Binky Can't Always Get What He Wants

"Binky Can't Always Get What He Wants"
Main image Title card
Season/Series:	22
Number in season:	3b
Original airdate:	May 15, 2019[citation needed] July 9, 2019 (DVD) November 7, 2019 (TV) July 31, 2020
Credits
Written by:	Peter Ferland
Storyboard by:	Julien Dufour
Episodes
Previous "Muffy's House Guests"	Next "Muffy's Car Campaign"

Read transcript

"Binky Can't Always Get What He Wants" is the second half of the third episode in the twenty-second season of Arthur.

Summary

Binky must choose between starring in a television commercial or performing in a talent show.

Plot

In the introduction, several kids audition for a Beet Burger commercial. Sue Ellen does well, Francine laughs at the slogan, Brain forgets it, and Muffy does a vocal warm-up. Binky asks the viewers to wish him luck.

Binky Can’t Always Get What He Wants

Mr. Ratburn's class prepares a Cat Adoption Talent Show. Mr. Ratburn will be the announcer, Maria the cat wrangler and Binky will play music to keep the energy up. Maria is excited about the show because she loves cats. Binky is anxious to hear how he did in the commercial auditions and asks Mr. Ratburn if he can go check.

Binky meets his friends at The Sugar Bowl. Muffy has phoned the studio and tells the others that Binky got the part while Sue Ellen was second. Binky dreams of being rich enough to buy two cars and of winning a Nobel Prize for acting in a commercial. Muffy declares herself Binky's manager and takes him to the studio.

The director tells Muffy and Binky that they will shoot the commercial that very evening. Binky wants to tell him about the cat show, but Muffy takes him aside and tells him that the cat show will not make them famous and that he should cancel it.

Binky hurries to the auditorium, but Mr. Ratburn is not there. Maria congratulates Binky on getting the commercial and a cat named One-Eyed Cornelius takes a liking to him. Muffy calls to say that the director is thinking of replacing Binky and that she is sending Bailey to get him. Binky meets Mr. Ratburn, who receives a call from his concessionaire, who cancels at the last moment. Mr. Ratburn is very upset and then Binky tells him that he cannot play.

As Bailey drives Binky to the studio, Binky imagines being a star and arriving at a theater where he abandons a crowd of fans and Mr. Ratburn.

When Binky arrives at the studio, he finds that he has been replaced with Sue Ellen and that Muffy is now her manager. Binky walks back to the school in the rain. The show is just starting and Mr. Ratburn wants him to play.

Binky feels down and plays mournful music. The audience barely responds to Mr. Ratburn and George messes up his juggling act. During the intermission, Maria scolds Binky since, because of his depressing music, not a single cat has been adopted. As Binky lies on the floor feeling depressed, the cats climb on him, which makes him feel better. Maria says that it is like magic from the Magic Cat book series and asks Binky if he does not want to do something for them in return.

After the intermission, Binky plays happy music and the show is a success, leading to 17 cats being adopted. Binky adopts Cornelius. He is still sad because he missed becoming a superstar, but Maria shows him a video of Sue Ellen, who is wearing a beet costume on the set and does not enjoy it at all.

Characters

Major

• Binky Barnes
• Maria Pappas
• Mr. Ratburn
• Muffy Crosswire
• Sue Ellen Armstrong
• One-Eyed Cornelius

Minor

• George Lundgren
• Francine Frensky
• Brain
• Ed Crosswire
• Clench
• Bailey (does not speak)

Cameo

• Arthur Read
• Prunella Deegan
• Beulah McInnerny
• Ms. Turner
• Buster Baxter
• Jane Read
• Miss Sweetwater
• David Read
• Ladonna Compson
• Freddy K.
• Fern Walters
• Alex Davidson
• Rufus Compson
• Doria Walters
• Harry Mills
• Patrick (chocolate seller)
• Rafi
• Jenna Morgan
• Matt Damon's assistant

Trivia

• This is the final appearance of Bailey in the series.
• This is Sue Ellen's final speaking role in an episode. though she does speak in the specials "An Arthur Thanksgiving" and "Arthur's First Day" which were released after this episode.

Episode connections

• Maria has her second official speaking role, after "Maria Speaks." She still stutters a bit, but not nearly as much as before.
• In Binky's fantasy, the Statue of Liberty can be seen in the back. The musical Rats from "Muffy Goes Metropolitan" is advertised on a building outside.
• Beulah rehearses the ukulele act with which she won the Little Miss Crocus pageant in "Little Miss Meanie." She also wears the hula costume in "Arthur and the Haunted Tree House."
• Buster did magic shows in "Do You Believe in Magic?," though without a rabbit. In the introduction to that episode, Arthur pulled him out of a hat.
• Archie Vanderloo and Rattles' mother are sitting in the same row, but not next to each other, despite being either engaged or married at the time, as seen in "Whip. Mix. Blend."
• Despite normally winning every talent show, George goofs up his juggling act.
• One of the cats, Mittens, has Nemo's original character design from "Francine and the Feline" before he was redesigned in Season 4.

Cultural references

• Le Studio was the name of a recording studio in Morin Heights, Quebec, Canada, where many bands such as Rush, The Police, and David Bowie recorded their songs. On August 11, 2017, a fire destroyed part of the studio.
• The title could be a reference to The Rolling Stones' 1969 hit song "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

Errors

• Arthur is credited in the end credits for this episode, but he does not have any lines in this and the previous episode, Muffy's House Guests. However, he does make a cameo in this and the sister episode.
• During Buster's magic act, there seem to be at least four seats between Harry Mills and Paige Turner. When Maria presents Mittens, they are sitting side by side.

Gallery

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Home Video

DVD:

• Arthur Celebrates Community