The BEST episodes of Arthur

Every episode of Arthur ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Arthur!

The adventures of Arthur, an 8-year-old aardvark, and his family and friends as they grow up and learn how to be good neighbors to one another.

Last Updated: 12/24/2023Network: PBSStatus: Ended
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Tipping the Scales
star
10.33
12 votes

#1 - Tipping the Scales

Season 9 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/27/2004

Everyone in Arthur's chorus group is excited about their upcoming performance in Crown City. Everyone knows nothing beats that post-concert cheesecake at Finklemeyers! But when strict Dr. Fugue replaces fun Mrs. Krasny as their teacher, the gang worries -- will music class ever be fun again?

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Bully for Binky
star
10.17
6 votes

#2 - Bully for Binky

Season 1 - Episode 45 - Aired 11/6/1996

Binky is the toughest kid in school and everyone is afraid of him. He messes with the wrong person: Sue Ellen, and thinks that she is a pushover until he finds out that she is a blackbelt in Tai-Kwan-Do!

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Bugged
star
10.00
5 votes

#3 - Bugged

Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/17/2003

When Francine insults the Brain, he wakes up to find out he has a bug's body! Is this a crazy dream? Will Francine learn to keep her rude comments to herself?

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My Music Rules
star
9.84
32 votes

#4 - My Music Rules

Season 4 - Episode 19 - Aired 10/18/1999

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Saxophonist Joshua Redman were invited by Grandma Thora and D.W, Arthur and his friends. They battle over what kind of music is better than the rest-Classical or Jazz.

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The Great MacGrady
star
9.80
35 votes

#5 - The Great MacGrady

Season 13 - Episode 9 - Aired 10/19/2009

When Lakewood Elementary`s beloved lunch lady Mrs. MacGrady is diagnosed with cancer, Arthur and his friends all react differently to the news—Arthur and D.W. rush to her side with heaps of chicken soup and stuffed animals, Muffy tries to pretend that nothing in her life has changed, and Francine is so upset she can`t even bring herself to visit Mrs. MacGrady. In this moving episode, both parents and kids learn how they can come together to support Mrs. MacGrady and each other—and Lance Armstrong makes a special appearance to show Francine and the Elwood City residents how they can take a stand, or ride a bike, for cancer survivors.

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The Boy with His Head in the Clouds
star
9.75
32 votes

#6 - The Boy with His Head in the Clouds

Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 11/5/2001

All the kids know that George is smart -- so why does he sometimes have trouble reading and writing? With a little help from others with dyslexia like Principal Haney ... and Leonardo DaVinci! ... George and the gang discover that learning happens in all different ways.

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The Law of the Jungle Gym
star
9.71
34 votes

#7 - The Law of the Jungle Gym

Season 9 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/29/2004

The Tough Customers --- most of the kids in Arthur's class fear them, even though they're definitely not the most fierce as far as bullies go. However, when Muffy tries using the jungle gym they use as their Tower of Pain for a photo shoot, she starts a feud that has everyone in Ratburn's class on her side. Muffy, however, doesn't care about freeing the jungle gym, she just wants a good space for her photo shooting. And Molly doesn't really want to terrorize Muffy, she just wants her old place to chill back. More Info --- ECDC

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The Curse of the Grebes
star
9.66
35 votes

#8 - The Curse of the Grebes

Season 10 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/22/2006

Three new power hitters join the Elwood City baseball team, The Grebes. Buster and Harry are huge fans and attend almost every game. But when the team begins to lose the championship, Buster learns the story about a decades-old curse that was set on the team, and wonders if he is the carrier of that curse, because the Grebes seem to lose every game he is at.

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Brain Gets Hooked
star
9.59
34 votes

#9 - Brain Gets Hooked

Season 13 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/14/2009

Brain gets hooked on the latest tween reality show, Junior Island. He knows he has a problem when he starts to ignore his friends and his schoolwork. But what can he do to break the addiction?

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D.W. Goes to Washington
star
9.58
38 votes

#10 - D.W. Goes to Washington

Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 10/31/1997

It's the 1st family trip and Arthur gets to choose. He chooses going to Washington, D.C. and D.W. thinks that she's going to be bored until she accidentally runs into the president of U.S.A.

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D.W. Beats All
star
9.56
32 votes

#11 - D.W. Beats All

Season 9 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/7/2005

The Tibbles receive a new set of drums and want to perform in the Summer Serenade Festival, leaving D.W. to moan over not having her own instrument.

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Arthur Accused!
star
9.56
9 votes

#12 - Arthur Accused!

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 10/14/1996

Arthur had a job to collect coins for Mrs. McGrady to raise money for a new dog for the Elwood City firemen, and when he left the bag of quarters where Mrs. McGrady was working, she said she never received them. While this was happening, Buster opened his detective agency, he has no idea his first job will involve Arthur. Now, it is up to Buster to solve this mystery, was Arthur the real thief?....

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Meek for a Week
star
9.53
34 votes

#13 - Meek for a Week

Season 1 - Episode 33 - Aired 10/29/1996

Everyone knows that Francine is rather bossy and somewhat independent, but when she insults Muffy on her street hockey playing skills, it would seem she's gone to far. After a bit of crying, Muffy decides to make a bet with Francine --- she'll give Francine the Princess Peach watch that she's always adored if Francine can be nice for an entire week. Francine takes the bet seriously and pretty soon, her behavior is barely recognizable to her friends. Worried that she may be bottling her anger, Arthur and the rest of the group try to get Francine to let off some steam, before she ends up doing something really rash.

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Arthur's Underwear
star
9.51
39 votes

#14 - Arthur's Underwear

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 10/24/1997

Arthur has an embarrassing dream about being seen in his underwear and it gets even worse when it happens for real!

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The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Tibble
star
9.50
32 votes

#15 - The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Tibble

Season 13 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/6/2010

The Tibbles sell their art works to raise money for a toy by using pity.

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Germophobia
star
9.49
39 votes

#16 - Germophobia

Season 11 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/25/2007

Buster friends are getting tired of his unclean habits --- he plays hide-and-seek in trash cans, eats food that's been on the ground and doesn't always wash his hands. They've decided he needs to clean up, or they're not coming to his pool party. When they teach him about germs, however, he begins to fear them everywhere. Now, he's afraid to touch anything and is seeing swarms of imaginary germs wherever he goes.

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It's a No-Brainer
star
9.43
37 votes

#17 - It's a No-Brainer

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/18/2000

After a loss in the rehearsal math-a-thon against Buster, Brain decides to work on his new life....as a Comedian. Now Brain wants to hand everything down to Buster so Buster could be the new brain.

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Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest
star
9.40
35 votes

#18 - Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest

Season 1 - Episode 31 - Aired 10/28/1996

Arthur enters a contest to find the perfect jingle for a Crunch Cereal commercial. So far he's come up with nothing but is struck with an idea as D.W. hums a melody.

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Lost!
star
9.35
40 votes

#19 - Lost!

Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 10/30/1997

Arthur gets on the wrong bus to his swimming lessons and gets lost. He acts maturely and asks people to help him get back to Elwood City.

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Arthur's TV-Free Week
star
9.24
37 votes

#20 - Arthur's TV-Free Week

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 10/28/1997

It's trouble, right here in Elwood City. The kids--and their parents--have all pledged not to watch TV for one whole week. That's days, hours, and a whole bunch of minutes (10,680 to be exact, as Buster is horrified to discover). Can they last? Who will be the first to break?

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Play it Again, D.W.
star
9.21
39 votes

#21 - Play it Again, D.W.

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 10/27/1997

D.W. discovers the beauty of music as she first listens to her Crazy Bus compact disc which annoys Arthur. When it disappears she thinks he did it until they get a phone call from their parents at a party telling D.W. that they took it and it's the life of the party.

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Arthur's New Old Vacation
star
9.00
3 votes

#22 - Arthur's New Old Vacation

Season 25 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/21/2022

Arthur and Buster try to make the family vacation more exciting.

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Happy Anniversary
star
8.95
37 votes

#23 - Happy Anniversary

Season 10 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/15/2006

Mr. Ratburn shows a film about perspective and then assigns the class an essay about it. Arthur and Buster are disappointed to have homework on the weekend of the big Bionic Bunny / Dark Bunny special (in which everything will be revealed), but vow to complete it before the start of the special. Arthur, however, struggles with the assignment. Mr. and Mrs. Read are celebrating their tenth anniversary at a fancy restaurant. They're dropping Arthur off for Buster's sleepover and D.W. at Grandma Thora's. But car troubles leave everyone stranded. Things seemingly go from bad to worse when Arthur and D.W. get locked in a storage room in an old diner. They're disappointed, and a bit scared, but find inspiration in an old radio drama called "Kid Carter and his Sidekick Mistral."

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Arthur Plays the Blues
star
8.83
36 votes

#24 - Arthur Plays the Blues

Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/1/2001

Although Arthur's beloved piano teacher is retiring, she assures him that the new teacher is outstanding and famous, too! Then Arthur meets Dr. Fugue-who's as strict as he is odd-and begins to doubt his own abilities. Will Arthur be fired from playing the piano?

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Home Sweet Home
star
8.81
31 votes

#25 - Home Sweet Home

Season 12 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/23/2009

Buster worries about a trip to summer camp

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