'Arthur' season 22 premiere reveals Mr Ratburn is gay and shows him cutting a wedding cake with his groom
PBS produced children's cartoon 'Arthur' has some big news!
The premiere of the 22nd season saw elementary school teacher Mr. Ratburn getting married to a chocolatier named Patrick, to the delight of all his students and fans. The episode titled 'Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone' featured the show's second same-sex marriage.
'Arthur's spinoff show 'Postcards from Buster' featured a lesbian couple in the 2005 episode 'Sugartime!'. Reportedly, the then-Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings denounced the program and PBS had to pull the episode down. However, some PBS affiliates broadcast decided to broadcast the episode. The premiere of the 22nd season of 'Arthur' was pleasantly complete as the teacher, whose love for cake is well known to fans, cut his wedding cake with groom Patrick.
Since the show first aired in 1996, 'Arthur' had never mentioned about Ratburn's sexuality. So, the news of his wedding was as much a surprise to his fans as it was for his third-grade students.
The episode started off with Ratburn answering a phone call while preparing to hand out a pop quiz on homework. Overhearing talk of flower arrangements, the kids get Raburn to admit that he’s headed to the altar. Arthur, Buster, Muffy, and Francine then decide to investigate the identity of the bride, only to find chocolatier soon-to-be-husband Patrick walking down the aisle to meet Ratburn at the altar. Patrick winks at the kids, which is received with a smile.
After the newest episode aired on Monday, fans took to social media to celebrate the news of Mr. Ratburn’s wedding to a man, congratulate the couple and spread some love. "Mr. Ratburn being gay is *my* Game of Thrones finale," read one tweet. "Ratburn has been an iced coffee gay since the early 2000s. I always shipped him w/ Arthur's dad," wrote another user.
The television series, created by Cookie Jar Group, is based on the Arthur Adventure book series, written and illustrated by Marc Brown. The educational cartoon series that revolves around the lives of 8-year-old Arthur Read and his friends and family often deals with topics such as asthma, dyslexia, cancer, diabetes and autism spectrum disorder.
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