"Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone" received positive critical reviews and a nomination for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming but garnered a negative response from the Christian fundamentalist website One Million Moms.

Arthur and his friends learn that their teacher Mr. Ratburn is getting married after he receives a phone call during class from someone named Patty.

Arthur and Buster trick Mr. Ratburn into recording himself reading a book for young children, which they then edit over a manipulated photo of him dressed as a hippie.

Written by Arthur head writer Peter K. Hirsch, "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone" premiered on May 13, 2019, along with its sister episode, "The Feud".

[11] The First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, announced that they would show the episode in a public screening that attracted RSVPs from over 100 people.

[12] Multiple critics praised how the episode treated the reveal that Mr. Ratburn was marrying a man as unremarkable; Helen Armitage in Screen Rant described the segment as groundbreaking for "how without fanfare and matter-of-factly Mr. Ratburn's sexuality is revealed",[2] and Vox's Allegra Frank wrote that the segment "refreshingly avoids presenting it [the wedding] as 'different' or 'non-traditional,' and simply shows that it is worthy of celebration, just like any happy marriage.

"[1] The Christian fundamentalist website One Million Moms, meanwhile, initiated a petition that garnered at least 13,000 signatures calling for the episode to be removed from TV schedules for what the organization described as the promotion of same-sex marriage.

14 years prior, which PBS ultimately pulled from its schedule due to pressure from the United States Department of Education, one of the show's funders.