History WhatAnIdiot / Arthur

'''You'd Also Expect''': Arthur asks his parents if they know where the blanket is so he's off the hook. Then at worst D.W. could spend the day in the basement, watching the laundry dry.\\

** Later, Arthur tries reading a book to D.W. at their parents' suggestion, while they are paying bills. She acts obnoxious about it, so he chases her around making roaring sounds while opening and closing the book, with Paul joining in on the fun. After a few seconds of them running around the coffee table where the Reads are writing checks, David shouts at everyone to freeze. He tells off Arthur for how he's treating a book while Arthur retorts that D.W. doesn't want him to read to her.\\

'''Instead:''' It completely blows past them when Kate stops crying the moment she gets her balloon, cluelessly stating "I guess we'll never know what was bothering her"; even worse, they let her keep playing with it despite the risks involved. Even Paul is dumbfounded.

'''You'd Also Expect''': Since Muffy has her copies of the books that she would lend them out to her friends as an apology until they can convince her parents to change their minds.\\

* "The Big Blow-Up": Due to a silly argument about if Francine was out of bounds during soccer practice, Brain and Francine start sabotaging each other's soccer performance because they refuse to work together during games Arthur and Buster get walloped by the opposing team members and are worried about losing the playoffs. They try to get Francine and Brain to work out their aggression in other sports and try to scare them about losing games. Nothing works.\\

'''Instead:''' They focus so much on keeping Binky at bay to spare themselves embarrassment that they have no report to present on the day it is due and as a last resort copy a section of their museum book, which Francine quickly exposes to the teacher in classes. That said, Binky ultimately makes a presentation that exposes the error made with the painting, and boys are given a second chance to do their report. However, they must still be called out for putting themselves in a bad position regardless of what Binky intended to present.

** "Love Notes For Muffy": When the science fair is going on at school, Brain and Francine present projects that are well-researched and relevant. Even Arthur shows HiddenDepths with a growth formula for vines. Then Muffy presents the equivalent of an [=EasyBake=] oven that she didn't build herself, and uses to present snacks to the judges, who are older students. Francine and Brain notice, and are dismayed that she essentially bribed them.\\

'''You'd Expect''': Jane and David warn D.W. that reporting a false emergency is CryingWolf and they'll have to confiscate the whistle if she keeps being a "tattletale" rather than using her brain to spot real danger.\\

'''You'd Expect''': Jane and David realize that Arthur has a point and at least try to get a last-minute babysitter. D.W. has proven irresponsible with the whistle and Arthur can't possibly watch D.W. and race at the same time.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' Arthur asks his parents for some help in finding another wheel or to get a ride to the bike shop. Or to wait for Brain to come back to discuss another way to fix their chariot.\\

'''Instead:''' While they do call her out for being a brat, they do not punish her in any meaningful way, forcing Arthur to enlist Francine's help in finding out what's wrong with her. And even then, she faces no consequences for her violent behavior, instead of getting rewarded with an ''invitation to Francine's party''. Francine did manage to talk some sense back into her, but D.W. still faced nothing for her actions.

'''You'd Expect:''' Her parents and everyone in town realize that a little kid like D.W. might not take well to this joke, and refrain themselves from bringing it up even if it's only meant in a teasing way. Especially since other kids like the Tibble Twins would never refrain from bringing it up at her expense.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' Arthur and his friends refused the dare because they knew nothing good could come of it.\\

* "Just Desserts": Arthur is disappointed when his father has to go cater a wedding and asks Grandma Thora to make dinner for him and D.W. He's especially disappointed since the wedding cake looks delicious. For context, Thora is a LethalChef who thinks that tomatoes go into cookies, among other things, and Arthur and D.W. had to break it to her gently in season one that no one likes her cooking after they get busted buying all her cookies for a bake sale, to spare her feeling. To get through dinner, Arthur buys candy, It turns out, however, that Arthur's dad left a delicious dinner and extra wedding cake for his children.\\

'''Luckily:''' D.W. is let off with a warning and told why to swear words are inappropriate.

'''You'd Expect''': Ms. Morgan put Tommy and Timmy in separate parts of the room, so that they would both get a time-out, but also not be in the same place.\\

* In "Never, Never, Never", When her mom asks her to donate at least two boxes of her old toys to charity, D.W. believes her mother doesn't love her and gives ALL of her toys to the Tibble twins when they kiss up to her, by saying how much they "love" her.\\

''' You’d Expect''': The FDA would never approve of manufacturing a candy bar with dangerous ingredients that can cause one to sick with withdrawal. They would notify the police and have Supreme Dog, the owner of the company arrested and have the company shut down.\\
'''Instead''': The FDA approved of the bar and is released to the public with many kids including George and Fern being addicted to it and experiencing withdrawal.\\
'''Thankfully''': Bitzi Baxter exposed the company and Supreme Dog gets arrested with his company presumably shut down.

'''The Result''': Arthur is nearly late to meet his mother because of the crowds; the tool that he wants to get for his dad is sold out, so he goes with an olive de-pitter. It's implied that Tina the Talking Tabby sold out with three days to go before Christmas; Jane mentions to Arthur with worry that she couldn't get one item on her shopping list. She then tries to break it gently to D.W., to explain that sometimes Santa runs out of toys with how many kids that he has to deliver presents to in one night. D.W. believes that Arthur wrote her wishlist wrong and rewrites it before dropping it off in the mailbox. Cue a tantrum on Christmas morning when D.W. gets a talking duck instead, though she quickly quiets down.

'''You'd Expect''': Arthur and D.W. would tell their parents, who in turn would talk with Mrs. Tibble about the boys' borderline bullying behavior. Even if she's an old lady who certainly doesn't have the energy to keep up with two rambunctious boys, at least there would be more adults on the case who could remind Tommy and Timmy that television isn't real and acting it out can get someone hurt.\\

* "Arthur Accused!": Arthur collects quarters for a fundraiser, then after the day is over he spends the day at the arcade. But before he goes, he drops the quarters off over by Mrs. [=MacGrady=], who is too distracted by a phone conversation to realize this. The next day, the faculty informs Arthur and Buster that they never got the quarters.\\

** The solution to the mystery: Mrs. [=MacGrady=] inadvertently used the quarters as an ingredient in her brownie mix, largely because the bag [[SatchelSwitcheroo looked identical]] to the one she uses for flour.
'''You'd Expect''': Mrs. [=MacGrady=], as an experienced chef, would notice ''hard metallic coins'' in the batter as the machines stirred it, or while they were in the oven (surely coins baking in batter would have affected the structure of the brownies), or--most egregiously--''while she was cutting them into squares.''
'''Instead''': She somehow completely misses the fact, over multiple occasions, that the brownie mix and finished brownies contain the quarters that everyone is looking for.

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'''Luckily:''' D.W. is let off with a warning and told why swear words are inappropriate.

'''The Result''': Arthur does a stellar job taking care of Perky, but feels wracked with guilt when it seems no matter what he does, he can't please her. Perky happens to vanish on the day Mrs. Wood is going to pick her up, because she went into labor. Fortunately, EarnYourHappyEnding is in full effect; Mrs. Wood thanks Arthur for taking good care of the young mother, pays him as promised, and offers him one of Perky's puppies. This dog becomes Arthur's Pal.\\
'''To Be Fair''': Perky had a tense relationship the local mailman, who, according to Arthur's father, had nicknamed her "Jaws". It may be that Perky was not just in a bad mood because of her pregnancy, but is instead a picky dog.

'''The Result''': They decide to research two different women based on what the librarian tells them, and Arthur is still befuddled at Francine's hypocrisy, since she has called him worse things.

'''Instead''': No one notices Arthur napping for several hours while he's reading a book. Apparently no one tells Francine as well.\\
'''The Result''': Both Francine and Arthur are locked in, since apparently the doors don't open on the inside or the outside. When they try opening the second-story windows, they find those locked as well. Miss Turner lampshades this when she and the parents go to the library and night and free them.

* "Arthur Accused!": Arthur collects quarters for a fund raiser, then after the day is over he spends the day at the arcade. But before he goes, he drops the quarters off over by Mrs. [=MacGrady=], who is too distracted by a phone conversation to realize this. The next day, the faculty informs Arthur and Buster that they never got the quarters.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That the first thing Arthur would do is explain himself and say that Mrs. [=MacGrady=] was on the phone and had to leave in a timely fashion, so he didn't get to tell her. Or at least say that he distinctly remembers dropping the quarters off. Furthermore, you'd also expect Buster to stay quiet during this because he had no involvement in any of this.\\

'''Instead''': Francine, bolstered by her ego and perfectionist attitude, scoffs and says everyone is jealous because they don't have her potential. The whole class is listening in to Arthur's futile attempts and get angrier. Binky, Brain and Muffy vow to teach her a lesson.\\

* "D.W.'s Baby": After the bit where Arthur burps Kate and starts getting along with her, D.W. gets jealous that he's being allowed to take care of Kate. Meanwhile, several months have passed and Arthur's parents want to break her of the habit of waking up at night since she no longer needs round the clock feeding. They decide to move her crib into D.W.'s room.\\

'''You'd Expect''': David and Jane tell Arthur he doesn't have to put the game name in his report; after all, Buster, Binky and Francine didn't go into details about the wrestling they watched. He could just compromise with D.W.; play what she wants for a bit and then do what he wants with her, such as reading.\\

** Later, Arthur tries reading a book to D.W. at their parents' suggestion, while they are paying bills. She acts obnoxious about it, so he chases her around making roaring sounds while opening and closing the book, with Pal joining in on the fun. After a few seconds of them running around the coffee table where the Reads are writing checks, David shouts at everyone to freeze. He tells off Arthur for how he's treating a book while Arthur retorts that D.W. doesn't want him to read to her.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That David and Jane at this point would tell Arthur and D.W. that if they can't play together quietly, they can go to separate parts of the house and play alone. Arthur has plenty of books to read, and D.W. is shown to play Confuse the Goose with Nadine sometimes. It's harsh, but necessary at this point. Arthur's boredom is preventing him from being civil, and D.W. is too bratty to get along.\\

'''You'd Expect''': He would stash the car with snacks for the kids, and make sure everyone uses the bathroom before leaving. Driving with a four-year old, a newborn and an eight-year old is no picnic. Changing Kate's diaper is one thing, as is traffic, but kids needing food and all is another.\\

'''Instead''': Jane stands there without holding onto D.W. and letting her client talk her ear off about Crosswire Motors. She stands there listening out of politeness and in any any important tax information has changed.\\
'''The Result''': After a few seconds, D.W. tells Nadine who came along that it's not going to be five minutes. Nadine tries telling her to stay put since that's common sense, but D.W. says she'll just wander away and her mom won't even notice. The two girls walk, and they start going in circles around a giant display. D.W. denies that she's lost, but eventually she admits she's worried about being trapped in the store forever.\\
'''You'd Then Expect''': If D.W. is lost, that she would go to a store employee, or the security guard nearby, and explain the situation, asking for directions to the front of the store. D.W. is a preschooler, but she is established as someone who can follow instructions if there is a reason. That is basic security when you are a child in a public place, like a grocery store or Wonder World.\\

'''You'd Expect''': Muffy to agree with Francine and study for the test.\\
'''Instead''': Muffy, boastful to a fault, claims that she's an expert at math and blows off studying. Then on the big test day, she copies off Francine's test. Their teacher, Mr. Marco, sees two identical tests.
** Mr. Marco then sees the test and finds out that one of the girls copied from each other. Muffy immediately puts on a "I didn't cheat" act while Francine gasps and is in shock. \\

'''The Result''': Francine ends her friendship with Muffy because she's furious with her, and Muffy in the meantime is busted for her lie about playing softball well. With that said, Mr. Marco punishes Muffy more harshly for the cheating and the lying when she confesses to him, so that Francine can play in the game.\\

* "Poor Muffy": The carpets in Muffy's house make her sneeze all the time. When the Crosswires argue about where to live while the carpet is getting replaced, Francine offers to let Muffy stay at her house while Mr. and Mrs. Crosswire stay at the mansion. Mrs. Crosswire says it should be fine as long as Francine's family agrees.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Given that Muffy was raised by the FictionFiveHundred that she would be polite and gracious as a guest. Mrs. Crosswire for her part seems to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure in this episode, since she and Muffy agree to let Catherine stay at the mansion and enjoy the FictionFiveHundred luxuries.\\

'''The Result''': With the game still in motion, Binky runs into Francine as she is politely offering to wait for the last thirty seven minutes to get her prize, and accidentally smashes the watch to pieces. This renders TheBet AllForNothing; Francine snaps, reverts to her old self, and vents her anger on the other team. While there's some CharacterDevelopment in that Francine lets someone else score a goal, she's understandably fuming when Muffy said she's glad to see Francine back to normal. Francine does tell Muffy that Binky owes her a new watch, and they go to confront him.

** D.W. has kept a snowball in the freezer for months following a devastating blizzard. She checks on it every day, and one day it's missing. After her mother hears D.W.'s devastated screams and confirms the snowball is no longer in the freezer, D.W. seems to want to blame Arthur, Pal, Buster, or Francine for stealing the snowball. Everyone is confused how the snowball went missing, because it only holds sentimental value for D.W. and Arthur calls it "moldy-old". Buster takes out his detective notepad, notes that the snowball's plate is missing, and asks everyone what happened the day before, when D.W. last saw the snowball. D.W. recounts that Grandma Thora and Ms. [=McGrady=] came to visit.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Everyone would just tell the facts as they were, without going into dialogue or outlandish accusations. D.W. is one thing since she's four and upset, but no one else has an emotional investment in the story.\\
'''Instead''': Arthur and Jane derail D.W.'s account by contradicting her portrayal of the kids' behavior, with Arthur saying D.W. gave Grandma Thora a splitting headache and Jane saying the kids were monkeys. Grandma Thora reels them in by saying everyone was angelic, and confirming that Jane opened the freezer to get ice-cream. Francine says she and Buster also came along and she accuses Buster of eating the snowball, without any proof. Buster then implies that she used the snowball to cool her soda, and claims aliens stole the snowball and the plate. (He ends up being closest to the truth.) Eventually all the kids accuse each other of stealing the snowball, and Thora tries to calm everyone down.\\
'''The Result''': Obviously no one ever finds out what happened to the snowball. The aliens are a KarmaHoudini who mistake the snowball for food. Later on Arthur, to cheer D.W. up, makes a new one for her and sneaks it into the freezer without anyone noticing but has to admit the truth.

* In the episode "Team Trouble", Arthur teams up with Buster and Francine to do a report on Ancient Rome. After discussing many different ideas, they decide to do a comic book series showcasing the Roman Empire, and each go home to do their story so they can present their work to each other the next day.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' The three of them to discuss the story they want to tell and to do research on Rome before jumping into the project, each one agreeing on what aspect of the story they'd be writing.\\

'''You'd Expect''': Thora would gently but firmly tell D.W. that she's being rude to her brother and that you can't be so mean to someone who is really sick.\\

'''The Result''': Out of irony, D.W. then tries PlayingSick and drawing spots on herself to get attention from Grandma Thora. Only then does Thora put her foot down and tells D.W. she's disappointed in her when the red marker washes off in the bath. D.W. then leaves Arthur alone, more preoccupied about her jealousy.

** Aunt Lucy is getting married. D.W. is excited, but due to being four years old she's too little to help with any duties. David in another episode found out D.W. can't carry cakes without making a big mess. She still wants to help and have a role, however. Cousin Cora has been designated flower girl, and Arthur is the ring-bearer.\\

** With how important the wedding is, Arthur is worried about doing his role well. Cora is a SpoiledBrat who complains about D.W.'s room and toys, and of course Aunt Lucy is stressed.\\

'''Instead''': Every guest literally shows up the night before the wedding, with no rehearsal.\\

'''You'd Also Expect''': Arthur to ask his parents if they know where the blanket is so he's off the hook. Then at worst D.W. could spend the day in the basement, watching the laundry dry.\\

'''The Result''': D.W. drags Arthur along on a fruitless search through town, retracing her steps from going out with Jane the previous day. Arthur ends up missing the movies, and is [[DeathGlare super angry]] with D.W. about it. Then her nightmares of separation anxiety wake him up. Pal only resolves the issue by rescuing D.W.'s blanket from the wash and bringing it to her, though she's a {{Jerkass}} initially because when it's clean, the colors are red and white and not brown and black.
* In the episode "Arthur's Lost Dog", while visiting a street carnival Arthur's dog Pal gets lost trying to retrieve a balloon for Kate, who had thrown a temper tantrum when she wasn't able to get one as the man selling them passed by. Pal eventually does get one, and brings it to Kate, even after Arthur fell under the impression that Pal ran away from him intentionally.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Arthur's parents to have the common sense to realize that it was the balloon Kate had been making such a fuss about, and in fact take the balloon away since they are potentially dangerous to infants.\\
'''Instead:''' It completely blows past them when Kate stops crying the moment she gets her balloon, cluelessly stating "I guess we'll never know what was bothering her"; even worse, they let her keep playing with it despite the risks involved. Even Pal is dumbfounded.
* "The Scare Your Pants Off Club": Mr. and Mrs. Crosswire overreact badly when they think Muffy got a nightmare from reading a Scare Your Pants Off Book. They then launch the campaign Parents Against Weird Stories, or PAWS, to ban the books from libraries and bookstores. [[spoiler:Muffy actually got the nightmares from eating her dad's ice-cream and happens to have read all the books, owning all of them.]]\\
'''You'd Expect''': Muffy would swallow her pride and confess to her parents what she did. They are stern but not that stern, considering how spoiled she is. While it's obvious she didn't know what they did in the beginning of the episode, due to her waiting in line at the library with her friends to read the newest book, by the middle she very well knows about PAWS and who founded it. By then her friends have started a petition drive to save their books.\\
'''You'd Also Expect''': Since Muffy has her own copies of the books that she would lend them out to her friends as an apology until they can convince her parents to change their minds.\\

[[folder:Season Two]]

'''The Result''': Due to Brain, Prunella and Rubella trying to sneak a look into Arthur's living room, suspecting that he's become a "zombie", Mrs. Tibble mistakes them for burglars in the dark and calls the cops. It comes out on the evening news that Mr. Rogers is staying with the family, meaning that Arthur caused the events due to his paranoia. And it turns out his friends are more awed than mocking when they learn Mr. Rogers stayed at Arthur's house, and are asking questions.

'''The Result''': AdultFear for Dave and Jane ensue when they get a phone call saying Arthur never showed up at his swimming lesson. They call the police and the bus company, while a frantic D.W. is left to wait with Pal. Arthur had fallen asleep on the bus, and only woke up for the last stop at the edge of town. He doesn't want to bother the bus driver because he doesn't have enough money for another fare, and the nice chef at the diner has to convince him to ask for help since she knows the driver is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure.
* In "Binky Barnes, Art Expert", Buster and Arthur are assigned an art report they must conduct with Binky and then present to class. When Binky presents them a modern painting that neither of them understand, claiming that it's been displayed incorrectly, Arthur and Buster fret over Binky and forget to focus on the assignment.\\

'''Instead:''' They focus so much on keeping Binky at bay to spare themselves embarrassment that they have no report to present on the day it is due, and as a last resort copy a section of their museum book, which Francine quickly exposes to the teacher in classes. That said, Binky ultimately makes a presentation that exposes the error made with the painting, and boys are given a second chance to do their report. However, they must still be called out for putting themselves in a bad position regardless of what Binky intended to present.
* "The Big Blow-Up": Due to a silly argument about if Francine was out of bounds during soccer practice, Brain and Francine start sabotaging each other's soccer performance because they refuse to work together during games Arthur and Buster get walloped by opposing team members and are worried about losing the playoffs. They try to get Francine and Brain to work out their aggression in other sports and try to scare them about losing games. Nothing works.\\

* In the episode "Play It Again, D.W." in which Arthur is driven crazy when D.W. constantly plays her "Crazy Bus" CD single. At one point (when he's trying to concentrate to do his homework), he yells at D.W., saying that he'll wreck the CD if she continues playing it. She tattles to her parents.\\

'''Instead:''' They believe her story and confront Arthur for stealing it. With that said, they have enough sense to not punish him since there's no evidence that he did such a thing, and D.W. is the one who keeps bothering him. Keep in mind that D.W. already got him in trouble for doing ''absolutely nothing'' except threaten to break the CD so he can have some peace and quiet.\\
'''Compounding It:''' Throughout the entire episode D.W. has been playing the song full blast and is noted by Arthur to have played it over ''five hundred times'' in the span of a week. No matter how much she disrupts anybody they don't once discipline her, even though Arthur is totally in the right to complain that she's overdoing it and making it difficult for him to focus on anything else. Instead they indulge her habit with a ticket to Crazy Bus Live, which they force Arthur to attend with them, and simply apply ear plugs rather than telling her to take a break. It's only at the very end of the episode that they say anything, but by then, since they have let D.W. play it at Arthur's complete expense for so long, it barely even qualifies as a slap on the wrist.

'''You'd Expect''': During the time period in which the series is set -- 1990s -- Buster would rely on the library to help him find proper film adaptations, and he'd prepare for it ahead of time.\\

'''You'd Expect''': Buster to put in effort to find a book at the library he will like, and that he can finish in a rush. It's his report, after all, and his grade.\\

** "Love Notes For Muffy": When the science fair is going on at school, Brain and Francine present projects that are well-researched and relevant. Even Arthur shows HiddenDepths with a growth formula for vines. Then Muffy presents the equivalent of an [=EasyBake=] oven that she obviously didn't build herself, and uses it to present snacks to the judges, who are older students. Francine and Brain notice, and are dismayed that she essentially bribed them.\\
'''You'd Expect''': They would go make a formal complaint to Mr. Ratburn. After all, ''he'' wasn't the one that was bribed with the treats and despite his SweetTooth he could agree that it wasn't fair. He could also reassure them, as he does at the end of the episode, that snacks won't be factored into the final judging.\\

'''You'd Expect''': Jane and David to warn D.W. that reporting a false emergency is CryingWolf and they'll have to confiscate the whistle if she keeps being a "tattletale" rather than use her brain to spot real danger.\\

'''The Result''': D.W. predictably can't decide what is actually safe or dangerous and annoys Arthur's friends.

'''You'd Expect''': Jane and David to realize that Arthur has a point and at least try to get a last-minute babysitter. D.W. has proven irresponsible with the whistle and Arthur can't possibly watch D.W. and race at the same time.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' Arthur to ask his parents for some help in finding another wheel or to get a ride to the bike shop. Or to wait for Brain to come back to discuss another way to fix their chariot.\\

* "Water and the Brain": Muffy feels hurt when Brain turns down an invitation to her pool party at a water park. He keeps giving various excuses to her and everyone else why he doesn't participate in water-based activities. Eventually, Arthur figures out that Brain has a phobia of water and swimming. Binky finds out right when he's about to pelt Brain with water balloons, and starts crying TearsOfRemorse. They resolve to help him attend Muffy's party.\\

'''Instead''': They spend the whole episode trying to cure Brain of his phobia, using crude exposure therapy. It doesn't work, though Brain is gracious and thanks them for trying to help.
* "Arthur Vs the Very Mean Crossing Guard": Arthur and the Brain are surprised to see a new crossing guard filling in for the usual one, and even more surprised when he asks for a fee for crossing. He then says they can pay him later but would send his goons coming if they took too long.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Arthur and Brain to report this to the school or to their parents right away, as they had no idea that the guard was just messing with them. Or for them to realize that the entire thing was a joke as his warnings become more and more outlandish.\\
'''Instead:''' They completely fall for the entire thing and don't make any mention of it to any adult until days after the fact, where they finally do spill it to Grandma Thora who proceeds to clear up this misunderstanding. Sure they may be just kids, but Arthur and Brain have both been shown to be generally more intelligent than this, and there was really no reason for holding this as a secret from their parents except for not wanting to force them to pay on their behalf.\\
'''Compounding It:''' D.W. of all people is the one to point out how ridiculous the entire thing is. Furthermore the crossing guard himself never realized that the kids were taking every word of this seriously, and continued to pile on his over-the-top warnings in a manner that to children sounded pretty darned serious.\\
'''Fortunately''': The crossing guard Ted apologizes when he realizes he scared Arthur and Brain, and later on the three are able to banter about it.
* In "Arthur's Mystery Envelope", Mr. Haney calls Arthur to his office to hand him a manilla envelope. The envelope contains [[spoiler:Mrs. Read's tax returns.]]\\
'''You'd Expect''': That he would tell Arthur, at the absolute least, [[spoiler:that it's important information for his parents and that it doesn't concern him, and at least reassure that he isn't in trouble or anything. Even if he didn't want to give out all the details, he should at least know that it's very important information and that it could be hugely problematic if it doesn't reach the receiver, and that Arthur could easily take it the wrong way considering being called to the principal's is always seen as bad news for a student.]]\\
'''Instead''': Mr. Haney tells him ''absolutely nothing'' about the envelope other than that it's for his mother, and just sends him off. This leads to Arthur speculating all sorts of things the envelope could contain and wonders if he is better off not delivering it to his mother like he was told, and even goes so far to ''throw it away'' out of fear it contains something really bad. [[spoiler:It does get delivered in the end, but Mr. Haney's lack of communication almost ends up causing a very costly mistake.]]

'''Instead:''' While they do call her out for being a brat, they do not punish her in any meaningful way, forcing Arthur to enlist Francine's help in finding out what's wrong with her. And even then, she faces no consequences for her violent behavior, instead getting rewarded with an ''invitation to Francine's party''. Francine did manage to talk some sense back into her, but D.W. still faced nothing for her actions.

'''Or:''' Arthur to ignore D.W.'s list as she clearly can't write despite her insistence that it is perfectly legible.\\
'''Instead:''' The kids persist on their desire to shop alone and Arthur just goes ahead with D.W.'s list of scribbles anyway. And since candy is the only thing she felt they needed, they spend all of their money on that and Arthur apparently never bothered to stop and remember what else he intended to buy.\\

'''Instead''': The kids plan to make their own cookies, knowing Muffy doesn't have the recipe since she didn't bother writing it down. DidntThinkThisThrough comes into play in that they don't have access to Muffy's wealthy resources or the capital needed to take down a new product line.

'''You'd Expect''': That they would see her NeverMyFault attitude and refuse to give Muffy the recipe on the grounds that she's been a terrible friend up to this point, unless she vows to give them the proper credit they deserve. This would require her to face consequences for her actions and learn that it's better to have friends than fame, and to put others before herself.\\

[[folder:Season Three]]

'''You'd Expect''': When D.W. asks Ms. Morgan that she'd like to get the info about the impending fire drill cleared up, Ms. Morgan would reassure her saying that there will not be an actual fire, and that a fire drill is just for practice and there is nothing to worry about.\\

'''The Result''': D.W. starts worrying about the impending fire drill, thinking the school will be set on fire while they are in class. The Tibbles take advantage of this and help fuel her fear, and D.W. has a nightmare about fires, sets off the Read house's smoke alarms in the middle of the night as an attempt at self-reassurance, and [[PlayingSick fakes being sick]] so [[SkippingSchool she can skip school]] and miss the fire drill. It isn't until a couple of days later when Ms. Morgan finally tells Jane about D.W. being afraid of the impending fire drill when the Read family takes it into their own hands to reassure D.W. that fire drills are not dangerous, and soon all is well and D.W. handles the fire drill smoothly.

* "Attack of the Turbo Tibbles": The Tibble Twins start getting obsessed with a violent animated cartoon after a series of events leads to them seeing it at the Read family house. In fact, they are so obsessed that they dress up as the two main characters from it and act out scenes from the show, picking fights with Emily and D.W by pretending they are the various mooks. Ms. Morgan repeatedly tells them off during school because the boys are being disruptive, are hurting themselves, and harassing the other students. They listen to her, but she can't stop the boys from doing the same thing outside of school. D.W. for her part is getting fed up about the Turbo obsession and blames Arthur, since if he hadn't complained about the Tibbles and D.W. playing loudly outside, they wouldn't have seen the show in the first place. Arthur tries to give advice, based on his limited experience babysitting the twins.\\

'''Instead''': Arthur tells D.W. to calmly tell the boys that they are annoying everyone and to stop. This would be sensible advice, ''if the Tibble Twins weren't bratty four-year olds''.\\
'''The Result''': D.W. tries her best to stand her ground, but the boys refuse to stop playing. She then gets hurt when Timmy pushes a swing into her face; the force of the blow splits her lip. She curls into a ball crying and bleeding while Emily runs to Mrs. Tibble for help. Only ''then'' do the boys have a JerkassRealization and run off thinking they might have killed D.W., and Mrs. Tibble puts her foot down. She doesn't punish them, but she tells them they need to go visit D.W. at the ER, where she's getting stitches, and apologize to her. The boys readily agree because they're relieved D.W. is alive and are genuinely sorry. It's fortunate that the Reeds and Mrs. Tibble get along well, that D.W. forgives the boys for making her go to the hospital, that all the Reads know that Tommy and Timmy for all their brattiness wouldn't actually want to hurt anyone, and that the ValuesDissonance of the 90s mean that no one will be filing a civil suit against the boys for assault.
* "Clarissa is Cracked": Grandma Thora lends her old china doll Clarissa to D.W., who expressed love for her. Dave knows how much Clarissa means to his mother, because he heard the story of how Clarissa was the first toy she received that wasn't a hand-me-down or made by her brothers.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Dave and Jane would have watched over D.W. playing and instruct her to be careful. Clarissa is at least fifty years old, and most modern dolls have more durability.\\

'''The Result''': Clarissa becomes a mess, and Mr. Ratburn expresses sympathy that she's been through "a lot" before cleaning and fixing her. It comes to a head when D.W. breaks Clarissa by accident while bouncing on her bed. Dave has to explain to D.W. why Clarissa is special, and D.W. freaks out on realizing she broke something her grandmother loved and treasured. Thing was, she would have obviously been more careful if her parents had told her in the first place, because she's only four or five.

'''You'd Expect:''' Her parents and everyone in town to realize that a little kid like D.W. might not take well to this joke, and to refrain themselves from bringing it up even if it's only meant in a teasing way. Especially since other kids like the Tibble Twins would never refrain from bringing it up at her expense.\\

'''Compounding It:''' Most astoundingly, Jane was ''right there'' at the dinner table when D.W. made clear to everybody that she didn't want to have the story repeated back to her, so Jane took the joke too far even after she could very clearly see that D.W. was distressed by it. Furthermore, her careless actions meant Arthur had to prove his innocence to D.W. by trying to silence the story, going so far as to ''steal'' people's newspapers before they could be read! In the end all works out, but Jane's lack of consideration for her own child's feelings just for a laugh served to cause everyone a great deal of grief.

'''You'd Expect:''' Mom and Dad discipline them both about it. For them to tell D.W. to not touch Arthur's things; and to tell Arthur to not resort to violence when he gets angry.\\
'''Instead:''' ''Again'' they take D.W's side. While she puts on a drama show, they label Arthur as a bully even when he's ''visibly remorseful'' about hitting her, and give him a week of TV ban (though they do say they would discuss it with D.W. later, but we never see this, as they do this offscreen; this implies that the punishment D.W. got was [[KarmaHoudini very light to nonexistent]]).\\
'''Compounding It:''' Word gets to Binky, the local JerkWithAHeartOfGold about this. He then eventually reluctantly (as a test by his 4th grade friends to prove he's still tough) punches Arthur in the shoulder.\\

** Earlier in the episode, after throwing the plane out of the window and breaking it, D.W. goes downstairs and tells Arthur that he made the plane wrong. He runs outside and sees the wreckage, while she follows him still blaming him for her actions. This makes Arthur visibly angry, complete with clenched fist.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' D.W. would realise that she's making Arthur mad and either stop talking or apologise to him.\\

'''Instead''': Arthur agrees to take the snake to his room, right when he needs to clean up and give Pal a bath.\\
'''The Result''': His friends come in a panic when they realize that Arthur has either a deadly coral snake or a harmless king snake. Before they can check, the snake disappears, and the kids have to help clean Arthur's room to find it. When Arthur's parents find the snake in Pal's bowl, it fortunately is a king snake, but Dave tells the kids calmly to let the snake go in its natural habitat. Arthur and his friends do so.

'''You'd Expect:''' For Arthur to ''immediately'' tell his parents about this. Knowing past KarmaHoudini incidents they may or may not have taken control of it well, but D.W. is being knowingly dishonest about what she's talking about and again, she's taking her friends' money for it. While Arthur doesn't know that former part, he's very well aware of the latter and reporting this to his parents would still be a perfectly reasonable thing to do.\\

'''Then:''' Arthur then enlists the Brain's help to counter her psuedo-science.\\
'''You'd Then Expect:''' For the Brain, being knowledgeable about the scientific method and famous scientists, to lecture her that science is based on theory and testing a hypothesis to prove the theory rather than just calling it as you see it like she blatantly is, and furthermore that lying is wrong.\\
'''Instead:''' He falls into the ''exact same trap'' Arthur fell into, first by trying to counter her day/night explanation by saying how it ''actually'' works, but then getting caught off guard when she says "[[TitleDrop prove it!]]" Furthermore, he doesn't call her out on her BlatantLies when she says he's "wrong".\\
'''The Result:''' Her SpringtimeForHitler plot succeeds. Arthur begs his parents to bring her to the exploratorium, where she reveals this was her plan all along. Worse yet, instead of the KarmaHoudini moment's blame resting on the parents this time, it rests on ''Arthur'' for not only falling for this blatant sham, but for him not reporting it to the proper authority ''even after he learned the whole thing was a con scheme.''

'''The Result''': Arthur, Brain and Buster hear the noise while walking home from school. They go to investigate because it's bothering them. Francine's surprise is ruined, and the boys after making a quick excuse to leave predict she'll be the talent show laughingstock if she plays her routine that way.
** After this, the boys are torn about what to do about Francine's routine. Brain is worried that telling her the truth will hurt her feelings, while Arthur is worried that they may be wrong and Francine could be starting a new trend. They confirm with Muffy, who listens to a recording, that the routine is terrible. Muffy thinks they should tell Francine upfront and to switch her routine to pure drumming.\\

'''The Result''': They're all worried that Francine won't listen, and she only realizes what they were trying to tell her when she finds the recording and hears it. She changes her routine in time for the show, but it's obviously a rush job to show she's a good singer, and George wins with his pogo stick. Again.

'''Instead''': '''She puts it on''' because she can't resist how comfortable the hat is.\\

'''The Result''': Binky is actually happy to go back to school when everyone is louse-free.

** Arthur runs for Class President against Muffy, as part of a mock election. He sees it as a fun class project, and advises Muffy not to take it too seriously. Buster of all people says the same thing. They know too well that taking a Ratburn assignment to the extreme can go wrong, as what happened when Arthur rewrote a story twenty times to try and please everyone. Arthur also notes they're kids, and whoever is class president probably won't have that much actual power to change the school.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Muffy would listen to Arthur, who's her friend and wouldn't sabotage her.\\
'''Instead''': She not only pulls out all the full stops, but also goes so far as bribing Mr. Ratburn with muffins as part of her campaigning. The last time she did food bribery, during the science fair, Francine and Brain sent her a fake love letter as a form of "revenge".\\
'''The Result''': While Arthur still thinks that the election is just for fun, he becomes motivated to work hard at his campaign, with handmade flyers, campaign promises he could actually honor, and a big smile. He recruits D.W. for help, and Buster pitches in 110 percent, which is unusual for Buster. [[spoiler:When a CrackDefeat ensues, thanks to Ratburn entering in Binky last-minute when he suggests campaign promises that are impractical, Muffy is crushed in a HeroicBSOD. She's a SoreLoser, and Buster says to Arthur that they warned her. As Arthur lightheartedly says he hopes she won't lose a real election, Mr. Ratburn puts the kibosh on Binky demanding no-homework nights]].

'''You'd Expect:''' Mr. Ratburn to realize that, as a rich kid who can afford all these things, Muffy has an unfair advantage against Arthur and disqualify her.\\
'''Instead:''' Mr. Ratburn approves of all of Muffy's plans, even going as far as to eat one of her free muffins (though when you consider Mr. Ratburn's TrademarkFavoriteFood, it's not too OutOfCharacter from him). [[spoiler:Fortunately, Muffy loses the election anyway due to Binky Barnes entering it and making wild promises]].

'''You'd Expect:''' Arthur and his friends to refuse the dare because they knew nothing good could come of it.\\
'''Instead:''' Everybody, including ''Brain'' tells Arthur that he has to go through with it, and so with no further questions they start drawing up a plan to skip school the next day. This is especially out of character for Brain, who is normally intelligent enough not to be talked into things he doesn't want to do.\\
'''Compounding It:''' The subject of dares was brought up in "Buster and the Daredevils". Chronological issues notwithstanding, Buster learned why it was foolish to be pressured into doing something just because they were dared and extends this message to Arthur and the Brain at the very end of the episode. In that episode, Arthur had the good sense not to partake in any of Buster's dares, but here neither he or the Brain put up much protest to Francine's threat, with Buster seemingly having forgotten what happened the first time he was dared.\\

* In "Nerve of Steal", Buster wants a Cyber Toy that almost everybody else owns one of, but can't get it until his birthday; and later at a Drug Store, he looks at a shelf of Cyber Toys and wants one badly.\\

'''Or:''' To find ways to make more money to buy one if his mother's okay with it.\\

'''You'd Expect:''' Arthur to confront his parents on the matter as he was [[AccidentalTheft not actually guilty]] of stealing the toy.\\

* "Just Desserts": Arthur is disappointed when his father has to go cater a wedding and asks Grandma Thora to make dinner for him and D.W. He's especially disappointed since the wedding cake looks delicious. For context, Thora is a LethalChef who thinks that tomatoes go into cookies, among other things, and Arthur and D.W. had to break it to her gently in season one that no one likes her cooking after they get busted buying all her cookies for a bake sale, so as to spare her feeling. To get through dinner, Arthur buys candy, It turns out, however, that Arthur's dad left a delicious dinner and extra wedding cake for his children.\\

** PlayedForLaughs. After the parents determine that Arthur and D.W. ruining the souffle was an accident, due to the fact that they slipped on their socks, the kids feel guilty about seeing how depressed their dad is. They decide to try and make the souffle rather than go to the arcade as planned.\\

* In "Buster's Sweet Success", Buster unsurprisingly ends up eating all of the chocolates he had volunteered to sell in order to raise money for new instruments at school. So he and Arthur elect to make all new boxes of homemade chocolate to make up for it.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Arthur and Buster to ask an adult to help them, since Arthur's dad's a caterer and cook and they had used his kitchen to make them.\\
'''Instead:''' They elect to make it all by themselves, even when it becomes obvious that they have no idea what ingredients to use and don't even have access to the ones named on the boxes, instead resorting to nonsensical substitutes that even they should realize are not appropriate ingredients for chocolate.\\

'''Instead:''' While it makes sense for Arthur to stop Buster from being the one to test them as he may end up eating them all, neither he or his dad volunteers to taste them instead and prepare them for sale. Predictably, the customers are not satisfied with their purchases.
* In "For Whom the Bell Tolls", D.W. apparently contracts laryngitis and Arthur believes he will finally have a period of relief from D.W.'s obnoxious loudness. However, with far more work for her accounting job at present than usual, Jane places most of the responsibility of taking care of D.W. on Arthur. After about a week of heavily catering to his sister, he eventually catches D.W. talking in her bedroom, revealing her entire illness to be a ruse and he immediately goes to tell his Mom about her lies.\\

** In the VerySpecialEpisode Lakewood Elementary falls victim to a school fire. Sue Ellen is forced to leave her bag behind, which among her school work, also holds her journal she's been keeping since she was a little girl. After everyone is evacuated from the building, her bag is seen somewhat charred and bruised due to the fire, but is otherwise safely brought out of the building.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For the firefighters to use a fire extinguisher on the bag, since it's personal property and nothing that's too difficult to douse, as opposed to, say, a handcrafted object like a desk that nobody would mourn the loss of. They should especially be willing to take caution since Sue Ellen is clearly screaming in devastation over the fact her journal might be lost. While it might be somewhat damaged by the flames, there still is a high chance that there are some salvageable things from there.\\

** It's shown that everyone who saw the fire was traumatized for different reasons: Sue Ellen lost her journal, Binky actually saw the flames swallowing the teacher's lounge which nearly killed Mr. Morris, and Arthur's dad suffered smoke inhalation. When they talk about it at the treehouse, they're pretty inconsolable except for Binky who hides his trauma by stealing food from his classamtes.\\

'''You'd Expect''': Arthur to know that the pencils don't belong to him and sensibly refuse or, if in doubt, ask Brain for approval (especially since Mr. Ratburn is out of the classroom).\\

'''You'd Expect''': The Brain to go easy on George and calmly explain that the pencil came from his invention and therefore belongs to ''him'', since the latter wasn't around to witness what had happened earlier.\\

* In "Bleep", D.W. overhears a frustrated teenager say a (censored) swear word while accompanying Grandma Thora on her trip to a glass shop. Being a 4-year-old, she doesn't know what the word means but thinks it causes people to break things. The next day, she brings this up to [[ThoseTwoGuys the Tibble Twins]] who then convince her it will cause whoever hears it to become a "zombie-slave" for a day, even faking it in order to "demonstrate" to her.\\

'''Then:''' She watches the Molinas through her bedroom window, expecting Vicita to say the word, just as Mrs. Read calls her for dinner. D.W. gets so frustrated by this that she impulsively says the swear word, [[OhCrap immediately realizing she'll be in trouble]]. Sure enough, an angered Mrs. Read enters her room to reprimand her.\\

[[folder:Season Nine]]

'''You'd Expect''': Ms. Morgan to put Tommy and Timmy in separate parts of the room, so that they would both get a time-out, but also not be in the same place.\\

'''Compounding It:''' It seems Mr. Ratburn never discussed the matter of plagiarism to his students, which is astounding considering his attention to detail and exceptionally high standards.\\
'''The Result:''' Mr. Ratburn doesn't discover the mistake when he grades Francine's paper, but she quickly comes clean about it when school resumes. Luckily for her it was an honest mistake and so Mr. Ratburn opts to give her a slightly lower grade when she turns in a second report to make up for it.

* In "Never, Never, Never", When her mom asks her to donate at least two boxes of her old toys to charity, D.W. believes her mother doesn't love her, and gives ALL of her toys to the Tibble twins when they kiss up to her, by saying how much they "love" her.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That D.W. would have maybe considered her mother's advice of donating only a COUPLE of her toys to charity, to make space for her new ones. Or even at the very least hide them some place, just to make it seem as though she gave them all away.\\

'''The Result:''' The Tibble twins destroy all her toys, with the exception of one small cardboard box filled with the ones that are still intact, which they refuse to return to D.W. when she asks for them back. That is, until Arthur heroically gets them back for her- getting his glasses broken in the process.

* In “To Eat Or Not To Eat”, Rabid Dog creates a candy bar called a “Big Boss Bar” that is highly addictive due to it’s drug-like ingredients with many of them being dangerous ingredients causing those that eat it to have withdrawn symptoms.\\
''' You’d Expect''': The FDA would never approve of manufacturing a candy bar with dangerous ingredients that can cause one to sick with withdraw. They would notify the police and have Supreme Dog, owner of the company arrested and have company shut down.\\
'''Instead''': The FDA apparently approved of the bar and is released to the public with many kids including George and Fern being addicted to it and experience withdraw.\\

* In "Just the Ticket", Arthur wins two front row seat tickets to a big concert, but all seven of his friends want the other one at once. Many of his friends begin to call him repeatedly, and Arthur asks his mom if he can refrain from answering the phone for a while since he doesn't want to be overwhelmed.\\

* D.W. is obsessed with the latest Tina the Talking Tabby doll, writing to Santa for it. Jane and David are trying to get it, while the Christmas rush starts for everyone. They are also planning a Christmas dinner where David will be making recipes accurate to the time period.\\
'''You'd Expect''': That they would have done their shopping in the first week of December at the latest. This was in the early 00s, before Internet shopping became more commonplace. As a result, malls become supercrowded with last-minute buyers.\\
'''Instead''': Jane takes Arthur to do last-minute shopping on December 22. Arthur is more than happy to go at the last minute since he saved up his pennies, literally, to get a replacement glass swan for her and wants to get a kitchen tool for his dad; Jane, however, is worried about the crowds and tells him which rendesvous point to meet.\\
'''The Result''': Arthur is nearly late to meet his mother because of the crowds; the tool that he wants to get for his dad is sold out, so he goes with an olive oil pitter. It's implied that Tina the Talking Tabby sold out with three days to go before Christmas; Jane mentions to Arthur with worry that she couldn't get one item on her shopping list. She then tries to break it gently to D.W., to explain that sometimes Santa runs out of toys with how many kids that he has to deliver presents to in one night. D.W. believes that Arthur wrote her wishlist wrong and rewrites it before dropping it off in the mailbox. Cue a tantrum on Christmas morning when D.W. gets a talking duck instead, though she quickly quiets down.

'''You'd Expect''': That she would finish cooking the pancakes first and then give him his presents. It's cleaner for one thing, and spreads out the events.\\
'''Instead''': She leaves the stove unattended to fuss over his presents, worrying that she got him the same action figure two years in a row. Bitsy is relieved as Buster tells her that she didn't duplicate it, and explains that it was actually a great present because now he has a matched set.\\

* It's the eighth night of Hanukkah, and Francine's family hosts a small party to light the menorah candles. Muffy is holding a Princess of Christmas Night at the same time and has been urging Francine to come. Every time that Francine tells Muffy that she has plans, Muffy tunes her out. Franicne has tried telling her 28 times; yes, she kept score.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Francine would call up Mr. and Mrs. Crosswire and explain that she has plans. They can break it gently to Muffy, since they're all on good terms with each other.\\

'''The Result''': Muffy wants to give the first present of the night to Francine, and calls angrily on realizing that Francine never showed up. She throws a tantrum over the phone as Francine tries to tell Muffy that she already had plans and that she made it clear over the past week. In a very InnocentlyInsensitive moment, Muffy haughtily says that Hanukkah is not as important as her Christmas party, causing Francine to hang up the phone angrily. Muffy apologizes on Christmas morning as Francine explains to her why that was very Anti-Semitic to say.

'''The Result''': Buster is the only one who enjoys the experiments. Binky is all out of ideas by Christmas Day and decides to get storebought dessert, while passing it off as his own.

** Earlier in the episode, after throwing the plane out of the window and breaking it, D.W. goes downstairs and tells Arthur that he made the plane wrong. He runs outside and sees the wreckage, while she follows him still blaming him for her actions. This makes Arthur visibly angry, complete with clenched fist.

* "Arthur's Big Hit": D.W. repeatedly annoys Arthur about the model plane he's been working on with all the reckless abandon you would expect of a 4-year-old brat like her.\\

'''Instead:''' [[Main/NoSympathy They view it]] [[BrokenAesop as justified karma.]]

* "Francine Frensky, Superstar"
** Francine is given the lead of Thomas Edison in the classroom's school play. She's determined to do her best since she never gets a good part. Her determination makes everyone else miserable, however, with how she micromanages everyone and yells at them for not being perfect. Buster is the worst case, since his lightbulb costume is plastic and will suffocate him if Brain takes away the air holes according to Francine's demands. With Binky threatening to pound her, Arthur says he'll talk to Francine and ask her to tone it down. After failing to reach her the night before, on dress rehearsal day, he bluntly tells her that everyone thinks she's being unfair to the rest of the class and they're mad at her.\\