Arthur's Almost Boring Day

"Arthur's Almost Boring Day"
Season/Series:	1
Number in season:	20a
Original Airdate:	November 1, 1996 January 31, 1997
Credits
Written by:	Joe Fallon
Storyboard by:	Stéphanie Gignac
Episodes
Previous "Arthur Makes the Team"	Next "The Half-Baked Sale"
Read transcript

"Arthur's Almost Boring Day" is the first half of the twentieth episode in the first season of Arthur.

Summary

Stuck inside on a rainy day, Arthur and D.W. find some fascinating stuff about their parents in Grandma Thora's attic.

Plot

We first see Arthur's neighborhood on a very rainy day. Arthur and D.W., both disappointed about the rain, get bored. D.W. wants the rain to stop and Arthur wonders what everyone else is doing indoors. Buster wants the rain to go away as well. Francine, who wanted to play basketball, disappointedly sings "It's raining it's pouring" while she watches the rain and her father is sleeping on the couch. She then gets annoyed over her father's snoring. The Brain studies his evaporation map. In unison, Arthur and D.W. both say, "I'm bored."

---Title Card---

We now see Mr. Ratburn's classroom, on a sunny day, where Mr. Ratburn tells about a homework assignment, but is abruptly interrupted by Francine. She reminds him that it's Friday. He then checks the calendar, but he says that the class will have all weekend to do their assignment. The class gets disappointed. Arthur then watches Mrs. Fink and her class outside. Their homework assignment is to have lots of fun over the weekend. Mrs. Fink and her students frolic in the flowers and cheer.

Arthur, wishing that he could have fun this weekend, gets really upset. The class is to prepare a short report about what they did tomorrow. Buster asks if this includes eating, but Francine tells him that Ratburn said a short report. After school, Binky stops Arthur, Buster, and Francine and says that he needs ideas for his report. Buster suggests he should come to the park with him, Arthur, and Francine. The idea angers both Arthur and Francine. Binky approves of the idea, but suddenly realizes if they go together, their reports will be the same. Binky then leaves forgetting about the whole thing. Francine wonders if Binky's right, but Arthur says that it doesn't matter if everyone plays together all day, they can do different things.

Later that night, Pal pounces on Kate's playpen while Kate plays peek a boo. Arthur and D.W. are sitting on the couch watching TV. They see a cereal commercial, but the cereal on the TV makes them grossed out. D.W. asks Arthur what they're gonna do tomorrow. Arthur says that they aren't doing anything tomorrow because he's going to the park with his friends. But D.W. gets upset and said that he promised she'd take him. Arthur says he has to do an assignment over there with his friends. In reply, D.W. pouts.

The next day turns out to be really stormy, and Arthur feels disappointed about not going to the park. D.W. asks Arthur when he's going to the park, but he says he can't due to the rain. D.W. laughs in reply and says, "Too bad!" and can really play with him after all. She then drags Arthur to one side of the living room and empties out all her toys. Meanwhile, Arthur is on the phone with Francine and says that he's stuck in the house with D.W. and her "baby games". While Francine is talking to Arthur, her dad, like in the beginning, is snoring on the couch. Maybe Francine can practice her drums inside to really wake up her father. After Arthur hangs up, D.W. asks Arthur if they want to play Weasel Rally or Confuse the Goose. Arthur decides to play Weasel Rally. While he is reading the front of the game box, Pal and Kate are napping peacefully. At the dining table, Arthur and D.W.'s parents are doing paperwork. Then things get crazy. Arthur and D.W. start fighting over the game which causes Kate to cry and Arthur and D.W.'s parents to screw up their paperwork. Mom asks what's wrong, while Dad gets disgusted over his messed up paperwork. D.W. then enters and tells her mother that Arthur is playing the game incorrectly. He protests and says that he's doing it right. Mom suggests another game that Arthur and D.W. can play, but Arthur can't think of anything good to write his report on. Dad suggests that Arthur should read to D.W., and Mom approves of the idea as well.

But instead, they play Confuse the Goose. Arthur says that they really shouldn't play that game. D.W. gets furious and spins the goose angrily. She then tells Mom while Arthur calls up Buster. Arthur tells him that things are too boring at his house. D.W. angrily says that she's ready for him to read. Buster suggests that he watches wrestling, but sees a weather report on TV. The meteorologist says that it's going to rain non stop for the rest of the month,which puts Arthur in total shock. Buster asks Arthur if he's still there. D.W. then asks how hard it is for him to get over here to read. Arthur then gets to the book and starts reading it. D.W. asks if they lived happily ever after, and she was right. She gets bored easily.

While Mom is writing a check, Arthur chases D.W. with a book, causing Mom to mess up her check and Kate to cry. Pal then chases after them. Feeling over stressed and super furious, Dad yells at everyone to freeze. He then asks Arthur if that's a way to treat a book, but then he says no and blames D.W. for all the commotion. Mom suggests they draw. Back in the living room, Arthur draws a portrait of Pal and D.W. draws a stick. Arthur asks D.W. why she drew a stick. She says it was because it was for the park where he was supposed to take her. Then Arthur and D.W. get into an argument again, causing more havoc and disruptions.

While they are fighting, Dad holds out their raincoats. When they notice them, they stop and go out in the rain to Grandma Thora's house. When Arthur and D.W. arrive at Grandma Thora's house, she tells them to come in and says that this rainy weather is good for the ducks. Coincidently, they see a family of ducks riding bikes. Grandma Thora then she pulls off D.W.'s raincoat, Then Thra notices how bored Arthur and D.W. are and show them something interesting upstairs. When they approach the attic, they see all different kinds of antiques. D.W. finds an orange wig from a black can and slips it on, Arthur finds a basball player bobblehead and says it's creppy, Thora said it was David's and she takes out an olive green belt bottom pants with 4 blue stars and 3 pink cresent They even see old movies of how Elwood City used to be like in the past and how Wonderworld Amusement Park was like without rides such as the "Hurl A Whirl". Arthur and D.W. become interested in the history and Arthur gets an idea for his report.

The next day at school, Arthur tells Grandma to come into the room. She enters with a projector and shows the class the film about the history of Elwood City. The class becomes amazed about how things were in the past. Grandma Thora also shows Mr. Haney and Mr. Ratburn as high schoolers. Everyone is amazed and shocked, but laugh a little at Mr. Ratburn when he nervously whistles. The episode ends with Arthur glued to the screen watching the rest of the film.

Characters

• D.W. Read
• Arthur Read
• Thora Read
• The Brain
• Kate Read
• Jane Read
• David Read
• Nigel Ratburn
• Francine Frensky
• Binky Barnes
• Buster Baxter
• George Lundgren(cameo)
• Alex(cameo)
• Muffy Crosswire (cameo)

Trivia

• Arthur and his friends never watch wrestling after this episode, besides Binky.
• Arthur should have known the Hurla-Whirl wasn't built yet; he was at the premiere of it. 
• On the PBS Kids Video app, the Chuck E. Cheese sponsor and the Season 7 funding is left intact
• Thora's film shows that Mr. Haney, Mr. Read and Mr. Ratburn were at High School together, so they should be within three years of each other. The adult Mr. Haney appears to be several years older than the other two (his voice actor is more than 30 years older).
• This episode's animation is noticeably much more "fluid" than usual. Characters are much more expressive (such as Arthur making a goofy face when D.W. says "We'll die out here!", and Fern making a suspicious expression when Grandma Thora enters the classroom with the projector), and there is considerably more movement in the characters' heads and bodies.
• D.W. has a game called Confuse the Goose, which is what Muffy has as well.
• Moral: A boring day is just an opportunity to discover something new.
• Timeline: D.W. owns a game called Weasel Rally, which will return again playing with Bud in The Tattletale Frog. The other game is Confuse the Goose, which appears in various episodes.
  • Arthur and D.W. help Thora clean out the attic. They finish the job in "Bats in the Belfry".

Errors

• In one shot when Arthur was chasing D.W. around the table, his body overlaps with D.W's.

Cultural references

• Honey Smacks cereal is parodied in this episode, being called "Honey Squid".
• The wig D.W. finds in Thora's attic has a flick up hairdo which was popular in the 1960s.
• Baseball bobbleheads were first issued in the 1960s and remained popular in the early 70s.
• Bell-bottom pants were popular in the 1970s.

Gallery

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