Arthur (season 8)

The 8th season of the television series Arthur was originally broadcast on PBS Kids in the United States from September 15 to December 26, 2003 and contains 10 episodes.[1] This is the last season with Mark Rendall and Patricia Rodriguez voicing Arthur and Sue Ellen Armstrong, respectively, as well as the last season before CINAR, the show's original production company, was rebranded as Cookie Jar Entertainment the following year. Evan Smirnow replaced Mitchell Rothpan as George and this season is the only one in which he voices the character. Alexina Cowan and Sally Taylor-Isherwood also replaced Patricia Rodriguez and Vanessa Lengies as the voices of Catherine and Emily, respectively.


Arthur
Season 8
Country of origin
  • United States
  • Canada
No. of episodes10 (19 segments)
Release
Original networkPBS Kids
Original releaseSeptember 15 (2003-09-15) –
December 26, 2003 (2003-12-26)
Season chronology

Production

In a February 2022 interview with Variety, Marc Brown stated that the inspiration for the episode "Bleep" came from a young neighbor of his, who learned a swear word on the school bus.[2]

Episodes
Main article: List of Arthur episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleWritten byStoryboarded byOriginal air dateProd.
code [3]
106a1a"Dear Adil"Peter K. HirschIvan TankushevSeptember 15, 2003 (2003-09-15)106B
Arthur becomes pen pals with a Turkish boy named Adil, but he confuses his pen pal with his incorrect knowledge of Turkey, which he got from a comic book he read. When Alberto explains to Arthur that everything in the comic is inaccurate, Arthur apologizes to Adil and they both realize they actually have a lot in common.
106b1b"Bitzi's Break Up"Peter K. HirschJeremy O'NeillSeptember 15, 2003 (2003-09-15)110A
Bitzi, Buster's mother, announces to Buster that she is breaking up with her boyfriend, Harry. Buster, thinking he will never get to spend time with Harry again, is devastated, so he creates a plan to reunite them, but it backfires. After his mother explains he can still be friends with Harry, Buster feels better.
107a2a"Fernfern and the Secret of Moose Mountain"Stephanie SimpsonIvan TankushevSeptember 16, 2003 (2003-09-16)108B
During a trip to Moose Mountain, Francine is determined to beat her record of three hours to the top, but she gets frustrated when she is paired with Fern, who has no experience with mountain-climbing. Disaster strikes when Francine's impatience leads to her losing the map and Fern getting stuck in a muddy bog. Francine manages to beat her record, but her father gets mad at her for acting inconsiderate towards Fern and punishes her.
107b2b"Thanks a Lot, Binky"Peter EganJulian HarrisSeptember 16, 2003 (2003-09-16)107A
Binky saves Rattles from getting injured in a dangerous stunt, but Rattles is not grateful and refuses to thank Binky. Soon after, Binky tries doing good deeds to get someone to thank him, but nobody does. That night, he dreams what the world would be like if he was not kind.
108a3a"Arthur's Snow Biz"Jonathan GreenbergJeremy O'NeillSeptember 17, 2003 (2003-09-17)106A
Arthur and Buster start a snow-shoveling business, but an argument over splitting the money leads to them separating and competing for customers. After working hard for ridiculously low fees and getting blisters, they give Muffy their jobs and reconcile.
108b3b"Bugged"Jonathan GreenbergRobert YapSeptember 17, 2003 (2003-09-17)109A
Brain annoys his friends by constantly correcting them, and they call him a pest. After he has a dream where he becomes a bug to see how his friends really see him, he decides to never help them again, but soon learns that it might not be the best solution to his problem.
109a4a"Fernkenstein's Monster"Stephanie SimpsonIvan Tankushev & Patricia AtchinsonSeptember 18, 2003 (2003-09-18)110B
Fern tells Arthur, Buster, and Muffy a scary story, but they find it disturbing. Nobody wants to be near Fern because of her story, so she tries creating one that is fun instead of frightening.
109b4b"D.W., Dancing Queen"Glen BergerRobert YapSeptember 18, 2003 (2003-09-18)107B
Mr. Ratburn's class is doing projects with the preschoolers, and D.W. and Binky are made partners. They decide to do a dance for their project, but teaching D.W. how to dance proves to be a handful for Binky. Things get worse when Molly and Rattles tease him and he twists his ankle. However, D.W. dances successfully in front of everyone, much to Binky's delight.
110a5a"Vomitrocious"Dietrich SmithJulian Harris & Patricia AtchinsonSeptember 19, 2003 (2003-09-19)111A
When Francine and her friends tease George due to his constant nosebleeds, she suddenly vomits in front of everyone, and worries that her friends will make fun of her and constantly avoids them. Francine continues to feel nauseous until she stands up for George when he tells her everyone teases him but not her since she is popular.
110b5b"Sue Ellen Chickens Out"Peter Egan & Peter K. HirschRobert YapSeptember 19, 2003 (2003-09-19)111B
Mr. Manino, the Sugar Bowl manager, announces that he is retiring and plans to sell the shop to a fast-food chain. Sue Ellen is dismayed by this change and starts a rally for her friends to go on strike and save the Sugar Bowl, but it backfires when everyone except her cannot stay on track. In the end, after recalling the good times he had at the Sugar Bowl with Grandma Thora, Mr. Manino changes his mind and decides to keep the shop open, much to Sue Ellen's delight.
1116"Postcards from Buster"Peter K. HirschJeremy O'NeillDecember 22, 2003 (2003-12-22)112A
113B
Buster, his father, and the Reads travel to New York City. Throughout a majority of the episode, while Buster is using his new video camera, everything seen on the camera is live-action footage, instead of the usual animation.
Note: This episode serves as the backdoor-pilot episode for the Arthur spin-off series Postcards from Buster.
112a7a"Desk Wars"Glen BergerGerry CapelleDecember 23, 2003 (2003-12-23)112B
On a hot day, Arthur and his friends get into a heated argument over who gets to sit by the fan, which leads to everyone threatening to destroy each other's possessions, and the situation soon escalates into a complete battle.
112b7b"Desperately Seeking Stanley"Cusi CramJulian Harris & Patricia AtchinsonDecember 23, 2003 (2003-12-23)109B
Arthur sells his teddy bear, Stanley, to Vicita at a garage sale. He later regrets his decision and tries to get his teddy bear back.
113a8a"Muffy's Art Attack"Stephanie SimpsonJeremy O'NeillDecember 24, 2003 (2003-12-24)114A
After attending an art show with her father, Muffy tries to build kinetic sculptures but she cannot come up with any good ideas. Her butler, Bailey, builds some well-done sculptures, and during a showcase, Muffy tries to pass them off as her own.
Guest star: Arthur Ganson as himself.
113b8b"Tales from the Crib"Jonathan GreenbergRobert Yap & Julian HarrisDecember 24, 2003 (2003-12-24)113B
Vicita is upset when she has to give up her crib, so D.W. tells her how she grew out of her crib and gave it to Kate.
114a9a"Flea to Be You and Me"Story by : Cusi Cram
Written by : Jonathan Greenberg		Gerry CapelleDecember 25, 2003 (2003-12-25)114B
A flea named Pepe tells Kate, Pal, and Amigo the story of his journey around the world, and how he became separated from his brother, Sale.
114b9b"Kiss and Tell"Jacqui DeeganJeremy O'Neill & Julian HarrisDecember 25, 2003 (2003-12-25)115A
Emily tells D.W. how she felt when a boy kissed her on vacation, and D.W. begins to wonder what it feels like. She starts contemplating on asking James to kiss her.
115a10a"Big Horns George"Peter K. HirschGerry Capelle & Robert YapDecember 26, 2003 (2003-12-26)115B
George learns how to sing the blues, with inspiration from his giraffe dummy and Brain's CDs.
Guest stars: Koko Taylor and Taj Mahal as themselves.
115b10b"Bleep"Dietrich SmithJeremy O'NeillDecember 26, 2003 (2003-12-26)108A
While on a shopping trip with Grandma Thora, D.W. overhears a teenage boy curse at his mother when she forbids him from going to a concert, causing her to drop a glass and break it. D.W. wants to know the meaning of the word, but she is afraid that if she says it, something will break. She tests this on Vicita, only to get in trouble, and while her mother does not punish her because she didn't know what the word meant, she hopes D.W. learns that swear words are inappropriate things to say, especially for kids her age. After her mom simply tells her that people get offended by such words and that they can mean "I want to hurt your feelings", D.W. decided to have a talk with her friends the next day about using swear words.

References
  1. "PBS Kids: Arthur: On TV". PBS Kids. Archived from the original on 5 October 2003. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  2. Hailu, Selome (22 February 2022). "'Arthur' Creator on Ending the Beloved Series After 25 Years, Arthur's Radical Identity and the 'New Puzzles' Ahead". Variety. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  3. From the GBH Open Vault: "GBH Open Vault - Search [search: "Arthur"]". GBH Open Vault. Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
General references
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