy would never say anything bad about her best friend. They disguise themselves and get a recording of Francine's singing without her knowing.
-At the talent show, Arthur, Muffy, Buster, and Brain are happy that Francine isn't going to be singing, but playing the drums, but it turns out that Francine has chosen to sing and not play the drums. Everyone is horrified at this, and thinks it's going to be horrible, but  it turns out she is actually an incredible, singer and afterwards thanks her friends for stopping her from doing two things at once and the reason that she sounded so bad was probably because she needed more practice.
+Muffy agrees that the recording sounds awful. Arthur reveals that it's Francine singing and playing the drums at the same time. Muffy is confused on how why Francine sounds so bad since she is normally a great drummer, then Brain realizes that the singing is affecting her drumming skills. The four of them realize that they do not need Francine to drop out of the talent show, just convince Francine not to sing. They head back to Francine's apartment to tell her, although she refuses to listen.
-Muffy tells Francine that she should win, but the winner winds up to be George who hoped on a pogo stick. Francine says that she'll keep practicing and next time she will win the talent show.
+At the tree house, the four of them complain about Francine not listening to them and they worry that Francine will be humiliated. Francine arrives with the recording of her, asking what the terrible noise is. Arthur says it is her voice and that they recorded her while she was playing the drums and singing. Francine complains about no one telling her the truth, until Arthur says that everyone did. Francine feels guilty, and her friends comfort her, saying that she's still an amazing drummer. Francine says that she is not ready to do two things at once and takes her friends' advice.
-Arthur tells her she should probably sing, play the drums, and hop on a pogo-stick. Later after the talent show, Francine continues to practice on her roof playing the drums and singing to which still sounds bad to Arthur, Brain, and Buster, but Muffy gives it a thumbs up to which Arthur asks her if she likes Francine's singing and playing the drums, but Muffy reveals that she was wearing earplugs and agrees with the boys that it still sounds lousy and the episode finishes.
+At the Talent Show, Francine shows up but without her drums. Instead, she sings. Arthur and his friends fear the worst, but, much to her friends' amazement, she sings beautifully. She does not win the talent show (George does), but her friends still enjoy her performance. Francine says that she will still practice playing the drums and singing until she get better at it.
 ==Characters==
-===Main===
+===Major===
 *[[Francine Frensky]]
 *[[Arthur Read]]
 *[[Buster Baxter]]
-*[[Alan Powers]]
+*[[Alan Powers|The Brain]]
 *[[Muffy Crosswire]]
 ===Minor===
 *[[Prunella Deegan]]
 *[[Nigel Ratburn]]
+*[[D.W. Read]]
+*[[Pal]]
+*[[Laverne Frensky]]
+*[[Oliver Frensky]]
+*[[Catherine Frensky]] (appears in fantasy)
+===Cameo===
+*[[Kate Read]]
+*[[3rd Grade Male Rat]]
+*[[Steve]]
+*[[4th Grade Male Dog]]
+*[[Ms. Krasny]]
 *[[Jenna Morgan]]
 *[[George Lundgren]]
@@ Line 78: / Line 63: @@
 *[[Mrs. Barnes]]
 *[[Maria Pappas]]
-*[[D.W. Read]]
+*[[John]]
-*[[Pal]]
+*[[Mr. Morris]]
-*[[Laverne Frensky]]
-*[[Oliver Frensky]]
-*[[Catherine Frensky]] (appears in fantasy)
-===Cameo===
-*[[Kate Read]]
 ==Trivia==
-*When Francine's sings,'' "You can flyyyyyyyy"'' at the talent show, it will be heard again in the Arthur season 6 ending credits (techno remix, that is) in a different tone as it is in this episode.
+*Part of Francine's song, the line "you can fly," is used in the season 6 ending credits.
-**Because the theme song is in the key of F, while Francine's song is in the key of E.
+*With the exception of the blackout part, the Prunella Deegan, Fortune Teller title card is taken from this episode.
-*This episode continues the running gag of [[George Lundgren|George]] seemingly winning every talent show in the series, once again by jumping around on a [[pogo stick]] like he did in the last talent show featured in ''[[Buster's Growing Grudge]]''.
+*In the Brain's fantasy of the talent show, Mr. Ratburn's question is "If a train carrying 1,873 scoops of ice cream leaves Chicago at 7 AM and the freezer stops working, how fast would it have to travel to reach New York before half the ice cream melts, factoring in a melting rate of 6 scoops per minute?" The answer is 5 miles per minute, or 300 miles per hour.
-*Francine's inability to sing and drum at the same time becomes a bit of a running gag in the series, with her still unable to do it later in the episode [[Citizen Frensky]] and the special [[Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n' Roll]].
+*'''Timeline:''' The talent show is named the "Spring Talent Show" implying that this episode takes place during the spring.
+*The sound of the termites screaming in the fantasy with the exterminator who uses sound to get rid of them is a sped-up version of Arthur and the kids screaming.
+===Cultural references===
+*The title of this episode is a pun on the phrase "to be or not to be" from [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''Hamlet''.
+===Episode connections===
+*Francine's inability to sing and drum at the same time becomes a bit of a running gag in the series, with her still unable to do it later in the episode "[[Citizen Frensky]]" and the special ''[[Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n' Roll]]''.
+*This episode has a similar title to "[[To Eat or Not to Eat]]."
+===Errors===
+* Because stock footage from "Buster's Growing Grudge" is used, Mr. Ratburn is seen wearing his red necktie in one scene, and then his blue bow tie in the next scene.
 ==Gallery==
-{{CollapsingGallery|
-===Screenshots===
 <gallery>
 To Beat or Not to Beat.JPG|Francine finishing her song
 Francine Tuxedo.png|Francine singing
 Francine's gonna Fly!.PNG|"Now, I'm gonna fly!"
-</gallery>}}{{EpisodeNav|4}}
+To Beat or Not to Beat Singdrum.PNG|AHHHHHH!
+</gallery>
 ==References==
 {{Reflist}}
-[[Category:Episodes]]
+{{EpisodeNav|4}}
 [[Category:Season 4 episodes]]
 [[Category:Episodes with songs]]
 [[Category:Episode pages without home video]]
+[[Category:A to Z]]
+[[Category:Arthur episodes]]
+[[Category:1999]]

Difference between revisions of "To Beat or Not to Beat"

Latest revision as of 17:07, 16 February 2024

Contents

Summary[edit]

Plot[edit]

Characters[edit]

Major[edit]

Minor[edit]

Cameo[edit]

Trivia[edit]

Cultural references[edit]

Episode connections[edit]

Errors[edit]

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

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