The Substitute Arthur

"The Substitute Arthur"
Main image Title card
Season/Series:	18
Number in season:	3b
Original Airdate:	September 30, 2014 March 2, 2015 September 30, 2014
Credits
Written by:	Ken Scarborough
Storyboard by:	Rick Marshall
Episodes
Previous "The Case of the Girl with the Long Face"	Next "Best Wishes"

Read transcript

"The Substitute Arthur" is the second half of the third episode in the eighteenth season of Arthur.

Summary

With Arthur out of town, Buster is on the hunt for a new best friend. Problem is, Buster only wants to play games HIS way. Will Buster learn to compromise? Or is he destined to play alone?

Plot

The episode starts with Arthur and Buster playing a giant version of Megalopolis, a board game. Buster rolls a three and moves to a Dunking Booth space, only to fall in water when he fails to answer a trivia question. After Arthur rolls, he gets to pick a card. It simply reads, "You're going away." Arthur drives off in his car game piece. This sequence is then revealed to be a dream, and Buster mumbles, "Come back..." in his sleep.

The next day, Buster tells Arthur about his dream. Arthur then reveals that he actually is going on birdwatching trip on Friday. Buster screams while the camera zooms out.

The Substitute Arthur

Buster is devastated when he learns that Arthur will be going on a birdwatching trip with his uncle Fred for a few days. Buster is worried that he will be bored and that there will be nothing to do while Arthur is away. Arthur responds that he and Buster should do twice the amount of things they normally do before Arthur leaves. They start doing things like cooking marshmallows and playing instruments, telling jokes and going on a waterslide, and watching TV while playing baseball.

However, Buster's joy fades away when the Friday arrives. Buster screams, "There needs to be more weekdays!" Mr. Ratburn comments that it would be great if everybody were like him, to Brain's astonishment. 

Arthur and his dad leave Elwood City while Buster tries to say goodbye, only to be exhausted as he tries to chase them on foot.

It seems that Buster's world is now gloomy and he can find neither the courage nor the force to continue any activity.

Buster's mother suggests that he hang out with his other friends to make time go by faster. Buster proceeds to make a list of things that he normally does with Arthur, so he can do them with other people. Buster tries Brain at first, but Brain does not appreciate Buster's rules for Megalopolis. He deducts that Buster's rules made him lose two IQ points, then says that he wants to play Megalopolis with the official rules. Buster responds, "That sounds hard."

Buster reads off his list to Muffy, but she objects to digging holes ("Touch dirt?") and riding roller coasters. ("Motion sickness.") Muffy suggests that they go clothes shopping.

Buster then decides to visit Francine, but she finds all of his activities boring. Buster then suggests "tree ball," a game of his own, but Francine instead wants to play tennis. However, Buster has never played tennis before.

Buster then stares at the Read house, to D.W.'s annoyance. D.W. lets him come in, then suggests that they play a game. During a game of Megalopolis, D.W. plays the game using her own rules, and does not want to play it Buster's way. Buster realizes that he is acting like D.W., as he refused to try playing tennis with Francine and used his own Megalopolis rules at Brain's house.

Buster asks Brain to show him the real Megalopolis rules. He learns that it can be fun to try new hobbies. He manages to play Megalopolis correctly with Brain, advises Muffy on a hat choice, and beats Francine at tennis.

When Arthur returns, Buster chooses to play tennis with him. He then talks about the new Megalopolis rules and how clothes shopping is "kind of fun, too." Buster tells Arthur that "a lot happened while you were gone" and that he learned something from D.W., to Arthur's surprise.

Characters

Major

• Arthur Read
• Buster Baxter
• D.W. Read
• Brain
• Francine Frensky
• Muffy Crosswire

Minor

• Bitzi Baxter
• Mr. Ratburn

Cameo

• David Read
• Fern Walters
• George Lundgren
• Ladonna Compson
• Madison Compson
• Teenage boy
• Maria Pappas
• Catherine Frensky
• Sean
• Edwin

Mentioned

• Fred

Trivia

• Buster's list is as follows:
  • Roller coaster
  • Camp out
  • Dig hole
  • Thumb wrestling
  • Staring contest
  • Kick a rock
  • Run in circles
  • Climb trees
  • Mud sled
  • Board games (changes to "Touch dirt" in a different scene)
• In most IQ classifications, the highest category is 130 and above. Even after playing with Buster, Brain's IQ is still 148.

Episode connections

• Arthur mentions Buster's Trip with his dad, which started in "Arthur's Faraway Friend."
  • The title for the official preview clip on YouTube is "Buster's Faraway Friend."
• When Buster imagines everything being gloomy, it resembles what D.W. thought life would be like without Mary Moo Cow in "The Last of Mary Moo Cow."
• At the swimming pool, Buster wears his swimming cap, which he first wore in "D.W. All Wet."
• Buster mentions he was thinking of inventing a "Mud Sled," which Binky had already completely built in "The Short, Quick Summer."
• Buster uses his asthma inhaler from "Buster's Breathless."
• Buster plays his tuba again.
• The TV show Buster watches is called "Turbo Troopers," which is similar to the Terrific Turbo-Trooper Toy T-Bot Team from "Attack of the Turbo Tibbles."
• Arthur mentions that Buster was in the birdwatching club. Buster joined it in "For the Birds."
• Catherine Frensky and Sean pass by The Sugar Bowl together. They were revealed to be in love in "Surprise!".
• Buster trying to find a new friend as a substitute for Arthur is similar to Muffy trying to find a new friend as a substitute for Francine in "Muffy's New Best Friend". In that episode, she tried to have Buster join her in clothes shopping, as well.

Cultural references

• The game Megalopolis is largely based on Monopoly, except for the quiz cards. Boot and car are two classic Monopoly tokens.
• The Megalopolis square Scarborough Street is likely named after this episode's writer Ken Scarborough.
• The question Buster gets while playing Megalopolis is "Who wrote Beethoven's fifth symphony?"

Errors

• The cold open is missing when this episode is made available on the PBS Kids website and app.

Gallery

Main article: The Substitute Arthur/Gallery