The BEST episodes of The Magic School Bus
Every episode of The Magic School Bus ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Magic School Bus!
A classroom taught by Ms. Valerie Frizzle is always fun and exciting. The colorful teacher owns a Magic School Bus which can transform into different things like a spaceship, a battery, or even an alligator! These things can help Ms. Frizzle with visual teaching methods as she reveals information about anything in science. The students include Carlos, Phoebe, Keesha, Dorothy Ann, Tim, Ralphie, Arnold, and Wanda. Originally, The Magic School Bus aired on PBS. But when production ceased after four years, The Magic School Bus's run on PBS ended with it.
#1 - Kicks up a Storm
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/4/1994
The Friz transforms the bus into a Weathermobile and -- in a wild ride through the skies -- Ralphie becomes the meteorological superhero of his dreams.
#2 - Holiday Special
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/25/1996
It's the last day of school before the winter holidays and Wanda plans to see the Nutcracker ballet. But during a trip to a recycling plant that belongs to Murph (Dolly Parton), the toy soldier she needs to get into the theatre accidentally gets recycled! Devastated, Wanda wishes for a world without recycling. Ms. Frizzle activates the bus's un-recycler, taking the class and Murph on a song-filled field trip. The importance of recycling hits home when the bus's magic unrecycles everything in Walkerville — including the bus itself, as it too was made from recycled objects! Will the kids find a way to reconstruct the bus in time for Wanda to get back to see the Nutcracker? (Dolly Parton sings an original song plus four special carols written by Peter Lurye, composer of the rollicking MAGIC SCHOOL BUS theme song.)
#3 - Goes to Seed
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/19/1994
The class' garden is going to be featured on the cover of PLANT IT! magazine. But Phoebe's garden plot is glaringly empty. With Robby Benson as Mr. Seedplot.
#4 - Gets Lost in Space
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/10/1994
Arnold's know-it-all cousin Janet drives the kids crazy when she joins Ms. Frizzle's class on a field trip and gets them lost in outer space!
#5 - For Lunch
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/17/1994
Arnold's so excited he doesn't have to go on a field trip! But when he accidentally swallows his miniaturised class, he becomes the field trip!
#6 - Cracks a Yolk
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/20/1997
When the principal, Mr. Ruhle (Paul Winfield), has to go away for a few days, he leaves his beloved chicken, Giblets, in Dorothy Ann's care. Unfortunately, the minute Mr. Ruhle is out the door, Giblets flies away. How will DA ever find another prized Rhode Island Red to replace Giblets? Where do you get chickens anyway? And which comes first, the chicken or the egg? The next thing DA knows, Ms. Frizzle and the class are on a field trip to see how eggs are made — from the inside out! But will this egg have everything it needs to become ""Giblets the Second""?
#7 - Goes to Mussel Beach
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/27/1997
The class is enjoying a normal summer day at the beach until Ms. Frizzle discovers a letter from ""Uncle Shelby,"" who wants the class to look after his beachfront property. The kids soon discover that this ""luxurious"" accommodation is only a tiny spot on the shoreline. Why would anyone want to live in a spot where they're battered by waves at high tide and baked by the sun at low tide? To find out, Ms. Frizzle turns the kids into... mussels!?
#8 - In the City
Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/29/1997
Ms. Frizzle's class is visiting the zoo, which is, according to Tim, the only place in the city where wild animals can survive. To test this idea — ZAP! — Ms. Frizzle turns the class into possums, foxes, and falcons! The Bus, with Liz inside, becomes a bear and wanders off, looking for food. Will the kid-animals be able to find the Bus-bear before the zookeeper finds it? And is Tim right? Can animals (like themselves) survive in the city?
#9 - Gets Swamped
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/11/1997
The debate is intense: Should Walkerville get rid of the swamp by the river and replace it with a fantastic new shopping mall or build the mall somewhere else? Carlos, representing his class, is given the thankless task of persuading the town council to keep the smelly old swamp. If he loses the debate, he'll lose to Arnold's pesky cousin Janet! The kids learn that the swamp is an important habitat and natural water filter, but the council's not convinced until... FLOOD!!
#10 - Takes a Dive
Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/6/1997
When Wanda discovers that one of Ms. Frizzle's ancestors was Redbeard the Pirate, she naturally wants to follow the treasure map he left. The map leads the class to a coral reef, where they learn first hand that life there is risky. To survive, they find, many plants and animals form surprising partnerships. But Wanda's not interested in partnerships — she just wants to find that treasure! When Ms. Frizzle turns the class into different sea creatures, Wanda as ""Wanda-Anemone,"" ""Wanda-Shrimp,"" and ""Wanda-Remora,"" begins to understand that partnerships are more valuable then she thought.
#11 - Butterfly and the Bog Beast
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/7/1995
The class needs a new mascot for its soccer team. Phoebe suggests butterflies, but everyone thinks they’re wimpy—until The Friz flutters in!
#12 - Goes Cellular
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/18/1997
It's the night of the rock lovers' annual Granite Awards, and Arnold is about to become the first kid ever to win the coveted Rocky Award. He's so excited, all he's been able to eat for weeks are ""Seaweedies"" — and lots of them! When he arrives for the big event, he's totally nervous and totally...orange! Once the class determines that the orange isn't on Arnold's skin, they shrink down to explore what's underneath. They discover that his whole body is made of living cells — and they're all orange! But where is the orange coming from... and how can they make it go away?
#13 - Gets a Bright Idea
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/12/1996
After the illuminating light show at Walkerville's old theatre, Arnold's bossy cousin Janet claims she could put on a much better show. Nobody believes her until Janet and Arnold mysteriously disappear. Ms. Frizzle leads her class into the darkened theatre to look for them. To shed some light on the problem, the kids become beams of light. Then, to their great shock, they see Arnold's ghostly image floating high above the empty stage! Is the theatre haunted? Is this just one of Janet's tricks? Or have they all been ""Frizzled""?
#14 - In a Pickle
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/21/1995
Keesha and the class return from vacation to find her prize cucumber has turned into a pickle! Could the Mike Robe gang be to blame?
#15 - Cold Feet
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/25/1995
Liz has gone off to a mysterious place called “Herp Haven.” Thinking she’s in trouble, the class rushes to Herp Haven, where they turn into reptiles. With Michael York as Herpst.
#16 - Getting Energized
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/11/1995
The class is ready to plug in their “Double-Trouble Wheel of Wonder” at the town carnival, when they discover all the electrical outlets are taken.
#17 - In a Beehive
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/14/1996
When Tim delivers the last of the season's honey to his grandfather's customers, the jars get broken. Tim's solution is simple: get more honey from some bees. But Ms. Frizzle sweetens the idea by turning her class into bees and showing them a beehive up close and personal. When a bear steals the bees' hard-earned supply of honey, the bee-kids discover one last field of nectar-filled flowers. How will the bee-kids communicate this information to the bees in time for them to harvest enough honey before the flowers are killed by the impending frost? Season Three premiere episode!
#18 - In the Arctic
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/21/1996
""Where did the hot go?"" wonders Arnold when he finds that his hot cocoa has cooled. In response, Ms. Frizzle whisks the class to the Arctic! What's the freezing Arctic got to do with heat? While the kids try to find out, the bus's engine freezes and the bus floats away on an ice floe with Ralphie and Phoebe inside! As the bus moves away, so does the heat from everyone's body. How can Ms. Frizzle's kids insulate their body to keep the heat in? Can they rescue Ralphie and Phoebe before they all become the Ice Cube Kids?
#19 - Spins a Web
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/28/1996
What do you do when a 50-foot praying mantis menaces your town? Run like the wind... unless you're in Ms. Frizzle's class and she's taken you on a field trip inside a 1950s sci-fi film. The movie's main character, the power-mad General Araneus (Ed Asner) is determined to destroy the mantis, but Phoebe wants to trap it and save it! Shrinking to the size of real spiders, the kids discover how spiders construct a variety of silky snares, making them world-champion trappers. Can the kids save the mantis — and stop Araneus before it's too late?
#20 - Works Out
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/9/1996
At this year's Teacherathalon, Ms. Frizzle squares off with Mr. Sinew (Dan Marino), a muscle-bound gym teacher. Sinew easily wins the first of the three events. Thinking there's a problem, the kids go inside Ms. Frizzle to check her out. The bus takes them through her lungs to the bloodstream, where they get pumped through her heart to her calf muscle. But when Frizzle's leg muscle collapses from the strain of winning the second event, the kids discover that her red blood cells can't get oxygen to her muscles fast enough! Can the kids help Frizzle recover in time to win the final race?
#21 - Gets Planted
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/16/1996
When Phoebe tries to grow a big vine for her school's production of Jack and the Beanstalk, all she ends up with is a stunted little sprout. To help out, Ms. Frizzle turns her into a real vine. But to grow tall, Phoebe needs to figure out how plants eat - fast! To unearth the amazing ways plants make their own food, the Friz and the kids shrink down and dig deep in a quest to root out the facts!
#22 - In the Rainforest
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/23/1996
The kids rent a rain-forest cocoa tree as an Earth Day present for Ms. Frizzle. But when the harvest arrives, there's only one shriveled cocoa bean and a note from Inspector 47 (Matt Frewer) reporting that, for reasons unknown, the tree isn't producing beans! DA and Tim become detectives as Ms. Frizzle takes the class to the rain forest to meet the impeccable inspector, who keeps a tidy, mud-free cocoa grove. What has Inspector 47 done to the rain forest's intricate web of life that is keeping the tree from making pods?
#23 - Rocks and Rolls
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/30/1996
To celebrate the founding of Walkerville, Ms. Frizzle's class sculpts a stone likeness of its founding father, Captain Walker. But as they add the finishing touches, the statue tumbles down the mountain. Ms. Frizzle turns the bus into a giant boulder and the kids into rock kids. They bump down the mountain in a desperate attempt to save the statue. By the time they reach the celebration at the base of the mountain, they've been pushed, tossed, sanded, polished, and eroded by water, as has the statue now the size of a soccer ball. The kids are sure they've let everyone down until they look back at the mountain for the surprise of their lives! With Jessica Walter as "Ashley Walker-Club-Dupree."
#24 - Meets Molly Cule
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/13/1997
When Wanda's favourite singer, Molly Cule (Wynonna Judd), comes to town, she chooses Ms. Frizzle's class to wash her famous car. The kids clean it from top to bottom, but when Molly insists they missed a spot, they shrink down to see the molecules that make up the car. Only then can they discover how to clean it down to the very last bit. But time is running out — they'll need a molecular miracle to get the car clean before Molly's concert begins!
#25 - Goes on Air
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/4/1997
""We got assigned air, and it's not fair!"" The only contribution the kids in Ms. Frizzle's class have made to the Walkerville Space Capsule is an empty jar. ""It's not empty,"" argues Keesha. ""It's filled with air!"" ""But air doesn't do anything!"" wails Ralphie. They discover that's not so when the bus shrinks and gets stuck inside the jar — and the class finds that their only hope for escape is... air!