Season 3

This article is about Season 3 of Arthur. You may be looking for Season 3 of Postcards from Buster.

Season 3 of Arthur premiered on PBS in the United States on November 16, 1998, with "Buster's Back/The Ballad of Buster Baxter." It concluded on January 1, 1999, with "Arthur and D.W. Clean Up/The Long, Dull Winter."

This season was released on DVD in Europe only.

Episodes

Screenshot	Title	Production Code	Number	Episode	Original Airdate
	"Buster's Back"	51B	51	1a	November 16, 1998
	Buster is coming home and Arthur is excited. He is also afraid that Buster will have changed too much, so he reads up on all the places Buster had visited. His fears worsen when Buster doesn't call back or come over.
	"The Ballad of Buster Baxter"	52A	51	1b	November 16, 1998
	Art Garfunkel guest stars as a guitar playing moose who sings "The Ballad of Buster Baxter". Buster has returned to Elwood City. He's surprised by how much has changed and feels left out because of the things he didn't get to experience while he was away. Arthur decides to throw a party for him.
	"D.W. All Fired Up"	56B	52	2a	November 17, 1998
	D.W. is afraid of the upcoming fire drill at her preschool, so her family names her a fire warden and run fire drills in their house.
	"I'd Rather Read It Myself"	55B	52	2b	November 17, 1998
	D.W. wants to prove to the Tibble twins that she can read so she picks up one of Arthur's books and makes up a story because they can't read either. They are impressed as she rehashes events from the last two seasons into an action, sci-fi/fantasy, adventure story based on herself, named B.W..
	"Arthur Goes Crosswire"	53A	53	3a	November 18, 1998
	When Arthur and Muffy are assigned to work on a project together, he begins to act more and more like her. His friends try to turn him back into his normal self before it's too late.
	"Sue Ellen and the Brainasaurous"	57B	53	3b	November 18, 1998
	Sue Ellen and Alan are assigned to work on a project together (same assignment as "Arthur Goes Crosswire"). Francine and Buster say it will be easy as Alan does almost all of the work by himself. Sue Ellen wants to help, but he doesn't let her. This turns into a struggle that nearly ruins their project.
	"Background Blues"	53B	54	4a	November 19, 1998
	Mr. Ratburn's class is asked to research their ancestors. Muffy and Francine try to one-up each other with who theirs were, even after each find nothing interesting. Even though Muffy is eventually caught lying about hers, Francine continues with her lie.
	"And Now Let's Talk to Some Kids"	58B	54	4b	November 19, 1998
	The Magic Toolbox is coming to Mr. Ratburn's class to put them on TV! They prepare for stardom, all practicing their various talents. Alan is the only one not interested in appearing on the show, but when it turns out that the segment is not what the others expect it to be, they need his help.
	"The Chips are Down"	54B	55	5a	November 20, 1998
	Arthur and Buster are sorting potato chips and find a big green one. D.W. eats it, so they trick her into thinking it's poisonous. Binky has eaten one, too, and he and D.W. both make the best out of the last days of their lives.
	"Revenge of the Chip"	56B	55	5b	November 20, 1998
	D.W. does not like to be reminded of the events in "The Chips are Down". Throughout the day, all of the kids and adults tease her about the green chip incident. She is furious that this went public and blames Arthur but finds out it was her mom who told other people. She apologizes, but D.W. is upset again and runs off when her mom starts telling the story to someone else.
	"Binky Rules"	51A	56	6a	November 23, 1998
	When graffiti stating "Binky Rules" mysteriously appears on the school's walls, everyone thinks that Binky wrote it. Buster and Fern, who are well known for being good detectives, attempt to prove that he didn't do it. After more investigating, they realize that it was done by an unknown band called Binky to promote themselves. Värttinä guest stars as Binky.
	"Meet Binky"	55A	56	6b	November 23, 1998
	Binky, the unknown band from "Binky Rules", has their first concert. Arthur gets to visit them backstage and struggles with whether or not he should bring his friends along and decides to do so at the last minute. They get to meet Binky backstage because Arthur's father is catering for them. When they meet them, they realize that they are actually holograms. Värttinä guest stars as Binky.
	"Arthur Rides the Bandwagon"	52B	57	7a	November 24, 1998
	Arthur doesn't like the new Woogle fad, but when everyone else has one, he tries to get one. Frustrated after several failed attempts, he starts playing with a bottle cap and starts a new fad.
	"Dad's Dessert Dilemma"	59A	57	7b	November 24, 1998
	Arthur brings a cake his dad made to a party in his class celebrating Galileo's birthday. Everyone likes it so he asks his dad to make another one, but this makes him run behind on his other orders. He realizes this after Alan's mom starts bringing ice cream to the school. A subplot has Mr. Ratburn attempting to get Mr. Read's cake by pretending to try to give anyone who is having one a schedule of Spring Reading, but his final attempt doesn't work when it turns out that Arthur and his dad aren't having cake; they're making ones for other people.
	"Popular Girls"	57A	58	8a	November 25, 1998
	Francine accidentally takes her sister Catherine's backpack to school and discovers a magazine called "Popular Girl". Reading it convinces Sue Ellen and Fern to change their personality to become more likable.
	"Buster's Growing Grudge"	60B	58	8b	November 25, 1998
	Buster has never been mad at anyone for long, but he holds a grudge against Binky for telling the joke he was going to tell. This culminates to an onstage rant during a school talent show and Arthur has to set things right.
	"Arthur's Treasure Hunt"	54A	59	9a	November 26, 1998
	After Buster finds an arrowhead in his backyard, Arthur wants to dig around his house to see what he can find. When he gets too involved, he starts digging where he's not allowed to do so.
	"The Return of the King"	61B	59	9b	November 26, 1998
	Mr. Ratburn's class is at a medieval fair competing for a trophy against a class from Glenbrook Academy led by Mr. Ratburn's former teacher, Mr. Pryce-Jones. During the competitions, Arthur is sidetracked by the sword in the stone and his classmates fear that Mr. Pryce-Jones may replace Mr. Ratburn if they lose.
	"Attack of the Turbo Tibbles"	58A	60	10a	November 27, 1998
	The Tibble twins watch an episode of Terrific Turbo-Trooper Toy T-Bot Team and start dressing and acting like the T-Bots, a duo of crime-fighting robots (who bear a striking resemblance to the Power Rangers). They play roughly while pretending to fight crime and end up hurting D.W..
	"D.W. Tricks the Tooth Fairy"	60A	60	10b	November 27, 1998
	D.W. wants a tooth pulled out so that she can get money from the Tooth Fairy. When her plan doesn't work, she tries to trick the tooth fairy with a fake one.
	"Double Tibble Trouble"	65A	61	11a	December 28, 1998
	Tommy Tibble is sad and less active because Timmy is sick. Although D.W. would like to have them less hyperactive, she and Emily try to help Tommy out by playing like a Tibble.
	"Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival"	65B	61	11b	December 28, 1998
	Arthur and Buster have an imaginary music festival featuring the whole cast in songs based on their lives, themselves, and the library.
	"What Scared Sue Ellen?"	62B	62	12a	December 29, 1998
	Sue Ellen is hard to scare but is frightened by a mysterious howl in the woods. She enlists the help of Arthur, Buster, and Binky to investigate the noise.
	"Clarissa is Cracked"	63B	62	12b	December 29, 1998
	D.W. borrows Grandma Thora's porcelain doll, Clarissa, and cracks her the day she is supposed to return her. Arthur gets Mr. Ratburn's help to try to fix her.
	"Arthur's Dummy Disaster"	59B	63	13a	December 30, 1998
	George becomes more popular with his ventriloquist dummy, Wally, and starts a short-lived ventriloquism fad at school. He starts acting less rationally as Wally starts falling apart, because before Wally, nobody noticed him.
	"Francine and the Feline"	61A	63	13b	December 30, 1998
	Francine's family gets a new cat that she renames Nemo after her sister, Catherine, named him Rose Petal. Arthur is a dog person and doesn't like him, thinking he is trying to kill Pal. He dislikes him so much that it may end his friendship with Francine.
	"Mom and Dad Have a Great Big Fight"	63A	64	14a	December 31, 1998
	Arthur and D.W. overhear their parents arguing and fear that it will split their family.
	"D.W.'s Perfect Wish"	64A	64	14b	December 31, 1998
	D.W. isn't as excited about her fifth birthday as her previous ones because according to Emily, after she turns five, she will no longer be a kid. Arthur goes over past events (from previous episodes) with her to cheer her up. This works and she goes on to her birthday party to make a wish.
	"Arthur and D.W. Clean Up"	64B	65	15a	January 1, 1999
	Arthur and D.W. need to clean their rooms and work together to get things done quicker. However, they each are picky about what stays and goes and how it all goes together.
	"The Long, Dull Winter"	62A	65	15b	January 1, 1999
	Arthur and his friends are feeling different but can't put a finger on it. They eventually realize that they haven't had a holiday in a while, so they embark on making a new one.

Trivia

• This is the last season for several things:
  • The last to consist of more than 10 episodes (20 segments).
  • The last in which Michael Caloz voices D.W. Oliver Grainger would take over the role of the voice of D.W. starting with the next season. It is worth noting that Caloz is pitched up in most episodes of this season, possibly to hide the maturation of his voice.
  • The last to premiere on the PBS preschool block, formerly known as PTV. By the next season, the block was rebranded into PBS Kids.
  • The last to use the 1993-99 PBS Kids "P-Pals" logo.
• This is the first season to have an odd number of episodes. This would not happen again until Season 20.
• This is the first season in which Fern, Emily, and the Tibble twins are listed in the closing credits.
• Buster returns home in this season's premiere, after having spent 17 episode segments of Season 2 traveling with his dad.
• Many of this season's episodes have the plot of the first and second segments related to each other. Examples include "Buster's Back/The Ballad of Buster Baxter," "The Chips are Down/Revenge of the Chip" and "Binky Rules/Meet Binky." Typically the first and second segments of each Arthur episode bundle have almost nothing to do with each other.
• Alan's voice is noticeably more mature in this season, though Luke Reid would continue voicing the character throughout Season 4. As aforementioned, this was also Michael Caloz's last season voicing D.W., mainly due to his voice maturing.
• Beginning with this season, it was announced that Arthur was the #1 kids' program on PBS, and #1 preschool-age program on TV.
• On December 6, 1997, The Standard reported that the series was renewed for a third season, with Art Garfunkel appearing as a guest star in the season premiere.