List of The Magic School Bus episodes

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This is a list of episodes of the children's television series The Magic School Bus.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Contents

[edit] Season 1 (1994)

  • The Magic School Bus Gets Lost In Space (September 10, 1994)
    • Topic: the solar system
    • Arnold's cousin and the class' new student Janet, is coming on the field trip this time. They are going to the planetarium to see a show about the solar system, but it's closed for repairs. On the way back to school, they start to blast off and fly into outer space. They visit all the planets and learn about them, but in the asteroid belt, they lose Ms. Frizzle and find themselves lost in space.
      • Notes
        • First introduction of Janet in the TV series.
        • Introduction of the producer (at the end of the show).
        • First time that the bus is driven by the kids or someone other than Ms. Frizzle (the bus doesn't appear to have autopilot in the episode.)
  • The Magic School Bus For Lunch (September 17, 1994)
    • Topic: digestion
    • Arnold finally gets his wish by staying at school while Ms. Frizzle takes the class on another weird field trip. What he doesn't realize is that it's a trip inside him!
      • Notes
        • This is the first episode to show Arnold's dislike of field trips.
        • Phoebe talks about her old school for the first time.
        • This is the first of three episodes in which the field trip takes place inside the human body.
        • This is the first episode in which the kids' clothes remain the same as the bus changes. Their clothes were changed to spacesuits in the above episode.
        • First showing of the female producer.
        • The bus's scuba gear is seen for the first time; the gear appears to be a water-modified version of the space suits.
        • First time that the kids shrink.
        • We find out about Arnold's favourite food: mallow-blasters.
  • The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie (September 24, 1994)
    • Topic: germs
    • It's broadcast day and the class needs Ralphie. The trouble is that he's sick, so his mother, a doctor, won't let him go to school. When Ms. Frizzle says that there is an amazing battle going on inside him, the class decides broadcast day should be about whatever is making Ralphie sick. The bus shrinks and travels inside Ralphie in order to solve the mystery.
      • Notes
        • First episode in which a student's parent(s) appears, this one introducing Ralphie's mother.
        • First episode to reveal Ms. Frizzle's closet.
        • First time a student's last name is mentioned (Ralphie).
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten (October 1, 1994)
    • Topic: the food chain
    • Arnold and Keesha were supposed to do a "Two-Beach-Things-That-Go-Together-Report," but they both completely forgot about it. Keesha only brings a tuna fish sandwich, and all Arnold brings is "scum" he got on his shoe when he stepped in a puddle. The two don't have anything in common, do they?
      • Notes
        • First episode in which the bus goes underwater.
        • First ocean themed episode.
  • The Magic School Bus Hops Home (October 8, 1994)
    • Topic: habitats
    • Members of the class are bringing animals to school and Wanda has brought her frog named Bella. But, thanks to Arnold, Bella escapes. Wanda is now bent on getting her frog back. Ms. Frizzle takes the class to several different places, until they find a perfect frog habitat. In this episode, the bus transforms into a frog with green spots on it, as the tires become the frog's legs.
      • Notes
        • Only appearance of Bella.
        • The class wears their safari gear for the first time.
        • First animal-themed episode.
  • The Magic School Bus Meets The Rot Squad (October 15, 1994)
    • Topic: decomposition
    • Wanda won a tree in a game Ms. Frizzle invented. She decides to plant it in a lot with a rotten log. First, she decided that she would have to get rid of the log, so she calls a lumberjack to remove it. When she says, "It's dead, it's useless, I mean look at it!" to Arnold who isn't convinced that the lot should be cleared out, Ms. Frizzle decides to give them a closer look at it. She shrinks the bus to take them on a field trip exploring the log.
      • Notes
        • First plant-themed episode.
  • The Magic School Bus All Dried Up (October 22, 1994)
    • Topic: desert adaptations
    • Phoebe is worried about all the poor animals living in the desert. How will they ever survive? She decides to go to the desert in order to do something about it, and for once Arnold isn't complaining. He has a field trip survival guide.
      • Notes
        • Phoebe's compassionate side appears for the first time.
  • The Magic School Bus In The Haunted House (October 29, 1994)
    • Topic: sounds
    • Carlos has invented a new instrument, but it sounds awful. The class is on their way to the sound museum for a performance when the bus breaks down, but they spot an old house. The class enters to look for a phone, but the door locks behind them, forcing the kids to stay the night.
      • Notes
        • First scary-themed episode.
        • First time the bus breaks down.
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Ready, Set, Dough (November 5, 1994)
    • Topic: kitchen chemistry
    • Oops! It's Ms. Frizzle's birthday and the class wants to throw a surprise party for her, but they don't have a cake. The bus is acting up on their field trip to the bakery, and it shrinks. How will the kids make Ms. Frizzle a cake when they're around a millimeter tall?
      • Notes
        • This episode is called The Magic School Bus Gets Baked In A Cake in the TV-Tie-in-Book.
  • The Magic School Bus Plays Ball (November 12, 1994)
    • Topic: forces and motion
    • Dorothy Ann has brought a book about physics, but everyone else thinks it's boring. Ralphie borrows it from her to use it as a replacement for home base. D. A. doesn't learn of this until they set off on a field trip. Ms. Frizzle decides to back up and get the book, but the bus shrinks and lands on page 97 which has a "frictionless" baseball field. The class soon learns that friction is needed for the simplest actions, from playing baseball to walking. However, when they are about to leave, the wind blows the book shut, trapping the kids and Ms. Frizzle in the book.
      • Notes
        • First episode to focus on two kids (Ralphie and Dorothy Ann), and the feuding between them.
  • The Magic School Bus Goes To Seed (November 19, 1994)
    • Topic: seeds
    • The class is planting a garden, but Phoebe's plant is at her old school. The students decide to go there, but Phoebe is worried about Ms. Frizzle embarrassing her and her former teacher.
      • Notes
        • Mr. Seedplot, Phoebe's old teacher, is the first person to have a previous encounter with Ms. Frizzle.
        • Carlos shows his bossy side for the first time.
        • The sign at Pheobe's old school literally says "Pheobe's Old School"(not in Pheobe's imagination, revealed when Pheobe and the entire class leaves the school on a seed)
        • We know that Arnold is allergic to pollen
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Ants In Its Pants (November 26, 1994)
    • Topic: ants
    • The class is going to make a movie about ants and Keesha is the director. The trouble is, they can't find a star.
      • Notes
        • The bus turns into food for the first time.
  • The Magic School Bus Kicks Up A Storm (December 3, 1994)
    • Topic: weather
    • Ralphie thinks he's Weatherman, but Keesha is trying to convince everyone he's not. He decides to prove his worth by leading the class on a field trip to make a thunderstorm.
      • Notes
        • Ralphie and Keesha argue for the first time, something that plays a major role in two later episodes.

[edit] Season 2 (1995)

  • The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top (September 9, 1995)
    • Topic: volcanoes
    • According to Ms. Frizzle, there is an island so new it hasn't been discovered yet. Carlos wants to name it "Carlos Island," but Dorothy Ann has decided to get a name by looking in a book. However when they arrive, there is no island. Ms. Frizzle says it's because the island hasn't arrived yet. In the end, it turns out that the island was created by an underwater volcano.
      • Notes
        • Only time in the series that Dorothy Ann loses her books.
        • Only geological themed episode.
        • Tim's voice changes significantly, from the somewhat puberty-like one he had in season one to a more preteen voice.
        • This is the first year Danny Tamberelli voices Arnold and Andre Ottley-Lorant voices Tim.
  • The Magic School Bus Flexes Its Muscles (September 16, 1995)
    • Topic: muscles
    • The bus is acting up, so Ms. Frizzle decides to take it R. U. Humerus' Body Shop for repairs. Meanwhile, Ralphie has been dreaming what it would be like if he had a robot to do all his chores. So he and the rest of the class (minus Keesha) want to try building one using all the gadgets in the body shop. First, they'll have to understand how bones and muscles work, though.
      • Notes
        • The class actually laughs at one of Carlos's jokes without groaning "Carlos!", for the first and only time in the series.
  • The Magic School Bus: The Busasaurus (September 23, 1995)
    • Topic: dinosaurs
    • This is the cartoon version of The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs. This episode's main aim is to show that dinosaurs weren't all terrifying monsters, like movies often make them out to be. The only period seen is the Cretaceous Period (all periods are visited in the book,) which is obviously due to time consrtaints. In this episode, the kids visit Ms. Frizzle's old friend, Dr. Carmina Skeledon at a dinosaur dig. Dr. Skeledon lets Arnold see a fossilized dinosaur egg as the kids are leaving, and he still has it when they go back in time. An Ornithomimus steals the egg, and both Arnold and Phoebe chase after it. The rest of the class is left to find them, and in the end, Arnold squares off with a Tyrannosaurus Rex after being grown.
      • Notes
        • Only time-travel field trip
        • Arnold acts courageously for a change, rather than being unsteady and cowardly.
        • A student (Arnold) gets dirty for the first time.
        • First time two of the students are separated from the class for most of the episode (Arnold and Phoebe) without Liz present
  • The Magic School Bus Going Batty (September 30, 1995)
    • Topic: bats
    • Ralphie is convinced that Ms. Frizzle is a vampire when she shows up in a cape, and with a transylvanian accent. She moves like a vampire and talks like a vampire! In any decent movie, she would be the vampire. The Friz is now taking all the kids' parents on a little field trip and Ralphie is convinced she is going to do something horrible to them. This episode teaches that bats aren't a vampire, and that they are fascinating creatures.
      • Notes
        • Second time the class goes on a field trip without Ms. Frizzle (Gets Lost in Space)
        • Wanda uses the phrase "Weasly Wimps" for the first time.
        • Arnold, Carlos, and Keesha's last names are mentioned.
  • The Magic School Bus: Butterfly And The Bog Beast (October 7, 1995)
    • Topic: butterflies
    • The class needs a new mascot for their soccer team, the old mascot being so old that nobody even knows what it is anymore. Phoebe is convinced it should be the butterfly but obviously, the rest of the class doesn't agree with this. Janet (from The Magic School Bus Lost in Space) shows up again and convinces the class that their mascot should be the "Bog Beast." Since nobody seems to know what a bog beast is (that's probably because they don't exist), the Friz takes the class on a trip to the swamp to find out. Somehow they learn a lot about butterflies.
      • Notes
        • Second appearance of Janet and the first one this season. She also becomes more of a villain in this episode, rather than the agitator she was in Lost in Space by trying to turn the class against Phoebe and her butterfly idea since they're playing Phoebe's old school.
        • First appearance of the Porta-Shrinker.
        • Liz becomes a villain (as she wants to eat butterflies) for the only time in the series.
  • The Magic School Bus Wet All Over (October 14, 1995)
    • Topic: water
    • The class is excited about going to Waterland. Wanda and Arnold are working on a project together and somehow Wanda convinces him to go to the girls' bathroom with her to get water. He accidentally leaves Ms. Frizzle's keys and Liz in the bathroom, and forgets to turn the water off. When they leave to go to Water Land, Ms. Frizzle instead uses a spare key which turns the bus, class and the Friz into water. They go through the water cycle.
      • Notes
        • Only appearance of Tiffany.
        • Second weather themed episode.
  • The Magic School Bus In A Pickle (October 21, 1995)
    • Topic: microbes
    • The kids have just come back from vacation and found that the vegetables that won some sort of contest have rotted. Keesha is particularly distressed, not because her first prize cucumber has rotted, but because it's gone and has been replaced with a pickle. Keesha reasons that the door to the classroom was locked over vacation and Ms. Frizzle had the key. To everyone's surprise Ms. Frizzle admitted that she had done something to Keesha's cucumber. The kids put Ms. Frizzle on trial and make Liz the judge. It is a bit shocking that Arnold chooses to be Ms. Frizzle's lawyer. The Friz claims that Keesha’s cucumber was turned to a pickle by the "Mike Robe Gang" and takes the class on a field trip to prove it.
      • Notes
        • First field trip inside the classroom.
  • The Magic School Bus Revving Up (October 28, 1995)
    • Topic: engine
    • Mr. Junkett, a vehicle maintenance inspector, wasn't pleased when he inspected the magic school bus. In fact, he decides to take it to the junkyard to smash it! The Friz and the class have to do something to save their bus. Naturally, they have decided to shrink and go inside it. All the problems seem to be caused by peanut butter, as Mr. Junkett was eating a peanut butter sandwich while inspecting the bus.
      • Notes
        • Only automobile themed episode.
        • Only time the bus is threatened.
  • The Magic School Bus Taking Flight (November 4, 1995)
    • Topic: flight
    • Wanda and Tim have built a model airplane together for a model show. Ms. Frizzle decides to shrink the class, so they can fly in it. Tim, Phoebe and Liz stay on the ground to operate the remote control, at least until it gets smashed. The class learns all about flight. Meanwhile, Tim, Phoebe and Liz try to turn the bus into different airplanes (two of which can't fly) to go rescue them.
      • Notes
        • An astounding goof; the bird that the kids use to restart the airplane is a bald eagle. The eagle, at one point, is seen sitting on a street light. This is extremely unrealistic, as bald eagles are forest and mountain dwelling birds, rarely roosting in the city and farmland. Also, eagles don't flap their wings constantly (as portrayed in the episode); rather, they glide.
        • The size of the model plane mysteriously shrinks down to half the size after it lands on the bus.
  • The Magic School Bus Getting Energized (November 11, 1995)
    • Topic: energy
    • At the Walkerville carnival the kids are running the ferris wheel, however it doesn't work for some reason. Mikey, Carlos' little brother who is wheelchair bound comes to the rescue. Since electric power doesn't work, they decide to use the energy of falling rocks. If the people ride in one side of the ferris wheel and the rocks land on the other, than it will cause the wheel to turn without hurting anyone. The problem is how to get the rocks to the ferris wheel.
      • Notes
        • First appearance of Mikey.
        • The ferris wheel in the episode is of a strange design; instead of the traditional, geometric welded wheel, this wheel is made from from a flat, 2D metal wheel with chairs on either side. This design is probably used as part of the plot, so that rocks will fall into the one side of chairs.
  • The Magic School Bus Out Of This World (November 18, 1995)
    • Topic: space rocks
    • Dorothy Ann has spotted an asteroid that will hit Earth and destroy their school. The class has decided "to find it, follow it and finish it off." They also encounter a meteor and comet in this episode.
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Cold Feet (November 25, 1995)
    • Topic: warm-blooded, cold-blooded
    • Liz has disappeared and the trail leads to Herp Haven, which is some kind of spa for reptiles. There, they see a woman ask for her turtle to be "toasted and stuffed, just like the last one." The class has decided to lead a rescue mission to find Liz, on which they learn about reptiles and how they need to move from place to place to get comfortable because they are cold blooded, which comes in handy, as Ms. Frizzle turned them into some!
      • Notes
        • First episode in which the kids are turned into animals.
        • An unusually high amount of students (three) do not participate with Ms. Frizzle on the main part of the field trip. These students are: Phoebe, Dorothy Ann, and Arnold.
  • The Magic School Bus: Ups And Downs (December 2, 1995)
    • Topic: floating and sinking
    • The talk showreporter Gerri Poveri is reporting that there is a monster in Walker Lake (apparently based on the Loch Ness Monster, as it is also plesiosaur-like). The class is very eager (especially Wanda) to find it. Phoebe also wants to find the monster so she can feed it. However, the bus' automatic sinking button is broken. They will have to find some other way to get it to sink. They succeed by adding weight and "crumpling" the bus. However, at the bottom, they discover that the monster was a fake; Gerri Poveri made the story up to increase her ratings. Now they will have to make the bus float again, so they can tell the truth to the public.
      • Notes
        • First time that the kids intervene in city affairs. This also happens in Gets Swamped.
        • Wanda's last name is mentioned

[edit] Season 3 (1996)

  • The Magic School Bus In A Beehive (September 14, 1996)
    • Topic: bees
    • When Wanda and Tim were delivering honey from Tim's grandfather's bee farm, all the honey went down the gutter in an accident. Tim managed to convince the Friz to take them to get more honey, but on the way there Ms. Frizzle drives down a road other than the one that leads to Tim's grandfather's bee farm. They arrive at another beehive, and help the bees to get honey for the winter, and the class also gets honey for Tim, while transforming into bees, of course.
      • Notes
        • In this season, the voices of Tim, Ralphie, and Carlos are deeper and much more mature. This is probably due to their actors experiencing early puberty.
  • The Magic School Bus In The Arctic (September 21, 1996)
    • Topic: heat
    • Arnold wants to know what happened to the heat from his hot cocoa. Ms. Frizzle thinks it is fitting to learn about heat in the land of ice and cold, so she takes the class to the Arctic. However, she accidentally drives the bus into the water, and the bus freezes. To make matters worse, the bus has been trapped on an ice flow with Phoebe, Ralphie and Liz. The class will have to get to the bus and heat it up to escape.
      • Notes
        • This is the only episode to take note of Ms. Frizzle's classes of previous years.
        • First appearance of Harry Arm; his name is a play on the phrase "hairy arm".
  • The Magic School Bus Spins A Web (September 28, 1996)
    • Topic: spiders
    • The class has gone to a drive-in movie, where the movie featured is Stand by Your Mantis (1953), about General Araneus, who is attempting to destroy a giant praying mantis. Two members of the class aren't enjoying it, Carlos and Phoebe. Carlos doesn't like insects and Phoebe is upset and declares that if she were in that movie, she'd trap the mantis, and take it somewhere else and free it. Naturally, this gives Ms. Frizzle an idea. So she drives the bus into the movie. General Araneus takes over the bus, and kidnaps Liz and pushes a button that makes the class go back out of the movie and shrink. He wants to use Liz as bait for the praying mantis! Outside the movie, the class encounters spiders a lot, and when Liz pushes a button that pulls them back in the movie, they apply what they've learned about spiders to stop the General from using Liz as praying mantis bait.
      • Notes
        • Carlos' fear is mentioned: spiders
  • The Magic School Bus Under Construction (October 5, 1996)
    • Topic: structures
    • The class is going on a field trip to the new suspension bridge they're building. However, there is a problem, Ms. Li (Wanda's mother) needs Wanda to watch Wanda's little brother William until she gets off her business call. The class decided to watch William together. William, only a toddler, accidentally uses the Porta-shrinker to size down the entire class (without Liz) and the bus and locks the class in the bathroom. The class uses the materials available to them to build structures to escape. This is the only episode where the bus doesn't turn into anything.
      • Notes
        • May be the last time the class uses the portashrinker(William steps on it after shrinking the class and the bus,Wanda's mother puts it in toy box)
  • The Magic School Bus Gets A Bright Idea (October 12, 1996)
    • Topic: light
    • Janet (from The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space and The Magic School Bus: Butterfly And The Bog Beast) was disappointed by the all-school field trip to a light show, considering that she wanted to see a magic show. She tells the class she could do a magic trick, but she can't because of the ghost that haunts the theater. When the class leaves the theater they find Arnold missing. When the enter the theater again, the see Arnold's "ghost." Keesha, the skeptic, is convinced that it is really a trick done by Janet to scare them.
  • The Magic School Bus Shows And Tells (October 19, 1996)
    • Topic: archeology
    • The class is on some kind of show and tell game show, one person shows and the other tells. Arnold will be bringing his rock collection and Dorothy Ann will be doing the "tell" part. However, Arnold arrives without his rock collection. He found a strange object, that he thinks would work much better, but nobody even knows what it is. Ms. Frizzle then takes the class on field trip to found out. She turns the bus into Suppose-O-Tron, that can test their hypothesis.
  • The Magic School Bus Makes A Rainbow (October 26, 1996)
    • Topic: rainbows
    • Ms. Frizzle and Liz have invented a magical pinball machine that uses light instead of balls (the light travels much slower than in the real world). The light goes through a prism and the player attempts to bounce the different colored beams of light into the appropriate eye, in order to "make the rainbow." Ms. Frizzle says if she fails to win the game, it will be taken away. The class decides to help, and they shrink the bus and go inside the machine. Mr. Ruhle, the principal, shows up, and Arnold tries to stall him.
      • Notes
        • first appearance of Mr. Ruhle
  • The Magic School Bus Goes Upstream (November 2, 1996)
    • Topic: migration
    • Ralphie is wondering what happened to all the salmon. They need them for the school fish frey, but they aren't here. The Friz has decided to take the class on a field trip to find out. She turns the bus into a salmon and puts a compact disk in the bus that makes it think like a real salmon, so it will go wherever Ralphie's salmon went. However, when the bus starts migrating, Ralphie changes his mind about doing anything to find out what happened to the salmon. He and some kids in the class attempt to stop it, but to no avail.
  • The Magic School Bus Works Out (November 9, 1996)
    • Topic: circulation
    • At this year's Teacherathalon Ms. Frizzle is competing against Mr. Sinew, the gym teacher with giant muscles. Janet (from The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space, The Magic School Bus: Butterfly And The Bog Beast and The Magic School Bus Gets A Bright Idea) shows up again, and supports Mr. Sinew, convinced there is no way Ms. Frizzle can beat someone who can destroy shirts simply by stretching his muscles. Ralphie wants to know what lungs have to do with how your muscles work, so they go on a field trip inside the Friz herself!
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Planted (November 16, 1996)
    • Topic: photosynthesis
    • The class is performing a play of Jack and the Beanstalk. As Phoebe gets stage fright, she decide to make the props. However, there is problem with the beanstalk. She tried to grow a real one, but it didn't work. So she tried to build one but that didn't work either. Naturally, the Friz turns her into a bean plant and Phoebe becomes shorter than Liz. However, no one is sure how plants get food.
      • Notes
        • Only time a student (Phoebe) is turned into a plant
        • Phoebe's biggest fear is mentioned: stage fright.
  • The Magic School Bus In The Rainforest (November 23, 1996)
    • Topic: rain-forest ecology
    • The class has decided to give the Friz a present for Earth Day, a cocoa bean tree in the Amazon (as cocoa beans are used to make chocolate). The day just happens to be the day the first shipment reaches them, but for some reason, the tree has produced no cocoa beans. They go to the rainforest to find the reason and Ms. Frizzle makes Tim and Dorothy Ann "RFI"s (Rainforest Investigators.) Ms. Frizzle's tree is in a patch of the rainforest controlled by Inspector 47, who talks with a strong accent and runs around the rainforest in a white suit. He is very proud that he got rid of the mud in his patch of the rainforest, however the class finds out at the end that that was what caused the absence of cocoa beans. The mud holes were where the insects that pollenated the cocoa pods lived and it is revealed that Inspector 47 covered the rainforest floor with artificial gerp. They explain this to him and he decides to "rip up this filthy artificial gerp with my bare hands."
      • Notes
        • This is the only episode with narration. It is narrated by Dorothy Ann to give it more "mystery" feel.
  • The Magic School Bus Rocks And Rolls (November 30, 1996)
    • Topic: water erosion
    • The class is building a statue of Captain Walker, their city's founder. Captain Walker left instructions on how wanted this statue made in the form of a poem. Ms. Frizzle's class interprets the meaning he wants it made without the use of hands a little to literally. However, the statue breaks off the top of the mountain, and falls down. The Friz turns the bus into a rock and follows. Water erosion reduces the statue to a head by the time they reach the bottom. Desperate to get to the ceremony, the bus cracks open a dam of rocks that has formed and slides down the mountain. However, they found that somehow they made the mountain into a statue of Captain Walker's head and realize that Captain Walker wanted his statue made through erosion.
  • The Magic School Bus Holiday Special (December 25, 1996)
    • Topic: recycling
    • It is the day before the winter holidays, and the class is taking stuff to the recycling center (which is run by Murph, one of Ms. Frizzle's relatives.) Wanda is going to see The Nutcracker and is bringing a toy soldier instead of taking money, as they are taking toys to give to homeless children. As usual, something goes wrong. Arnold mistakes the soldier for something being taken to the recycling plant and Wanda's soldier is turned into plastic pellets. Wanda declares she wishes recycling had never been invented. Naturally, this gives the Friz an idea. She turn the bus into an anti-recycling machine, which changes the city to the way it would be without recycling. It cuts down the forest, and turns recycling trucks into garbage trucks. The kids are confused when it turns the swing set in the park into aluminum cans and such. Wanda is still pleased, since if recycling hadn't been invented, then her soldier would be still waiting for them in school. However the bus turns the school into a garbage dump when they get there. Finally, the bus un-recycles itself. Wanda then apologized that she ever wanted to get rid of recycling, and wants it back. The Friz changes the bus so it changes everything back. This episode is more Hanukkah-oriented than it is Christmas.
      • Notes
        • This is the only musical of the episodes
        • We find out Arnold is Jewish

[edit] Season 4 (1997)

  • The Magic School Bus Meets Molly Cule (September 13, 1997)
    • Topic: molecules
    • Wanda's favorite music star, Molly Cule, is coming to Walkerville. Wanda wants to have the great honor of washing her car. The class set up a car wash. Molly Cule miraculously chooses theirs over automatic car washes. The reason for this is explained when Molly Cule says that she can't afford to have her hood ornament get wet. When Arnold asks what it's made of, she says, "That's my little secret, Sugar." She continues to call Arnold "Sugar" for the remainder of the episode. After they clean the car, she found a tiny blot of tar on the car using a "megamagnifier." The class shrinks down to the size of molecules to find it, and clean it off. However, when they get back Wanda accidentally knocks Molly's hood ornament into a bucket of water. It occurs to Arnold that her hood ornament is made from sugar, from what she said when he asked her what it was made from. The class shrinks down to the size of molecules to rebuilt the hood ornament. After they start, they began to crystalize. The class gets to participate in Molly's concert.
      • Notes
        • Molly and Ms. Frizzle actually toured together in Ms. Frizzle's band, "The Frizzlets." She was one of the original members.
  • The Magic School Bus Cracks A Yolk (September 20, 1997)
    • Topic: eggs
    • Mr. Ruhle (from The Magic School Bus Makes A Rainbow) gave the class the task of caring of Giblets, his pet chicken. However, Giblets "flies the coop" and the class decides to get a new Rhode Island Red to replace Giblets. Naturally, they decide to hatch one from an egg. They learn on their trip that both a male and female chicken are needed to produce a chicken (though it is never explained why, being a children's show.) At the last minute Giblets returns. "I guess he who flies the coop can always fly back again," says Ms. Frizzle.
  • The Magic School Bus Goes To Mussel Beach (September 27, 1997)
    • Topic: tidal zones
    • The class has gone to the beach, but Ralphie insists on keeping the class in one spot, which the rest of the class think is the most rotten spot on the beach, being crowded with other people. Ralphie, however, insists that this is where they want to be. Ms. Frizzle hears that "Uncle Shelby" needs a special spot saved. Eager to get away from Ralphie's spot, the rest of the class agrees. However, they find the inhabitant of this spot is not a human - it is a mussel. They decide the middle tide zone is too crowded so they decide to find a spot. However, they find worse problems in the low tide zone and the high tide zone, so they eventually come back. When they get back to Ralphie, they try to apply what they've learned to convince him to change spots, but they discover he did have his reasons for picking the spot - the ice cream truck stops there.
  • The Magic School Bus Goes On Air (October 4, 1997)
    • Topic: air pressure
    • For the Walkerville space capsule, Ms. Frizzle's class has to put in something on air. Keesha brings an "empty" pickle jar though, "It's not empty; it's filled with air." The rest of the class believes this is extremely pathetic and Ms. Frizzle "accidentally" gets the entire class stuck inside the pickle jar. Conveniently, they have to use air to get out of the jar in time for the space capsule's liftoff.
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Swamped (October 11, 1997)
    • Topic: wetlands
    • Walkerville is debating whether to build a mall where the swamp is now, or to built it somewhere else. With the flip of a coin, Ms. Frizzle's class finds themselves defending the swamp and Janet (from The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space, The Magic School Bus: Butterfly And The Bog Beast, The Magic School Bus Gets A Bright Idea and The Magic School Bus Works Out) arguing against them. However, the class finds out that the swamp is home to several organisms, but Janet finds this argument little more than a joke and the city agrees. That is until a tree gets knocked over by lightning, blocking off the swamp and flooding the city. After the crisis is resolved, the city realizes that if they were to build a mall on the swamp, it would be washed away.
  • The Magic School Bus Goes Cellular (October 18, 1997)
    • Topic: cells
    • Arnold is about to have the honor of being the first kid to receive one of the Rocky Awards at the annual Granite Awards. However, he has an embarrassing predicament. For reasons that are never exactly explained, Arnold has eaten only Seaweedies for a month and has consequently turned orange. ("It's my favorite color; except when it's my own skin.") He then asks, "What's the difference between my skin and say, Phoebe's?" So, of course, the class goes on a field trip to compare their skin, but they get nowhere since none of Phoebe's cells are orange. The class has to learn about cells and how they get energy to solve the mystery before Arnold is forced to accept the award. It turns out the Seaweedies are high in carotene and Arnold's exclusively eating of them has pigmented his skin.
      • Notes
        • We find out Arnold's favorite color is orange.
  • The Magic School Bus Sees Stars (October 25, 1997)
    • Topic: stars
    • It's Dorothy Ann's birthday, but unfortunately she's sick and has to stay home. The class doesn't know what to get D.A. as a present until they see Horace Scope on S.S.N. (the Star Shopping Network) who's selling the stars for seven dollars each. Tim reasons that if every student puts in a dollar, they will be able to buy Dorothy Ann a star and name it after her. However, Keesha refuses to put in her dollar, as her grandmother was once duped by a similar organization (the Home Mopping Network.) Therefore Ms. Frizzle takes the class on field trip to see the three stars being sold by Horace Scope for themselves.
  • The Magic School Bus Gains Weight (November 1, 1997)
    • Topic: gravity
    • Phoebe has been chosen to do a slam dunk for the whole school. How can she do that? She's not tall enough. She reasons that maybe if she just knew how it felt, then maybe she could do it. Therefore, Ms. Frizzle takes the class into outer space and transforms the school bus into a planet with adjustable gravity. With little gravity, Phoebe finds a slam dunk easy, but with no gravity it is impossible to even make the ball go through the basket. However, when the lever accidentally falls into the position of heavy gravity the class has trouble even standing up. They'll have to get the gravity back to normal in order to return to Earth in time for Phoebe's performance.
      • Notes
        • Phoebe's last name is mentioned
  • The Magic School Bus Makes A Stink (November 8, 1997)
    • Topic: smell
    • Flora Whiff, the famous expert on smell -whose "nose knows"-, comes to school to judge the First Annual Smell Search. Ms. Frizzle's class creates a unique smell which is bound to take first prize, but Arnold's cousin, Janet, determined to win by herself, changes their smell to an odor only a skunk could love. The kids discover the secret to what makes things smell and they need to use it to win the competition.
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Charged (November 15, 1997)
    • Topic: electricity
    • It's Valentine's Day, and the class is selling light bulbs as a fundraiser. They decide to go to Ms. Frizzle's house to see if she'd like to buy some, but her doorbell isn't working. Tim and Wanda go to find her, and they overhear her reading a "love letter". The class now has to fix the doorbell before Ms. Frizzle's "big connection" comes over.
  • The Magic School Bus Gets Programmed (November 22, 1997)
    • Topic: computers
    • Mr. Rhule, the principal, gets a new computer, and it's Ms. Frizzle's class' job to open up the school and set up his computer. Carlos's brother, Mikey (from The Magic School Bus Getting Energized), is a computer expert. After he sets the computer up to raise the flag, make the coffee in the teachers' lounge and ring the bell, he goes on his own trip to see the inner workings of the computer. As usual, something goes wrong, and Mikey has set the computer to do the tasks every minute instead of everyday. Can the class get to Mikey to have him fix the problem?
      • Notes
        • According to TV.com, this episode is not received warmly by the viewers as it scored 6.5 (the lowest rating of all the MSB episodes) making it the worst episode ever watched.
  • The Magic School Bus In The City (November 29, 1997)
    • Topic: city critters
    • On the class' first "normal" field trip to the zoo, they wonder how the animals could live in the city. Ms. Frizzle then turns the kids into various city animals (Tim, Arnold, and Phoebe into foxes; Ralphie, Wanda, and Keesha into possums; Dorothy Ann and Carlos into peregrine falcons, and Ms. Frizzle a raccoon), but the bus thinks it's a bear, and with Liz inside, leaves the class. Will the class make it to the bus in time, or will they be animals forever?
  • The Magic School Bus Takes A Dive (December 6, 1997)
    • Topic: coral reefs and symbiosis
    • For their coral reef projects, the class each worked in partners. Wanda hates partnership, and instead of working with her partner, Dorothy Ann, Wanda does her own project. Ms. Frizzle tells the class about her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Redbeard the Pirate leaving treasure in a coral reef, and Wanda, a wannabe pirate, is for looking for it. Ms. Frizzle tells them to go two-by-two with their partners, which Wanda questions "Partners?" And Dorothy Ann points out "Yes, you know, like Keesha and Ralphie, Tim and Carlos, Phoebe and Arnold, and you and me." Wanda then angrily says, "I don't need a partner! I'm a pirate, not a weasley wimp!" But they learn about ocean partnerships, such as hermit crabs and sea anemones, snapping shrimp and gobie fish, sharks and remoras, etc. However, they are forced to work together when one part of the reef has been bleached out by none other than the treasure chest.
      • Notes
        • The transformations are as follows: Wanda, Ralphie, Carlos, Phoebe, and Ms. Frizzle into sea anenomies, blind shrimp, and remoras, and Tim, Keesha, Arnold, and D.A. into hermit crabs, gobi fish, and sharks.

[edit] Other episodes & funding

  • "Halloween Special"
    • The Halloween special, broadcast on October 31, 1996, was a one-time airing of two Halloween-type episodes (The Magic School Bus In The Haunted House and The Magic School Bus Going Batty) with a frame story featuring a group of kids lost in a museum. They met a strange man and he tells them about what occurred in the two episodes. At the end of the episode, Tomlin's character was revealed to be Ms. Frizzle in disguise.

Major funding for the Magic School Bus was provided by the National Science Foundation and Microsoft Home. Additional funding was provided by the United States Department of Energy, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the annual financial support of Viewers Like You.

[edit] DVDs

Each DVD contains three 30-minute episodes of the series. The following is a list of episodes appearing on each DVD.

  • The Magic School Bus - Bugs, Bugs, Bugs
    • The Magic School Bus Gets Ants In Its Pants
    • The Magic School Bus: Butterfly And The Bog Beast
    • The Magic School Bus In A Beehive
  • The Magic School Bus - Space Adventures
    • The Magic School Bus Gets Lost In Space
    • The Magic School Bus Taking Flight
    • The Magic School Bus Out Of This World
  • The Magic School Bus - Human Body
    • The Magic School Bus For Lunch
    • The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie
    • The Magic School Bus Flexes Its Muscles
  • The Magic School Bus: Catches a Wave
    • The Magic School Bus Wet All Over
    • The Magic School Bus: Ups And Downs
    • The Magic School Bus Rocks And Rolls
  • The Magic School Bus - Super Sports Fun
    • The Magic School Bus Plays Ball
    • The Magic School Bus Works Out
    • The Magic School Bus Shows And Tells
  • The Magic School Bus - Creepy, Crawly Fun!
    • The Magic School Bus In The Haunted House
    • The Magic School Bus Going Batty
    • The Magic School Bus Spins A Web
  • The Magic School Bus - Holiday Special
    • The Magic School Bus Holiday Special
    • The Magic School Bus In The Rainforest
    • The Magic School Bus All Dried Up
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