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"Fifteen"
Season/Series: 15
Number in season: 1
Original Airdate: United States October 10, 2011[1]
Canada February 13, 2012[3]
United Kingdom January 28, 2011[2]
Australia October 12, 2010[citation needed]
Credits
Written by: Jon Greenberg
Storyboard by: Daniel Miodini
Greg Hill
Episodes
Previous
"The Long Road Home"
Next
"I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
Read transcript

"Fifteen" is the first episode in the fifteenth season of Arthur. It is a two-part episode.

Summary[]

How much can Arthur and his friends do in 15 minutes?

  • Arthur tries to race home to find his report and get back to school before class starts.
  • George gets his shot to win $500 for his school on the radio show "15 Minutes of Fame."
  • Kate and Pal try to defeat the "Red Claw" and their mission of getting kids to play with cats by eliminating all imaginary friends.

Can they all accomplish these missions before the clock counts all the way down? Only time will tell!

Plot[]

Arthur gives examples of being in a rush, e.g. during a math test and during a soccer game. Buster tells him that he has only fifteen seconds to start the show. Arthur needs more time, but a black screen closes in and pushes him out of the picture.

Fifteen

Mr. Haney announces that the school will gather in the auditorium the next day to listen to George compete on a radio quiz show called "15 Minutes of Fame." On the same day, Arthur's class has to turn in art history reports. If everybody turns in their reports on time, the class will receive a "No Homework Day."

The next day, when Arthur comes to school, he realizes that he left his report on Michelangelo at home. Mr. Read finds it on the kitchen table and wants to bring it to Arthur. However, he mixes up Arthur's report with a catering list and accidentally puts Arthur's report in the recycling box. He gives the list to Buster while Arthur is racing home.

Arthur meets George on his way back home and helps him with a few quiz questions. He crashes his bike because of a squirrel and has to run the rest of the way. Buster calls him on his cell phone to tell him that he has the report.

Meanwhile, Pal and Kate realize that Arthur needs something important, but do not understand what. Pal finds a key on the kitchen table. It opens a desk which contains a print of the Mona Lisa. It is snatched away by Nemo. Nadine, Treenie and Uncle Wormy tell Pal and Kate that Nemo needs the print, so that an evil cat organization called the Red Claw can destroy all imaginary friends.

George arrives at the radio station. His first question is what baseball bats are made of. George remembers getting Wally for Christmas and learning that he is made from ash, just like baseball bats. While Buster and Francine listen in the auditorium, they realize that the folder Mr. Read brought is not Arthur's report. Buster tells Arthur, who is on his way back to school, on the phone.

George is asked what "exeunt" means. He remembers Mr. Ratburn explaining the word at a talent show.

Meanwhile, Pal digs a hole in the Molinas’ yard, hoping to find the Red Claw headquarters. Nemo sees him there and runs up a tree with the print. He tells Pal that there is no Red Claw, and that he stole the print because it amused him. Pal tricks him into dropping the print. He brings it to Arthur, who is just returning home again. Since the print is covered with spit, Arthur throws it in the recycling box and finds his report there. The garbage truck takes the rest of the old papers and Pal, Kate, and the imaginary friends feel that they have accomplished their mission.

Meanwhile, George reaches the $500 question: what was Michelangelo's full name. George remembers that Arthur did his report on Michelangelo and wants to use his Magic Phone Call to call Arthur. Buster is horrified that Mr. Ratburn will notice that Arthur is missing, but luckily, Mr. Haney has trouble with the phone and Arthur arrives just in time. He knows the correct answer and George wins $500 for the school. The class gets a "No Homework Day," but Arthur and Buster have to write a report on why Arthur was late. Despite the misfortune, Arthur and Buster are glad that they saved No Homework Day for everyone, even if it means "Extra Homework Day" for the duo.

Characters[]

Major[]

Minor[]

Cameo[]

Mentioned[]

Trivia[]

  • This being the start of the fifteenth season, the number 15 appears in six different contexts.
    • The episode’s name is Fifteen.
    • Arthur has 15 seconds to start the show.
    • George competes on "15 Minutes of Fame."
    • The class gets 15 merit points if everybody turns in their reports on time.
    • Pal has 15 minutes to foil the Red Claw's evil plan.
    • Arthur has 15 minutes to get to the school assembly.
  • This marks the show's fifteenth anniversary.
  • D.W. is absent from this episode, although she is mentioned and appears in the title card in the US only.
  • This is the last two-part episode to be written by someone other than Peter K. Hirsch until the Season 23 episode "When Duty Calls."
  • This episode aired in Australia and the UK before airing in the US

Episode connections[]

Cultural references[]

  • The show name "15 Minutes of Fame" references a quote (mis)attributed to Andy Warhol that everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. The show itself is similar to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, since it gives four possible answers and has a Magic Phone Call-feature.
  • George knowing the answers because of important events in his past may have been inspired by the film Slumdog Millionaire, which features the Indian version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire.
  • Buster does his report on Pieter Bruegel, a 16th century Dutch painter. He was nicknamed "peasant Bruegel," because much of his work depicts the life of the common people.
  • Arthur's report is on Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarotti Simoni, a 16th century artist and scientist.
  • Arthur quizzes George on Marie Curie and George III of England.
  • The postcard that Nemo steals is a reference to L.H.O.O.Q., a 1919 artwork by Marcel Duchamp. It is a print of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting with an added beard and mustache drawn in pencil.
  • Nemo says that "Red Claw" sounds like a seafood restaurant, referring to Red Lobster.
  • The Red Claw's plan of eliminating a group of rivals so that cats get more affection from humans may have been inspired by the film Cats & Dogs.

Errors[]

  • The radio in the Reads' kitchen appears to be orange, but later in the episode, it is blue.

Gallery[]

Main article: Fifteen/Gallery

References[]


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