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"Show Off"
Season/Series: 17
Number in season: 1a
Original Airdate: United States November 11, 2013[1]
Canada November 11, 2013[citation needed]
United Kingdom October 22, 2013[2][3]
Australia April 23, 2013[4]
Credits
Written by: Peter K. Hirsch
Storyboard by: Ken Cunningham
Episodes
Previous
"The Best Day Ever"
Next
"Dog's Best Friend"
Read transcript

"Show Off" is the first half of the first episode in the seventeenth season of Arthur.

Alan Cumming makes a special appearance as Sebastian Winkleplotz.

Summary[]

It is time for the Elwood City dog show and Killer is facing off against Sebastian Winkleplotz, the snobbish, championship-winning poodle. At stake: the Read family's honor. Can Killer's coach, Pal, transform her from combative canine to sophisticated show dog? [5]

Plot[]

Kate, who is dressed up as a princess, is seen talking to a mirror on the wall, when she notices something strange occur with the mirror. Pal, dressed up as a jester, comes in to the room where Kate is, and is just as shocked as Kate is when he sees the mirror. They both decide to use the mirror in "the queen's room" instead. Meanwhile, Killer and Sebastian Winkleplotz are seen in the mirror bickering with each other.

Show Off

After the title card, Kate and Pal are seen outside the Reads' house. Pal is showing Kate how to bury a wallet, when he notices Amigo doing push-ups in the Molinas' driveway. Curious, Kate and Pal proceed to go over to see Amigo, and ask what he is doing. Amigo explains to them that he must look his best for the upcoming Wiegel-Bandolik Dog Show, but Pal starts laughing at the thought of Amigo being in a dog show. Pal then stops laughing, and realizes that Amigo is serious about the dog show. Kate then says that Amigo is a very handsome dog, and she also says that both Pal and Amigo could win. Pal is not so sure at first, but he changes his mind and decides to do it for Arthur.

Later, Pal comes into Arthur's bedroom while Arthur is drawing at his desk, and gives him a pamphlet for the dog show. Arthur decides to enter Pal in to the dog show after Pal strikes a heroic pose.

At the dinner table, Arthur tells his family that he is planning to enter Pal into the dog show. Meanwhile, Kate is counting the number of laps that Pal runs before he eats his dog food. After holding back one piece of dog food, Pal accidentally knocks over the dog food bag while D.W. is complaining about how her food was prepared. D.W. then offers Pal some bacon, but he refuses. He runs to the front door, where Buster comes in with leftover roast beef. Buster offers Pal some, but he refuses, confusing Buster. When Pal runs into the den, he is relieved that he held back, but notices some crumbs on the rug.

The next day, Arthur and Alberto are seen entering Pal and Amigo at the sign-up counter for the dog show, while Pal and Amigo are complimenting each other. Just then, they meet two other dogs, Beasley and Sebastian Winkleplotz, the latter of whom tells Pal and Amigo that they will not win, because they are mutts. Meanwhile, Arthur and Alberto are shocked to learn that the show is for "purebreds only." Alberto says that Amigo is a mix of Bulldog and Boxer, but Arthur is not sure what breed Pal is, but it is most likely not "pure." As Arthur and Alberto leave with Pal and Amigo, Winkleplotz tells the latter two to "have fun rolling around in garbage."

After finding out that they cannot compete in the dog show because they are not purebreds, Pal explains to Kate the whole story when they, along with Arthur, D.W., and Mrs. Read are visiting Grandma Thora at her house. After Pal says that he does not know what a purebred is, Killer comes in and explains to Pal what that means: that a dog only has one breed in them. She then starts to talk about how her parents were in dog shows, but they hated it. Kate is then surprised to learn that Killer is a purebred, a 100% Jack Russell Terrier.

Later, in the Reads' front yard, Kate, Pal, and Amigo all try to persuade Killer to participate in the dog show, but she does not want to. However, she soon changes her mind after being insulted by Sebastian Winkleplotz when he is walking by with his owner.

After Killer shows a pamphlet for the dog show to Grandma Thora, she decides to enter her in the dog show. After Killer gets extensive training, Pal is seen talking to Kate the night before the dog show about how Killer does not seem like a show dog. That night, Pal sneaks some of the leftover roast beef, but he saves it for later.

On the day of the dog show, all of the participants perform very well. But while Grandma Thora is running with Killer, Sebastian Winkleplotz gets out a toy mouse, and Killer goes after it and chews it up, costing her points. Kate thinks that the show is over, but Pal figured that Winkleplotz would try something sneaky, which is why Pal brought "a secret weapon": roast beef. After Pal throws the bag of roast beef in to the competition area, Winkleplotz wants it. After the judge picks up the bag of roast beef, Winkleplotz gets mad, and claims that he has not had a decent piece of meat in weeks. Everyone is shocked when he attacks the judge.

After the dog show, Kate cannot believe that Beasley, the dachshund, won the dog show, but Pal is just glad that Sebastian Winkleplotz did not win. Amigo comments that the prize (a ribbon, which he feels is more suitable "for a cat") was terrible, and Killer says that "dog shows are ridiculous, but if there was a contest to see which dog had the nicest personality, that would be different," after which everyone looks at Killer. Killer thinks that the others do not think she has a nice personality, but they say that they do think so, to humor her. Killer then asks them who wants to get the ball from her, but everyone walks or crawls away. The episode finishes with Killer telling them to come back.

Characters[]

Major[]

Minor[]

Cameo[]

Mentioned[]

  • Killer's parents
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Special appearance by Alan Cumming

Trivia[]

  • Alan Cumming guest stars as the voice of Sebastian Winkleplotz, which makes this the first time he voiced a pet which was a dog. His previous pet role was a cat called Persnickety who is really named Sir Roland in the 2004 live action/CGI film Garfield: The Movie.
  • This episode was the first to debut during the PBS Kids rebrand, in which PBS Kids Go! was discontinued in favor of new graphics.

Episode connections[]

  • In the introduction, Pal wears a jester's cap, similar to the one he (or rather Lap) wore in "Mei Lin Takes a Stand."
  • Mr. Morris had a flashback of the 1967 dog show in "April 9th." Also, the design of the young Mr. Morris is re-used and re-colored in this episode as a modern dog owner at the dog show.
  • Three dogs at the dog show have re-used character models:
  • Ed Crosswire's duck commercial from "Flippity Francine" is seen again on Thora's television.

Errors[]

  • There are two moments in which Grandma Thora gasps; it is a reused sound effect that is clearly Francine's gasp.

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References[]


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