| "Muffy Goes Metropolitan" | |
| Season/Series: | 7 |
|---|---|
| Number in season: | 2b |
| Original Airdate: |  October 9, 2002[1] January 8, 2003[2] |
| Credits | |
| Written by: | Matthew Lane |
| Storyboard by: | Jeremy O'Neill |
| Episodes | |
| Previous "Francine's Split Decision" |
Next "Ants in Arthur's Pants" |
| Read transcript |
"Muffy Goes Metropolitan" is the second half of the second episode in the seventh season of Arthur.
Summary[]
Muffy finally gets to visit the big city when Sue Ellen invites her to Crown City for a weekend, and the realities of city life turn out to be nothing like her fantasies.
Plot[]
The introduction shows Muffy enjoying life in a big city while a parody of a 1960s sitcom theme song plays.
During lunch, the third-graders discuss their plans for the three-day weekend ahead of them. Sue Ellen’s dad is taking her to Crown City where they will stay with Sue Ellen’s old babysitter, Carla. The other kids all speak fondly of Crown City, but Muffy seems sad.
In art class, Muffy keeps talking about Crown City to Sue Ellen. Sue Ellen guesses that Muffy has never actually been there and somewhat reluctantly invites her to come.
When Mr. Armstrong and Sue Ellen pick her up, Muffy shows them a to-do list which includes a fancy dinner, a shopping spree, and a cultural event.
When they arrive in Crown City, Muffy is disappointed to learn that Carla lives in a lower-class part of town. They go to eat in an Ethiopian restaurant where Muffy is horrified that people eat with their hands and there is only one waiter. Sue Ellen promises they will go shopping the next day.
They go shopping at an open-air market and Muffy comments that she had expected to shop in a store. They go to a cheap boutique, where Carla shows Muffy a cowskin beret that Muffy calls “passé” but buys anyway. While getting some lunch at a hot dog stand, Muffy asks if they will attend a tasteful cultural event that night to which Carla announces that they will go to a place called René's.
Muffy images René's as a modern art gallery where she meets Andy Warthog and Keith Herring. As it turns out, René's is a small club where a poetry slam is going on. When Muffy sits on a couch, she gets some old gum stuck to her dress, and starts to gripe loudly about Crown City in the manner of a free-style poem after which the audience applauds.
As Carla and the girls enter a subway station, Muffy is heartbroken, but cheers up when she notices how classy the station looks. Carla and Sue Ellen tell her it is the city's very first station, having opened in 1903. Nearby, some jazz musicians play beautiful music and Muffy smells delicious smells from a pretzel stand. She sees a poster for a Moonlight Lantern Parade taking place that night and Carla agrees to take the girls there. Muffy puts on the cowskin beret and goes to buy a pretzel.
In the end, they come out of another subway station singing the Crown City song.
Characters[]
Major[]
Minor[]
Cameo[]
- 4th Grade Male Dog
- Jessica (3rd grader)
- Mrs. MacGrady
- Brian
- Beulah McInnerny
- 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
- 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)
- Debi
- Patrick (4th grader)
- 3rd Grade Male Cat
- Kenny
- 3rd Grade Male Rat
- 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
- 3rd Grade Male Dog
- George Lundgren
- Jenna Morgan
- Fern Walters
- Binky Barnes
- Keith Herring (fantasy)
- D.W. (mentioned)
Songs[]
Trivia[]
- Moral: Reality doesn't always meet our expectations, and that's okay. Sometimes it's the things that surprise us most that make something enjoyable.
Cultural references[]
- The Ethiopian restaurant they go to, Addis Ababa, is named after the capital city of Ethiopia.
- The opening sequence is a parody of the 1960s sitcom That Girl.
- Muffy throwing her hat in the air is a reference to the theme song of the 1970s sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
- Muffy getting splashed by a passing bus is a reference to the HBO series Sex and the City.
- Andy Warthog and Keith Herring, the artists Muffy dreams of meeting at an art exhibit, are spoofs of artists Andy Warhol and Keith Haring respectively. Their art styles can be seen in the pieces based on Muffy.
- Rats is a parody of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Cats.
Episode connections[]
- This episode takes place around Arthur and Muffy's birthday, as one of the posters says it is May 25. Since the events of "Arthur's Birthday" take place at the end of second grade school year, this doesn't appear to clash with any storylines during the third grade school year. The events of "Arthur Loses His Marbles" would begin right after their birthdays as well so it's likely that Muffy celebrated with her family either before she left for Crown City or after she returned home.
- One of Muffy's imaginary outfits shares the same color scheme and pattern as the abstract painting seen in "Binky Barnes, Art Expert."
- Arthur mentions the game Tower of Cows from "Double Tibble Trouble."
Errors[]
- During the drive to Crown City, the car passes a sign reading "Crown City 100", meaning it is either 100 miles (if in the United States) or kilometers (if in Canada) away from that point. However, Sue Ellen says, "We're heading into the city now" seconds after they pass the sign.
Home Video[]
DVD:
Gallery[]
Screenshots
References[]
- ↑ http://www.ket.org/episode/ARUR%20%20000702
- ↑ Arthur. TVO. Archived from the original on July 19, 2013.