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It's just another sign that the Arthur writers have run out of ideas.

To be honest, Arthur has been re-treading plots for a while now - I recall the "persona swap" being a device used often ("Popular Girls", "Buster's Best Behavior", and to a degree "It's a No Brainer"). One could argue most plot points/devices were used up as early as the 3rd season, though that's out to debate. I suppose when you run a fairly straightforward (and somewhat restricted) show for almost 20 years, these things happen.

That tends to happen with children and family shows that air new episodes after 10 years. Plots being reused and so forth. Other shows like Spongebob, The Simpsons, and Sesame Street to name a few, have gone through the same exact situation and still are to this very day.

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When they start making crossover episodes with other TV programs on PBS, then they have run out of ideas.

"Arthur and Barney's Fantastic Fantasy Adventure" - don't even think of funding it! 

Lol. The only crossover I could ever see Arthur doing is one with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Anything else, no. Reason why is because Arthur did a crossover with Mr. Roger's Neighborhood before. We even saw Marc Brown and Michael Yarmush in the same episode, while Arthur visited the Neighborhood of Make Believe.