It's hard to believe, but Arthur is 30 years old, and PBS KIDS is celebrating with a marathon of the show on Saturday, November 7th and Sunday, November 8th!
The first episode premiered on October 7th, 1996, so the actual birthday already passed, but most of the celebrating happens this month: the TV marathon, a new season of the podcast and, per The Toy Insider, a Thanksgiving special on November 21st. A 30-episode YouTube stream is already running.
E! calls it a marathon and The Toy Insider calls it Family Night Features, the regular PBS KIDS weekend slot. One member station, Buffalo Toronto Public Media, bills it as the "Arthur 30th Anniversary Celebration" on November 7th and 8th, with a marathon of episodes. Its blurb also has Arthur and the gang making music videos, bunkering down for a winter storm and surviving a hot summer day.
The Toy Insider names four episodes: "Double Tibble Trouble" and "Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival" from Season 3, plus "Desk Wars" and "Desperately Seeking Stanley" from Season 8. That music festival episode is the one where Arthur and Buster show D.W. you don't need any fancy gear to make a music video, and it's the one with the Library Card song.
I couldn't find a national PBS schedule with start times, so I'm not going to guess at one. Family Night times can vary by station, so check your local PBS listings!
No PBS KIDS channel? The stream below has been running on the official PBS KIDS YouTube channel since October 22nd, and its description promises 30 episodes, including that Library Card song. It was still live when I checked on November 6th. I didn't see an end date anywhere, so make sure and check it out soon!
Check out the show's anniversary post from October 7th below, which opens with "30 years ago, we premiered on @PBSKIDS, and it's been a wonderful kind of time since." That's a nice nod to the theme song!
A post shared by @arthur.pbs
If you've got kids in the car, The Arthur Podcast kicked off its new season on Thursday, November 5th. KPBS' episode guide lists new episodes every Thursday through December 3rd. The Toy Insider says kids can also send in questions for the "Dear D.W.!" segment. GBH also says a 30-day reading challenge launches this month.
The Toy Insider also says PBS KIDS will have a special broadcast of An Arthur Thanksgiving on Saturday, November 21st. That's the hour-long special from November 2020 where Pal runs off and D.W. decides Aunt Minnie is really "Aunt Meanie." No time was given, so that's another one for your local listings.
Marc Brown also wrote a book called Arthur's Thanksgiving, with a different story that has Arthur stuck directing the school play, and it's still for sale in paperback.
For those that don't know, it all started with a bedtime story. NPR's anniversary piece says Brown came up with Arthur after his son asked for a story about a "weird" animal, and the first book, Arthur's Nose, came out in 1976. The first TV episode actually adapted the second book, Arthur's Eyes, which is where Brown rounded out the face so Arthur could look right at the reader.
Brown said early on that "Arthur will stay forever in third grade," and he pretty much did! The show ran 25 seasons and more than 250 episodes before the finale, "All Grown Up," aired on February 21st, 2022, and jumped ahead about 20 years to reveal Arthur as a graphic novelist.
Along the way, GBH says it became the number one show for kids 2 to 11 across all networks by 1998 and landed guest stars like Fred Rogers and John Lewis, and NPR counts four Daytime Emmys and a Peabody. It's also been streamed more than 1.4 billion times!
In GBH's anniversary write-up, Brown says he "couldn't imagine a better boss in the world" than kids. Brown's newer show, Hop, premiered on Max in April 2024.
The theme song, "Believe in Yourself," was performed by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. Marley told The Zach Sang Show back in April, "it's just more recently that I've been understanding the impact." Brown also borrowed the title for his 2022 book, Believe in Yourself: What We Learned from Arthur, if you want to add it to your collection.
It's pretty cool to see Arthur still getting this kind of attention 30 years later!
What do you think? Will you be watching the marathon this weekend? Which Arthur episode is your favorite?
Sound off below!
More From Toonado