D.W. Rides AgainElwood City is hosting a bikeathon to raise money for the elementary school; Arthur and his friends are doing it, as are the Tibble Twins. D.W. wants to join in, but her tricycle is too small and slow to keep up with her big brother. One taunt from the Tibble Twins about not riding a two-wheeler and D.W. asks her parents for a new bike, as well as Arthur for riding lessons. The road to biking is not that smooth, especially when D.W. wants to go without training wheels.
Tropes for this include:
- Adaptation Expansion: In the picture book, it mainly focuses on D.W. learning to ride a bike because it would be fun. Here, she wants to train for a bikeathon so as to not be left out.
- Demoted to Extra: In the picture book, David was the one teaching D.W. how to ride, and she accidentally knocked him down. Here, she does ask him for a lesson, but David explains he's busy with work and delegates the task to Arthur.
- Determinator: D.W. becomes determined to learn not only how to ride a bike but also to master it without training wheels. She spends hours falling while practicing, and working to get the hang of it, while covered in various Band-Aids and antiseptic creams. Not caring if it takes until she's a hundred or a "giant walking scab," she's going to do this.
- Failure Montage: There is one towards the end of D.W. teaching herself to ride her bike without training wheels. She eventually graduates from falling the minute she tries to making it a few seconds on the road with some control. By the end, she's riding well enough to keep up with Arthur, Buster, Brain and Francine.
- Imagine Spot: After she accidentally rides backwards down the hill where she and Arthur were practicing, D.W. runs backwards into the garage door and has one about having a slick two-wheeler that can even outpace sports cars. The Tibble Twins snap her out of it.
- Instant Expert: Zigzagged. D.W. at first has trouble with her bike because she doesn't know where the brakes are, but soon she takes to it naturally in a day with training wheels. Arthur even tells their parents that "She did good" in Sincerity Mode. Without training wheels, it's revealed she needs several weeks to get the hang of it.
- Pride: A rare case where this is a positive example. D.W. at first thinks she can ride her tricycle in the bikeathon, only to learn it's not fast enough, and the Tibble Twins tease her by saying it's not a "trikeathon". Nettled, D.W. compliments her father's cooking that night and when Jane catches on, D.W. begs for a bike. She commits to her lessons with Arthur so that she can ride well enough to the Tibbles' house, only to get fired up when they mock her for having training wheels. D.W. then spends weeks if not months teaching herself to ride without training wheels.
- Reaction Shot: Kate and Pal take to watching D.W. practice without training wheels. They both wince every time she falls or crashes. When she finally rides without a problem, they cheer in baby and puppy talk.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Not wanting D.W. to get badly injured before the bikeathon, David says he can reattach the training wheels and D.W. will still be able to participate, giving her more time to practice afterward without them. D.W. refuses because she wants to show the Tibble Twins she can ride a bike without training wheels. David and Jane acquiesce and start patching up D.W. after every fall and scrape.
- That's Gotta Hurt:
- The Reads have this reaction when D.W.'s bike falls over without training wheels the first time, and when she ends up in a trashcan.
- Kate and Pal have a series of these reactions when seeing D.W. practice without training wheels. They brace themselves for the last time and are pleasantly surprised to see her nailing it.
- Watch Out for That Tree!: Toward the end of the Failure Montage, D.W. runs into the garage door in the rain while practicing.
Arthur Makes The TeamIt's baseball season, and Arthur's friends have joined a new baseball team. No one seems to be doing well except Brain; even Francine's pitching fails to go over the plate. Francine singles out Arthur, however, for his inability to catch a ball or hit one. Coach Frensky has to step in when it seems Arthur is on the verge of quitting, thinking he's the worst player on the team. Every bit of practice helps, especially when your friends are there with the ball.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Coach Frensky quips that one of Francine's balls technically went over the plate when she accidentally sends it over the pitcher's mounds. Buster can't help but chuckle even though his audition went much worse.
- Anti-Nepotism: Francine smugly assumes that if her dad is the coach, she gets to pitch. That doesn't happen; Mr. Frensky holds tryouts for people that want to be the pitcher. Brain ends up winning because he strikes out Mr. Frensky instantly.
- Chekhov's Skill:
- Francine instructs Arthur to use his mitt to block the sun when catching a flyball. It pays off beautifully in the climax when he has to do so to tag out a runner and the bases are loaded.
- Arthur tells Francine to use her legs and shoulders when throwing. It means she hits a straight ball during a game, allowing Binky the catcher to tag the runner out.
- Comically Missing the Point: Bitzi applauds Buster for striking out because the ball didn't hit him. Even D.W. gives her a weird look for that remark.
- Epic Fail: Arthur merely fails to catch balls or toss them straight. Buster accidentally tosses a ball in the air during his pitching audition and is baffled when it lands on his head and then his mitt. Even Coach Frensky asks where the ball went.
- Exact Words: Coach Frensky coaxes Francine through her pitching audition when she gets a ball outside, and a ball inside. He encourages her to use her energy to get it right over the plate. She sends the ball over the fence and the pitchers' mount instead. Coach Frensky acknowledges that it was technically over the plate. Francine isn't amused as Buster chuckles.
- Graceful Loser: Francine and Arthur help each other improve in time for the playoff game. Even so, Buster's playing isn't up to par and he costs them the game by hitting a flyball that the rival outfielders catch. Arthur reminds Francine not to be mean, because the point is to have fun while improving.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: Everyone cheers when Arthur catches a flyball, using the technique Francine taught him.
- Here We Go Again!: After the playoff game, when Arthur, Buster and Francine are tossing each other the baseball, Francine reminds Arthur that basketball season will be coming up soon, and that she'll get to tease him all over again if Arthur is a lousy player at that.
- Hypocritical Humor: Both Francine and Buster distribute this. They both jab each other playfully about their flaws while playing, with Francine going after Arthur as well even though he tries to stay out of it. Arthur says he just wants to learn how to play well enough to catch the ball.
- Not So Above It All: Even though Francine is good at sports, she has one weakness in baseball: throwing. Her aim isn't straight, and the ball ends up going too high at times. Arthur helps her by correcting her pose, which helps when she strikes out a runner trying to steal home plate.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Coach Frensky knows how to whip the kids into shape, but he's no Drill Sergeant Nasty. Instead, he finds ways to praise the kids for their mess-ups, including calling Arthur's leap to catch a ball "pure ballet". Francine is also a bit too egotistical to get a position better than outfield. When she wants him to take Arthur off the team, for playing terribly, he has a better idea: making her assistant coach and asking her to give private lessons to Arthur. He also treats the team to ice-cream after every game, and breaks up any in-fighting.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Sandwich: Implied. When Francine teases Arthur that he'll drop his ice-cream, the whole team laughs except for Buster. Arthur leaves as the kids are licking their cones and bickering.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Downplayed. Binky asks Coach Frensky if he'll abandon them on the outskirts of town if they lose the playoff game. Coach Frensky shakes his head with amusement and says he'll take them out for ice-cream. Binky then moans that he'll never see the outskirts of town.
