Episodes
Episodes of the series always follow a certain ritualistic pattern; starting with the theme song, the introduction and title card of that episode, and, after the conclusion of one episode, footage of live-action schoolchildren is showcased, particularly that depicting children dealing with issues related to the topics addressed in the past episode. The episodes are regularly aired in pairs, so the following episode will commence after the live-action sequence has ended.
Set in a realistic environment (as opposed to the more fantastical settings prominently featured in children's programming), certain episodes of the animated series may not necessarily focus on the titular protagonist's point of view and may instead detail the experiences and viewpoints of surrounding characters, usually Arthur's schoolmates (in some episodes, Arthur himself doesn't even appear). Often such episodes will depict those characters handling situations often faced by children in actuality as a means of guiding audiences through those situations, including bed-wetting, asthma, or dyslexia, and Arthur's character sometimes may see a reduced role. In spite of the realistically-designed environment, the series may showcase the fantasies or daydreams of a few characters on a number of occasions, and a multitude of guest stars have made appearances. Later episodes dealt with more serious issues or subjects, such as cancer or Asperger's Syndrome, albeit numerous episodes may simply address topics including childhood fears, trends, or fantasies, although occasionally a couple of episodes might offer very little educational value at all.
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Famous quotes containing the word episodes:
“Twenty or thirty years ago, in the army, we had a lot of obscure adventures, and years later we tell them at parties, and suddenly we realize that those two very difficult years of our lives have become lumped together into a few episodes that have lodged in our memory in a standardized form, and are always told in a standardized way, in the same words. But in fact that lump of memories has nothing whatsoever to do with our experience of those two years in the army and what it has made of us.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)
“What is a novel if not a conviction of our fellow-men’s existence strong enough to take upon itself a form of imagined life clearer than reality and whose accumulated verisimilitude of selected episodes puts to shame the pride of documentary history?”
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924)