Arthur: Lost Episode: Difference between revisions

I wish this tape had survived long enough for me to get some screen shots from it, but alas, the film tore badly and during repairs I lost all but 5 minutes of the episode. The tape was bought second hand about a month ago, from my normal second hand media store, The Corner Store. For those who don't live in central Alberta, it's an old music store that became a second hand book/movie store some time ago. I have bought almost 100 VHS tapes from him, all of which worked fine, except for this one. I bought the tape because I'm trying to find the old episodes of Arthur again, to bring back good memories of my childhood. I loved that show, and still watch it to this day. As all should know, they still make it…andit...and the new ones are nothing to brag about. The animation looks cheap and rather rushed, the stories are often dull and the focus on mental illness in children (like the one about the kid with Asperger's) feels out of place. Characters have changed; the bullies are now good guys, Francine is even more of a bitch and DW no longer has moments that make her seem like more than a spoiled brat. The show has been ruined. To escape this mess, I went out to buy some old episodes on tape. Home recordings were of particular interest, so I could see some of the old commercials that had aired at the time. I bought about $5 worth of the old tapes, each at 50 cents. They all seemed fine. Each was properly labeled with episode times, recording dates and time stamps. The one that caught my eye was the title "Death of Grandma", recorded on March 5th, 1998 with a lone time stamp: '15:24 lost the channel'. It was an episode I did not know, from an airdate that seemed almost too old to be trusted. I noticed the title had been written on a patch of white out. I decided against scraping it off. Perhaps it was a recording of something in the people's lives? I decided to watch it first.

Arthurs Dad: "Now kids, I'm afraid that we won't be seeing Grandma Thora again. She's…gones...gone to a better place…place..."'''

It went to the credits and it was the normal, cheery music. Stunned, I went to rewind the tape, to see if I what I just saw was real or if was just a dream. When I tried to rewind the video, the tape seized up, so I took the tape and opened it up. The film had split an inch from one reel all the way down to a few inches from the other one. Either I had just witnessed one of the worst things to ever be associated with a children's cartoon, or I'm just off my nut…nut... I will never know. I remember it pretty well though, suggesting it was real. If this was made by some sick fuck as a joke, I give them a thumbs-up on making something that seemed so real, like as if it was actually part of the series. After all, the video had never cut out like it said on the tape, unless it had on what had originally been recorded. But now I think of it…sinceit...since the show always covers very real topics…couldtopics...could this have been a real episode they only aired once? They did one on DW's bird dying but never one on abuse or anything. If it really was a real episode, and I almost hope it is. I'm intrigued and I really want to see it again, to prove to myself I'm not going mad.