Arthur

***Arthur*** is an American-Canadian animated educational television series for children ages 4 to 8, created by Cookie Jar Group (formerly known as Cinar) and WGBH for PBS. The show is set in the fictional American city of Elwood City, and revolves around the lives of eight-year-old Arthur Read, an anthropomorphic aardvark, his friends and family, and their daily interactions with each other.

The television series is based on the Arthur Adventure book series, written and illustrated by Marc Brown. WGBH Boston along with Cinar (now Cookie Jar Group) began production of the animated series in 1994, and aired its first episode on October 7, 1996. Since its debut, the show has broadcast 253 half hour episodes.

A pilot for the spin-off series Postcards from Buster aired in December 2003 as a season 8 episode of Arthur. Postcards from Buster aired from October 11, 2004, to November 21, 2008; the series faced several years of hiatus, until a brief revival in February 2012, only to be cancelled after airing three unseen episodes that had been held over from the show's third season.

Arthur often deals with important issues families face such as asthma, dyslexia, cancer, diabetes, and autism spectrum disorder. It also encourages reading and relationships with family and friends by explaining that people have different personalities and interests.

Arthur became one of the highest-rated shows on PBS Kids for several years since its debut, averaging almost 10 million viewers weekly in the U.S. It is aired in a total of 83 countries, including on: PBS in the United States; Radio-Canada, Knowledge Network, TVOntario, and CBC in Canada; several ABC channels in Australia; and BBC One/CBBC in the UK. It was the longest-running children's animated series in the U.S., and the second longest-running animated series in the U.S., behind The Simpsons. In June 2018, it was announced that Arthur was renewed for four additional seasons, up to Season 25, continuing through at least 2020. On July 27, 2021, it was subsequently announced that the 25th season would be the final season. Arthur concluded its original run on PBS Kids on February 21, 2022. Despite concluding after 25 years, the show will continue to have new content on PBS Kids and on the video app.

Arthur Read, the series's titular character, is an anthropomorphic eight-year-old brown aardvark who lives in the fictional town of Elwood City. He is a third-grade student at Lakewood Elementary School. Arthur's family includes two home-working parents, his father David (a chef) and his mother Jane (an accountant), his two younger sisters, Dora Winifred (D.W.), who is in preschool, and Kate, who is still an infant, and his dog Pal. Arthur also has several friends who come from various ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and he also occasionally meets with members of his extended family.

Elwood City is portrayed as a largely suburban area which bears a strong resemblance to the Boston area; the TV series is partially produced by WGBH. Furthermore, Elwood City's professional baseball team, the "Elwood City Grebes", appears to be a fictional representation of the Boston Red Sox. The episode "The Curse of the Grebes" in Season 10 clearly references baseball lore such as Curse of the Bambino. The same episode also refers indirectly to the rivalry between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees, as the Grebes have a fierce rivalry with the Crown City Kings during the World Championship, the show's version of the World Series. Crown City, as featured in other episodes, is apparently a fictional representation of New York City. In one episode, it is implied that an ice hockey team wearing the WGBH logo and the Boston Bruins' team colors on their uniforms are Elwood City's professional (possibly NHL) hockey team.

There are also firm references to Brown's hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. Most notably, the local shopping mall in the TV series is called "Mill Creek Mall," a reference to Millcreek Mall. Brown himself stated that the series is influenced by his upbringing as a child in Erie, and specifically noted that Mr. Ratburn is based on a middle-school algebra teacher he had at Westlake Middle School.