Clifford the Big Red Dog

In this flashback episode we see some of the challenges the Howards faced when they arrived on Birdwell Island with a very big, red dog! Where will Clifford live? How will they feed him? What will they use as his water dish? The folks of Birdwell Island work together to help the new arrivals solve their dilemmas, forging strong new friendships in the process. Jetta and Emily Elizabeth make plans to spend Saturday at the beach together, but Jetta breaks the play date when a “better offer” from an older girl comes along. However, when the older girl calls and cancels on Jetta, Jetta finally understands how Emily Elizabeth must have felt. She now realizes that being a good friend means keeping a promise.

Clifford gets a bad case of the hiccups and that’s a real problem with a dog the size of Clifford! His dog friends work together to come up with various remedies for Clifford. They are not successful and the hiccups eventually go away on their own. But Clifford expresses to his friends how good it feels to know they care so much about him. When Jetta throws a “movie-watching” party, she expects everyone to do things her way which in this case means watching home-movies of herself. The other kids try their best, but are soon bored and take a vote to go outside and make their own movie with Vaz’s movie camera. Jetta is encouraged to join them, but stubbornly refuses. But she soon learns that it’s more fun to play when everyone has a voice in deciding what to do together.

Clifford’s good friends come over to help him clean out his doghouse, determined to get rid of all the old “junk” he no longer uses. But before long Clifford realizes that each item holds a special memory and can’t be parted with. Mac thinks this is nonsense, until he is reminded of a memory in which he was included. He then understands, along with Clifford, that one dog’s “junk” can be another dog’s treasure. Jetta gets a new baby brother and at first is extremely proud to be a big sister. But when she realizes this means she will now have to share the spotlight with the baby, she goes all out to get back her position as the “center of attention.” She eventually learns, however, that being a good “big sister” is far more rewarding than being the “star of the show.”

Jetta feels a twinge of jealousy when the other children make a fuss over Emily Elizabeth’s wonderful big pet Clifford, so she blurts out a story about her own wonderful big pet, a huge parrot named Lulu. But the little lie quickly grows into a big mess, forcing Jetta to dress Clifford up as a bird to keep the lie from being exposed. Her conscience finally makes her do the right thing and she apologizes for having created the lie in the first place. Vaz is new at being a paperboy and is struggling with getting the papers onto people's doorsteps. Cleo steps in and discovers that she can earn treats by helping out! She recruits Clifford and T-Bone and together they enjoy helping Vaz out and getting treats. But before long Cleo has forgotten about the “helping out” part and is only concerned with getting treats. Clifford and T-Bone help her rediscover that helping for its own sake is its own reward.

The Howards are having a party and everyone they know will be attending. Everyone but Mr. Bleakman, that is. The old “party pooper” insists that he’d rather stay home and do his usual Saturday afternoon routine. But Clifford and Emily Elizabeth and her friends won’t give up on trying to convince Mr. Bleakman that trying something new can be fun! Finally they are able to convince him to join them and a great time is had by all. Emily Elizabeth believes she has the perfect gift for her mother’s birthday. She plans to spend the entire afternoon with her mother and the reading of a poem written just for her mom. Charley agrees that the gift is perfect, but Jetta has other ideas. Emily Elizabeth agrees to at least try some of Jetta’s ideas. But in the end she realizes that the gift she created from her heart really is the best gift.

All of the dogs are so excited that their old friend K.C. is back on the island for a couple of days. Cleo, however, is particularly excited and focuses all of her attention on him at the expense of T-Bone and Clifford. She discovers that being a good friend means you should be kind and considerate to all your friends and not take any of them for granted. Mac is particularly disappointed when rainy weather threatens to ruin the upcoming Back-to-School Barbecue held every year at Jetta’s house. The other dogs, seeing his disappointment, vow to find a way to stop the rain from falling. It doesn’t take long for them to realize that you can’t change the weather. But Mac’s disappointment is replaced with delight that his friends would go to such lengths to try and help him.

It’s “Keep Birdwell Beautiful” month and the kids are doing their part by planting a flower garden. Seeing this, the dogs decide to create a doggie flower garden of their own. But when Cleo hears that “almost anything grows” in Birdwell Island soil, she decides she’d much rather grow a garden full of dog toys! She soon learns, however, that working alone for a selfish end is not nearly as rewarding as working together for the whole community. Clifford and his dog friends find the long-lost trunk of Captain Birdwell, filled with wonderful items brought to the Island by the explorer long ago. But through a misunderstanding, Jetta is given credit for the discovery. She knows that telling the truth is the right thing to do, but she can’t resist the promise of a gold medal award. It doesn’t take long for her to realize, however, that awards don’t give much pleasure when they’re not deserved.

Jetta and Emily trade dogs for the Island’s annual Topsy Turvy Day, a day when everything gets turned around. Jetta learns that being kind and thoughtful gets you a lot farther than being bossy. Mrs. Bleakman is having a very special party for her book club members and Cleo and Mac convince Clifford that his regular good manners won’t be good enough for the event. Clifford believes he is just fine the way he is, but Cleo and Mac insist on teaching him some special “fancy” manners. In the end, Clifford decides to just be himself and ends up saving the party by providing shade for Mrs. Bleakman’s guests.

When Clifford forgets a play date, Cleo gets really upset. After all, she would never do that to a friend. Cleo won’t even accept Clifford’s apologies. But T-Bone points out to Cleo that maybe she is the one who isn’t being a good friend. After all, Clifford did apologize and a good friend would never hold a grudge. Cleo learns that good friends forgive (and forget!). T-Bone really likes Mimi, the little brown poodle who visits the Island on occasion, and is very excited to hear she’s coming back again! But when Cleo starts teasing him about how much he likes Mimi, T-Bone feels embarrassed and uncomfortable. He finally confronts Cleo about it and Cleo learns that teasing can be anything that makes someone feel uncomfortable.

Cleo spies Clifford’s favorite blanket one he has had since he was a puppy and proclaims it the perfect cape for Super T-Bone. Clifford reluctantly allows his friends to use the blanket, if they promise to be very careful. The game turns rambunctious, the blanket gets dirty and Clifford gets upset. Cleo and T-Bone realize that to be a good friend you should listen to and respect the wishes and property of others. Vaz’s big sister Teresa is home from college and ready to dig for dinosaur bones AND fossils on Birdwell Island! Who more perfect to help her dig than Clifford and his dog friends? Everybody has great luck digging up fossils that will complete a dinosaur skeleton that Teresa is piecing together everybody but T-Bone that is. But by believing in himself, T-Bone ultimately comes up with one of the most important bones needed to complete the job.