Arthur - Where is the Show Going?

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Oh boy, we got this season's "Disease of the Week" episode today.

Are you ready for this?

Drum roll, please. . . .

*A drum rolls out the door over 200 times*

Ratburn is losing his hearing.

How non-shocking!

And why is he losing his hearing?

Because he and a couple of other teachers from other schools are secretly in a garage band.

How . . . random!

Actually, I found the B-plot with Arthur's dream sequence of being transported four years into the future a lot stronger and more engaging than the A-plot of D.W.'s fantasy island.

I watched parts that birthday special thing and it was disturbing. I don't remember/care how Arthur traveled through time but it was so awkward seeing DW older than Arthur.

NONE OF THIS EVEN SOUNDS LIKE THE RIGHT SHOW
These sound like bad episodes of Rick and Morty
I'm starting to feel like none of this is to teach kids lessons. I think the show has gone on for so long that the writers hate the characters and are now sadistically torturing them in the most G rated way possible.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm starting to feel like none of this is to teach kids lessons.

Well. . . .

In the birthday special/movie, it seemed clear the underlying seemed to be that Arthur and D.W. both learn to really appreciate one another for all of their sibling disputes and squabbles: Arthur gets a taste of his own medicine when his now older sister "Dora" constantly pushes him away and avoids him (same with four-year old), and D.W. comes to realize always getting her way and everybody else doing exactly what she wants to do isn't always as pleasant as she thinks it would be. But again, it's really an underlying message that isn't really addressed until the end of the special.

As for Ratburn's hearing loss? Well, remember when Buster had asthma and we had that Imagine Spot where he gave the class a tour of the inside of his nose and lungs? That's basically what Ratburn did to explain his hearing loss: he gave Arthur, Buster, and Brain a tour of the inside of his ears. Definitely a blatant rehash.

 

[Muppet Master]

NONE OF THIS EVEN SOUNDS LIKE THE RIGHT SHOW
These sound like bad episodes of Rick and Morty
I'm starting to feel like none of this is to teach kids lessons. I think the show has gone on for so long that the writers hate the characters and are now sadistically torturing them in the most G rated way possible.

Agreed. The show right now is just ridiculous and pretty sad to watch. I wonder what Marc Brown thinks of it.

 

[D'Snowth]

Now that Season 20 has concluded, here are my final thoughts for this milestone season:

The first half that aired back in the fall was so-so . . . not great, but somewhat of an improvement over the last couple of seasons; the second half, on the other hand, fell flatter than a ruined souffle with really weak episodes that rehashed older episodes, or even other shows (today's new episode rehashed both HEY ARNOLD! and RECESS).

But, the one plus is that we finally got an explanation of what the show is doing with Mr. Haney since the passing of his voice actor:

Spoiler

He stepped down as principal of Lakewood to pursue his dream of helping to build a new school in an African village.

 

[Muppet Master]

Now that Season 20 has concluded, here are my final thoughts for this milestone season:

The first half that aired back in the fall was so-so . . . not great, but somewhat of an improvement over the last couple of seasons; the second half, on the other hand, fell flatter than a ruined souffle with really weak episodes that rehashed older episodes, or even other shows (today's new episode rehashed both HEY ARNOLD! and RECESS).

But, the one plus is that we finally got an explanation of what the show is doing with Mr. Haney since the passing of his voice actor:

Spoiler

He stepped down as principal of Lakewood to pursue his dream of helping to build a new school in an African village.

I caught the George hall monitor episode. Lol at how they wrote off Mr. Haney. I guess at least they gave him a mention, they could have just said that he retired.

Overall, this season is just more of the same. I long lost hope that this show will be great again or that we'll get a satisfying finale.

 

[D'Snowth]

I'm guessing ARTHUR may finally be coming to an end soon: it's been dropped from PBS altogether - in fact, THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT has replaced its 6:30am death slot; the PBS Kids digital subchannel still plays it at 9:00 and 9:30 at night, but they dropped the classic episodes altogether, which sucks because that was the big lure at first, that they were mixing older and new episodes.

I get the feeling this upcoming Season 21 may possibly be the last.

 

[Muppet Master]

I'm guessing ARTHUR may finally be coming to an end soon: it's been dropped from PBS altogether - in fact, THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT has replaced its 6:30am death slot; the PBS Kids digital subchannel still plays it at 9:00 and 9:30 at night, but they dropped the classic episodes altogether, which sucks because that was the big lure at first, that they were mixing older and new episodes.

I get the feeling this upcoming Season 21 may possibly be the last.

It really sucks that they dropped the classic episodes. Anyways, it's still prominent on my station, so I don't think it's coming to an end. Even if it does, they'll still probably air reruns forever a la Clifford the big red dog. Seriously, that show hasn't made a new episode in 14 years and it's still airing.

 

[D'Snowth]

Really? Because Clifford's been off my PBS for years - I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Clifford, and I know my PBS conforms to the national schedule now.

 

[Muppet Master]

Really? Because Clifford's been off my PBS for years - I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Clifford, and I know my PBS conforms to the national schedule now.

Weird. It still airs constantly on my station. Seems to be the only "classic" Pbs kids show airing aside from SS and Arthur.

 

[Muppet Master]

Seems like my PBS kids station has finally started airing the old episodes again, so naturally, I've starting tuning in again. "To Beat or Not To Beat" is a hilarious episode. Seriously, it's so sad that this show took such an awful turn, because it was not just a great kids show, but not a bad show in general.