PBS says goodbye to Arthur after a 25 year run of good memories in the childhood lives of millions of viewers throughout the years.
The iconic children’s show finalized its trajectory on Monday after 25 seasons on PBS Kids, a move that comes as no surprise after Screenwrtier Kathy Waugh gave a public heads-up on the imminent end of the show.
In the summer of last year, the screenwriter went on the "Finding DW" podcast and revealed that the channel, PBS Kids, had started planning moving forward without the iconic TV series.
“’Arthur’ is no longer in production. We had our wrap party two years ago,” Waugh said during the podcast recording. “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, season 25, two years ago.”
The show was famously known for featuring characters, Arthur in particular, who would display story-lines that ended in a lesson-learned regarding kindness, inclusion and empathy, involving friends and family in the memorable fictional setting of Elwood City.
"Arthur" made its television debut in 1996, and is now considered the "longest-running" television animated children's series in American history. The kids show has gone on to claim four Daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Children's Animated Program, and has also won a Peabody Award.
And for those that would like to see the end of the road for Arthur, the PBS' YouTube channel has published a full episode of the final showing of the television series.
And without giving too many spoilers away, this final episode does show viewers the adult life that the main characters evolve into as grown ups.
