| "The Frensky Family Fiasco" | |
| Season/Series: | 12 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 2b |
| Original Airdate: |  October 13, 2008[1] January 23, 2009[3] April 7, 2009[2] November 15, 2012[citation needed] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Peter K. Hirsch |
| Storyboard by: | Nick Vallinakis |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "Room to Ride" |
Next "D.W.'s Stray Netkitten" |
| Read transcript |
"The Frensky Family Fiasco" is the second half of the second episode in the twelfth season of Arthur.
Summary[]
Francine wants the Frenskys to be closer as a family, so she proposes a weekly Family Night. But spending quality time together turns out to be more complicated than expected.
Plot[]
The episode begins with Pal and Francine performing a parody of the show's intro. Arthur then shows up and stops the music. Francine starts the music again, but Arthur again stops it. Francine asks him why he always does the show opener and why someone else can not do it for a change. D.W. suggests the show should be called "D.W." Buster suggests the show be called "Buster." Francine tells him to be quiet and that he already has his own show. D.W. thinks "D.W." is a great name, but Buster tells her no one knows what it stands for. D.W. replies it stands for Dora Winifred. Arthur states that on this show, they are one big, happy family. He pauses when Francine asks Buster "Can't there be one single episode where we don't mention aliens?" Then Binky announces the episode as "The Binky Show," tells Arthur to move it, and rolls the tape.
One day in Mr. Ratburn's classroom, the class is watching a movie about the strong family ties of baboons. A young baboon is saved from a lion because its family took the liberty to save it.
At her apartment, she greets Laverne as she is leaving for her bowling night. Oliver is out biking, and Catherine is on the phone. A Chickin Lickin' commercial plays, in which Beauregard Poulet is commemorating the values of family. Francine sighs and walks off, feeling miserable.
At breakfast the next morning, Francine is presenting a plan to bring her family closer to each other. Her parents agree, although Catherine objects. Catherine envisions a beach party, and then a boring game of cards, but then reluctantly agrees when Laverne gets offended.
For the first family night, the Frenskys go out for Japanese food. Francine accidentally eats her sushi with wasabi (which she mistook for guacamole) and then ends up drinking soy sauce, leading to her getting sick. At home, everyone is watching Starcast, and the phone rings. It is Muffy, and Francine answers it. She takes Muffy's idea of playing games. As a result, she misses the finale of Starcast.
Francine plans for the next family night, and goes to the Supermarket to buy pizza ingredients, picks fresh ingredients, learns pizza baking skills from Mrs. MacGrady, and finds a board game to play.
Next Tuesday, the Frenskys begin baking their pizza. Catherine admits that this activity is fun. Francine begins making a salad with a ketchup and mayonnaise dressing, which Catherine thinks is disgusting. They get into an argument, and forget about the pizza. But when they finally remember, they are surprised to observe that the pizza is burnt.
So they order a pizza, and after dinner, Francine presents Megalopolis, a game they can all play. Everyone starts bickering over various moves in the gameplay. The family concurs that this should be the last family night.
That night, Francine has a nightmare in which her family are baboons, and their family ties are not strong enough to save them from a vicious lion. The next morning, Francine observes her bowling jersey, and suggests to her family that they go bowling once a week. Oliver, Laverne and Catherine agree to this activity.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
- Muffy Crosswire
- Arthur Read
- D.W. Read
- Buster Baxter
- Binky Barnes
- Beauregard Poulet (on TV)
- Horace (on TV)
- Pal
- Nemo
Cameo[]
- Mr. Ratburn
- Jenna Morgan
- Maria Pappas
- Sue Ellen Armstrong
- George Lundgren
- Angi (in fantasy)
- Debi (in fantasy)
- Tami (in fantasy)
- Flex McGinty (on TV)
- Mrs. MacGrady
- Fritz Langley
Trivia[]
- This episode is paired with "Room to Ride," which features Lance Armstrong. This episode pair was pulled from the rerun rotation in the United States following the Lance Armstrong doping case, with the last national airing being on March 15, 2012.[4] It is believed that these episodes continued to air on PBS stations that opted to air Arthur reruns on an independent rotation as opposed to the national one. It is also still available to purchase on Amazon, iTunes, and YouTube.
- Catherine is revealed to be a vegetarian in this episode.
- Although the Frenskys are Jewish, Laverne eats eel and Francine eat pepperoni, neither of which are Kosher foods. However, in Postcards from Buster, Francine states that her family is not Orthodox, which means they can eat non-Kosher foods.
- The calendar which Francine shows her family has thirty-one days. This gives a wide range of months which the episode could have taken place in: January, March, May, July, August, October, and December. However, Francine Is in school when she watches the baboon video, which rules out July and August (some schools, however, start in August).
- During the intro, Francine mimics Arthur walking down the street with Pal seen in the opening theme song.
- When playing Megalopolis, Catherine accuses Francine of giving herself "an extra $20" when making change. If one looks closely as Francine puts down a $100 bill and picks up several $20 bills, she did, in fact, pick up six $20 bills (totaling $120) instead of five.
- This episode marks the only time that the theme song is interrupted.
Cultural references[]
- Francine telling Buster he already has his own show is a reference to the Arthur spin-off show, Postcards from Buster.
- Megalopolis is a parody of Monopoly.
- Megalopolis would be shown again in "The Substitute Arthur."
- Starcast is a parody of American Idol.
- Binky makes a brief reference to P. T. Barnum and his circus when he says "Of the Binky show, the greatest show on Earth!"
Errors[]
- When Oliver offers Catherine and Francine $20 from his "reserve" in the Megalopolis game, the bills appear to be yellow. When the camera zooms out, the bills are purple.
- When Francine's family looks at the burnt pizza, Laverne is wearing an adult-sized version of Francine's clothes.
- Catherine says she is a vegetarian, but earlier in the episode, she is seen eating sushi. However, it is possible she is eating vegetarian sushi, especially since it is green in the middle. Also, not all sushi has meat/fish in it, as the word "sushi" comes from an old Japanese word basically meaning "sour/soured rice."
Home Video[]
DVD[]
Gallery[]
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References[]