Jenna's Bedtime Blues

"Jenna's Bedtime Blues"
Season/Series:	7
Number in season:	6B
Original Airdate:	November 25, 2002 January 22, 2003
Credits
Written by:	Glen Berger
Storyboard by:	Jean Saro Sylvie Lafrance
Episodes
Previous "Pick a Car, Any Car"	Next "D.W.'s Time Trouble"
Read transcript

"Jenna's Bedtime Blues" is the second half of the sixth episode in the seventh season of Arthur.

Summary

Jenna is reluctant to go to Muffy's annual slumber party because she wets the bed. She chooses to bring her pull-up to wear to bed, but what if the other girls find out?

Plot

All the girls in Arthur's class are doing good deeds for Muffy because they are trying to get invited to one of her girls-only slumber parties at her family's mansion. Buster is not interested, because it is only for girls. He thinks there would be nothing that he would like, since he is a boy, but then Arthur mentions an arcade ice machine, which Buster likes the sound of, so he says that he wants to come. Francine reminds him that it is for girls only. Buster begs Francine to invite him. Then, Jenna receives an invitation because Francine, who is Muffy's best friend, managed to convince her to invite her, but Jenna is worried it would end in disaster.

Jenna's Bedtime Blues

One day, while playing badminton with Francine, Jenna tells Francine that she thought that Muffy didn't like her that much, but Francine tells Jenna that Muffy just needs to get to know her more. Jenna says that she has other plans for the day of the party, but then Francine tells her the party is at night. Jenna suddenly appears angry and says, "Well, maybe I didn't want to go to her stupid party in the first place!", then storms off.

When Jenna goes back to her locker, she hears the other kids spreading rumors about her, and Buster claims he knows why she won't go to the party: it takes place at night and she is an alien crime-fighter in disguise. Later, Jenna appears and tells everyone that the rumors they have been spreading about her are false. After Buster sees the ink on her hands, Jenna simply says that her pen broke, and when Francine asks if she is going to the party, she tries to cover matters up by saying yes, but all she can say is a hesitant, unenthusiastic "Yeah... sure... I can't wait."

Then at home that same night, she talks to her father, saying that she feels doomed after seeing her alarm. After her father puts on her alarm, he says that bedwetting is nothing to be ashamed of and that millions of kids suffer from the same problem, and that she will not be teased "forever". Then Jenna asks why has she not met any other sufferers if there really is that many of them. Her father says that she probably has met some of them, but, like her, they are worried about being teased and they keep it a secret. Then she acknowledges the fact that she's done many great things (help coach pee-wee soccer, won athlete of the year, etc.), yet she still wets the bed.Then he tells her that she only does it from time to time and wearing the alarm is helping her improve. But she says that if she leaves the alarm at home, she'll have to wear an "old diaper" and be laughed even more. But her father reminds her that it is not a diaper, it is a Pull-Up. She tells him that he doesn't understand. But he tells her, he also understands her problem, as he himself also wet the bed when he was a kid and didn't believe his father when he said that he would grow out of it (as he is tucking her into her bed), but he did and that Jenna will too, and then Jenna asks him when she will grow out of it.

During the night, Jenna has a nightmare where she is awarded for olympic downhill skiing and everyone finds out her secret. They (the crowd) finds out as Francine says that she is basically a star ski champion, even though she is inflicted with a "horrible disease", nocturnal enuresis. Francine then asks if anyone knows what nocturnal enuresis means. Arthur looks it up in the dictionary (as separate words, "nocturnal" and "enuresis"), puts two and two together, and says Jenna is "nothing but a bed-wetter". The crowd is shocked. Back in "real life", after hearing her alarm go off, Jenna wakes up, feels her bed, and then plans to go to the party the next day.

When the night of the sleepover comes, Jenna's father tells her that she can always call him to come pick her up, but she says she can't. Jenna thinks that if she can hide the pull-up in her pillow, she can put it on when everyone is asleep. Jenna enjoys the party, but drinks seven colas, has a stomach ache, and excuses herself to the bathroom after Prunella tells her it is a diuretic. When it is time to reveal secrets, she lies that she has a crush on George, which wins her a prize of sleeping in Muffy's water bed. Jenna then excuses herself to the bathroom after Muffy shows her some of the wave functions. She then continues to worry about wetting the bed, even though she has gone throughout the night without any bed-wetting. She stays up all night, and eventually watches TV on Muffy's portable TV (built into the bed) to help her get to sleep. Unfortunately for her, all of the content features topics that could entice urination, the shows feature a diaper commercial, a show featuring the letter P (a Sesame Street-like show), and Scotsmen talking about a set of bagpipes having a "wee leak in it's bladder, so we'll put on a wee patch". Jenna then has a dream. Her dream takes place in the morning, and she [Jenna] is excited because she ended up not wetting the bed. Muffy then tells her that it's breakfast time, all the girls are on a giant elephant who will presumably take them down to breakfast. The Scottish man from the bagpipe show then helps her cross the "river" to get on the elephant, and he then gets trapped in the river. Jenna then realizes that this must be a dream, as it is "so strange".

Then, back in reality, Muffy wakes up and realizes the sheets are wet. Jenna starts to apologize, as she thinks that she wet the bed. But, it turns out that Muffy's broach poked a hole in the bed, and the bed being a water-bed, leaked, causing water to go on the sheets. Muffy looks for some tape, and then Jenna runs to the bathroom, stating that she knows she can "make it" (not wet the bed between then and morning). Later that morning, (the sun was already up), Muffy and Jenna wake everyone up by starting a pillow fight. One of the pillows (presumably Jenna's) "explodes". Jenna had hidden her pull-up in her pillowcase, hoping to put it on when everyone else was asleep (she never did), and it fell out along with all the pillow's feathers. The girls see the pull-up, and Jenna tries to cover her tracks by teasing that the girl who owns the pull up is a baby, but the girls more understanding and think Jenna is being mean. The girls then go downstairs for breakfast, all of them except for Jenna and Francine. Then, Francine asks Jenna why she made fun of the pull up, and tells her she could have offended someone. Jenna tells her that she knows she didn't, as she knows it's her pullup, and reveals her real "Deep Dark Secret" (she is a bed-wetter). Francine then acknowledges her (Jenna's) "fake” secret (she's in love with George), and Jenna tells her that that is completely false. Jenna explains the reason she lied is because she thought the girls would think of her as a baby after learning about her pull-up. Francine also makes her feel better by telling her she is not a baby, and that she also used to wear a pull-up (presumably for the same reason: bedwetting).

The next day in class, when Jenna notices that George has been behaving differently, Francine assures her that her secret will not pass outside the girls, but then George shyly gives Jenna a flower, saying that his ventriloquist dummy, Wally, wanted to give it to her. Jenna then whispers to Francine ("to think I was worried about my real secret getting out" (wetting the bed).

Characters

Major

• Jenna Morgan
• Fern Walters
• Francine Frensky
• Muffy Crosswire
• Prunella Deegan

Minor

• Arthur Read
• Bailey
• Binky Barnes
• The Brain
• Buster Baxter
• Dr. Doomsday
• George Lundgren
• Wally
• Mr. Morgan
• Radioactive Squid Woman
• Nigel Ratburn
• Sue Ellen Armstrong

Cameo

• 3rd Grade Male Cat
• Maria Pappas
• 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
• 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
• Beulah McInnerny
• Mary
• 3rd Grade Male Rat
• Jessica
• 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
• Kenny
• 3rd Grade Male Dog
• 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 2)

Mentioned

• Jenna's grandfather
• Fern's cousin

Trivia

• The idea for this episode came from production assistant Sarah Crosley, who struggled with bedwetting until fifth grade.
• The script and storyboards were completed in Fall 2001.
• In October 2002, the crew had a first look at how the visuals and voices mesh together.
• This is currently the only episode to feature Jenna's name in the title.
• It's revealed that Jenna suffers from nocturnal enuresis or bed-wetting.
• This is the last episode in which Mitchell Rothpan voices George Lundgren due to him reaching puberty after Season 5.
• Irony: Jenna made fun of someone wearing a pull up and gets called out for it, yet when Francine/Fern make fun of Arthur/Francine they don't get in trouble.
• Karma: Jenna make fun of a diaper, so she got called out.
• Moral: You aren't the only one with problems.
• Timeline:
  • Jenna was able to go to Fern's slumber party with no problem, which means this episode is set chronologically before then.
  • When playing Truth or Dare, Francine can be heard citing the time she stepped out of bounds in "The Big Blow-Up".
  • Jenna mentions the Athlete of the Year award that she got in "The Good Sport" and helped coach pee wee soccer.

Episode connections

• This episodes summary is similar to "Water and the Brain".

Errors

• When Jenna was sitting on the water bed, she was still wearing her slippers.
• Before the pillow fight, Fern and her sleeping bag are missing from the floor.
• The red button on her alarm clock disappeared at one point.

Cultural references

• The puppets in "Can You Say P?" look similar to the ones called Jonas, Loulou, and Horace from Wimzie's House, which also aired on PBS and was produced by Cinar, like Arthur.
• Dr. Doomsday is a parody of Mysterio, but the name is also a parody of both "Dr. Doom", and "Doomsday".
• The girls reenact the sinking of the Titanic.
• Jenna's pull-up is in reference to the same product, Pull-Ups which are used to help anyone struggling with various types of incontinence. (They are heavily marketed towards potty-training toddlers, but they also have "adult" ones that can be used by anyone of any age)

Home Video

DVD:

• Arthur: Sleepovers, Sports and More

Gallery

:Main article: Jenna's Bedtime Blues/Gallery