Arthur (season 16)

Arthur (season 16)
Country of origin United States
Canada
No. of episodes 10 (20 segments)
Broadcast
Original channel PBS
Original run October 15, 2012 – May 10, 2013

The sixteenth season of the television series Arthur began airing on PBS in the United States on October 15, 2012. The season is the first time to be distributed by 9 Story Entertainment, after Cookie Jar Entertainment went out of business, being relocated to DHX Media, before Epitome Pictures, a Canadian company founded by Linda Schuyler, was also acquired by DHX Media in April 3, 2014, and the first time to be animated by using flash animation, which has been heavily criticized by fans.[1]

Voice casting

The voice actors for Arthur, D.W., Brain, Timmy, and Catherine have all been replaced. Drew Adkins has replaced Dallas Jokic as Arthur, Jake Beale has replaced Robert Naylor as D.W., Siam Yu has replaced Lyle O'Donohoe as Brain, Jacob Ewaniuk has replaced Dakota Goyo as Timmy, and Robyn Thaler has replaced Alexina Cowan as Catherine.

A new character, Ladonna Compson (Krystal Meadows), a rabbit with a Cajun accent, has also been added to the large cast of main characters.

Episodes

No. in
series		 No. in
season		 Title Original air date
1861"Based on a True Story"October 15, 2012

Part 1: A new girl named Ladonna moves to Elwood City from Louisiana with her family. In order to make friends, she tells the Lakewood students stories about her life. As she continues with her tales, the stories begin to repeat, and the kids are noticing. Ladonna begins to fabricate her stories and is caught by the Brain when she makes an actual mistake.

Part 2: Arthur and Buster decide to give Ladonna another chance, as long as she doesn't make up any more stories. But when something amazing happens to Ladonna and she tells everyone, they think she is merely making up another story, so she drags Arthur to where her hat was taken by a raccoon to prove she wasn't lying. Meanwhile, Ladonna's younger brother, Bud, tries to become friends with D.W. But Bud has trouble. When he uses his "Bud Compson Power Stare" at the Tibbles, D.W. and Bud become friends.
1872"Flippity Francine / Muffy Takes the Wheel"October 16, 2012
Flippity Francine: While trying to achieve a difficult soccer move, called the pinwheel kick, Francine trips and flips while being taped by Muffy. She soon becomes an internet sensation, but grows tired of all the attention. She decides she wants to be famous for something she is proud of and achieves the cartwheel kick in a soccer game against Mighty Mountain.
Muffy Takes the Wheel: Muffy and her classmates are excited about the 1st Annual Lakewood Derby. Each student is required to create a racing car from a block of wood. Muffy asks her father for help, but finds that he has taken over the assignment. Rather than using the car that her father made, Muffy creates her own design the night before the race and achieves second place in the derby.
1883"All About D.W. / Blockheads"October 17, 2012
All About D.W.: D.W. wants to play Little Red Riding Hood in the preschool show, but Emily gets the part. D.W. becomes the understudy and tries to convince Emily to not show up. When Emily has a sore throat and cannot perform, D.W. forgets her lines and needs Emily's help to save the show.
Blockheads: D.W. and Emily build their dream house out of blocks. As the plans become more ambitious, the two grow tired and are happy when the house finally falls.
1894"Get Smart / Baby Steps"October 18, 2012
Get Smart: Mr. Ratburn's class is given the chance to test out HUGO, an interactive whiteboard that is supposedly 100% accurate. When HUGO corrects Mr. Ratburn in front of the class, the Brain decides to locate evidence that Mr. Ratburn was correct.
Baby Steps: Worried that Kate may never mature after learning that Mei Lin can say "hello" and play the piano, D.W. tries many ways to get Kate to say or do anything as a sign of maturing. Meanwhile, Pal and Kate are confused by D.W.'s odd behavior, and try to find a cure. Note: The premise of this episode significantly contradicts that of "Paradise Lost", in which Baby Kate is showing great evidence of maturity.
1905"Night of the Tibble / Read and Flumberghast"October 19, 2012

Night of the Tibble: The Tibble Twins invite James to their very first sleepover. Worried for James' safety, D.W. and Emily try to help James to back out of the invitation.

Read and Flumberghast: D.W. opens her own office in her room, with Nadine as her secretary. The office is officially put to use when Bud accuses Tommy Tibble of stealing a cupcake from him at Emily's Birthday. The solution? Put Tommy on trial.
1916"The Last Tough Customer / Brain's Chess Mess"May 6, 2013

The Last Tough Customer: The Tough Customers realize it's time to quit bullying and set out to find a new hobby - but can Molly ever change her ways?

Brain's Chess Mess: Brain starts a chess club at school to improve his game and beat Los Dedos, the local chess master.
1927"Baseball Blues / Brain's Biggest Blunder"May 7, 2013

Baseball Blues: It's Grebelings season and George can't wait to play

Brain's Biggest Blunder: Brain gets teamed with Buster and Binky in the annual Arithmattack competition.
1938"Buster's Book Battle / On the Buster Scale"May 8, 2013

Buster's Book Battle: Lakewood Elementary has just instituted IRP, a program where kids can earn points (and prizes) for reading.

On the Buster Scale: Buster and Brain never agree on movies. Buster rates every film a 10, while Brain doesn't seem to like anything
1949"Fern and the Case of the Stolen Story / Sue Ellen Vegges Out"May 9, 2013

Fern and the Case of the Stolen Story: Fern tries to think of an idea for a story for Muffy's story club, but suffers from writer's block and writes a detective series heavily based on some of Ladonna's tales. Ladonna, however, becomes annoyed.

Sue Ellen Vegges Out: Sue Ellen decides to become a vegetarian, which inspires Muffy and Francine to take it up. Muffy sees it as a trend but soon lapses, causing Francine to bet she can stay away from meat and Sue Ellen to tire of their attempts to only outdo the other rather than commit.
19510"So Funny I Forgot to Laugh / The Best Day Ever"May 10, 2013

So Funny I Forgot to Laugh: Sue Ellen receives a yak wool sweater from her Tibetan pen pal and begins wearing it, only to have Arthur continually make fun of her for looking like a "sheep dog".

The Best Day Ever: On a day in the park, Arthur and his friends recount what happened on their most favorite days ever. Buster's is the day he spent playing checkers with Arthur after returning to Elwood City from living with his father; George's is the day he gained confidence after his puppet Wally broke and he had to read a poem by himself; Binky's is the day when he learned to stop his adopted baby sister Mei-Lin from crying; and Sue Ellen's is the day when Arthur found her personal diary. When asked, Arthur says he can't think of one, but after George points out that Arthur was involved in all of their stories, he then calls the day his favorite for spending it with his friends.

References

  1. ↑ TV Tropes. May 20, 2014.