| "Family Fortune" | |
| Season/Series: | 10 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 4b |
| Original airdate: |  May 18, 2006[1] September 19, 2006[3] November 6, 2006[2] April 29, 2008[4] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Joel Barkow Stephanie Simpson |
| Storyboard by: | Jeremy O'Neill |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "Feeling Flush" |
Next "D.W. Aims High" |
| Read transcript |
"Family Fortune" is the second half of the fourth episode in the tenth season of Arthur.
Summary[]
The Treasure Caravan is coming to Elwood City, and Arthur and D.W. search Grandma Thora's attic for treasures that will make them rich and famous.
Plot[]
Arthur, D.W., Kate, and Grandma Thora watch Treasure Caravan at Grandma Thora's house, on which a man brings a chair from the 1790s that is worth $30,000 dollars. The hostess announces that the show will tape at the Elwood City Center. Arthur says that they have to take something good so that he will not look silly on TV. He envisions himself bringing in a horn that he believes is a bugle from the Civil War but it turns out to be made of plastic.
Later, Arthur has a milkshake with Buster and Muffy and they talk about Treasure Caravan and what they are bringing. Muffy shows a sapphire necklace that was passed down to her from her great grandmother, Taffy Crosswire, who was traveling on a ship from Europe where she met the Archduchess of Moldavia from whom she purchased the necklace. The next day, Arthur and D.W. visit Grandma Thora's attic and find a chair that looks exactly like the one that they saw on Treasure Caravan. Kate also finds a blanket with Indigenous patterns on it.
A few days later, Arthur and his family and friends go to the Elwood City Center where Muffy finds out that the sapphires in her necklace are not real- therefore it is just costume jewelry. The hostess also says that to her knowledge, the archduchess Muffy described never existed. This more than likely means Taffy Crosswire was tricked. Buster finds out that one of the hockey cards he brought is worth 5 dollars and 45 cents. Finally, it is Arthur's turn to show the chair. The hostess says it is a remarkable chair, but is only worth 25 dollars. Arthur is shocked and says that the chair looks just like the 30,000 dollar chair. The hostess explains that the chair they found was from the 1970s, not the 1790s.
The hostess notices the blanket Kate has and tells them it is actually a dance apron from a Native American Tribe called the Chilkat. Thora recalls that her mother's great-uncle was a prospector who traveled to British Columbia, thus he likely received it as a gift at a potlatch. The apron is returned to Kate but when the hostess reveals it is worth 5,000 dollars, Arthur freaks out and snatches it away from his baby sister to auction off, resulting in a huge squabble between the two. Seeing how shocked everyone is and that Kate is crying, Arthur has a change of heart and gives the apron back, and the crowd claps. D.W. states that he would never be that nice if they were not on television and the crowd laughs.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
- Muffy Crosswire
- Francine Frensky
- Buster Baxter
- Jane Read
- David Read
- Mr. Ratburn
- Unknown Male Adult Dog (number 4)
- Irina Katrina Von Hapsonburg
Cameo[]
Trivia[]
- When the Treasure Caravan hostess announces that the show is coming to Elwood City, either Arthur or Thora gasps using Muffy's stock gasp.
Cultural references[]
- Treasure Caravan is a parody of Antiques Roadshow, a fellow show on PBS, also produced by GBH.
- The Recovery Channel may be a pun on the Discovery Channel.
- “Federal style” refers to architecture or furniture from the newly founded United States (ca. 1780–1830).
- D.W.’s cigar box is labelled “Little Dan O’Brien”. That was an actual brand.
- The sapphire necklace may be a reference to the Heart of the Ocean from the film Titanic.
- Moldavia is an actual country in eastern Europe.
- The name "von Hapsenburg" was likely inspired by the "von Habsburg" family, which produced kings and queens of various European countries.
- The Chilkat are an Indigenous tribe in what is now British Columbia. They did make dance aprons like the one shown on Arthur. The Potlatch ceremony is described correctly.
Errors[]
- Buster's Rubik's cube is 3 x 3 x 4.
Production notes[]
- Like all episodes of Season 10, this episode included the number '10' hidden in various places. For a list of them, see ARTHUR Season 10 Scavenger Hunt.
Home video[]
DVD:
Gallery[]
- Main article: Family Fortune/Gallery
References[]
External links[]
- Ark TV Transcript (archived page)