When did Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends stop airing?

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Why to Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, of course! A home for imaginary friends whose kids have outgrown them, Foster's is a place where friends can live together until they are adopted by another child who needs them.

Set In a World… where imaginary friends are living, tangible beings who can be seen and heard by everyone including their creator, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends follows Mac, a shy and creative 8 year old boy, who is forced by his mother to give up his imaginary friend Bloo, a walking, talking protection blanket. He and Bloo discover the titular home for Bloo to live, but because they don't want to be separated forever, they strike a deal with the house that, as long as Mac comes to visit him every day, Bloo won't be adopted.

Upon arrival, Bloo makes three new friends: Wilt, a tall, basketball-loving monster who Apologizes a Lot; Eduardo, a luchador bull who's afraid of his own shadow; and Coco, a kooky bird/airplane/palmtree creature only capable of saying her own name. As all of the characters are meant to have been dreamed up by children, the house's other residents are a Cast of Snowflakes made up of an array of wildly surreal creatures. Most of the episodes involve Bloo's egotistical, mischievous personality, in complete contrast to the shy, polite Mac, getting him and his friends into wacky hijinks around the house. As with most Cartoon Network shows, expect plenty of parental bonuses along the way.

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Of note, Foster's was Cartoon Network's first original 2D animated show to be produced 100% digitally: the backgrounds were all drawn in Photoshop and the animation was done in-house in Adobe Flash, all with the aide of graphics tablets. This not only brought down the cost and shrank the staff, but allowed for the nuances of Craig McCracken's personal drawing style to come through in the final product rather than the blocky, geometric look Flash had been known for up to that point.

A total of 79 episodes in six seasons were produced, along with two Darker and Edgier Made For TV Movies: Good Wilt Hunting in 2006, and Destination Imagination in 2008. The series ran from 2004 to 2009 and, as a result, is seen as the bridge between Cartoon Network's "classic" and "renaissance" periods (coincidentally, it ended the same year as the station's longest-running series, Ed, Edd n Eddy).

This theory about the classic 2000s cartoon show, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends is easily one of my new favorite conspiracy revelations.

In case you’re unaware of the show or just forgot, “Foster’s” was a Cartoon Network show that aired from 2004 to 2009. In the world of “Foster’s,” imaginary friends can be seen by humans, not just the children who think them up. In this world, humans and imaginary friends coexist, which creates the inherent problem of what to do when children outgrow their imaginary friends.

Enter Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. Created by Madame Foster, this “Home” shelters imaginary friends who have been abandoned by their creators, and they can be adopted by new kids. Madame Foster runs the home with the help of her imaginary friend, Mr. Herriman, and her 22-year-old granddaughter, Frankie.

It was a fun show that actually becomes even more fun when you consider this theory…that Frankie was an imaginary friend as well.

The theory, courtesy of 9gag, argues that Frankie is the younger version of Madame Foster. If you look closely at the picture above, you’ll notice that Frankie’s clothing is the younger version of Madame Foster’s. The idea is that Madame Foster would have imagined a younger version of herself to manage the foster home, since Madame Foster is too old.

One of the strongest points of the theory is that Frankie never has imaginary friends of her own, nor does the show allude to that possibility. Granted, she acts and seems human, but as far as I know, no one every really questions whether or not Frankie is human.

Now, there are some counter arguments. There was one episode where Frankie actually went on a date, as seen below.

For the theory to work, Frankie would have to either be unaware of the fact that she’s imaginary, or just like humans. The latter works because there have been several jokes within the series where imaginary friends have had crushes on humans.

Frankie is most likely aware of her imaginary origins due to the rule within the Foster’s universe that imaginary friends know who they are from the moment they’re thought up. Also, being imaginary would explain why Frankie is willing to work in a Foster home instead of going to college or pursuing a career. She’s stuck there because Madame Foster is her creator.

But there’s another counter argument…

Why would an imaginary friend need a driver’s license?

Here comes my own theory that answers that very question. What if Frankie was the person who imagined Madame Foster?

It’s possible that Madame Foster could have passed away due to old age, and Frankie (who would be heartbroken) may have imagined Madame Foster to prevent anyone from finding out.

It would explain why Madame Foster is so energetic and childlike, despite being so old. Frankie simply can’t deal with the fact that her grandmother is gone, and that would also explain why Frankie can’t move on from her life at Foster’s. The home actually belongs to her.

What happened to Foster's Home for imaginary friends?

Will Foster's Home for imaginary friends ever come back?

What is wrong with Cheese Foster's Home for imaginary friends?

How many episodes of Foster's Home for imaginary friends are there?