After 25 Years, PBS Says Goodbye to the Childhood Favorite ‘Arthur’
Hear that sound? I swear it's the last bit of all the things my kids loved growing up walking right out the door.
After 25 year of sweetly entertaining kids everywhere, the popular PBS show Arthur has been canceled. Actually, it was canceled a long time ago, but we are just learning of it's demise.
Although it seems that seasons 22 to 25 episodes were actually completed back in 2019, and have slowly been released, the team behind the kids show have pretty much kept quiet about things. In a recent podcast interview on Finding DW, longtime Arthur writer Kathy Waugh pretty much let the cat out of the bag saying,
"Arthur is no longer in production. We had our wrap party two years ago," Waugh told Szwimer. "I think they [PBS] made a mistake, and I think Arthur should come back and I'm not alone with that."
Her comments proved to just be confirmation of the rumors that had been swirling since a tweet a few years back by voice actor Bruce Dinsmore. Disnsome, who is Bink/Dad on the show, tweeted that he had recorded his final shows. It is only now that PBS is confirming the news.
Arthur, which began running in 1996, won six Daytime Emmys, with the most recent win coming in 2007. The show also won a Peabody in 2001. Arthur is also the second longest-running animated series in American TV history behind The Simpsons. Still, with all the accolades, marketing frenzy of merchandise (my kids had the plush toys), it wasn't enough to save the show.
Dear Sesame Street.....be safe out there.