Arthur's First Sleepover (episode)

Summary
Despite D.W.'s warning of an alien invasion, Arthur and his friends camp out in the backyard. A jealous D.W. plans a prank to scare them off.

Plot
We first see a tent set up in Arthur's backyard at night. Arthur, Buster, and the Brain are all gathered around outside the tent camping out. They talk about little kids being scared of camping, but a firefly, ironically scares them. Arthur remembers the time when he got scared of the dark. Buster remembers when he was scared of the dark, but more of Binky Barnes. He fantasizes him as Frankenstein wanting a cookie. The Brain was scared of a scary movie called Navy vs. The Nightworm. Arthur and Buster don't believe him and laugh, but get scared of a caterpillar crawling on the lantern.

---Title Card---

We now see Arthur setting up his adventure tent in his backyard. He then notices that Pal is under the unfinished tent and gets him out of the tent. Arthur's Mom wonders where he went and then he and pal come out of the tent. But little does he know that his first sleepover is on Saturday! He set up too early! At breakfast, Dad laughs at a newspaper article. The article says that a farmer claims he saw a spaceship over Elwood City. DW doesn't understand, but Arthur tells her what a UFO is.

After breakfast, DW says that the first person to see the spaceship and take a picture of it will get tons of money. Arthur doesn't believe in UFO's. She says it's because there really hasn't been a picture of them before. But DW accidentally takes a picture of her face. Brain and Arthur are playing with a frisbee on the sidewalk while Muffy tells Francine and Buster about the sky lighting up last night, in which the light came from the UFO. Francine somewhat believes Muffy. As the girls walk away, Arthur reminds Buster that they should plan the sleepover. But Buster says he can't come because he'll be afraid of the spaceship. Arthur doesn't believe this because he's his best friend and there can be no party without him. He suggests that both mothers should discuss on the phone.

Later that day, Mom calls up Bitzi, but after her talking so fast and then hanging up, Mom reveals the news. Buster's coming to the sleepover after all! This makes Arthur so happy that he jumps for joy all the way up to his room. DW said if she were in a tent all night, she'd really see a spaceship. After Bitzi tucks Buster in, she asks him if he's going to be alright, he says that he'll be absolutely fine. Then Buster has a dream about what the sleepover will be like tomorrow. In the dream, we see Buster arriving at the party complimenting Arthur and Brain's cool spaceman pajamas. Arthur and The Brain then detect him as a recto and try to zap him, but Buster gets super scared and runs away. They eventually catch him, making him scream. Buster thought that dream was scary.

In Brain's bedroom, he has a different dream. In that dream, we see that a spaceship crash landed on Arthur's lawn and two aliens are standing outside the ship. The Brain is fixing the ship and then tells him that the engine needs to be recalibrated. Then we go to Arthur's bedroom, where he dreams about all his friends roasting marshmallows. DW then appears and says that Mom and Dad has to let her into the sleepover. Arthur then screams, causing his parents to wake up, thinking it was the spaceships that made him scared.

Today is the day of the sleepover and Dad sets up the tent. Arthur brings a TV out to the backyard, but Dad asks if they'd much rather spend more time outdoors rather than television. Arthur says yes and Dad brings the TV back inside. Meanwhile, DW is on guard checking if the spaceship has arrived yet or if there are any aliens present. Dad tells DW to come down from the tree, but she says she's looking for UFO's. He tells her to come down now and nearly counts to 3. When Dad gets to 2, DW comes down and goes inside the house.

Later that night, Arthur shows Buster and The Brain his tent. Buster asks if the TV reached out here but Arthur says that they don't need TV in the great outdoors. DW runs out with a sleeping bag, but Arthur denies her access to the sleepover because she isn't invited. Then they both have a "because" arguement. Finally, Brain breaks it up by telling Arthur something. Then Arthur says she can't come because she'll get scared of the dark. Mom tells DW to get inside and the boys are free again. Back in the house, Arthur is searching for a flashlight, but it's not here. Lucky enough, Brain has a night lantern with extra batteries. Then the boys go back outside. DW tells Brain if he sees any UFO's, take a picture. Brain doesn't know what to say and runs off with the camera and lantern. DW shines the flashlight, which was on her the whole time, below her face.

It gets crowded in the tent because the boys are all standing up. Arthur suggests everyone should sit down. Then they zip the tent door open with their feet hanging out. Now Arthur and The Brain are playing cards while Buster is eating snacks. But after he eats a chip, he puts a card in his mouth by mistake. Arthur tells Buster to pass the chips, but there are none left. He then hears a weird rustling and tells everyone to be quiet. The tent door zips open slowly, but it turns out it's Arthur's Dad telling everyone to go to sleep, not an alien. Then the three boys have more trouble getting comfortable to go to sleep. Then the ends of the sleeping bags stick out of the tent.

Brain thinks it's time for ghost stories, but Buster wants to play Sloppy Sixes instead. Arthur wonders what that is, but he's not talking about the game, he's talking about the light floating above the tent. The boys don't hear any footsteps, but Buster knows it's a spaceship, which have ALIENS in them! The boys panic in their tent, causing it to collapse. Then they hear DW laughing up in her room. Arthur thinks the spaceship came from "Planet DW". He then goes up into her room, but she continues laughing and asks if he's too scared to stay outside. All Arthur wanted was to return her camera and they go back to sleep. But DW sneakily turns on her flashlight and laughs evilly.

While Brain and Buster are fixing up the tent, Arthur has a plan. The boys sneak into the shed when no one is looking and grab some supplies. While DW is sleeping, a green alien monster appears. She immediately wakes up, and calls for her parents that there are aliens. Just as Mom and Dad run into her room, she takes a picture of the alien. Little does DW know that the boys tricked her. While the boys are playing cards, DW goes into the tent and hopes that they didn't fool her. Then everyone hears a strange beeping, wondering what it is. Everyone goes out and sees a UFO. DW immediately starts taking pictures and says that she'll be rich. The UFO then lands on the ground and she realizes it's fake. The boys have tricked her and now DW has to admit it. She did admit it. They cheer while a sad DW walks back to the house. Arthur says that DW can come to the sleepover. Everyone is playing Go Fish, which bores DW. She leaves the tent and goes to bed. The tent unzips and the boys feet are hanging out again while they are still playing Go Fish.

Major Roles

 * Buster Baxter
 * Alan Powers
 * Arthur Read
 * D.W. Read

Minor Roles

 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Francine Frensky
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Bitzi Baxter

Trivia

 * This episode, along with its partner episode Arthur's New Year's Eve would only air on New Year's Eve.

Differences from the book

 * The tent is relatively narrow on the inside, and it has canvas on the bottom, and the boys often slept with their feet sticking out. In the book, the tent was larger in size, and it did not have canvas on the bottom, allowing the boys to put their sleeping bags among other things on the grass.
 * The tent was reddish-orange; although in the book, it was yellow.
 * Bitzi had blond hair in the book when she was introduced. In the cartoon, like all other episodes, her hair is auburn.
 * When Jane calls Bitzi to whether or not Buster may come over for a sleepover, Bitzi was at work at the Elwood City Times; although in the book, it did not specify if Bitzi was at work or if she was at home. Bitzi also did not have any dialogue in the book, but a sentence said she did all the talking while on the phone.
 * In the book, when Arthur was walking to school with his friends, Prunella was walking with them; but in the cartoon, Prunella was not included in any scene.
 * Out of the pajamas that Arthur, Buster, and the Brain were wearing: Arthur was wearing his blue summertime pajamas, Buster was wearing light blue summertime pajamas, and the Brain was wearing a yellow shirt and orange and yellow striped pajama pants; although in the book, Arthur was wearing a yellow shirt and blue and white striped pajama pants, Buster was wearing a red shirt and white pajama pants with yellow polka-dots, and the Brain was wearing a white shirt and blue pajama pants.
 * D.W. was wearing her cream-colored summertime pajamas; although in the book, she was wearing pink two-piece footsie pajamas with dark pink polka-dots.
 * When the tent collapses, the boys stay in place; in the book, they run around until they hit a tree.
 * In the book, Arthur mentions that he almost stopped breathing and Buster mentions that he almost wet his pants when David came to the tent to give the boys pizza; but the cartoon doesn't mention those incidents at all and David only came to the tent to tell the boys that it was bedtime.
 * The Brain's lantern is red and white with a white lampshade; although in the book, the lantern was Arthur's and it was red and white with a white lampshade on the cover, and it was white and red with the CAMPLIGHT name on it and had a red lampshade inside the book.
 * In the book, the boys ate pizza and other snacks; but in the cartoon, they did not eat pizza, but only snacks.
 * In the end, Arthur and his friends happily welcomed D.W. into their tent, and then she decided she was better off in her room; although in the book, she stayed in her room.
 * Also in the end, the boys continued to play Go Fish after D.W. left the tent, and then a firefly came by; although in the book, they started jumping around.

Home video
VHS: DVD:
 * Arthur's First Sleepover (VHS)
 * Arthur's First Sleepover (2004 DVD)
 * Arthur's First Sleepover (2008 DVD)
 * Arthur: The Complete Series One