Goodbye Jetta

Goodbye Jetta is the first half of the first episode of season 3 of Clifford the Big Red Dog.

## Characters

* Clifford
* Cleo
* T-Bone
* Emily
* Charley
* Jetta
* Steven (debut)
* Mrs. Handover
* Mr. Cooke (debut)
* Mac
* Jeffy (debut)
* Vaz
* Mary
* Mrs. Carrington

## Plot

It all starts out as a normal day at Birdwell Island. Clifford, Cleo and T-Bone are playing ball near the school. At school, Emily Elizabeth, Charley and Jetta are having lunch at the cafeteria. Emily and Charley are eating bananas. Jetta is eating carrots. Emily Elizabeth looks at the board, saying there is a school field trip to the bowling alley on Friday. She asks Jetta if she would like to go bowling with Emily and Charley. Jetta says that she can't, because tomorrow she is moving away to Sun Fun Island, which is 3 hours away from Birdwell Island. Emily, saddened by the fact that Jetta is leaving the next day, asks Jetta why she is moving away to Sun Fun Island, and Jetta explains that the reason why she is leaving Birdwell Island is because her dog Mac lost a lot of weight, and she had to carry him every time, and she tells Emily and Charley that she has to go to Sun Fun Island before she hurts her back from carrying Mac too much. Charley says that he and Emily understand why, and he and Emily sadly and tearfully say that they are going to miss Jetta. Jetta then tells Emily and Charley not to worry and look on the bright side, and tells them that Jetta's cousin Steven, and his dog Jeffy will come to Birdwell Island tomorrow. This makes Emily and Charley groan and scream in fear. We then fade to a scene where Clifford picks Emily Elizabeth up from school, and Emily tells Clifford that Jetta is moving to Sun Fun Island the next day. Clifford starts fidgeting, and Emily asks Clifford what is going on, before Clifford finally sobs, and confesses and tells Emily a shocking secret. Emly gasps, and Clifford tells her that he can talk to people and humans now. He tells Emily that the reason why he only barked at humans and only talked to dogs in the past is because if he and the other dogs talked to humans, then the humans would become very afraid of him and the other dogs, and scream and run away and not love the dogs anymore. He then asks Emily Elizabeth if it's true, and Emily answers that even though she never expected Clifford to talk to her, that doesn't change the fact that she loves him very much. Clifford then thanks Emily. Then Clifford says hi to Jetta by speaking, and asks her if she would like to play with him, and Jetta answers that she can't because she has to get stuff to pack so that she can go to her new home in Sun Fun Island the next day. Jetta then turns back, and asks if she actually heard Clifford talk Clifford then says that he can talk to people, and Jetta says, "Pinch me, I must be dreaming." Clifford taps Jetta on the shoulder, and introduces her to Cleo and T-Bone, and he asks them to say hi to Jetta. Cleo and T-Bone each say hi and goodbye to Jetta, and then Jetta says "I take it back. I'm NOT dreaming, and then faints to the ground. Mrs. Handover then takes Jetta home to pack some things up. We then fade to a scene where Jetta hears a doorbell ringing, she opens the door, and Mr. Cooke (Steven's dad), Steven, and Jeffy (an orange Siberian husky) welcome themselves to Birdwell Island, and Mr. Cooke introduces himself, his son Steven, and his dog Jeffy. Emily Elizabeth then introduces herself then has a conversation with Mr. Cooke. Then, we fade to another scene where Emily tells Clifford how she feels about Steven, and asks Clifford if he thinks Steven is just as mean as Jetta. Clifford then strictly tells Emily Elizabeth that she can't judge somebody like Steven, because if Steven heard Emily say something like that, his feelings would get hurt. He then remembers the time he used to judge Billy and Betty kittens when they first came to Birdwell Island. A flahback from the season 1 episode *The Truth About Dogs and Cats* then plays. Then Emily tells Clifford that he's right. She then remembers the time she and the other kids, including Jetta, thought that Mrs. Grumbly would be mean, which leads to a flashback from the season 2 episode *Wedding Bell Blues*. Then Clifford tells Emily that he thinks it would be great to greet Steven and say hi to him. T-Bone then says that all the dogs should get to meet Steven. Then at school, Charley and Vaz say that Steven looks exactly like Jetta, only masculine, because he's Jetta's cousin. Mary then tells Charley and Vaz that it's not really nice to judge people by the way they look, and then she tells Charley and Vaz that she remembers she used to be made fun of because she is disabled and in in a wheelchair because she has cerebral palsy.. Mary then asks Charley and Vaz how would they like it if someone made fun of them by the way they look, and Charley and Vaz apologize, and Steven walks in and introduces himself and says that it is nice to meet them. Jeffy then introduces himself. Then Mrs. Carrington walks in and announces that Jetta has moved away to Birdwell Island, and this causes Clifford and Emily Elizabeth to burst into tears, crying. Mrs. Carrington asks them why they are crying, and Emily explains that she's sad that Jetta has moved away and that she'll never see her again, but at the same time, on the bright side, she is also kind of done with Jetta because she can be very snobby sometimes. Mrs. Carrington agrees with her, then announces that Jetta's far off cousin, who has just moved here to Birdwell Island, will now be part of the class. Emily then apologizes to Steven, and promises that she knows that you should meet somebody new and person, and decide how you feel AFTER you get to know them. Then Clifford barks, and T-Bone, Emily Elizabeth, Charley, and Samuel laugh.

## Trivia

* The music at the end of this episode is the same music used at the end of the season 2 episode Cleo's Valentine Surprise, albeit extended with a few more piano notes playing before the Arthur background music mixes in.
* Although this is Jetta's last appearance at Birdwell Island, she appears at her new house in 3 season 3 episodes, which are *The Missing Key, Jeffy's Sleepover,* and *Jeffy Tries New Things*, and comes back to Birdwell Island in 3 more season 3 episodes that air or take place after this. These include *The Wizard of Dogs*, *Happy Birthday, Clifford!*, and *Happy Birthday, Steven!*. Jetta's voice is heard in *Steven's Phone Call*, although she is not seen in the episode, because Steven is calling her on the phone in this case.
* This episode marks the first time in the 2000 series that Clifford and the dogs talk to humans, rather than just talking to dogs, and only barking at humans. Season 3 is also the first season of the 2000 series where this happens.
* Beginning with season 3, CINAR (the company that made other PBS shows like *Arthur*, and *Caillou*) makes *Clifford the Big Red Dog* in addition to Mike Young Productions, and Scholastic.
* Additionally, season 3 also marks to first season where *Arthur* music composer Ray Fabi makes music for *Clifford the Big Red Dog* episodes.
* Season 3 also marks new cast members in addition to John Ritter, and the rest of the Clifford the Big Red Dog cast members. These include some *Arthur* cast members like Mark Rendall (who voiced Arthur in seasons 7-8 of *Arthur*) voicing Steven in season 3 of Clifford the Big Red Dog), Jason Szwimer (who voiced D.W. in seasons 7-10 of *Arthur*) voicing Charley in season 3 of Clifford the Big Red Dog, replacing Gary Gray, Alex Hood (who voiced Brain in seasons 7-9 of *Arthur*,) voicing Vaz in season 3 of Clifford the Big Red Dog, replacing Ulysses Cuadra, and Daniel Brochu (who voiced Buster in the entire *Arthur* series, voicing Jeffy, an orange Siberian husky in this season, and all other future seasons) Tom Kenny (who voiced SpongeBob in *SpongeBob SquarePants*) also joins the Clifford the Big Red Dog cast beginning this season, and he voices Steven's dad, Mr. Cooke.
* Season 3 is also John Ritter's last season to voice Clifford, before Harry Groener replaced him beginning in season 4. Production began on August 5, 2002, and wrapped up on March 20, 2003, and then season 3 aired on PBS from May 5, 2003, to January 23, 2004.