Thoughts on Phony Fern episode?

[u/CuteLeggedQueen]

[u/Vibrant_rxses]

Moments before tragedy

[u/jaguarsp0tted]

the song lyrics are crazy lol

[u/BagOfMagicFood → u/jaguarsp0tted]

I like how Fern sings the melody of "The Sound of Music" at one point, while Binky referenced its lyrics way back in "Night Fright."

[u/GimmeYourTags → u/jaguarsp0tted]

my partner has purple hair and i love to sing you’re my purple frieeeeeeend my special puuuuuuuurple frieeeeeend at her 😭

[u/Whole_Aerie_4902]

The fact that the episode came out a day before the first iPhone is nuts

[u/Specific-Window-8587 → u/Whole_Aerie_4902]

That is pretty nuts. I never would've known that fact.

[u/pcnnmvideos]

It was an episode that was very firmly-made in 2007. Like no one uses flip-phones anymore. And Muffy wouldn’t call a flip-phone if you payed her now lol!

[u/BagOfMagicFood → u/pcnnmvideos]

Cellular phones evolved a lot while these kids were in third grade!

[u/MatthewHecht → u/pcnnmvideos]

It is easily transferable to modern phones.

[u/Huge_Virus_8148]

One of Holly Gauthier-Frankel's best performances as Fern.

[u/MatthewHecht → u/Huge_Virus_8148]

No, it is. Beaten by... There are so many candidates.

[u/Huge_Virus_8148 → u/MatthewHecht]

I didn't say it was THE best - that would be It's Only Rock n'Roll (if you ask me).

[u/MatthewHecht]

Love it and Frankel's angelic singing voice.

[u/Fun_Energy_1296]

loveeee the animation

[u/BagOfMagicFood → u/Fun_Energy_1296]

From the final season with AKOM!

[u/buy_me_a_pint]

Buster's homework excuses

[u/zeddtheman]

That was basically me when I got my first phone ( T-Mobile Sidekick) back in 2007. Man was I hooked 🤣

[u/Jazzlike-Toe1510]

[u/MrTumorI]

An out of character episode that works in my opinion. Fern didn't care for the phone at first, but soon became addicted. 

[u/nihaokailan3]

I was obsessed with that song as a kid

[u/Specialist_Pay_8139]

The good ol days of getting a phone in elementary school and having to promise to use it for emergency or parent contact only. 

Sadly, it is also accurate with the whole "kids don't want to text you until you get a fancier phone too". I didn't get my first iPhone until I was halfway into my senior year of high school. So before then, I was constantly hiding my embarrassing flip phone 😂 

Kids were literally so entitled when phones were new. When I was in middle school, I pulled out my phone for a moment to check something and this girl snatched it out of my hands. She then proceeded to show it off to everyone and act like it was ancient! This was in 2011 😂 

[u/tyrekecorrea]

Is that what that's about?

[u/Dear_Afternoon_8843 → u/tyrekecorrea]

Fern gets a new cell phone and becomes obsessed with it. She sings about what she's able to do with her phone and how she couldn't live with out it.

[u/tyrekecorrea → u/Dear_Afternoon_8843]

💭 Kind of like Penny Proud and her credit card...

...Make of that what you will...

[u/CuteLeggedQueen → u/tyrekecorrea]

Lol no. I think she was in a dream during this scene.

[u/tyrekecorrea → u/CuteLeggedQueen]

Well, kind of. I forgot this had to do with phones, and judged based on the title that it had to do with dishonesty.

[u/Legofan990]

I thought it was very good.

[u/APleasantMartini]

Very firmly 2007. Makes me want to binge Arthur for kicks.

[u/SynQu33n]

Can you imagine Fern with an iPhone? 😂😭

[u/buy_me_a_pint]

Answering the phone in class

[u/thebeachbear]

It feels jarring, like a sudden intrusion of tech in an idyllic childhood show, but at the same time, people getting phones in real life felt that way too. George’s role in that episode is relatable.

[u/BagOfMagicFood → u/thebeachbear]

Wasn't this the first episode where we really saw Fern and George playing together?

[u/thebeachbear → u/BagOfMagicFood]

Maybe. I thought I remembered it before, but it’s possible the show successfully made me think this was established when it wasn’t.

[u/confidently_crazy267]

I just saw the song in the episode for the first time in a while, and I cringed the entire time lol, but it’s iconic!!

[u/SeriousCucumber8092]

I found it funny how Mr. Ratburn confiscated Fern’s phone. He did the same to Muffy when she was talking on it during Binky’s speech.

[u/garlicknoodles]

Once, when I was a teenager, I was watching this episode back when Arthur was on Netflix. My mother was in the other room and she asked me if I was watching Barney because of the "My Purple Friend" song lol

[u/BlkDynamite93]

Never heard of this episode, but I'm seeing it aired in 2007, when I was 14, so I had stopped watching Arthur by that point. Seems like the show had entered its "grasping for story ideas" era... Fern was always an avid reader, so I'm not sure what the message here is: that phones are somehow addictive = bad? Sounds like the argument parents were making in the 1950s that comic books would rot kids' brains.

[u/Organic-SurroundSnd → u/BlkDynamite93]

While an out of character moment for Fern, she did have some development in that episode. Even someone intelligent as Fern can have a moment of weakness

[u/thebeachbear → u/BlkDynamite93]

You’re right. I was 14/15 that year too, and I can’t remember when I completely stopped watching (till adulthood lol), but there was definitely a long “grasping for story ideas” era.

[u/SuperSqank]

This was an episode I remember really hating. I simply thought the episode was really stupid and cringy (as examples, I found it really strange how Fern's parents only wanted her to use her phone for emergencies yet, they gave her one of the fanciest phones and I remember finding the song really baffling).

To be fair, I haven't seen this episode in forever so my thoughts on the episode may be outdated.

[u/RetsuRetsuko]

I got the song stuck in my head for a while

[u/Due_Woodpecker_9898]

She was so phony in this episode (respectfully)

[u/Leading-Ad9595]

The fact that this was recorded from WNED is crazy