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Arthur walked off the set before the music even started. He didn't look back. On millions of screens across the country, the camera stayed on that empty chair and the brass key for a full minute of silence. Then, the screen faded to black, followed by the simplest credit roll in history.

Arthur stood up and walked to the empty chair. He placed his hand on the velvet backrest. "Television is a ghost story," he said to the lens of Camera 1. "We flicker in your living rooms, we live in your memories, and then, one night, the signal cuts to static. But the story doesn't end. It just stops being told out loud."

Arthur, the host, adjusted his silk tie in the vanity mirror. His hair was grayer than it had been at the pilot, his eyes more tired. He didn't have a script. For the first time in seven years, the producers had given him a single instruction: "Walk out and say goodbye."