The Magic School Bus Lost in The Solar System - Television Adaptation

Television Adaptation

The book was adapted into the first episode of the Magic School Bus television series to be broadcast. It is likely not the first episode produced (i.e. the pilot episode) since Arnold at one point mentions that the class went on a field trip inside a rotten log, probably referring to the events of the episode "The Magic School Bus Meets The Rot Squad." (He also mentions that they've gone to the bottom of the ocean, but they didn't do that until the second-season episode "The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top.") The episode is infamous for its third act in which the show unintentionally teaches that one could survive without a helmet in the vacuum of space if brought back into an oxygen-filled environment quickly.

For the most part, the episode is faithful to the book. Most notably, in the episode, Janet's bragging about herself doesn't appear to be empty bragging and she constantly raves about how "proof" is needed for all extraordinary claims, prompting her to force Arnold to collect "proof" from every planet in the solar system, so she can prove to the students in her class that she actually traveled to all the planets. Also in this one Arnold surprisingly suggests going to outer space himself to prove to Janet the truth.

Also, instead of remaining in the asteroid belt, Ms. Frizzle uses her jet pack to fly off to another planet and provides the kids with clues as to her location via the radio on the bus. She, of course, turns out to be on Pluto. The ending is changed too, with all of Janet's "proof" falling out of the bus on Pluto and her refusing to leave without it. Arnold then demonstrates what will happen to her if she remains on Pluto by taking his helmet off, which freezes him and forces Janet to leave Pluto immediately. This ending, of course, makes Arnold the hero instead of Janet. Among arriving back to Earth, all Arnold got from the freeze-over was a cold, and then the alien-obsessed Ralphie fakes a news announcement about aliens discovered on Pluto, complaining about the junk Janet left.

Ironically for a show intended to teach science, the episode has two large errors. The first being the aforementioned scenario in which Arnold takes off his helmet on Pluto without dying, and the second, repeating the urban legend that one can catch a cold from the cold. The common cold is a viral infectious disease and one especially cannot catch it in the virtually airless atmosphere of Pluto as Arnold does in the episode.

This episode also marks the introduction of Janet in the TV series, and it is also the first time the bus is driven by the kids or someone other than Ms. Frizzle (the bus doesn't appear to have autopilot in the episode).