I'm going to need you all to take a deep breath and relax your fists as we make our way through the following news. Okay, here we go. The beloved and long-running animated series Arthur has been canceled at PBS after 25 seasons. Believe it or not, Arthur is the longest-running children’s animated series in the history of American television.
Original show developer Kathy Waugh delivered the sad news in an interview on the Finding DW podcast, saying, "Arthur is no longer in production. We had our wrap party two years ago,” Waugh told voice actor Jason 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.”
Arthur, which follows the adventures of a lovable aardvark and his friends, is based on the books by Marc Brown.
“Arthur is the longest-running kids animated series in history and is known for teaching kindness, empathy, and inclusion through many groundbreaking moments to generations of viewers. In the winter of 2022, the 25th and final season of Arthur will debut. Arthur will continue to be available on PBS Kids for years to come. Producer GBH and PBS Kids are continuing to work together on additional Arthur content, sharing the lessons of Arthur and his friends in new ways,” said executive producer Carol Greenwald.
What is this world coming to when something as wholesome as Arthur can't survive the next round of series orders at PBS Kids? This is why we can't have nice things. I mean, 25 years and more than 240 episodes is a magnificent achievement for any show, but we could have used more, is what I'm trying to say. Okay, I think I'm done ranting now. I hope Arthur and his friends enjoy their retirement and continue to get into plenty of adventures together off-screen.