It’s the end of an era for kids’ television as PBS confirmed that their long-running children’s series Arthur will end after 25 years. The show’s final season will air in the winter of 2022.
Original show developer Kathy Waugh broke the news in an interview on the Finding DW podcast with voice actor Jason Szwimmer.
“Arthur is no longer in production. We had our wrap party two years ago,” Waugh told Szwimmer. “I think [PBS] made a mistake, and I think ‘Arthur’ should come back and I know I’m not alone in thinking they made a mistake. I don’t know if it was a ratings issue or if it felt like it needed to be retired. To me, it felt evergreen, like it was never going to end but it did end, we finished the last episode of Season 25 two years ago.”
Based on the Arthur adventure books by Marc Brown, the Arthur series which was aired in 1996, followed an eight-year-old anthropomorphic aardvark, his friends and family in the fictional town of Elwood City and their daily interactions with each other. The show aimed to help its young viewers with managing their emotions, building friendships and developing self-esteem.
Arthur has featured episodes focusing on dyslexia, cancer, diabetes and autism spectrum disorder, while in 2019 it made headlines with an episode featuring a same-sex wedding.
The series is currently produced by GBH and Oasis Animation, while Carol Greenwald, WGBH and Brown at Marc Brown Studios are executive producers.
Greenwald confirmed in a statement that the show is ending, but added, “GBH and PBS Kids are continuing to work together on additional Arthur content, sharing the lessons of Arthur and his friends in new ways.”
The series has won four Emmys and the George Foster Peabody Award.
