--- title: Arthur Meme: Network Not Pleased With Explicit Jokes description: The popular kids' cartoon about an aardvark and his family has become the subject of a series of viral raunchy internet memes. canonical: https://time.com/4438715/arthur-memes-wgbh-pbs/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-04T15:30:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:05.281Z og:title: The Network Behind 'Arthur' Is Not Pleased With Those Memes og:description: The kids' cartoon about an aardvark has become the subject of raunchy memes. og:url: https://time.com/4438715/arthur-memes-wgbh-pbs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61ed3472b9126aa2/6988a11ebc6cfc9aa93de1e6/arthur_cartoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Arthur_cartoon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Network Behind 'Arthur' Is Not Pleased With Those Memes twitter:description: The kids' cartoon about an aardvark has become the subject of raunchy memes. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61ed3472b9126aa2/6988a11ebc6cfc9aa93de1e6/arthur_cartoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Network Behind _Arthur_ Is Not Pleased With Those Memes > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 4, 2016 3:30 PM UTC  PBS  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 4, 2016 3:30 PM UTC [_Arthur_](http://time.com/3071036/listen-to-chance-the-rappers-gorgeous-cover-of-the-arthur-theme-song/), the cartoon about the misadventures of a bookish young aardvark and his family and friends, has been a staple of children’s entertainment since it launched on PBS stations almost 20 years ago. But thanks to the Internet’s unfailing ability to make old things new again, [Arthur is back in the spotlight](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/03/arthur-memes-network-responds). But this time it’s because of a [series of viral memes](http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/1/12342168/arthur-fist-meme-twitter-tumblr-internet-culture) that aren’t exactly G-rated. > [](https://twitter.com/ARTHURMEMES%5F/status/760021964601761793) Many of the memes making the rounds are par for the course — just stills of Arthur and his family and overlaying them with a funny saying or relatable modern moment. But, as can be expected, some of the memes have taken a more explicit, not safe for work turn. The response from the network that airs _Arthur_, WGBH in Boston: play nice. “We appreciate the memes that have been created and shared in good fun,” a spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. “We are, however, disappointed by the few that are outside of good taste.” Not that the earnest plea on the part of the network will make much of a difference. Tumblr, Twitter and other social media sites are [already awash](https://www.instagram.com/memes.arthur/) in these inappropriate misconstructions, including an especially popular close-up of Arthur’s balled-up fist, the encapsulation of frustration. But it goes downhill from there. See below for a selection of the more PG-rated jokes: > [](https://twitter.com/ARTHURMEMES%5F/status/758924360589582337) > [](https://twitter.com/ModernAfrican/status/758657693439651840) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4438715/arthur-memes-wgbh-pbs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4438715/arthur-memes-wgbh-pbs/"},"headline":"The Network Behind Arthur Is Not Pleased With Those Memes","datePublished":"2016-08-04T15:30:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:05.281Z","description":"Have you no decency?","url":"https://time.com/4438715/arthur-memes-wgbh-pbs/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Television","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61ed3472b9126aa2/6988a11ebc6cfc9aa93de1e6/arthur_cartoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61ed3472b9126aa2/6988a11ebc6cfc9aa93de1e6/arthur_cartoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Arthur_cartoon","caption":"","creditText":"PBS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4438715/arthur-memes-wgbh-pbs/","name":"The Network Behind Arthur Is Not Pleased With Those Memes"}}]}] ```