"Downtown as Fruits" is the first segment to the first episode of Hey Arnold!
Plot[]
Helga is in charge of P.S. 118's stage play about the food groups, and Arnold and Gerald, who are cast as a banana and a strawberry, are not looking forward to taking part in it. On the evening of the play, the two friends board the bus to P.S. 118, feeling humiliated about having to perform in their fruit costumes. Just then, Gerald has an idea. He explains that they should deliberately forget to pull the cord for the bus to stop, thus missing the play so they won't be humiliated in front of the student body. Arnold is hesitant at first, but eventually not pulling the cord at their destination.
At the play, Helga delivers a motivational speech, stating that each group has their own spirit. But then Phoebe points out that Arnold and Gerald are absent, causing Helga to throw a fit of rage, so loud that Arnold hears the scream across the street. ("Did you hear something just now?") As the bus continues on downtown, Arnold complains about the road ahead, leading Gerald to tell him that they'll just ride the way back. Just then, the bus stops, having reached the end of the line. After getting off the bus, the boys try calling Gerald's parents to come pick them up, but the pay phone's cord has been cut. Just then, a car pulls up and the driver throws them a bag of money. ("People downtown sure are friendly!") Seconds after the boys leave with the money, two men also wearing banana and strawberry costumes then show up, waiting for what was supposed to be their money, leading them to believe the driver was late.
After buying some new outfits with the money and throwing out their costumes, Arnold and Gerald go to eat at a place called Gino's Souvlaki Shack, joking around with each other. Later, at Ernie's Pool Hall, Arnold and Gerald pay for sodas for everyone in the building. Just then, the two other fruit-costumed men show up, demanding the money from the guy who was supposed to deliver it to them. Arnold and Gerald run out of the pool hall to avoid the two men, eventually hiding out in Zamboni Jones's "realm", with Jones foretelling that they had harmed someone. Gerald at first denies this, but then Arnold realizes he and Gerald are letting their friends at the school, so they rush out to catch a cab to the school and obtaining their costumes from the dumpster, plus giving the leftover money to someone whose car broke down.
Meanwhile, at the school, the play is practically a flop. Helga, lamenting about the failure on opening night, goes to announce that the final act will not be taking place, when Arnold and Gerald enter the stage, knocking her aside in mid-speech, and perform their duet to an outstanding ovation.
Home video releases[]
- VHS
- Hey Arnold!: Urban Adventures
- DVD
- Hey Arnold!: Season 1
- Hey Arnold!: Stoop Kid and Other Stories
- iTunes
- Hey Arnold!: Volume 1
Videos[]
