| "Play it Again, D.W." | |
| Season/Series: | 2 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 6b |
| Original airdate: |  October 27, 1997[1] December 1, 1997[2] January 31, 2002[3] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Joe Fallon |
| Storyboard by: | Harry Rasmussen |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "Buster Baxter, Cat Saver" |
Next "Arthur's TV-Free Week" |
| Read transcript |
"Play it Again, D.W." is the second half of the sixth episode in the second season of Arthur.
Summary
D.W. suspects Arthur as the perpetrator when her favorite Crazy Bus Theme Song CD, which she plays relentlessly, vanishes.
Plot
As the episode starts, Arthur explains to the viewers that it's not a big surprise when D.W. does annoying things. There was one time when she beat him at checkers, and spent the whole year bragging to everyone about it. However, the worst thing was when D.W. played her "Crazy Bus" CD over and over and over again.
D.W. is still playing her "Crazy Bus" CD repeatedly (since the previous episode-532 times that week, according to a tally by Arthur) and brings her radio with her everywhere she goes, and when D.W. is not listening to it, she is humming the song and playing with its merchandise, making Arthur increasingly annoyed and angry.
One day, while Arthur is reading his Bionic Bunny comic book in his bedroom, D.W. surprises him with four tickets to Crazy Bus Live, which he has to attend against his will. Arthur is embarrassed to be there and wears a silly elephant trunk and straw hat disguise under the alias "Steve" to avoid being seen by his friends' younger brothers and sisters. He then finds Buster enjoying the show, much to his fear. Arthur later imagines that he is trapped in the Crazy Bus with all of his friends and family who are happily singing the song nonstop, except for him, and Arthur screams and bangs on the window in the back of the bus.
One day while Arthur is trying to do his homework, D.W. plays the song yet again and at full volume. Arthur is so fed up that he threatens to wreck D.W.'s "Crazy Bus" CD, scaring D.W. While their parents are searching for music to listen to at a high school reunion, D.W. tells on Arthur for the threat he made.
Arthur is punished from watching TV by D.W. for saying he would wreck her CD, but realizes the atmosphere is quiet and thinks D.W. is giving him a break from the music. However, she suddenly screams very loudly and runs downstairs telling her parents that her Crazy Bus CD is gone. She immediately accuses Arthur of taking it, but when questioned by their parents, he denies the accusation.
The next afternoon, Arthur goes on a rowboat with Buster and Francine at the Mill Creek River while his family are out on a picnic. Arthur discusses the Crazy Bus CD incident with his friends, and says he does not have the CD, but Francine does not believe Arthur. Buster claims that an ancient race of squids took it to their hidden grotto beneath the sea. The Squid People who live at the bottom wonder if they have the CD and are singing the Crazy Bus song.
Later that week, Francine's older sister Catherine is asked to babysit for the kids while their parents go to their high school reunion. D.W. spies on Arthur, trying to catch him with her Crazy Bus CD. As Arthur prepares to put a disc into the computer, D.W. ambushes him and tries to grab it from him, thinking it is her CD. Catherine walks up on them fighting over the disc and asks them what the trouble is. D.W. says the disc is hers, but Arthur says it is a computer game from the Brain and puts it in. However, D.W. is still not convinced and still thinks Arthur has her CD.
When Arthur goes to put D.W.'s purple plush possum in her closet, D.W. is in there waiting, and he tells her what he was actually doing. Later, Arthur finds that D.W. tore his room apart in an attempt to find her CD, and he complains to Catherine. She divides the house with masking tape and orders Arthur and D.W. to stay on their own sides. Catherine leaves thinking she solved the issue, but the siblings fight over Arthur's jacket, since D.W. thinks her CD is inside.
At the reunion, David puts on what he thinks is a CD with songs he and his friends danced to in high school, but discovers that it is actually D.W.'s Crazy Bus CD. Jane calls the house, and when D.W. takes the phone from Catherine and answers it, she lets go of the jacket and causes Arthur to fly backward into the open closet. Jane tells her that David took the CD by accident, and their friends end up enjoying the Crazy Bus Music.
D.W. tells Arthur she is forgiving him for starting the fight, but does not apologize for falsely accusing Arthur of stealing her Crazy Bus CD. Later that night, Jane, holding her CD, tells D.W. she can enjoy her music but cannot annoy others with it. Surprisingly, D.W. says she does not want to play it anymore. Arthur is relieved, but realizes he spoke to soon when D.W. puts a Crazy Bus movie she got from Grandma Thora into the VCR and turns on the TV. Arthur runs off shouting "Mom!" as D.W. begins watching the movie, ending the episode.
Characters
Major
Minor
Cameo
- Muffy Crosswire (fantasy)
- Binky Barnes (fantasy)
- Brain (fantasy)
- Dr. Iris
Mentioned
Trivia
- Moral: Some people like your interests while it irritates others; do not try to disrupt them.
- 4th Wall break: The Read parents’ CD Avi Winkler’s Greatest Hits refers to Arthur character designer Avi Winkler.
- This is the first episode where the quote, "Life is so unfair", is used. D.W. says that quote while crying in this episode. It was used again in "The Lousy Week", where Muffy says that quote also while crying.
- "Vexation" does not mean "trouble," but it's a synonym for trouble and it usually means "something that causes annoyance" or "the state of being annoyed."
- Arthur's "Steve" disguise and D.W.'s comment on the fake trunk being "a big improvement" is likely a reference to Arthur's original design in Arthur's Nose.
- Arthur's screaming sound effect in the prologue is reused from "Arthur's Lost Library Book."
- When they go to the Crazy Bus Live show, Arthur wears a disguise so as not to be embarrassed by his friends’ younger siblings. Yet, all of his immediate friends are either only children or have older siblings (with the exception of Binky's adopted sister Mei Lin who does not appear until Season 11's "Big Brother Binky")
- The episode never fully explains how D.W.'s dad accidentally took her CD.
- This is the second time David wore earplugs. The first time was in "Arthur's Lost Dog".
- The CD album that Mr. Read is holding has 1978 on the cover, which suggests that he and his wife graduated from high school in 1978. However, the series has no specific timeline as the characters do not age throughout the seasons.
- D.W.’s line “Yeah mama!” was later used in the theme song remix.
Episode connections
- D.W. first played Crazy Bus during the previous episode, "Buster Baxter, Cat Saver." Arthur gave her headphones so she could play the song without annoying him, but by this episode, they broke.
- The snowball incident from "D.W.'s Snow Mystery" is brought up again in this episode.
- There is a "Bionic Bunny on Ice" poster in Arthur's room, but it is not the poster that Arthur and Buster got signed in "Buster's New Friend" (yet it retains Bionic Bunny's autograph).
- Catherine babysits D.W. and Arthur again in "D.W.'s Name Game."
- D.W. mentions her "Crazy Bus" CD missing, along with her snowball, in "Revenge of the Chip."
- D.W.'s Crazy Bus CD is also mentioned in "Arthur vs. the Piano," but Arthur mentions it got thrown out, but it did not.
- D.W. losing Crazy Bus can be seen as a clip from this episode in the intro of "Buster's Growing Grudge".
- Buster thinks that the Squid People took the Crazy Bus CD. This is similar to how he thinks that the Mole People took "The Mysterious Hand" in "Arthur's Lost Library Book".
- Busters wears the same disguise Arthur did in the episode Bitzi's Break-Up.
- Arthur borrows a CD game from Brain called Captain Sludge Vs Drainboy he previously borrowed the computer game Deep Dark Sea from Brain in Arthur the Wrecker.
Cultural references
- The episode's title is a play on "Play it again, Sam", a misquotation from the film Casablanca. It is also similar to the Peanuts special, Play It Again, Charlie Brown.
- Another CD, The Bubblegums, could be a reference to bubblegum music, which was popular during the late Sixties and early Seventies.
- The parents' CD 1978 - Songs You Can't Believe You Liked shows a spoof of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, a 1977 movie featuring disco music.
- Catherine mentions Solomon, a biblical king famed for his wisdom.
- At the dance party, three guests are seen dancing the "Macarena" to Crazy Bus.
Errors
- While Catherine is doing homework, she is first seen writing with her left hand, even though she is normally right-handed like her sister Francine; but in the next few seconds, she switches to her right hand. This could mean she is ambidextrous.
- When Catherine tells D.W and Arthur not to bother each other, the tape on the stairs disappears.
- When D.W. and Arthur are holding the jacket, a teddy bear is seen on the sofa. When D.W. says, "It’s not stupid bus," the teddy bear is darker in color.
Home Video
VHS
DVD
Gallery
Screenshots
References