The BEST episodes of Hey Arnold! season 1

Every episode of Hey Arnold! season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Hey Arnold! season 1!

The adventures of a daydreaming, jazz-loving, football-headed 9-year-old, who lives in a boarding house with his grandparents and some eccentric boarders, encounters life in the city with his best friend Gerald, a loofah-haired kid, who is the keeper of the urban tales and coolest kid in class; and Helga, who torments him, but loves him secretly.

Last Updated: 7/31/2025Network: NickelodeonStatus: Ended
Arnold's Christmas
star
8.33
27 votes

#1 - Arnold's Christmas

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 12/14/1996

Arnold tries to find Mr. Hyunh's daughter (who was separated from him during the final days of the Vietnam War) as he carries out his duty as Mr. Hyunh's secret Santa. Meanwhile, Helga must choose between a Christmas present for herself (Nancy Spumoni boots) and the perfect gift for Arnold.

Directors: Jamie Mitchell
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Heat
star
7.86
42 votes

#2 - Heat

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

The city is suffering from a heatwave, and whatever he does, Arnold just can't seem to get cool.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Arnold's Valentine
star
7.86
14 votes

#3 - Arnold's Valentine

Season 1 - Episode 38 - Aired 2/10/1997

Arnold gets a date with both Ruth (The girl he likes) and Cecile (his pen pal, who's actually Helga in disguise), but later the real Cecile shows up.

Directors: Jamie Mitchell
Watch Now:Amazon
Cool Jerk
star
7.83
24 votes

#4 - Cool Jerk

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 12/16/1996

An older cool guy befriends Arnold, but Arnold realizes that he is really a shoplifter.

Watch Now:Amazon
Wheezin' Ed
star
7.60
20 votes

#5 - Wheezin' Ed

Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 12/23/1996

Arnold convinces the gang to go to Elk Island, where, unknown to them, two men are plotting a counterfeit coin scheme.

Benchwarmer
star
7.59
22 votes

#6 - Benchwarmer

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 12/16/1996

Arnold and the gang play on a basketball team, but their coach tells them to throw the ball to one person, his son, Tucker.

Tutoring Torvald
star
7.58
19 votes

#7 - Tutoring Torvald

Season 1 - Episode 26 - Aired 12/30/1996

Arnold must tutor a 13-year-old, fourth-grade bully in math, much to his dismay.

The Baseball
star
7.57
47 votes

#8 - The Baseball

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/4/1996

Arnold's favorite baseball player is playing his last game, so he decides to go and see his last game. The only problem is that he winds up with terrible seats.

Watch Now:Apple TV
World Records
star
7.50
16 votes

#9 - World Records

Season 1 - Episode 35 - Aired 1/27/1997

The kids try to get in the book of world records so much that they would do anything, including most people on a one-person bike and the longest game of Crack-The-Whip.

Pigeon Man
star
7.46
24 votes

#10 - Pigeon Man

Season 1 - Episode 29 - Aired 1/6/1997

When Arnold's pigeon gets sick, he takes it to "Pigeon Man", a person surrounded by pigeons who lives on a rooftop.

Writer: Joseph Purdy
Snow
star
7.38
42 votes

#11 - Snow

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/11/1996

Snow hits the city and Arnold can't wait to get out and have some fun... but wait, there's chores to be done... and when there done Arnold has the time of his life playing Hockey with the "crew".

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Little Pink Book
star
7.35
83 votes

#12 - The Little Pink Book

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/1996

When Helga loses her pink book, full of love poems about Arnold on the bus, it ends up in Arnold's hands. Now Helga must get it back before Arnold figures out who wrote the poems.

Directors: Bert Ring, Don Judge
Watch Now:Apple TV
Gerald Comes Over
star
7.35
23 votes

#13 - Gerald Comes Over

Season 1 - Episode 27 - Aired 12/30/1996

Gerald goes to Arnold's place to meet the other residents.

Olga Comes Home
star
7.32
19 votes

#14 - Olga Comes Home

Season 1 - Episode 30 - Aired 1/13/1997

Jealous about her smart, talented, popular older sister Olga returning home from college, Helga fiendishly changes one of her grades from an A to B+, which sends Olga into a deep depression.

Downtown as Fruits
star
7.29
139 votes

#15 - Downtown as Fruits

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/7/1996

Not looking forward to performing in Helga's "The Four Food Groups" musical, Arnold and Gerald decide to take the bus a few stops too many, but end up stuck downtown.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Arnold as Cupid
star
7.29
28 votes

#16 - Arnold as Cupid

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 12/9/1996

Oskar gets kicked out of Suzie's room when they get into an argument, so Arnold tries to get them back together when Oskar moves into Arnold's room.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Door #16
star
7.25
36 votes

#17 - Door #16

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 12/9/1996

All of the borders get very curious to what is inside the very personal Mr. Smith's package.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Sally's Comet
star
7.25
20 votes

#18 - Sally's Comet

Season 1 - Episode 31 - Aired 1/13/1997

Arnold and Gerald must turn off all the lights in the city if they want to see Sally's Comet.

Writer: Joseph Purdy
False Alarm
star
7.24
17 votes

#19 - False Alarm

Season 1 - Episode 34 - Aired 1/27/1997

Eugene is accused of pulling the fire alarm. In the school court, the jury thinks Eugene is guilty except for Arnold, who believes there is a shadow of a doubt.

Helga's Makeover
star
7.23
64 votes

#20 - Helga's Makeover

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/16/1996

Helga is annoyed when Rhonda doesn't invite her to her slumber party - everybody assumes that "girly" parties aren't Helga's style. So, Helga is determined to prove her wrong, and gets a makeover.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The Old Building
star
7.23
48 votes

#21 - The Old Building

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/16/1996

Arnold is asked by his Grandma to help save an old building, and then asked by Ernie to help knock the building down! Who will Arnold decide to go along with? How can he get out of this tricky situation?

Watch Now:Apple TV
Stoop Kid
star
7.19
52 votes

#22 - Stoop Kid

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/14/1996

Arnold's hat lands on the stoop of "Stoop Kid," - a bully who has lived his whole life on his stoop, and is highly protective of it. But, when it's Arnold's fault that Stoop Kid becomes the joke of the city, he must help Stoop Kid face his biggest fear - leaving his stoop for the first time.

Watch Now:Apple TV
6th Grade Girls
star
7.19
58 votes

#23 - 6th Grade Girls

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/4/1996

Two girls from the sixth grade who are tired of the way that their boyfriends treat them, decide to take Arnold and Gerald to the school dance, but only to make their boyfriends jealous.

Watch Now:Apple TV
The List
star
7.17
42 votes

#24 - The List

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 11/25/1996

Arnold attempts to do something that no other kid has done before - completing the entire list of a kid's perfect Saturday! But, unfortunately, things don't go quite to plan.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Field Trip
star
7.15
61 votes

#25 - Field Trip

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/9/1996

Field Trip: The kids are really looking forward to their field trip to the aquarium - especially when they remember the scary Lock Jaw from their last trip. But, when they get there, they see that Lock Jaw isn't really that scary. Arnold notices how neglected the old turtle looks, and returns later with Grandma to set it free.

Watch Now:Apple TV