Arthur - Where is the Show Going?

[Drtooth]

It's still there, it just lost one more showing. They're planning a few more seasons beyond American Broadcast season 17 (or as I call it, the part of season 16 the rest of the world already got). Just strange that they're throwing their own show under the bus for the one new show on PBS.

 

[mr3urious]

If WGBH is treating this show like it is, why not just end it already?

Oh right, all that Canadian tax credit is just too good to pass up.

 

[Drtooth]

It happens every time PBS gets s new show. They screw up the schedule, and put on the new show as many times a day as possible. Peg + Cat looks adorable, but I really doubt it needs 2 full hour blocks on 2 different channels. Personally, I just want them to banish Cailou to the corn fields. Kid talks like an Adam Sandler character. Specifically, the Waterboy.

I also don't get why there's no Arthur merchandise out there. I can't even find the books much anymore. And for that matter, where the heck is the Martha Speaks stuff? And don't get me started on the lack of Word Girl merchandise. I always wanted a Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy action figure.

And the last thing... anyone ever see that episode about the neighbor kid losing his soccer ball? The cold opening where Buster drops a thing of raisins and they all turn into dinosaurs, but with their own heads? Can that dead eyed looking Arthur at the end be any creepier?

Yes... yes it can

 

[D'Snowth]

Ugh. I just read the synopsis for the first half of Season 17 (official summaries, not fanmade one)... gah, they sound TERRIBLE. The entire first episode of a double dose of those godawful talking Pal and Kate episodes, not the mention like half of the episodes are basically ripoffs of other cartoons: one episode has Alberto taking up golfing to his father's delight (which was an episode of Recess), another has Arthur winning two free tickets and all his friends pester him into letting one of them tag along (Rocko), another has Arthur and the gang making their own city where there are no rules or chores (that's TWO episodes of EEE), one episode pits Arthur and Buster as roommates who can't agree on anything (seriously, every cartoon's done an episode like that)... and now all of the sudden, Buster has a problem of sucking his thumb? What's with all of the sudden up and giving the characters some kind of problem that they've never had before? Binky suddenly has peanut allergies, Brain suddenly has emotional problems, now Buster suddenly sucks his thumb?

Broken record time: what more proof do we need these writers are out of froggin' ideas?

 

[Drtooth]

not the mention like half of the episodes are basically ripoffs of other cartoons: one episode has Alberto taking up golfing to his father's delight (which was an episode of Recess), another has Arthur winning two free tickets and all his friends pester him into letting one of them tag along (Rocko), another has Arthur and the gang making their own city where there are no rules or chores (that's TWO episodes of EEE), one episode pits Arthur and Buster as roommates who can't agree on anything (seriously, every cartoon's done an episode like that)

Those are all standard plotlines for stuff. I wouldn't even say just cartoons, as I've seen quite a few sitcoms (very old ones at that) use those plots well before those cartoons did in the first place. I agree, they're out of ideas, even though they still have books that they should have adapted by now. An adaption of April Fools sounds a million times better than half of those episodes.

But I must admit, "Buster Flops" sounds like it could be a fun episode.

... and now all of the sudden, Buster has a problem of sucking his thumb? What's with all of the sudden up and giving the characters some kind of problem that they've never had before? Binky suddenly has peanut allergies, Brain suddenly has emotional problems, now Buster suddenly sucks his thumb?

You have two choices. Either they inflict regular characters or they wind up making characters that are nothing but an ailment. I seriously applaud the character of Carl and his inclusion in the series... but that Lydia Fox. UGH! I liked the concept and execution at first, but all I see is Wheelchair Lola Bunny... the movie one that was an equal to and superior to Bugs (only with Brain in this case). And she was never seen again. Ever.

Edit: Yeah... Read this one

Wow. Referencing Stomp in 2013. Really. Wow. I mean, it's a ripoff of a D.W. episode, sure... but Stomp!?! REALLY?!?! Suppose in season 19 they're going to do an episode based on Rent? Maybe if the show goes on another 3 seasons then they can get around to doing references to The Weakest Link and American Pie? Hitting these things while they're on the cusp of their popularity, I see?

 

[D'Snowth]

Wow. Referencing Stomp in 2013. Really. Wow. I mean, it's a ripoff of a D.W. episode, sure... but Stomp!?! REALLY?!?! Suppose in season 19 they're going to do an episode based on Rent? Maybe if the show goes on another 3 seasons then they can get around to doing references to The Weakest Link and American Pie? Hitting these things while they're on the cusp of their popularity, I see?

Considering it takes time to produce and animate the episodes, it's possible they picked up on the references during the writing process, but said references were passe by the time they're completed and aired. I mean, the Love Ducks episode was what... two years after Teletubbies came to America? There was a Wimzie reference in 2003, and that show had been off the air for like three years before that.

We'll probably see an episode featuring dubstep in another few years or so, and that's already starting to lose all it's cachet.

 

[Drtooth]

The Wimzie reference was nothing more than an inside joke, like when the Tibbles turn on the show that's "Too Busy and not Scary enough."

But they already did the "you can make sound out of household objects" bit with D.W.

That said, Adventures in Budylon sounds like the worst the season has to offer. Even worse than Kate and Pal episodes.

Actually... Caught in the Crosswires also sounds like a pretty fun episode.

 

[D'Snowth]

Well, my local PBS station dropped a showing of Arthur during the weekdays. Not a good sign considering my local PBS station is the Production Company behind the show.

Clearly to get in the new series, Peg and Cat. And when PBS gets a new series, they put so many showings on a day, it's ridiculous. Forgivable, but why they couldn't make Super Why or something else get the brunt of it is beyond me.

Did I mention that they're Arthur's production company?

I see my PBS has added this new PEG + CAT show as well... TWICE... and interestingly enough, ARTHUR has been bumped down from 4:00 to 4:30, which is interesting, considering 4:30 USED to be ARTHUR'S slot on my PBS for the longest time until they bumped it up to 4:00 a few years back.

 

[Drtooth]

I caught some of Peg + Cat. It's insanely adorable, but it's definitely too young for me. The humor is a little more sly than I thought it would be.

But it doesn't matter what the show is, when PBS gets a new kid's show, it usually gets a crapload of timeslots a day. Even Arthur used to have like an insane amount of rebroadcasts when it first premiered.


Anyway, that upcoming episode of Arthur where Buster thinks his comedy days are finished and gets help from a parody version of Don Rickles... anyone else think that's because the guy who did the voice of the Turtle in "D.W. Queen of the Comeback" did a dead on Don Rickles impersonation?

 

[D'Snowth]

Even Arthur used to have like an insane amount of rebroadcasts when it first premiered.

I wouldn't know, my PBS didn't play ARTHUR regularly until 2000 or so, prior to that, they only played it like during an occasional pledge drive or something.