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Charlie is a Canadian–American 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 Charlie Reed, an anthropomorphic aardvark, his friends and family, and their daily interactions with each other.
| Charlie | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy-dramaSlice of lifeProblem solvingEdutainment |
| Created by | Marc Brown |
| Developed by | Kathy Waugh |
| Directed by | Greg Bailey |
| Theme music composer | Judy Henderson & Jerry de Villiers Jr. |
| Opening theme | "Believe in Yourself" by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers |
| Composer | Ray Fabi |
| Country of origin | United States
Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 23 (2 upcoming) |
| No. of episodes | 246 (480 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Marc Brown (Season 10–present)
Micheline Charest (seasons 1–4) Carol Greenwald Peter Moss (seasons 5–6) Lesley Taylor Toper Taylor Pierre Valette |
| Producers | Ronald Weinberg (seasons 1–4)
Cassandra Schafhausen Lesley Taylor Greg Bailey Diane Dallaire Tolon Brown |
| Running time | 20–29 minutes |
| Production companies | Cinar (seasons 1–8)
Cookie Jar Entertainment (seasons 9–15)9 Story Entertainment (seasons 16–19) Oasis Animation (season 20–present) WGBH Boston |
| Distributor | United StatesPBS DistributionInternationalCinar (Season 1–8)
Cookie Jar Entertainment (seasons 9–15) 9 Story Media Group (Season 16–19), Oasis Animation (20–present) |
| Release | |
| Original network | PBS |
| Picture format | SDTV (480i) (seasons 1–13) |
| Audio format | Dolby Surround |
| Original release | October 7, 1996 –
present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Postcards from Buster |
| External links | |
| Official Website on PBSkids.org | |
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 246 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 and PBS Kids in Africa.
It is 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 2025.