OPINION | EDITORIAL: Goodbye, old friend A quarter-century of lessons Today at 3:07 a.m. What can you teach someone in 25 years? Blacksmithing? Reading? Painting? An animated aardvark has taught kids across Arkansas (and the rest of the country) for nearly that long, and his retirement is fast approaching. Doubtless your kids or grandkids know who Arthur is. He's had a show on Arkansas PBS since October 1996, and after season 25 (set to air next year), he's hanging up his famous reading glasses and moving on. "Arthur" going off the air is significant because it's the longest-running children's animated series in history. Even the most popular cartoons like Pokemon and SpongeBob SquarePants haven't been around that long.