EINSTEIN ANDERSON GOES TO BAT

Punning painfully all the way, sixth-grade superbrain Einstein Anderson sees through a film crew's publicity story about a vampire, friend and arch-rival Margaret's story about an alleged 1943 Polaroid snapshot, an arsonist's claim that a cobweb accidentally burst into flame, and the flaw in high school friend Stanley's metal baseball bat invention. He coaches little brother Dennis for a sword-balancing challenge, helps out mean classmate Pat the Brat on two occasions, and tricks him on another. For these mental feats, Einstein calls on his knowledge of Newton, Archimedes, photosynthesis, the center of gravity, and a number of odd facts. The episodes still tend to center on competition and one-upmanship of one sort or another, though Einstein seems to be toning down his tendency to rub it in.