A rat and an aardvark walked down the aisle, and PBS affiliates across the country aired the couple’s big moment — except in Alabama and Arkansas.
These small, furry mammals were both men in the fictional universe of the children’s show “Arthur,” and public television networks in the two states refused to run the episode.
In the Season 22 premiere, beloved third-grade teacher Mr. Ratburn marries a chocolatier named Patrick. Alabama Public Television told AL.com that it aired a rerun of the animated show on May 13 in place of “Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone.”
The station’s director of programming, Mike Mckenzie, told the news website that the show’s producers, PBS and WGBH, alerted them in April about the upcoming wedding episode.
“(A)lthough we strongly encourage parents to watch television with their children and talk about what they have learned afterwards — parents trust that their children can watch APT without their supervision,” McKenzie told AL.com in an email. “We also know that children who are younger than the ‘target’ audience for Arthur also watch the program.”