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FU DW
(aka: Angelica Can Eat It)

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FU DW is a web series hosted on YouTube by Matt Neff, presented in a similar fashion to Funny or Die's Zack Morris is Trash series. It takes various episodes from Arthur and chronicles the bad behavior of D.W., who is presented as an Enfant Terrible with no discipline.

It currently has 7 seasons.

The channel also sports a few spin-offs, such as FU Muffy and FU Francine, which takes the two characters worst episodes and portrays them as a Spoiled Brat and Jerkass respectively. Other spin-offs are listed in the tropes section below.


Tropes:

  • Actually Pretty Funny: During his review of "D.W. All Fired Up", he gets to the point where DW is staring at the clock, anxiously waiting for the fire drill, in which she said: "Boy, I wish I could tell time." Matt laughs at the joke, saying it's the best joke in the whole show.
  • Alternate Aesop Interpretation: Invoked in "BUSTER GETS BUSTED". Whilst the lesson of "Nerves Of Steal" is supposed to be "stealing is wrong", Matt notes that Buster only got into trouble because he felt guilty and tried to return the CyberToy, leading to him interpreting the lesson a different way.
    Matt: So remember kids. If you're gonna steal, make sure you follow through and never return to the crime scene. 'Cuz as this episode clearly shows, trying to do the right thing by fixing your mistake will just get you in even more trouble. So you might as well stop feeling bad about stealing the store blind.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Matt ends up giving the ending to "D.W.'s Time Trouble" points for its unexpected wholesomeness, namely having D.W. show genuine appreciation for Arthur being there to look out for her.
  • A Day in the Limelight: "DW GETS SUCKER PUNCHED" is more focused on the Tibble twins being awful than D.W.. Matt even lampshades this, saying he's confused about why the episode was so heavily requested when D.W. didn't do anything wrong (barring a brief scene of bothering Arthur).
  • Bait-and-Switch Comparison: In "ARTHUR'S PARENTS GET DIVORCED", Matt gives us this gem during an Imagine Spot where Arthur, D.W., and Kate are forced to live on their own:
    Matt: Arthur starts to realize how difficult it would be to take care of a baby, and also Kate.
  • Big Sister Bully: Episode 2 (focused on "D.W.'s Baby") chronicles D.W.'s poor treatment of Baby Kate, including stalking her, failing to soothe her while not letting anyone else help, blaming her for things to try and get her in trouble, and trying to sell her.
  • Blatant Lies: In the episode focused on "Go to Your Room, D.W.", Matt mentions that D.W.'s stories about having to serve Arthur while he's sick and being forced to stay home and cook/clean instead of going to Cousin Lucy's wedding never happened, and even Nadine calls her out on this.
  • Book Dumb: In Episode 4, Matt quips that D.W. is "so illiterate, she should change her middle name from Winifred to Can't" (as in, Dora Can't Read).
  • Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: In "DANIEL TIGER IS STILL VERY RA©IST", Matt describes Max as being a big fan of Beetles, Buses, and Beetle Buses.
  • Call-Back: Episode 1 ends with Matt quipping that snitches get stitches. Episode 12 is given the title "DW SNITCHES AND GETS STITCHES".
  • Call-Forward: The "Let's Review" segment of season 3's "DW GETS CANCELLED" has Matt point out that the episode being focused on wouldn't be the last time D.W. would use James as a pawn in her quest for romance, Foreshadowing the season 4 episode focusing on "D.W. Unties the Knot," in which D.W. tricks James into almost marrying her.
  • Censored for Comedy: In the episode concerning "Bleep", a Swear Word Plot, all of the curse words are indeed bleeped, safe for a Precision F-Strike at the end.
  • Continuity Nod: In the "Let's Review" segment of the season 4 episode focusing on "D.W. Unties the Knot," one of the wrongs Matt brings up against D.W. is her "once again" using James as a pawn in her quest for romance, the "once again" referring to the events of "Kiss and Tell," the episode where D.W. tried to get James to kiss her, and which Matt focused on in the season 3 episode "DW GETS CANCELLED."
  • "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot:
    • The recap of "Arthur's Family Vacation" explains how the vacation would have been better had D.W. not come along, including no unnecessary bathroom breaks, avoiding traffic, making it to the hotel on time, having a lobster dinner without any tantrums, and not having to see a gory shark movie.
    • The ending of "DW KILLS ARTHUR WITH TIME TRAVEL" notes that everything could have been avoided if the Read parents didn't let their 8 year old and 4 year old children walk to the movies by themselves.
    • "DW'S BACKPACK CRAP ATTACK"'s ending reveals how the missing backpack and other pointless mysteries could have been solved very quickly if Elwood City had responsible adults, not useless ones.
  • Crack Pairing: Matt apparently ships Mr. Ratburn with Mr. Read.
  • Double-Meaning Title: The title for "DW HAS A COW" (focused on "The Last of Mary Moo Cow") is this; not only does D.W. become agitated over her favorite show getting cancelled, but her favorite show is Mary Moo Cow.
  • Dude, Not Funny!: Matt's more off-colour jokes are usually followed by a clip of a character from a different series calling him out on it.
    • In "DW Calls Her Mom a *****", when Matt makes D.W.'s bleeped-out line even more dirty, Cleveland Brown responds with "That's nasty".
    • In "DW BURNS DOWN HER SCHOOL", Matt quips that if the episode was made today, the drill would likely focus on school shooters rather than fire. Steven Universe tells him it's not funny, it's super sad.
    • In "DW Ruins Halloween (And Eats a Person),'' Arthur tries to scare D.W.'s hiccups away by dressing up in a long coat and face mask, which Matt says makes him look like "a time traveller from 2020." It then cuts to Patrick Star booing him.
    • Likewise, "DW Gets Put to Sleep" has Matt wonder if Dr. Tinnitus' grandfather is named Pappy Smear. Cue Smitty Warben Jaeger Man Jensen responding "That's disgusting!"
  • Enfante Terrible: D.W.'s canonical bad qualities are greatly exaggerated to the point where Matt says that she murdered multiple one-shot characters.
  • Entitled to Have You: In the recap at the end of "DW GETS CANCELLED", Matt calls D.W. out for believing she is entitled to a kiss from James only because she was dumb enough to catch feelings for him simply because he was the first boy to ever show her kindness.
  • Fantastic Racism: Matt brings this up as a possibility regarding a particular scene in "DW CRAPS THE BED".
    Mr. Read: This [bed]'s got monkeys!
    D.W.: I hate monkeys!
    Matt: That... actually tracks.
    (Flashback to a scene in "D.W.'s Very Bad Mood")
    D.W., to Francine: Why don't you go back to your own house and stop bothering us?!
  • Gasshole: Most bloopers involve Matt burping during a take.
  • God Help Us All: Matt's reaction to the thought of D.W discovering Twitter in "D.W Spills The Beans".
  • Godwin's Law:
  • Gratuitous French: Matt speaks French in not one, but two FU videos.
  • Hypocrite: Matt points out that David Read is hypocritical. In "DW DESTROYS HER GRANDMA'S DOLL", When DW asked David why Thora's mom let her go by herself, David replied that things were different then. Matt is quick to point out that David lets Arthur and DW go to places by themselves almost all the time, including that episode.
  • Hypocritical Humor: In "DW HAS SCHIZOPHRENIA", when D.W. assures Nadine that Arthur doesn't hate her, Matt remarks that "it would be absurd to be mad at a child who doesn't even exist" whilst his picture slides onto the screen.
  • I Am Not Shazam: An In-Universe example. In "Arthur and Los Vecinos", Matt admits that he thought the Molinas' last names were the Vecinos until he translated it to English, which means "the neighbors".
  • I'm a Humanitarian: Episode 5 ("Hic or Treat") mentions D.W. fears gingerbread men because they make her feel like a cannibal for eating them, leading to Matt nicknaming her "Dahmer Winifred Read".
  • If I Had a Nickel…: In "HOW DW RUINED CHRISTMAS", when Matt points out how in 2001, every African-American cartoon child character celebrated Kwanzaa, note  he plays an AI-generated sound clip of Dr. Doofenshmirtz saying "If I had a nickel for every Christmas cartoon in 2001 that had at least one kid celebrating Kwanzaa, I'd have five nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird they all came out the same year."
  • Jerkass Has a Point: In "FRANCINE LOSES HER HEAD", Matt admits that Francine saying she's one of the nicest people in the school might have some truth, as much as him and anyone wanting to admit it, every character on the show had their moments of being dicks.
  • Karmic Overkill:
    • In-Universe, when Matt admits that the Tibble twins completely trashing D.W.'s old toys in "Never, Never, Never" was needlessly mean-spirited and going way too far.
    • Matt also feels this way about the store owner calling Arthur and Buster's parents when he catches them returning the CyberToy Buster stole in "Nerves Of Steal". Whilst he acknowledges that Buster shouldn't have stolen the toy, Buster already felt guilty for what he did and was trying to fix his mistake by returning it. So the store owner's actions just come as unnecessary Disproportionate Retribution to two kids who had already learnt their lesson. It’s especially bad for Arthur since he didn’t even partake in stealing the toy and was only trying to help Buster return it.
  • Non Sequitur: Matt sometimes makes snarky quips on random goings on in the episode that don't have to do with D.W.'s behavior, such as the potato-heavy dinner from "D.W.'s Very Bad Mood" ("Are they hypoglycemic? What's with all the starch?"), and the Little Bo Peep Pot Pie from "D.W. the Picky Eater" oddly being a spinach-based dish when the name implies lamb.
  • Obfuscating Disability: Downplayed in Episode 6, in which Matt rants about D.W. faking her dysarthria to force Arthur into her slavery in "For Whom the Bell Tolls".
  • Oh, No... Not Again!: In the episode concerning "Arthur's Chicken Pox", D.W. has spinach for dinner and reacts with disgust, to which Matt says "Dear god, not again!".
  • Pet the Dog: Though Matt made the series for the specific purpose of hating on D.W., even he has to admit that she has good moments, such as:
    • Her pulling a decent trick on Arthur in "D.W.'s Very Bad Mood".
      D.W.: It's because...because Arthur is a dodo brain!!
      Matt: Got 'em!
    • Her saving another kid from getting hit by a car in "D.W. Blows the Whistle".
    • He agrees that her calling the mayor of the city to discuss equal pay for everyone isn't a terrible idea.
    • During his closing recap of "Attack of the Turbo Tibbles", he admits that D.W. did nothing wrong — aside from bugging her brother — and caps off the video by saying the series' title in a more confused tone.
    • He acknowledges that D.W. is right to be upset at Arthur not taking her to see "the greatest animated movie ever made" like he was supposed to, in favour of seeing "stoner Doctor Who".
    • In "DW KILLS ARTHUR WITH TIME TRAVEL", he points out that it was Jane and David's fault for letting Arthur and D.W walk to the movies by themselves. He then closes the episode out by saying "FU MR. AND MRS. READ." He also notes that the ending to the episode is "welcomely wholesome", as it involves DW sleeping in Arthur's room and sincerely telling him she's glad she has an older brother to look out for her.
    • "DW GETS WHAT SHE DESERVES", while Matt does call out D.W. as per usual, he gives the Tibble Twins a far harsher telling off for taking advantage of D.W. and breaking D.W’s toys just to make her cry.
    • A few in "DW HATES THANKSGIVING".
      • Matt completely agrees with D.W.’s point that Arthur shouldn’t just let Pal have their food and that Pal has gotten grabby. (Not that he listens.)
      • When D.W. recoils in disgust with David’s dish, Matt completely jumps to the former’s defense.
      • At the end of the video, Matt also points out that while D.W isn’t a saint, he does say that she weren’t as bad as usual with Matt calling out Aunt Minnie (even calling her Meanie to boot.) due to the latter being rude to both her niece and nephew and making things between her and D.W. worse.
  • Precision F-Strike: After sticking to the gentler title for most of the series, the episode focusing on "Bleep" gives us a proper "Fuck you" after a realization that while Arthur can't swear on his show, Matt can on his.
  • "Psycho" Strings: These are used at the beginning of "LITTLE BROWN BEAR IS WORSE THAN CAILLOU".
  • Raisins Are Revolting: In his review of Caillou's Holiday Movie, Matt is disgusted when Caillou and Leo play Dreidel with raisins and when Caillou decorates his grandmother's cookies with raisins.
    Matt: First Dreidel, and now this? Stop ruining the holidays the way my aunt ruins potato salad!
  • Rouge Angles of Satin: The series' title and the titles of episodes spell D.W. without the two periods.
  • Running Gag:
    • Mr. Read having an affair with Mr. Ratburn.
    • One-off characters (Lisa, Sharky, Emily's nanny Marie-Hélène)note  never appear again because D.W. murdered them.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Arthur builds a model airplane because it's 1999 and Minecraft doesn't exist yet.
    • The episode focusing on "Flaw and Order" is titled "LAW & ORDER: FU DW", mimicking the title formatting of Law & Order's various sub-series.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: In the "Flaw and Order" episode, Matt points out that DW only appears towards the start of the episode and at The Summation, but she WAS the one who got Arthur and Buster in trouble and kicked off the plot of the episode in the first place.
  • Spin-Off: Three of them:
    • It’s Just A Cartoon, where he reviews one off episodes of other cartoons.
    • FU Caillou, the same as FU D.W. except D.W. is replaced with Caillou. As the Caillou episodes are Three Shorts, the runtime is shorter and can be found on the YouTube Shorts section of the channel.
    • Angelica Can Eat It, again similar to FU D.W., but with Angelica Pickles instead. For the first four episodes, the releases seemed to correspond with a major holiday, such as Thanksgiving ("The Turkey Who Came to Dinner") or Christmas ("The Santa Experience"). The fifth episode deviated from this theme by being a dual review of "Angelica Breaks a Leg" and "When Wishes Come True", neither of which were focused around a specific holiday.'
  • Spiritual Antithesis: Discussed in "DANIEL TIGER RIPS OFF ARTHUR'S WORST EPISODE". The episode being covered, "It's Not OK to Hurt Someone", is shown to have the opposite issue with how the moral in "Arthur's Big Hit" is handled. While "Arthur's Big Hit" took time to help the audience understand why Arthur would want to hit D.W. for breaking a model plane he spent days working on (as much as the aesop backfired), "It's Not OK to Hurt Someone" had Daniel try to hit his sister for knocking over a block tower he had built in only twenty seconds. In addition, D.W. claimed it wasn't her fault the plane broke and even accused of Arthur for building it wrong, Margaret was a baby who had no ill will towards Daniel.
  • Take That!:
    • In "DW GETS CANCELLED", Matt calls Romeo and Juliet "an overrated play about young love, not true love."
    • In "DW MEETS HER MATCH", Matt says that anyone who makes D.W. look like a hero (like Cora) deserves a special place in Hell next to Hitler and Barney the Dinosaur.
    • Several are delivered to the titular character of Caillou; in "DW MEETS HER MATCH", when Cousin Cora is introduced, a clip from the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Wet Painters" is played, with the heads of D.W. and Cora over the two giant paint bubbles, which then merge to form the head of Caillou. In "LAW & ORDER: FU DW", Matt gives an FU to Ms. Perske for being the Caillou narrator, given that they're both voiced by the same actress; Merlee Shapiro.
  • The Twelve Spoofs of Christmas: Matt's review of Caillou's Holiday Movie ends with Matt singing a spoof of The Twelve Days of Christmas.
    On the twelfth day of Christmas, Caillou gave to me:
    Twelve pointless advents
    Eleven Christmas meltdowns
    Ten tacky sweaters
    Nine stolen presents
    Eight creepy faces
    Seven sucky sleigh rides
    Six crappy cookies
    Five awful songs
    Four broken toys
    Three nosebleeds
    D.W.
    And this lopsided goofy ass tree.
  • Waxing Lyrical: Matt opens his Arthur's Missing Pal review with the first verse of "Piano Man"
    It's 9 o'clock on a Saturday,
    As the regular crowd shuffles in.
    And the only way I'M making it through this movie
    Is making love to a tonic and gin.
    ——

Alternative Title(s): FU Francine, FU Muffy, Angelica Can Eat It, Its Just A Cartoon

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FU DW

Matt's rhyme takes a turn.

How well does it match the trope?

4.4 (5 votes)

Example of:

Main / SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion

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