Note: This article contains spoilers about the season finale of PBS series Arthur.
Arthur Fans bid good-bye to the beloved animated aardvark and his friends on Monday (Feb. 22) when PBS aired the finale of the long-running series. Based on the hugely popular books by Marc Brown, the show first premiered on PBS in Oct. 1996, and became the longest-running children’s animated series and the second longest-running animated show behind The Simpsons.
The finale “All Grown Up” flash forwarded 25 years to reveal the main characters as grown-ups. Audiences learned that Arthur (who now has some cool, artsy facial hair) becomes a graphic novelist. The episode ends with the friendly aardvark reading the first chapter for his first book (Arthur’s Eyes, which was the title of the show’s first episode!) to his old friends. The show also revealed that Muffy is running for mayor of Elwood, Francine is working for a company that makes athletic shoes, D.W. is a traffic cop and Buster is working as a teacher.
Aimed at viewers between the ages of 4 and 8, Arthur sought to help foster children’s interest in literature and to encourage positive social skills. Each episode follows the anthropomorphic 8-year-old aardvark and his family and friends through engaging, emotional stories that explore issues faced by children, like bullying and losing baby teeth. The influential show made national headlines in 2019 for an episode in which Arthur’s male teacher Mr. Ratburn marries another man.
All 25 seasons and more than 250 episodes of Arthur continue to be available on PBS KIDS. The Arthur: 25 Years marathon continues with back-to-back episodes on the PBS KIDS 24/7 channel and livestream, as well as on the PBS KIDS YouTube channel.
