“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,” said the show’s executive producer, Carol Greenwald, in a statement.
At times it was boundary pushing — an episode of the show’s spin-off, Postcards from Buster, received criticism from then-Education Secretary Margaret Spelling for a 2005 episode that featured lesbian parents, and Alabama Public Television refused to air a 2019 episode that showed a same-sex wedding.
The news of the show ending was first floated earlier this month in an interview featured in the July 13 episode of the podcast Finding D.W., where Arthur writer Kathy Waugh revealed that the show was no longer in production, and the final episode was completed years ago.