| Episode | Gallery | Transcript | ||||
|
Out of This World |
|
Out of This World (Space Rocks) is the eleventh episode of the second season of The Magic School Bus. It first released on all PBS stations in the USA on November 18, 1995.
Plot[]
Dorothy Ann has spotted an asteroid that will hit Earth, and she predicted a direct landfall on the school. The class knows it's up to them to stop it when they get no response from NASA. They mistake a comet for the asteroid, which they melt, but unfortunately, the means used on it don't work on the asteroid. Instead, they use gravity to pull it to the bus, and manage to send it into the sun, saving the school.
Plot[]
While flying a spaceship in deep space, Dorothy Ann gets a call from Commander Fleck, who informs her that an asteroid is plunging towards Walkerville Elementary. D.A. orders him to alert Ms. Frizzle, only for the asteroid to destroy the school anyway.
It's revealed D.A. was dreaming. She wakes up with a start at 4:00 AM. Hopping out of bed, she searches the sky with her telescope and spots something floating past the moon. When her mom asks D.A. what she's doing up at this hour, Dorothy Ann frets that the school is in danger.
In the morning, Dorothy Ann arrives late to class and, in her haste, crashes into Ms. Frizzle, who was carrying reels of sci-fi films. The class, hearing the commotion, exit the classroom from their rehearsal of a play about planetary orbits in the solar system. Dorothy Ann informs the class that an asteroid will plunge onto the school sometime in the next 24 hours. She shows them a diagram of the asteroid's collision, factoring Earth's own movement.
Wanda suggests that the class call NASA about this, but the class is met with NASA's answering machine. With encouragement from Ms. Frizzle, Dorothy Ann suggests going to outer space and stop the space rock themselves.
With everyone onboard, Liz transforms the bus into a starship (resembling the USS Enterprise) and flies into space in order to assess Dorothy Ann's contention. Through the window, the students spot a rock floating in space, which Ralphie quips is a stray baseball he hit into a home run yesterday. The rock is small enough that it burns up completely when it reaches the Earth's atmosphere. While Keesha suggests and Arnold hopes that was Dorothy Ann's asteroid, D.A. argues that the asteroid she observed was much bigger, and that it is headed near Saturn. Liz accelerates the USS Enterbus to Saturn, only for the starship to get pulled off course, about to crash to the moon. Dorothy Ann explains that it's the gravity that's pulling the USS Enterbus into the moon; as Arnold notes, the moon is much bigger. Liz gets the ship to fly around the moon, which Ms. Frizzle explains is a parking orbit.
Leaving the moon behind, the class finds a comet coming their way. Ms. Frizzle elucidates that space junk are bits and pieces of rock that were left over as the planets formed. Dorothy Ann wonders if it was the comet that she saw through her telescope last night. The class uses a "mega reflector" to redirect the sun's heat and melt the comet, since comets are made of ice.
Dorothy Ann, however, informs them that their objective is still at large. She was disoriented by to the USS Enterbus turning around after leaving the moon, and had gotten their location wrong. Liz drives the USS Enterbus to another space rock that Dorothy Ann believes is the asteroid. The class attempt to use the mega reflector again, but it fails because the asteroid is made out of metal and rock. As the asteroid continues on its course, Dorothy Ann finds herself at a loss on what to do next.
The USS Enterbus follows the asteroid and Dorothy Ann suggests that instead of destroying the asteroid, the class should move it to another direction. Carlos suggests they use the magnetic "Rammer Slammer" on the Enterbus's space pod to pull the asteroid off course. Ms. Frizzle accompanies Carlos in the space pod. After the pod launches and arrives at the asteroid. Caros arms the Rammer Slammer and activates its magnet. Unfortunately, the asteroid is too big to get pulled and the space pod gets stuck to it.
Phoebe suggests that if the Bus transforms into something bigger than the asteroid, the asteroid would orbit around the Bus just like how they orbited around the moon. Dorothy Ann adopts the plan and suggests that they swing the asteroid around the Bus and send it to the sun to destroy it. Liz transforms the USS Enterbus into a comet, then an asteroid, and then into a Moon, whose gravity is enough to dislodge the space pod. Ms. Frizzle and Carlos eject out of the space pod and back into the Lunar School Bus. Liz successfully transforms the Lunar School Bus back into the USS Enterbus just in time for the asteroid to zoom off towards the sun.
Keesha finally gets the call from NASA, only for the class to rescind the call, for the asteroid is no more. They fly back to Earth and to the school as Dorothy Ann's mother and Evan, Dorothy Ann's sister watch through their home balcony what appears to be a meteor shower. When the class discuss what would happen if another asteroid attempts to crash to the school, Carlos jokingly states that they would "Change its course, of course".
Gallery[]
.jpg "Dorothy Ann's panties (4).jpg (152 KB)")
.jpg "Dorothy Ann's panties (5).jpg (156 KB)")
.jpg "Dorothy Ann's panties (6).jpg (156 KB)")
Trivia[]
- This episode's producer segment is the first to take place in the classroom. The second two are Cold Feet and In the Zone.
- "Field trip no. 24" is a reference to the episode's number in airing order: (Original Series, Season 2, Episode 24) and production order: (MSB-24).
- Dorothy Ann's mother makes her second appearance. She is voiced by Swoosie Kurtz. Dorothy Ann's little sister, Evan, is also introduced.
- The cast of the Solar System play: (the classroom skeleton plays the Sun)
- Arnold - Saturn
- Carlos - Mars
- Dorothy Ann - Pluto (she doesn't wear her costume in the episode)
- Keesha - Uranus
- Liz - Mercury
- Phoebe - Neptune
- Ralphie - Jupiter
- Tim - Earth
- Wanda - Venus
- This is the second episode to feature a play, the first being Gets Ants in Its Pants, the third being Gets Planted and the fourth being Pigs in the Wind.
- This is the second time the class does a play.
- This is the first time Keesha is in a play.
- This is the first time Keesha doesn't direct a play.
- The second being Gets Planted.
- This is the second time Phoebe is in a play.
Cultural references
- Carlos making barking noises after telling Dorothy Ann she was supposed to be Pluto is a nod to the Disney character of the same name.
- One of the film reels that Ms. Frizzle was carrying is the 1951 Paramount film, When Worlds Collide, which she jokes is fitting because she had just collided with D.A. in the hallway.
- This episode is an homage to several sci-fi series, mainly the Star Trek franchise.
- The "Magic Space Bus," with its saucer-like shape and nacelles attached by pylons, resembles the USS Enterprise from Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS, 1966-1969). It somewhat resembles the Enterprise upside-down.
- The students' outfits are based on Starfleet uniforms from Star Trek: TOS. Liz takes it further with a bowl cut wig and pointed ears inspired by those of Mr. Spock; she even gives a Vulcan salute.
- Ms. Frizzle's outfit and hairdo resemble those of Princess Leia from the Star Wars trilogy.
- The horseshoe-shaped wall separating Ms. Frizzle's command chair from D.A.'s map console, not to mention the chair itself, may have been inspired by the horseshoe-shaped tactical console on the interior of the Enterprise-D bridge from Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG, 1987-1994), which was finishing its run around the time this episode aired.
- The bucket-shaped helmets of the EV suits Carlos and Ms. Frizzle wear on their away mission resemble those on environmental suits in the Star Trek: TOS episode "The Naked Now."
- The instrument above D.A.'s diagram table make warbling sounds like those of tricorders (portable scanning instruments) from Star Trek: TOS.
- Ms. Frizzle's "Teacher's Ledger" is a play on the "Captain's Log," a fixture in Star Trek shows in which the lead character gives exposition of current goings-on or an upcoming mission. She says the class is about to go "where few even dare dream to go," a play on the Star Trek motto "to boldly go where no one has gone before." Said motto, as famous as it is, has been more directly quoted in other episodes like "Under Construction."
- When asking to plot a course, Ms. Frizzle confuses Liz by giving absurdly long series of numbers and words. In Star Trek: TNG, characters will describe a course and heading of the ship like "heading-1-5-1-mark-3-2-0," which are gibberish to the audience.
- At the end of the episode, the class is beamed down from the Bus ship to the WES baseball diamond, though the effect used moreso resembles those of Quantum Leap rather than Star Trek.
Continuity references
- This episode may take place the day after "Plays Ball".
- After the class shouts "An asteroid?" in unison, Ralphie asks "You mean like that giant rock Arnold's loony cousin Janet, tried to bring back from space?", referencing their field trip in the first episode "Gets Lost in Space".
Catchphrases
- Carlos, Ralphie, and Wanda all make puns in this episode. This is the third episode that everyone calls out Ralphie for a bad pun. No one calls out Wanda's.
- Arnold does not say "I knew I should've stayed home today" in this episode