Prunella directs the third grade's play of The Princess and the Pea.
Tropes for "The Pea and the Princess" include:
- Derailed Fairy Tale: Prunella's new version of the play includes two princesses and the pea as an actual character.
- Didn't Think This Through: When Francine took over the play, she realize her ideas were terrible and it ruined the play.
- How We Got Here: The episode's intro starts with the play going wrong. Cue the title card after Francine tells the story from the beginning.
- Injured Limb Episode: When Prunella sprained her ankle after tripping, she has to let Francine direct the play instead. It turn out terrible.
- Jerkass Realization: Earlier, Francine kept trying to change the parts of the play she didn’t like. When Prunella left temporary left due to a sprained ankle, the changes finally happened, but the play turns out terrible. When Prunella confronts Francine, she tells her that it's PRUNELLA’s play, not Francine’s. Francine realizes that not all of her ideas for a play would work, apologizes for ruining it, and promises not to try to change things anymore.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Francine had this when she realizes her ideas for the play didn’t work out at all.
- School Play: The episode is about Arthur, Buster, Francine, Muffy, George, and Prunella putting on a play.
- Two Men, One Dress: Arthur and Buster are cast as the horse. The problem is, the costume just consists of two horse rear ends joined together! Hilarity Ensues.
- What the Hell, Hero?: First by Binky when Francine was changing the play saying that it’s not Pruenlla’s vision and the result got him “fired”. The second time is when Prunella got back from getting her sprain ankle patched up and sees how terrible Francine’s changes are, and it ruins the play.
- You Know What They Say: Said by Binky to a discouraged Prunella when the play starts to go wrong, before he realizes he doesn't know what they say. Prunella then remembers the saying - The Show Must Go On.
D.W. wants to watch a TV show her parents think she is too young for.
Tropes for "D.W. and Dr. Whosit" include:
- Author Avatar: Marc Brown appears in his Ink-Suit Actor form at the beginning of the episode as one of the passengers on the plane Baby Kate is piloting.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: When David discovers that D.W. watched Dr. Whosit without his and Jane's permission, he steals the catchphrase "Egad" from the show.David: "Egad, the dad is mad!"
- Brick Joke: At one point in the episode, Bud explains the concept of an inside joke and gives the example of D.W.'s "puffin song" that she kept singing to her puffin toy, annoying Arthur. At the end of the episode, D.W. sings the "puffin song" again after the Read parents inform Arthur they think he shouldn't be watching Dr. Whosit.
- Coy, Girlish Flirt Pose: Although it's not actually for flirting purposes, D.W. briefly assumes this pose when she asks her father if he's working hard on his computer.
- Episode Tagline: "Egad, the doctor has flibbered!" is a quote from Dr. Whosit that is repeated several times throughout the episode.
- Get Out!: Arthur does not like D.W. waking him up to ask about the parental controls and angrily tells her to get out. D.W. misinterprets this to mean that "Get out" is the parental control password.
- Karma Houdini: Despite helping D.W. watch Dr. Whosit and seeing it with her, Bud gets off with no punishment and is simply allowed to leave the Read house when D.W.'s parents find out she disobeyed them.
- Mythology Gag: One of the passwords in the Reads' password book is "A-r-1-9-7-6", referring to the year the first Arthur book was published.
- Name and Name: "D.W. and Dr. Whosit".
- Nightmare Fuel: In-Universe. David says that Dr. Whosit will give him nightmares but he still likes watching it.
- Periphery Demographic: In-Universe, preschoolers D.W. and Bud want to watch Dr. Whosit, which is apparently a show for older kids and adults. But then subverted when they actually do watch it and find it boring. At the end, David and Jane decide Arthur is too young to watch it too.
- Shout-Out: Dr. Whosit to Doctor Who.
- Show Within a Show: Dr. Whosit is an in-universe version of Doctor Who that becomes popular in Elwood City.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: "Egad, the dad is mad!"
- Trend Aesop: D.W. really wants to watch Dr. Whosit, but when she actually does, she thinks it's boring.
