Airdate: October 25, 1996
Both stories provide examples of:
- Screaming Woman: D.W. screams several times in this episode.
- Vacation Episode: Both vacations have a few rough patches, but turn out all right in the end.
"Arthur's Family Vacation"
Arthur can't wait to go back to Camp Meadowcroak this summer. Unfortunately, those plans have to be deterred when their family plans a vacation to the beach that same week. Arthur's attempts to wheedle his way out prove unsuccessful, and soon it is apparent he has to accept their plans whether he likes it or not. From the start, everything seems to go wrong — the Reads get caught in traffic, they get stuck in the car with a dirty diaper in the midst of it, and D.W.'s shark pool toy nearly goes missing leading to an hours-long wild goose chase. When they arrive, things hardly seem to get any better — their hotel is run-down and old, it rains for what seems like forever, and the lobster dinner that Mr. Read hypes up completely Squicks out Arthur and D.W.. Arthur manages to turn it around, though, when he discovers an ad in a rolled-up newspaper, causing them to improvise their vacation a little bit. Finally, it quits raining, and the family is at last able to enjoy a day on the beach. When Arthur returns home, he and Buster share each other's trip experiences, and Arthur turns out to have gotten the better end of the deal after all.
"Arthur's Family Vacation" provides examples of:
- Artifact Title: In-Universe. The Ocean View Hotel used to have a view of the ocean, but due to all the new buildings, it's no longer visible.
- Bowdlerise: Some PBS affiliates and other international channels would edit out D.W. yelling "GAS CHAMBER!" among noticing Kate's diaper needs changing while in the car with the whole family during a traffic jam, presumably to avoid offending any survivors of The Holocaust.
- Brick Joke: Sharky gets untied and ends up in a truck full of cows. Later, when the Reads find things to do in the rain, they visit a cow festival and meet the same truck driver.
- Companion Cube: D.W. is extremely attached to her inflatable shark pool toy, Sharky, to the point that she claims it was Sharky's idea to go see a movie that's clearly based on Jaws and keeps bringing Sharky everywhere no matter how impractical it is.
- Daydream Surprise; The Cold Open starts with Buster and Arthur canoeing at camp, only for a giant D.W. to step on their boat and cause them to capsize. Then we see D.W. was actually standing on Arthur's camping pamphlet while he was reading it in bed.
- Diaper Check: Happens with the family. While they're stuck in traffic. D.W.'s reaction says it all.D.W.: GAS CHAMBER! AAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAH!
- Didn't Think This Through: It's obvious that this is the family's first vacation with Arthur, D.W., and Kate. Dave doesn't make sure that everyone has used the bathroom, that the car has snacks suitable for children, or that Sharky is tied on tightly. He and Jane are fine with changing Kate's diaper, but everything else obviously annoys them. On a smaller note, he doesn't consider that the kids, even Arthur, may be averse to eating lobster, a "giant bug" in D.W.'s words.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: There are quite a few music cues in this episode that do not show up in any other episodes, presumably due to being one of the earliest episodes produced. The standard "nighttime"/"sleeping" Leitmotif even includes an additional section only heard here. And there are also some music cues that appear to have been specifically written for this episode that were reused in many later episodes, such as the instrumental backing to D.W.'s taunting song at the end of the Cold Open, the bluegrass music at the cow festival, and especially the Jaws-esque music at the shark horror movie D.W. takes the family to.
- Hell Hotel: Downplayed, but the hotel the Reads stay in is a hole-in-the-wall run down pit. They did have the Family Fun Suite, but since they arrived long after check-in, the Suite went to another family.
- Horrible Camping Trip: Buster says camp was okay, but Camp Meadowcroak turns out to be a nightmare after a hurricane hits because lightning destroyed the mess hall, and the lake was contaminated by bacteria.
- A Lizard Named "Liz": A shark pool toy named Sharky.
- Never My Fault: When Arthur expresses his disbelief that D.W. chose to go see a Jaws film expy, she claims "it was Sharky's idea."
- No-Tell Motel: The Ocean View Hotel (which always has a vacancy) is like this; there's no view of the ocean, the room has pictures coming off the hinges, lousy mattresses on the beds that sink under weight, leaky ceilings, and an abnormally small pool (to which D.W. comments "Our bathtub is bigger than this!"). But being a kids' show, there are no sexual references.
- Pig Latin: Mr. Read uses this in an attempt to discreetly tell his wife that D.W.'s inflatable toy shark may have just come loose from their car. It doesn't work.David: (To Jane) Honey...ah heh...are you sure you tied arky-shay on ight-tay?
- Rain, Rain, Go Away: Happens for part of the vacation.
- Running Gag:
- D.W. bringing Sharky to everything, no matter how impractical it is.
- David's excitement about the lobster dinner. Unfortunately, once they finally get it, Arthur and D.W. are too grossed out by the lobster to want any.
- With Lyrics: One of the show's recurring music cues has D.W. singing lyrics for it, specifically D.W.'s taunting song at the end of the Cold Open.You can't go to camp!
You can't go to camp!
We're going on vacation! We're going on vacation! We're going on vacation!
"Grandpa Dave's Old Country Farm"
Arthur and D.W. are on vacation, which means it's time for one of their favorite pastimes — a visit to Grandpa Dave's farm! They are excited to do all of the things they usually do, but when they arrive, they find the house in shambles. While they enjoy their vacation, they slowly begin to wonder if Grandpa Dave really does need help on his farm, in spite of his insistence that he is perfectly capable running it himself. After several acts of procrastination, Arthur and D.W. finally decide they can't take it anymore, and request Grandpa Dave to get the hen house fixed. He is reluctant, but they remind him that they are part of his family after his repeated remarks that the farm has "been in the family for over 150 years." Ed joins in on the work too, and soon the hen house is all fixed back up. When it's time to leave the farm, they have a new assurance that Dave now has some decent help on the farm.
"Grandpa Dave's Old Country Farm" provides examples of:
- The Alleged House: Due to Grandpa Dave's inability to take care of the farm on his own, his house is falling apart. The hen house in particular deserves mention, as its roof fell in an untold amount of time ago and Dave has continually ignored fixing it.
- Armor-Piercing Response: One morning, D.W. and Arthur decide to offer their help to Grandpa Dave to fix the farm. Once again, Grandpa Dave says no because he sees the kids as too young. And he's about to go into his "this farm's been in our family for generations" excuse, when D.W. cuts in "But Grandpa, we are your family!" This makes Grandpa Dave give pause, as he realizes he nearly turned away help from the very people he so claimed his farm rightfully belonged to. This is what finally convinces him to accept help for once.
- Both Sides Have a Point: One big reason Grandpa Dave doesn’t want the kids to worry about helping fix the henhouse is because they’re his grandkids who are supposed to be on vacation, and they shouldn’t have to worry about work during it. But as the kids point out, the farm has fallen into such a state of disrepair that it’s impeding their enjoyment of their vacation up to their sleeping arrangements, and he clearly cannot maintain the farm by himself.
- Description Cut: D.W. feels bad for "poor mom and dad", and wonders what they will ever do without them around. Cue an Imagine Spot where they go out dancing together at a 50's diner.
- Down on the Farm: Grandpa Dave's neighborhood has a rustic feel to it.
- Everything's Better with Rainbows: D.W. tells her dad to paint the Read house rainbow-colored while she and Arthur are away.
- I Work Alone: Grandpa Dave insists that he can work the farm without help. Ed regularly pokes fun at him for this, much to Dave's dismay.
- The Load: Arthur and D.W. try their best with helping Grandpa Dave, but D.W. is too small to carry any heavy tools, and Arthur is inexperienced. He hammers his thumb by accident and accidentally drops a board that he and Grandpa Dave are sawing. Despite their best efforts, Ed has to step in to help.
- Loophole Abuse: Grandpa Dave doesn't want the kids to work on the hen house because they're on vacation, and his "this farm has been in the family" spiel. D.W. interrupts and points out that they are his family. This convinces him to accept their help.
- Nice Guy: Ed, one of Grandpa Dave's friends. He takes Arthur and D.W. for a hike while Grandpa Dave works on the henhouse.
- Pride: Ed explains to Arthur and D.W. that the reason Grandpa Dave doesn't want help (despite that he's behind on fixing the farm) is because he's too proud and stubborn to accept help.
- Ridiculous Procrastinator: Grandpa Dave continually puts off fixing the hen house several times throughout the episode. It's justified in that he only manages to get a fraction of the work done, due to his age and how rundown it is.
- Running Gag: "This farm has been in our family for over 150 years!"
- Thicker Than Water: Arthur and D.W. grow so concerned for their grandfather’s inability to maintain his home that they rarely bicker as the episode goes on, and they become wholly focused on helping him.
- Unwanted Assistance: Dave refuses help in fixing up the farm, but eventually gives in and lets Ed, Arthur, and D.W. pitch in.
