The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells
Original airdate: October 19th, 1996
Subject: Archaeology
Focus Student(s): Arnold, Dorothy Ann
It's time for a huge Show & Tell event, and Arnold was supposed to bring his rock collection. Arnold believes he has something better, however: an ancient hoop that his aunt Arizona Joan sent to him. Before he has to go up and present, the class has to investigate what the hoop might be and what it was used for, like a real archaeologist.
Producers Segment
The male producer answers the questions about the episode from an archaeological site while Liz carefully excavates artifacts.
Tropes
- Affectionate Parody: Arizona Joan is one of Indiana Jones, minus the action-adventure themes with Nazis and Russians.
- Bigger on the Inside: The Bus in its Suppose-A-Tron form. Legitimately, this time!
- Big "NO!": DA releases one when she sees Arnold on stage minutes after figuring out what the hoop was for.
- Big "YES!": This follows DA's Big "NO!" when she sees the host giving Arnold the trophy.
- "Eureka!" Moment:
- Dorothy Ann when Arnold reveals that two arrows were found with the hoop. She immediately pictures arrows going through the hoop and making a target.
- Arnold makes the exact same conclusion when Liz tosses an arrow through the hoop and reveals it was used for a form of sports.
- Give Chase with Angry Natives: Ms. Frizzle sets the Suppose-A-Tron to do this while testing Ralphie's shield theory. Subverted when Keesha and DA test their theories, since a hat and target practice don't trigger any fighting.
- Heroes Gone Fishing: The class tests if the hoop could be a fishing net, based on Tim's theory. They find that the holes in the net are too large to catch a fish.
- Imagine Spot: Arnold imagines winking to his aunt Joan, only for an asteroid to interrupt the thought bubble.
- Irony: While waiting for the class to test their hypotheses, Liz spends the time rolling the hoop around and playing with it, and Arnold keeps taking it from her, chastising her and saying that the hoop "isn't a toy!" Naturally, the hoop does turn out to basically be just that.
- Logical Weakness:
- The holes in the hoop are too large to serve properly as a shield, or as a fishing net. Arrows and fish sail through without a problem.
- The hoop also falls off Keesha's head when she tries to dance with it because it's a flat disc, and don't grip to the head.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: This episode's guest VA is Alex Trebek as the host of the show and tell competition.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Ralphie when he realizes that the hoop was definitely not a shield.
- Arnold when DA appears to grab one of the arrows and leaves just as he's supposed to go on.
- DA when she realizes that she forgot about leaving Arnold.
- Rule of Three: Subverted; it takes four times for the class to realize what the hoops is, after Arnold reveals the arrows.
- Running Gag: All of the other contestants brought pumpkins!
- Something We Forgot: DA realizes that while testing her "hoops were arrow targets" hypothesis that she forgot about Arnold when Ralphie mentions he's missing the fun.
- Wham Shot:
- Arnold revealing that two arrows were found with the hoop. This leads to DA's "Eureka!" Moment.
- Also, Arnold receiving the trophy after improvising on what the hoop might be.
