History UnintentionalPeriodPlace / Arthur

* As expected from a long running show, a lot of things date episodes, usually technology or references. While it's better at this than other series, such as the main characters' clothes are timeless and using {{exp|y}}ies to avoid some explicit references to ongoing pop-culture, early seasons look fairly late '90s-early 2000s with things like how one of the Tough Customers, Molly, dresses in grunge, everyone has boxy computer monitors, and the U.S President based specifically on UsefulNotes/BillClinton.

** In "Play It Again, DW", DW loses her Crazy Bus CD and is upset about not being able to listen to the song as a result. These days, DW could likely find the song on the Internet for free, as sites like [=YouTube=] and Spotify allow people to listen to specific songs this way.

** The idea of Arthur getting a penpal in "Dear Adil" aired (2003) seems kind of unspectacular after the rise of social media, where one can speak to anyone anywhere in the world in real time. Notably, Arthur and Adil initially write to each other via handwritten letters before switching over to email halfway through the episode. (And in later episodes, Arthur communicates with Adil through what's implied to be instant chat messaging) Justified however, in that Arthur gets his penpal through Mr. Ratburn via a program facilitated by teachers that matches up their students from around the world. Even with the commonplace use of Internet and social media making it easier to meet new people, it's still a risk for users, at any age, since it's easy for someone to lie about themselves or have underlying ill intentions, especially regarding minors, so this is still a safer method for elementary school children like Arthur to connect and communicate with other verified kids and facilitated by teachers without adults worrying about them speaking to strangers.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' tends to not be as obvious of a period piece as some other shows, mostly because explicit references to ongoing pop-culture were avoided in favor of using {{exp|y}}ies. It's better at this than other series, however early seasons look fairly late '90s-early 2000s with things like how one of the Tough Customers, Molly, dresses in grunge, everyone has boxy computer monitors, and the fact it had a Music/BackstreetBoys episode and the U.S President is based specifically on UsefulNotes/BillClinton.
** "Arthur's Chicken Pox" from season 1 is a ChickenPoxEpisode that mentions it being a normal illness; nowadays, it's not as common thanks to vaccines.
** Mary Moo Cow's status as a KidsShowMascotParody makes her something of a relic of the time when the [[invoked]] PeripheryHatedom of ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'' was starting to hit the mainstream.
** In "Poor Muffy" from 1996, Muffy is shocked and horrified that Francine doesn't own a VCR. It was a status symbol back then to show Muffy's spoiled nature, but watching it now seems laughable, as [=VCRs=] were phased out in the 2000s.
** "Attack of the Turbo Tibbles" features a ''Franchise/PowerRangers''-like TV show. When the Tibbles turn it on at D.W.'s house, her mother quickly warns them against it due to its violent content. This was an actual concern at the time, but by today's standards seems laughable.
** Four-year-old D.W. rides in a booster seat in the family car in newer seasons, but did not in episodes that aired in the 1990s, reflecting a societal shift in child safety.
** "The Contest" features spoofs of many different shows, such as ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead''. Only ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is still airing, which itself is a LongRunner.
** In "Best of the Nest", Mr. Ratburn has no idea how to use the Internet and has to be shown by Brain. While this wasn't too implausible in 2001 when the episode aired, the idea of an adult his age -- ''especially'' a teacher -- being unfamiliar with the Internet would be downright laughable nowadays.
** "Arthur's T.V. Free Week" aired during a time where the most technology kids had, aside from T.V. itself, were video games, and probably computers. With technology such as smartphones and tablets, not to mention the ''internet'', becoming near-ubiquitous, kids struggling to merely not use a television set seems pretty quaint, as they could easily distract themselves from a T.V. with these things. Each of these also allow a person to watch anything they want at a whim. These days, the concern is that kids (and society) are often too addicted to technology in general, so a more modern take on this episode would likely be something along the lines of "Arthur's Technology-Free Week".
** In the episode "In My Africa", D.W. and Cheikh, her new friend from Senegal, celebrate the cultures of all 54 African countries that existed at the time. Two months after its U.S. premiere, UsefulNotes/SouthSudan declared independence, making 5''5'' African countries.
** "Desert Island Dish" (2006) prominently features the USDA's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyPyramid MyPyramid]], even having an animation of the man running up the pyramid. This nutrition guide was phased out in 2011, replaced by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyPlate MyPlate]].
** "When Carl Met George", which aired in 2010, specifies that Carl has Asperger's syndrome. Asperger's was removed as a diagnosis three years later in 2013, and is now generally just described as high-functioning autism.
** One episode has him watching an expy of ''Series/BreakingTheMagiciansCodeMagicsBiggestSecretsFinallyRevealed''.

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