''Postcards from Buster'' is a live-action/animated

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

that originally aired on PBS. It is a

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

of the '' Arthur'' TV series. The show stars Arthur's best friend, 8-year-old anthropomorphic rabbit

Buster Baxter This is a list of characters featured in the PBS Kids television show ''Arthur'', which is based on the book series by Marc Brown. Arthur, the title character, is the chief protagonist in the anthropomorphism series. Buster, Francine, Muffy, B ...

. Based by a backdoor pilot episode of ''Arthur'' entitled "Postcards from Buster", the television series was created by Cookie Jar Group (now known as

WildBrain WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of childr ...

), WGBH Boston and

Marc Brown Studios Marc Brown Studios is a TV production company. Following the air of '' Arthur's Perfect Christmas'', the Christmas special of the hit cartoon series ''Arthur'', Marc Brown Studios was formed by Marc Brown in 2000 nationwide in the US. Marc Brown is ...

. The pilot was aired on December 22, 2003 as an episode of Arthur. The official series aired from October 11, 2004 to February 20, 2012, on

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Inste ...

and PBS Kids Go!. Buster's interests include eating anything, reading comic books, and playing video games. Buster's personality is that of a fairly intelligent and curious child. He also believes that extraterrestrials are real. Buster's parents are divorced; in this series, Buster is seen with his father, Bo Baxter. Arthur Read and many other characters from the

animated television series ''Arthur'' make cameo appearances in this series, and most episodes have an '' Arthur'' character playing a minor role. The series went on

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: * Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * G ...

between November 2008 and February 2012.

Overview

''Postcards from Buster'' centered on Buster traveling to different places around

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

and worldwide, usually in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

but also in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, and other places, with his father, who is a pilot for a band of musicians. In each episode, Buster meets children in the location, who show him views of their real-life families and global culture. The sequences with Buster are animated, while the portions featuring the children are live-action (viewed from the viewpoint of Buster's video camcorder). After each location, Buster sends Arthur a "video postcard" videotape summarizing what he's done and who he's met in each location. The children and their families who appeared in the series are meant to be multicultural and diverse and include a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

family in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into se ...

family in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, and a

Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...

family in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Episodes

Cast

* Daniel Brochu as Buster Baxter * Ellen David as Bitzi Baxter * Marcel Jeannin as Bo Baxter * Elyzabeth Diaga (season 1) and

Stephanie Martin Stephanie Martin, sometimes credited as Stéphanie Martin, is an American–Canadian singer-songwriter and actress having performed in notable musical productions in both French and English. She is best known for her role as Éponine in three p ...

(seasons 2–3) as Mora of Los Viajeros * Norman Groulx (season 1) and Glenn Coulson (seasons 2–3) as Carlos of Los Viajeros * Cameron Ansell (seasons 1–2) and Dallas Jokic (season 3) as Arthur Read * Jason Szwimmer (seasons 1–2) and Robert Naylor (season 3) as D.W. Read *

Melissa Altro Melissa Altro (born May 16, 1982) is a Canadian voice actress and voiceover coach from Montreal, Quebec. Biography Prior to having a career to voice acting, Altro guest-starred on a 1994 episode of the YTV/Nickelodeon horror anthology ser ...

as Muffy Crosswire * Jodie Resther as Francine Frensky * Mukundan Jr as Triple J (season 3) * Robert Naylor (Seasons 1-2) And Jake Beale (Season 3) - James

Home media releases

A series of ''Postcards from Buster'' DVDs and VHS releases of a certain topic have been released by PBS Distribution through Paramount Home Entertainment. This includes ''Buster's Outdoor Journeys'' (featuring episodes ''Sugartime'', ''Meet Me at the Fair'', ''The Giant Pumpkins'' and ''Bayou by Me''), ''Buster's Got the Beat'' (featuring episodes ''Beats by the Bay'', ''Buster and Beatrice'', ''The Music Mystery'' and ''Buster's Sweet Song''), ''Buster's Buddies'' (featuring episodes ''Buster's League of Champions'', ''Best Friends'', ''A Sense of Direction'' and ''Sleepy in Seattle'') and ''Buster's World of Sports'' (featuring episodes ''Winter Gold'', ''Swimming in the Desert'', ''Rock and Roll'' and ''Rodeo Cowgirl''). VHS releases, however, only include the first two episodes from the DVDs. On October 12, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1. It also includes bonus episodes of '' Busytown Mysteries'', '' The New Adventures of Nanoboy'', '' Mona the Vampire'' and '' Wimzie's House''.

Controversy

In January 2005,

Margaret Spellings Margaret M. LaMontagne Spellings (née Dudar; born November 30, 1957) is an American government and non-profit executive who has been serving as President and CEO of Texas 2036 since 2019. She previously served as the eighth United States secret ...

United States Secretary of Education The United States secretary of education is the head of the U.S. Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activities re ...

, revealed that the show had explored

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. Episode #33, "Sugartime!", which features Buster visiting Hinesburg, Vermont, to learn about the production of

maple sugar Maple sugar is a traditional sweetener in Canada and the northeastern United States, prepared from the sap of the maple tree (" maple sap"). Sources Three species of maple trees in the genus '' Acer'' are predominantly used to produce mapl ...

, includes Buster meeting several children who have

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

parents.

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...

was one of the first states to legalize

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

s for same-sex couples. In the episode, the word ''lesbian'' or ''homosexual'' is never said, and the episode — like all ''Postcards'' episodes — has no sexual content. In "Sugartime", Buster meets the first lesbian couple: Karen Pike, a photographer, her partner Gillian Pieper, a health educator, and their three children: Emma, her brother David, and her stepbrother James. One scene shows family photos of the three kids, then Buster's attention turns to a framed photo of Karen and Gillian together; Karen is Emma and David's mother, and Gillian is James' adoptive mother. Buster says to Emma, "So Gillian's your mom, too?" Emma replies that she is her stepmom, to which Buster comments "Boy, that's a lot of moms!"; Emma adds that she loves her mother and stepmother very much, and no other comments are made about the couple. After meeting Emma's family, Buster meets yet another lesbian couple: Tracy and Gina, and their three children at a dairy farm nearby. Later in the episode, both families get together at a bonfire, then take a family picture, with Buster sitting in the middle between the children. PBS vice president of media relations Lea Sloan said at the time, "Ultimately, our decision was based on the fact that this is a sensitive issue, and we wanted to make sure that parents had the opportunity to introduce this subject to their children in their own time." Spellings demanded that PBS return all federal funding that had been used in the production of the episode, claiming that "many parents would not want their young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this episode." PBS decided not to air this episode to its 349 stations, but some member stations across the country chose to air the episode, including

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, KCTS-TV in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, and

KVIE KVIE (channel 6) is a PBS member television station in Sacramento, California, United States. The station is owned by KVIE, Inc., a community-based non-profit organization. KVIE's studios are located on West El Camino Avenue in the Natomas dist ...

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, which are flagship stations; and the show's co-producer,

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

(which distributed the episode directly to public television stations after PBS's decision). It was, however, included in both the VHS and DVD version of the collection "Buster's Outdoor Journeys" which was distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment. Some of these stations opted to air this episode in prime-time, with some following the episode with a local discussion on the controversy. Shortly after the controversy, PBS President and CEO Pat Mitchell announced that she would step down when her contract expired in June 2006, after coming under fire for her support for the episode. Talk show host Bill O'Reilly compared Buster visiting the lesbian couples in Vermont to visiting "a bigamy situation in Utah", or "a S&M thing in the East Village" on his former show, ''

The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...

''. After the episode had aired, Karen, Gillian, and their three children were later on honored at Provincetown town hall, as part of the Family Pride Coalition's Family Week celebration.

Cusi Cram Cusi Cram (born September 22, 1967) is an American playwright, screenwriter, actress, model, director, educator, and advocate for women in the arts. Early life Cusi Cram was born in Manhattan, New York, on September 22, 1967, to Lady Jeanne Camp ...

, a writer for ''Arthur'', later wrote a play titled ''Dusty and the Big Bad World'', based on this controversy.

References

External links