Nicked by a Name

"Nicked by a Name"
Main image Title card Title card 2
Season/Series:	14
Number in season:	3a
Original Airdate:	October 13, 2010 November 3, 2010 November 9, 2010 December 17, 2012
Credits
Written by:	Ken Pontac
Storyboard by:	Jim Craig Rob Clarke
Episodes
Previous "D.W. Unties the Knot"	Next "The Play's the Thing"

Read transcript

"Nicked by a Name" is the first half of the third episode in the fourteenth season of Arthur.

Summary

There is a virus spreading through Lakewood Elementary! It changes the way everyone behaves and how they treat each other - it is the new nicknames! Can Brain thwart the virus he created or will everyone be mean to each other forever?

Plot

Arthur starts the show by walking through a city composed of insulting words and telling the viewers that mean words can hurt sometimes, and occasionally, one little word can make you feel so rotten, you just want to disappear.

Nicked by a Name

During a soccer game, Francine scores a goal, and Brain says, "Give it up for Francine the Soccer Queen!" Francine likes the nickname, and Binky wants one as well. Brain says that it's "a pretty tall order," and then suggests "Tall Order" to Binky. He likes it, and Arthur also wants a nickname, but Brain has to go to the library.

At the library, Buster approaches Brain, who is reading a book on advertising, wanting a nickname. Brain imagines himself in an advertising company and comes up with "Bust-a-Gut". Buster likes his new nickname. Arthur asks for a nickname, but is once again denied by Brain.

Later, George enters the Ice Cream Shop, and asks Brain if he could have a nickname. After once again imagining about being in an advertising company, Brain nicknames him "Head Gear." George likes it, and he runs out of the Ice Cream Shop, passing Arthur on his way by, who again wants a nickname.

Arthur asks Brain again in the middle of a soccer game, and Brain angrily nicknames him "Average Arthur." Arthur dislikes it, especially when Buster and Binky start making jokes about his nickname.

Later, on in the school playground, Binky makes fun of "Average Arthur". To teach him a lesson, Brain renames Binky "Stinky Binky," which leads to all the kids giving insulting names to each other. Buster becomes "Antenna Ears" and Francine "Bossy Boots".

Brain has a dream that night where he is in the advertising company again, and everyone is a literal version of their nicknames; Binky floats in a large ball of stink, Francine is a boot, Buster has a TV for a head, and Brain is turned into a real brain. The others want Brain to change them back, but he does not know how.

At the soccer game, the Mighty Mountain team use the insulting nicknames to distract the Lakewood players. Francine calls a timeout and tells everyone to focus. Brain has an idea and the kids give everyone a "cool soccer nickname"; Arthur is "Awesome Action Aardvark," Binky is "Barnes-stormer," and Buster is "Eat-My-Dust Buster." Francine stays "Francine the Soccer Queen." With new confidence, they are able to win the game.

Afterwards, Arthur realizes that Brain never got a nickname, and he responds that he already has one: Brain. Everyone then starts suggesting different nicknames as the episode finishes.

Characters

Major

• Arthur Read
• Buster Baxter
• Francine Frensky
• Muffy Crosswire
• Brain
• Binky Barnes

Minor

• Mighty Mountain Player
• George Lundgren
• Frog Manager (in fantasy)

Cameo

• Bird Manager (in fantasy)
• Alligator Manager (in fantasy)
• Tom Tapir (in fantasy)
• Nancy
• Luke
• Fern Walters
• Jenna Morgan
• Alex Davidson
• 3rd Grade Male Aardvark
• Jack Weasel
• 3rd Grade Female Aardvark (Number 5)
• Sam Scarborough
• Mighty Mountain Bowler No. 8

Trivia

• Buster's nickname "Antenna Ears" might be a reference to the book, 'Arthur and the True Francine', where Muffy refers to Buster by that name. Additionally, "Antenna Ears" is Buster's username in Virtual Goose!
• In the U.S., this is the last use of the "Brain Underwater" title card.
• In the opening, when the word "ANNOYING" crawls out of Arthur's sweater, he screams using a stock scream from Cameron Ansell.
• The dramatic music heard when Arthur gets bitten by "pests" in the opening is frequently heard on Cyberchase, another PBS Kids show. This music is also used in the episode Muffy's Classy Classics Club.

Cultural references

• Brain's imagine spots are most likely a parody of Mad Men, a show about an ad business in the 1960s. Tom Tapir references the main character Don Draper.

Episode connections

• In Brain's dream there are ads for Woogles (“Arthur Rides the Bandwagon”), the Grain Reaper (“Ungifted”), and Might-A-Max energy drinks (“The Secret Origin of Supernova”) hanging on the wall.
• When Brain turns into a brain, he looks like his brain did in “It’s a No-Brainer”.
• Arthur called DW a bossy boots in the later episode “The Friend Who Wasn’t There”.

Errors

• In the opening scene, Muffy is shown cheering the soccer team on wearing a skirt, but by the end of practice, she is depicted wearing normal soccer shorts like everyone else on the team.
• When Arthur enters the ice cream shop, Mr. Armstrong and Sue Ellen suddenly appear in line behind him. But in the next shot, they disappear.
• When Lakewood scores, it would not make a difference since Mighty Mountain already had 6 points. However the scoreboard makes it say 10–6.

Gallery

Main article: Nicked by a Name/Gallery