The beloved, long-time children’s show Arthur is coming to an end, but the creators behind the series have one more surprise. According to Variety, in the series finale, they’ll flash-forward to show Arthur and his friends as grown-ups, which is probably supposed to be heart-warming, but sounds sort of depressing. Like, will Arthur have student loan debt?
The show, which has run for 25 years, will air the final four episodes as part of a 25th anniversary marathon this February. The marathon will feature more than 250 episodes and movie specials that have been part of the series. It’ll air on PBS Kids and the Youtube channel beginning Feb. 16 and end with the final four episodes on Feb. 21.
Old episodes will continue to air on PBS Kids, and there are plans to continue the world of Arthur with video shorts and a podcast. Arthur podcasting? That sounds like a grown up millennial to me.
The first episode of Arthur aired in 1996, and the show became a staple of the PBS lineup. As original Arthur fans have themselves grown up, Arthur and his friends have also turned into multiple iconic memes in the social media age, the most famous one probably being the “Arthur fist.”
The show also made headlines in 2019 when Arthur’s beloved teacher, Mr. Ratburn, got married to his boyfriend Patrick. While many fans were happy to see some gay representation on the children’s show, the Alabama Public Television refused to air the episode, saying it was “a violation of trust” to let kids see two nice gay rat men get married.
It does make you wonder what creators have in store for the adult versions of Arthur and his friends. Will his sister, D.W., be a Goop-style girl boss? Will Buster be a TikTok rapper? Will Muffy be a lesbian? Fans who don’t tune in to find out will probably learn via memes.
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