25 years after it first debuted on PBS, the final episode of “Arthur” aired on television Sunday and offered a glimpse into the future for its characters.
In the episode, titled “All Grown Up,” viewers were treated to Arthur Read and his friends, 20 years in the future. PBS announced last month that the show would stop creating new episodes for television, as we previously reported.
The episode features an adult Arthur, still wearing glasses, sitting at a booth in the Sugar Bowl parlor, which is now run by George Lundgren, and he’s showing the graphic novel he has finished writing to his friends, Entertainment Weekly reported. Buster Baxter is revealed as a teacher, Francine runs a sneaker company, Muffy is a mayoral candidate, and Arthur’s sister, D.W., is a traffic officer, Entertainment Weekly reported.
The graphic novel Arthur shows off to his friends is called “Arthur’s Eyes,” which happens to also be the title of the very first episode of the “Arthur” series that aired on Oct. 7, 1996, The Los Angeles Times reported. “The idea occurred to me that this whole series has been something Arthur has created,” Peter Hirsch, the show’s head writer, told The Los Angeles Times. “So the suggestion is this has all been his memoir.”
Hirsch told The Los Angeles Times that he didn’t want to go with obvious choices for the characters’ careers (such as having Francine play soccer professionally), and instead focused on core values for each character.
While there will be no new television episodes of “Arthur” produced, PBS has promised additional content, including a podcast, video shorts and games, as we previously reported.
©2022 Cox Media Group
