| This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the book. |
| "Arthur and the True Francine" | |
| Season/Series: | 1 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 14B |
| Original Airdate: |  October 24, 1996[1] January 23, 1997[2] January 1, 2002[3] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Marc Brown (original) Kathy Waugh (adapted) |
| Storyboard by: | Angus Bungay |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "Arthur the Wrecker" |
Next "Arthur's Family Vacation" |
| Read transcript |
"Arthur and the True Francine" is the second half of the fourteenth episode in the first season of Arthur. It is based on the book The True Francine.
Summary
Muffy and Francine remember when they first met in second grade, and how their friendship was almost ruined.
Plot
At the beginning of the episode, we see Francine climbing up a tree, to break in through Arthur's window. Despite this, Arthur does not seem to notice Francine at all. Francine then screams, which Arthur now seems to hear. He goes down to the backyard with Pal and doesn't seem to find anything. While Arthur is in the backyard, Francine climbs back up and sneaks into Arthur's room and takes out a pair of Bionic Bunny underwear which she declines, and then takes out a pair of socks, one black and one white. It turns out to be an elaborate dare from one of the girls at Francine's sleepover. Muffy goes next after Francine then asks her, "Truth or Dare?" Muffy chooses "Truth," to which Fern asks her if she has ever lied before. Muffy takes great offense to Fern even suggesting that she would do that, but eats her own words when Francine reminds her of a time when she first lied in second grade.
In the flashback, Arthur's class (including Binky) is being rowdy while their teacher Mr. Marco is away. When he comes back they all pretend to be studying. Mr. Marco then introduces the class to Muffy Crosswire, their new classmate, and allows her to say a few words about herself. Muffy instead puts on a video presentation about her family history, which goes on for six hours. When it's done, she puts on another video about her birth, but Mr. Marco finally cuts her off and tells her to take her seat, as they have to do their math lesson. At recess, Buster and Brain are unimpressed by Muffy, thinking her to be conceited and out of place. Francine, meanwhile, is giving Muffy a tour of the playground, and teaches her how to play kickball but kicking the ball out from under Buster. Muffy, struggling to adapt to public school life, asks if there are any prizes like at her old school, but Buster tells her she's not at her old school, but Lakewood Elementary, and calls her "Smartypants." She corrects him and says it's "Miss Mary Alice Smartypants." Francine is shocked to learn that Muffy's middle name is Alice, as it is also her middle name, and both Alices have the same spelling. The girls are ecstatic and at that point become best friends as Francine turns he back on Buster and Brain.
At Muffy's mansion, Muffy gives Francine a tour of the place, and shows off some of her valuables from around the world. She gives Francine a bracelet as a gift, saying it came from Antarctica and belonged to a cannibal. The two girls go swimming in Muffy's pool, but Francine is studying for a math test. Muffy doesn't seem concerned, claming she was taught math at her old school (but later displays that she doesn't know the word "subtraction"). Muffy then comvinces Francine to ditch her homework in favor of doing some "wheelies," in Muffy's limo, with Muffy's chauffeur James going on a wild run with Francine and Muffy in the back seats.
At the library, Francine and Buster are studying for the test, but Muffy goes to watch movies in the library (she was allowed to as long as she was quiet), and Buster tags along. Francine tries to remind her that they should study for the upcoming test, but it is to no avail as Muffy continues blowing her off.
In Mr. Marco's class, it's the day of the test, and everyone takes the math test, and Francine is easily breezing it. When the tests are collected, Mr. Marco is impressed by Muffy's work, but things get haywire when he sees Francine's paper. He calls them up and points out that the tests are exactly alike, meaning one of the girls copied off the other to cheat. Muffy instinctively plays the victim in response, denying that she never did it, so Mr. Marco sternly holds Francine accountable for cheating instead of allowing Francine to explain the truth and forces her to stay after school for detention for a week (Buster was listening in but said he was sharpening his pencil as a cover up).
After school, everybody is concerned about Francine and her apparent fraudulence, except for Arthur who is concerned that she will not be able to play in the softball game against Mighty Mountain, which for them means certain doom. Muffy insists she can help them win, claiming she is the best softball player in the world and makes the team, but then sees a downhearted Francine. A guilty Muffy offers Francine a ride in her limo, but Francine coldly refuses. Muffy tries to apologize to Francine for cheating, but insists that as a Crosswire, she has a reputation to uphold. Realizing that Muffy would betray her like that, Francine gives back the bracelet Muffy gave her, much to Muffy's dismay. Muffy later leaves a balloon and a gift basket for Francine as an apology, but Francine pops and throws them out in anger.
On the day of the game, Brain tells them that after talking to Mr. Marco, Francine is still being punished and can't play so Muffy will be taking her place, therefore, she has to watch the game from afar. Francine is in detention while the team is up against Mighty Mountain. As the game comes near its end, Lakewood is losing 0–12. The team foolishly puts all their faith in Muffy. The game goes from bad to worse as Muffy tries to bat, but evidently has no clue how to play the game, making a fool out of herself in the process. Realizing their precarious situation, Muffy goes to Mr. Marco and tells the truth about what she did. After accepting her punishment (which she finds totally unfair), she cuts her losses and tells Francine that she can play now, and gives her the bracelet again as an apology before bailing her out. Francine forgives her and arrives just in time to earn her team their first home run, much to the shock of Mighty Mountain. The team ultimately loses, but Francine gets two home runs before it ends. She then rides Muffy back home in the basket of her bike, now best friends with her again, telling her that that they want her on the team, as the scorekeeper. But Francine tells her she has to learn to add, and one more thing: No cheating!
Characters
Major
Minor
- Brain
- Fern Walters (speaking debut)
- Arthur Read
- Paige Turner
- Pal
- Mr. Haney
Cameo
- Prunella Deegan
- Sue Ellen Armstrong
- Binky Barnes
- Jenna Morgan
- Bailey
- Edsel E. Crosswire (debut)
- Ed Crosswire
- Brian
- Luke
Trivia
- In this episode, Muffy's chauffeur/butler is named "James." He is later renamed "Bailey."
- It is revealed in this episode that Muffy and Francine have the same middle name with the same spelling: "Alice."
- This episode proves Muffy has only been at Lakewood Elementary School for a year.
- This is the first episode in which Arthur is not a major character.
- This episode marks Fern's first speaking role.
- This is the first appearance of Mighty Mountain's team.
- After the cold open, this entire episode is actually a flashback to the previous school year.
Differences from the book
- This episode talks about how Muffy transferred over to Lakewood Elementary School and became best friends with Francine, and it took place during Mr. Marco's second grade class. In the book, Muffy is introduced in the series and Arthur and his friends are sorted into Mr. Ratburn's class when they start third grade.
- In the book, while Francine is studying hard, Muffy plays with the former's gerbil and makes prank calls to strangers on the phone (specifically asking a stranger, "Is your refrigerator running? Well, you better catch it!"). In the episode, on the other hand, Muffy swims in her bathtub, does "wheelies" with Francine, and watches videos in the library.
- Lakewood was competing against Mighty Mountain; although in the book, Mr. Ratburn's class was competing against Miss Sweetwater's class.
- Muffy waits for Francine after detention, but the latter walks right past the former, and the former herself is not able to eat or sleep.
- In the book, when Francine finally plays, Lakewood Elementary wins, and Mr. Ratburn treats all of his students, including Muffy, to ice cream sodas.
- In the book, Muffy was well like by Mr. Ratburn while in the show, Mr Marco was glad to meet her.
Errors
Binky in Mr. Marco's classroom.
- Binky is shown in Mr. Marco's classroom, even though he's supposed to be in Mr. Ratburn's classroom, since he repeated third grade in the series' continuity. This is likely due to the fact that most of Mr. Ratburn's students were previously in Mr. Marco's class.
- Sue Ellen is seen in the cafeteria, but she did not come to Elwood City for another year as seen in "Sue Ellen Moves In."
- Arthur does have the talent for baseball until in "Arthur Makes the Team," which is during his third grade year.
- Muffy transfers over to Lakewood Elementary in this episode, and Arthur already has glasses. In "Arthur's Eyes," Muffy is already at Lakewood before Arthur gets glasses.
- Mr. Marco tells Muffy when introducing her that “these are your future friends and classmates”, and even though they became Muffy’s friends, they did have the right not to be friends with her.
- When Muffy tells Mr. Marco that she "wouldn't cheat in a million years," the name on her test reads Nuffy instead of Muffy.
- When Muffy gives Francine the bracelet, she says it's "one of a kind," but a minute later, she says she has one exactly like it.
- Mr. Marco tells his class to do forty questions. Only seven questions are visible on the test, including the backside.
- When Mr. Marco tells the class to start their test, "Starting..." the second hand on the classroom's wall clock moves past the "12". But in the next shot showing a close-up of the clock, the second hand is suddenly back at the "10", with the hand hitting "12" again signaling Mr. Marco to tell the class to begin.
- Francine already has her new bike from "Stolen Bike."
Home video
VHS:
DVD:
Gallery
- Main article: Arthur and the True Francine (episode)/Gallery
References