Arthur will air its final season after 25 years
Jul 28, 2021, 10:45 AM | Updated: 10:48 am
After 25 years on the air, new episodes of Arthur will be ending. (Courtesy GBH)
(Courtesy GBH)
The longest-running animated children’s show on television is ending after 25 years. The PBS Kids show Arthur first aired in 1996, but after airing more than 250 episodes, it will see its final season wrap up in 2022.
Arthur the aardvark and his animal friends started drawing rumors about their future after social media posts from some of the voice actors on the show referenced leaving.
Most notably was Bruce Dinsmore who voiced Binky.
” 24 years is a good run for a gig,” Dinsmore wrote on Twitter in 2018.
24 years is a good run for a gig, & this is the face I made at the very last session. Binky though seems nonplussed, he’s always been tougher than me. And I was just starting to get the hang of the whole Dad thing… Thanks “Arthur” it’s been a great ride. “And I say Hey……!” pic.twitter.com/SHeWlTiuNf
— bruce dinsmore (@brucedinsmore) November 16, 2018
Arthur ending after 25 years
PBS confirmed to KSL NewsRadio that Arthur would air its final season of new episodes in the winter of 2022, but that older episodes of Arthur will continue to air on PBS Kids for years to come.
“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,” Carol Greenwald, Executive Producer for Arthur said.
“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.”
In addition to its status as the longest-running animated children’s show, Arthur ranks as the second-longest-running animated show in television history, coming in behind The Simpsons.
Final season of Arthur already produced
Arthur’s creator Kathy Waugh said she didn’t know the reasoning behind the cancelation. She felt that the parting of ways between the broadcaster and the show was a mistake.
On the podcast Finding DW, Waugh said they actually wrapped on the show two years ago.
“Arthur is no longer in production,” she told host Jason Szwimer.
“We had our wrap party two years ago. 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 they felt like it needed to be retired. To me, it felt like it was evergreen, like it was never going to end but it did end, we finished the last episode, season 25. Two years ago there was a wrap party.”
