Arthur (season 5)

Arthur (season 5)
Country of origin United States
Canada
No. of episodes 10 (20 segments)
Broadcast
Original channel PBS
Original run September 4, 2000 – November 6, 2000

The fifth season of the television series Arthur was originally broadcast on PBS in the United States. The special "Arthur's Perfect Christmas" served as the finale to this season. Steven Crowder was cast as the new voice actor for the Brain (aka Alan Powers). This was the last season where Michael Yarmush voices Arthur. In later years he returns to voice as Slink, one of the Tough Customers. Alex Trebek guest starred as Alex Lebek on the season premiere "Arthur and the Big Riddle".

Peter Moss replaced Carol Greenwood and Micheline Charest as executive producer and Lesley Taylor stepped in for Cassandra Schafhausen when she replaced Ronald A. Weinberg as producer. This was the aftereffect of the Cinar Tax Scandal. Head writers Joe Fallon and Ken Scarborough also left to work on Between the Lions, although Joe Fallon was still credited as executive story editor in this season along with Joseph Purdy. When this season was nominated for a Daytime Emmy, only Joseph Purdy, Peter K. Hirsch, Kathy Waugh, Dietrich Smith, and Bruce Akiyama were nominated as writers of Arthur.

This season won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Animated Program. It was also nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing - Special Class. In 2001 it won a Peabody Award.

Episodes

No. in
series		 No. in
season		 Title Original air date
761"Arthur and the Big Riddle / Double Dare"September 4, 2000
Arthur and the Big Riddle: Arthur goes on the TV game show Riddle Quest against a really smart contestant. In the final round, Arthur must decide between winning and his friends. Alex Trebek guest stars as Riddle Quest host Alex Lebek.
Double Dare: Arthur, Buster, Francine, and the Brain resent the large amount of homework they are assigned, especially because the Dark Bunny special is airing, which culminates in a large number of dares issued to skip school. However, the next morning, Arthur and Buster call everyone and they all agree to call off the plot because of guilt (personified by a giant clam from the special). Francine fails to receive the message and carries on with the dare.
772"Kids are from Earth, Parents are from Pluto / Nerves of Steal"September 11, 2000
Kids Are from Earth, Parents Are from Pluto: Lakewood Elementary is having a school open house and Arthur and his friends are embarrassed by how their parents will act judging from the previous year's open house. This prompts Sue Ellen to ask her parents to act more normal but this enrages her later.
Nerves of Steal: Buster wants a Cybertoy — the latest fad — but they are too expensive, so while he is at the store, he slips one into Arthur's backpack without him noticing. He feels guilty later, so he and Arthur try to return it without getting into trouble.
783"It's a No-Brainer / The Shore Thing"September 18, 2000
It's a No-Brainer: Buster beats the Brain at a class Math-a-thon, so the Brain gives up on his studies and Buster must represent the class. Buster realizes that he cannot represent the class and comes up with several plans to turn the Brain back to the way he is.
The Shore Thing: Arthur, Buster, Binky, Sue Ellen, and the Brain are excited that Arthur's dad is going to take them to the amusement park Aqualand. Although disappointed that they are brought to the beach, Arthur's dad tells them about Ocean Zone and leaves them to find it. They have fun at the beach and realize that the beach is Ocean Zone.
794"The World Record / The Cave"September 25, 2000
The World Record: Arthur and his friends attempt to break a world record by making the world's largest pizza.
The Cave: Arthur and his classmates take a field trip to some caves in Palisades Park. Arthur is afraid of going into the caves, but inside, he is not the one that is spooked the most. He uses what his dad told him and gets everyone out of the cave calmly.
805"The Lousy Week / You Are Arthur"October 2, 2000
The Lousy Week: When Muffy gets head lice, she is nervous about how her friends will feel. However, it ends up spreading to everyone at school, forcing the students and staff to be checked everyday and instead of doing homework, are forced to stay up late and have their parents take out nits from their hair.
You Are Arthur: Arthur is training for and running a 3k race, and the viewers can see what happens through Arthur's point of view.
816"The Election / Francine Goes to War"October 9, 2000
The Election: Mr. Ratburn's class holds a mock class election. Muffy takes the candidacy for class president seriously and a competitive campaign against Arthur ensues. However, they both lose to the dark horse Binky and learn about elections and campaigning in the process.
Francine Goes to War: Being annoyed by her new neighbor, Francine tries to get her to move by setting traps to scare her. This does not work and Francine makes a new friend as she gets to know her neighbor.
827"Sleep No More / Pet Peeved"October 16, 2000
Sleep No More: Buster believes it is his destiny to go to Paula's Pizzaland and win the pizza-eating contest to win free pizza for life. While he is there, he goes back to the hotel room to sleep early for the pizza contest, except he cannot fall asleep.
Pet Peeved: Francine pays Binky to look after Nemo for the weekend, but he does not take a look at her written instructions. When Nemo acts strangely at the mention of Francine, Binky keeps him away from her, thinking she is a bad owner. The tables are turned as Francine points out his mistake.
838"The Last of Mary Moo Cow / Bitzi's Beau"October 23, 2000
The Last of Mary Moo Cow: When D.W.'s favorite show, Mary Moo Cow, is cancelled, she starts a petition to try to get her show back on the air and visits the studio of channel 12 where Mary Moo Cow was filmed. In the end, Arthur's favorite show Dark Bunny gets cancelled to air reruns of Mary Moo Cow.
Bitzi's Beau: Buster's mom, Bitzi, has a boyfriend, and Buster is nervous to meet him.
849"Just Desserts / The Big Dig"October 30, 2000
Just Desserts: Arthur has a stomachache after eating too many sweets, and has dreams involving fairy tales made famous by the Brothers Grimm.
The Big Dig: Arthur and D.W. don't want to spend time with Grandpa Dave because all he does is play checkers and sleep. He tells them about a buried family treasure from their pirate ancestor "Blacktooth". The two do not want to wait up for him, so they take the map and look for the treasure themselves. It turned out that it was a story by Grandpa Dave, and the treasure was their Great-Great-Great-Uncle Matthew's nautical compass.
8510"Arthur's Family Feud / Muffy Gets Mature"November 6, 2000
Arthur's Family Feud: As punishment for destroying Dad's soufflé, Arthur and D.W. both explain their sides of the story and ultimately attempt to bake a soufflé to compensate for the one they destroyed. With Dad's help, they succeed.
Muffy Gets Mature: Muffy hangs out with Francine's sister, Catherine, because Francine is not mature enough. Catherine's friends do not receive Muffy well and ridicule her because she uses Mature Miss magazine as her guide for acting mature.

References

    General references