After spending more than a quarter of a century in elementary school, Arthur and the gang are finally growing up. As has been reported, Arthur will be officially coming to an end after 25 seasons with its finale coming to PBS in February. It’s not been revealed that the show’s final episodes will do a flash-forward by depicting Arthur and his buddies as adults.

The final four episodes will stream as part of a 25th anniversary Arthur marathon. This includes more than 250 episodes and movie specials before culminating with the last new episodes. The marathon is airing on PBS Kids and will also live stream on the PBS Kids YouTube channel from Feb. 16-21. The final four episodes with the grown-up versions of the characters will air on PBS stations and stream for free on PBS Kids on Feb. 21.

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“For more than 25 years, Arthur and his friends have kept viewers learning and growing through their true-to-life experiences,” said Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President and General Manager of PBS Kids, in a statement, per Variety. “We can’t wait to debut these episodes and introduce new ‘Arthur’ content that will give fans more ways to engage with their favorite aardvark.”

PBS also notes that while the show is canceled, Arthur will maintain a presence on PBS for years to come through other mediums. A statement from PBS reads: “New content from Arthur will continue rolling out in 2022 and beyond, including a podcast, video shorts that tackle timely and compelling topics and digital games. The 25 seasons of Arthur (250+ episodes) will continue to be available on PBS Kids.”

“It’s been a privilege to work with an extraordinary and talented team to bring Arthur to public television audiences for more than two decades,” adds Carol Greenwald, Senior Executive Producer of GBH Kids. “We’re excited about Arthur’s next chapter — sharing the stories and experiences of Arthur and his Elwood City community to the media platforms where the next generation of kids and families will connect with them for years to come.”

The Series Creator Announced Last Year Arthur Was Canceled

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Developed by Kathy Waugh for PBS, Arthur is based on the Arthur Adventure book series by Marc Brown. The show is set in the fictional American town of Elwood City and primarily follows aardvark Arthur Read along with his friends and family members. Over the years, the show took on some rather delicate subject matter to help teach kids about serious family issues like asthma, dyslexia, cancer, diabetes, and autism spectrum disorder. Its success has also led Arthur to becoming the longest-running children’s animated series in the U.S., and it’s the second-longest running cartoon show just behind The Simpsons.

“Arthur is no longer in production — we had our wrap party two years ago,” Waugh said last year on the Finding D.W. podcast, revealing that the end was coming. “I think they’ve made a mistake, PBS, and I think Arthur should come back. And I know I’m not alone in thinking they made a mistake. I don’t know, I don’t pay attention to things like ratings, so I don’t know if it was a ratings issue, or if they felt like it needed to be retired. So, to me, it just felt like evergreen, like it was never going to end. But, it did end. We finished the last episode [with] season 25.”

The Arthur series finale will air on PBS stations on Feb. 21.