The Magic School Bus Revving Up
Original airdate: October 28th, 1995
Subject: Engines
Focus Student(s): N/A
Car mechanic Mr. Junkett is inspecting the Bus, and wants to send it to the junkyard. When Ms. Frizzle tries to prove him wrong by going on a ride through the mountains, the Bus clonks out, and he labels it with a condemned sign.
Producers Segment
The male producer answers phone calls while Liz does yard work outside.
Tropes
- Artistic License – Cars:
- The episode uses the bus to teach about the workings of gasoline engines, even though US school buses are almost uniformly diesels: there's a scene set in the cylinder where they have to clean peanut butter off one of the spark plugs, where a school bus would almost certainly have a glowplug instead (diesels ignite their fuel by compressing preheated fuel rather than active ignition).
- Speaking of the cylinder, the bus is depicted as having a one-cylinder engine, something unheard-of in anything bigger than a motorcycle. This one is likely intended as a simplification for the audience, but it bears mentioning that a misfire in one cylinder is more likely to just make the engine run rougher, not stop it running altogether.
- The culprit behind the bus's engine problems turns out to be the inspector being sloppy with his peanut butter sandwich. Leaving aside the questionable hygiene of eating while messing about with an engine, it's theoretically possible for him to have gotten peanut butter on a spark plug after removing it for inspection, but how exactly did he manage to get peanut butter inside the fuel line?
- Carburetors are generally not open-topped, but rather take in outside air through a scoop and pass it through an air filter and therefore would not be affected by the inspector leaving his sandwich on top of them. In addition, even at time of airing, carburetors had mostly been phased out in favor of fuel injection outside of motorcycle and yard engines.
- Banana in the Tailpipe: The Bus clonks out thanks to the peanut butter from Mr. Junkett's sandwich getting caught in the engine in two separate places, and half the sandwich itself being on top of the carburetor.
- Big Damn Heroes: The class fixes the bus in time for them to escape the giant crusher from the junkyard.
- Butt-Monkey: Arnold gets separated from the class and witnesses the Bus nearly getting crushed. He also remains small until falling into the engine by accident, and getting reverted back to normal.
- Call-Back: While inspecting the Bus, Mr. Junkett points out damage from several past episodes: among other things, "the roof looks like it got hit with a meteorite".
- Didn't Think This Through: Mr. Junkett walking away from the Bus while it was on the mountains, on narrow and winding roads. He ends up falling off the road, and dangles from a cliff, over a large drop.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Mr. Junkett's face closely resembles that of Sherman Hemsley.
- Jerkass Realization: After being rescued by Ms. Frizzle and her class, Mr. Junkett apologizes for his hasty condemnation of the bus.
- Just in Time: The class only just saves the bus from being crushed.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Mr. Junkett, the instigator for the plot, ends up dangling off the edge of a cliff.
- Literal Cliffhanger: Mr. Junkett dangles off the edge of a cliff... just before the commercial break.
- Meaningful Name: Mr. Junkett is a vehicle inspector who wants to see the bus condemned and scrapped. As stated In-Universe, "Junkett wants to junk it!"
- Rule of Drama: Leaving an uneaten half-sandwich obstructing a top-intake carburetor is one thing (although why the bus doesn't have an air filter is an open question), and Junkett could possibly have gotten peanut butter on a spark plug he removed to check, but how in the heck he got peanut butter inside the fuel line is anyone's guess.
- Rule of Three: The class finds peanut butter in the fuel line, a sandwich blocking air flow, and peanut butter clogging the spark plugs.
- Say My Name: Upon realizing that Mr. Junkett is responsible for the peanut butter clogs, the class shouts his name in a unified expression of outrage.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mr. Junkett's condemnation of the bus was the result of his own sloppiness during the inspection at the start.
- We Need a Distraction: In order to hide the fact that the bus is magic at the end, the students crowd around Mr. Junkett and pretend to fuss over him, including "fixing his hat" (pulling it over his eyes), so he doesn't see the bus transform from tow truck to its default form.
