The ECDC Trendspotting Page

=Trends...= Here's a new trend from Agent0042

Number of times Arthur hides something or gets embarrassed, fearing people will think him babyish... At least 7, probably more...

 * #10401 - "D.W.'s Imaginary Friend"
 * Arthur thinks D.W.'s imaginary friend Nadine is babyish and doesn't want to be seen around her when she's talking to Nadine, particularly when going to Wonderworld.


 * #11101 - "Arthur's Baby"
 * Arthur has a fantasy sequence in which everyone makes fun of him for talking like a baby.


 * #12401 - "Arthur's Tooth"
 * Arthur's afraid everyone will think he's a baby because he's the only kid in his class that hasn't yet lost a baby tooth.


 * #12701 - "D.W.'s Blankie"
 * Arthur looks for ways to avoid telling his friends that he's helping D.W. search for her blankie.


 * #20101 "Arthur Meets Mister Rogers"
 * Arthur doesn't want his friends to know that Mister Rogers is staying at his house, fearing that they think Mister Rogers (and specifically his program) is babyish.


 * #40101 - "D.W.'s Library Card"
 * Arthur refuses to check out Hopalong the Frog for D.W., worrying that if he does this the library may forever restrict him to only checking out "baby books."


 * #41002 - "That's a Baby Show!"
 * Arthur hides the fact that he watches Love Ducks, fearing that his friends will tease him for watching a "baby show."

"If you want a job doing, do it yourself..."
''How many times has Arthur and the gang tried to make things right without asking/or listening? Here's just a few on my mind... There are probably loads more for this one. ''


 * #11401 - "Arthur the Wrecker"
 * After messing with the computer, Arthur shouldn't have gone for help, he should have told his Mom right away. He shouldn't have messed with the computer in the first place...


 * #20802 - "The Big Blow-Up"
 * Arthur and Buster forge Francine and the Brain's signatures. They do succeed, but Francine and the Brain end up mad at them.


 * #21402 - "Arthur's Knee"
 * Couldn't Arthur have taken off his bike's wheel or asked Francine's Dad for help at the dump?


 * "1001 Dads"
 * Arthur and the gang try to get Buster another dad even though he keeps on telling them to leave him alone because he has other plans.


 * #60202 - "Buster's Sweet Success"
 * Arthur and Buster won't wait for Arthur's Dad to make the chocolates.

"Ice cream, revolting instances of"
''This actually appears to be a wavering trend... it used to be commonplace for Arthur & Co. to enjoy strange ice cream flavors. Ice cream is still common on the show; however the flavor usually isn't pointed out. Buster's usually the one eating the nasty stuff, but then, Buster will eat anything.''


 * #12102 - "The Perfect Brother"
 * Brain's parents had to go away to a ice cream conference, as Brain's Mom was getting an award for her new flavor, "Cucumber Crunch"


 * #12601 - "My Dad the Garbage Man"
 * Arthur's class gets to make an ice cream at Brain's Mom's store. They create "Rocky Ratburn" ice cream, with the main ingredient being pizza. Buster likes it.


 * #12602 - "Poor Muffy"
 * Francine and her Dad and Muffy go for ice creams. Muffy orders herself a "Ham Ripple" ice cream.


 * #20401 - "Arthur Makes a Movie"
 * Muffy films Buster eating "ranchero" flavour ice cream. Muffy notes that the ice cream contains crumbled taco shells.


 * #20602 - "Buster Baxter, Cat Saver"
 * Buster's got a fish-flavored ice cream: "Rocky Trout".


 * #30502 - "Revenge of the Chip"
 * Arthur and D.W. stop for ice cream at Brain's Mom's store. D.W. says she wants "Rocky Road with extra cookie pieces" at first, but then realizes that that isn't a particularly grown-up choice, so she asks if she can get something vegetarian. She can.


 * #60102 - "Best of the Nest"
 * Buster has another ice cream that includes fish. This one is a mixture of fish and French Vanilla.

Number of times someone in the Read household is interrupted while having a bath... At least 8...
''I could include the times Francine bothers Catherine in their bathroom, but I've made my point. :)''
 * #10501 - "Arthur's Pet Business" D.W. raced out of the bathroom clutching a towel after being scared by a frog. Arthur gets hassled as well while he's having a bath by Perky's constant reminder alarms.
 * #10301 - "D.W. All Wet" -- In this one, Arthur scares D.W. with a pretend octopus, and she runs off, with only some soap bubbles as protection. Luckily she thinks to grab a bathrobe when she waits to shout at Arthur in the kitchen afterward.
 * #11801 - "Arthur's Chicken Pox"... D.W. harasses Arthur during his oatmeal bath, and then when she tries to have a bath, Grandma Thora comes in and D.W.'s jig is up...
 * #21602 - "D.W. Blows the Whistle" Arthur's having a bath, and playing with his race cars when D.W. intervenes... Arthur isn't safe having a bath without a personal floatation device!
 * #30201 - "D.W., All Fired Up"- This time, Arthur gets bothered by D.W. while he's having a shower. D.W. thinks the steam coming from under the bathroom door is smoke from a fire.
 * #40201 - "Hide and Snake" -- by the time we get to Season 4, D.W.'s a little more modest (or maybe it's just because Arthur's friends are over...) she wears a bathrobe as she rushes downstairs...
 * #40502 - "The Rat Who Came to Dinner" -- Aonarr noted this one. When Arthur imagines Mr. Ratburn coming to stay at Arthur's, Arthur imagines Ratburn sliding waterproof notebooks under the door so Arthur can do schoolwork while taking a bath.

Number of times Binky jumps up and makes the obvious statement of "Field Trip" just after someone mentions that the class will indeed be going on a field trip... At least 2 times.
(I'm sure there's more... -- Dave)

Number of times something in Arthur's world looks like it has been modeled on one of the main characters: 6 that I've noticed.
At first I thought the only character this happened to was Mr. Haney, but he's not the only one...

I could also include #40401 - "The Contest", but it's sort of a "special case"...

Number of times that someone are either ousted from the Arthur gang, or made to feel like outsiders: 9 by my count, with Buster and Arthur being the most likely targets.

 * #10702 - "Buster Makes the Grade"
 * The gang act like they'll never see him again when he might have to repeat Grade 3.


 * #11302 - "Buster's New Friend"
 * After seeming to have something more important than his friends on his mind, everyone shuns Buster at lunch. Only he's too busy talking to notice they're ignoring him. :)


 * #12901 - "My Club Rules"
 * This one doesn't really count, since the whole group fragments -- their seperate groups aren't successful though, and thanks to D.W., they reform by the end of the episode. These seperate groups include:
 * Muffy+Francine+Buster -- Buster gets kicked out, since he refuses to pay double the weekly dues to club founder Muffy. Muffy thinks she has a case though, Buster eats a lot, so he should pay double.
 * Buster+Sue Ellen -- Sue Ellen leaves due to Buster's eating habits.
 * Brain+Buster -- Brain kicks Buster out, since Buster doesn't enjoy science the way Brain does.
 * Brain+Francine+Sue Ellen -- They take over Arthur's treehouse, and refuse to let Arthur in!


 * #21301 - "Water and the Brain"
 * Everyone thinks Brain's a snob, because of the way he tries to cover up his fear of swimming.


 * #21801 - "Arthur the Loser"
 * Arthur's run of cheating/winning/gloating turns his friends against him.'Fern: "Everyone wants to see you lose because you've been acting like a jerk."


 * #30102 - "The Ballad of Buster Baxter"
 * When he comes back from his around-the-world trip, everyone thinks he'll be too worldly-wise for them. Plus, he doesn't like Kresblain the Merry Magician, who everyone else now thinks is cool.


 * #30301 - "Arthur Goes Crosswire"
 * Arthur's friends decide to fix him when he starts turning into Muffy...


 * #30701 - "Arthur Rides the Bandwagon"
 * Arthur suffers due to the fact he doesn't want to join the Woogle collecting craze.


 * #30801 - "Popular Girls"
 * Sue Ellen and Fern become even more outcast than usual when they decide to modify their behavior after taking a quiz in a teen magazine.

Number of times the gang get sucked in to a marketing craze, or a trend, etc., often with negative consequences (usually creating rifts between Arthur's friends): Loads of times.

Also, I'd better mention Crazy Bus, Bionic Bunny, and Mary Moo Cow, even though they're just popular culture, and don't alter the kids' behavior patterns.

Times where Binky hides the fact that he likes reading: At least 5, no doubt more...

 * #10402 - "Arthur's Lost Library Book"
 * #11401 - "Arthur the Wrecker"
 * #12701 - "D.W.'s Blankie"
 * #40101 - "D.W.'s Library Card" -- Binky hides that he was reading a book to D.W. about Chopin by covering it with a comic book and saying that he's reading about "Choppin'."
 * #40701 - "Binky Barnes, Wingman" -- while he's reading about how interesting butterflies can actually be.

===Number of times characters impersonate each other, or drastically alter their personalities, either for comedic purposes, or because they think it will help them win friends or solve some other problem: Too many times.===

Note that this doesn't count people acting strangely, or out of character... that's a whole other topic... :)

Well, that's all for now -- If you can think of any more trends I may have missed, [mailto:ecdc@canoemail.com drop me a line via e-mail].