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[MIMIC]

Culture Wars Pull Buster Into the Fray

Wayne Godwin, chief operating officer of PBS, got a bit tangled as he tried to explain the PBS stance on gay characters appearing on children's television shows.

"In fairness I would have to say a gay character is not one we would not include," he said, and then clarified. "The fact that a character may or may not be gay is not a reason why they should or should not be part of this series."

Yet on Tuesday PBS decided not to distribute to its roughly 350 PBS stations an episode of "Postcards From Buster," which was scheduled for Feb. 2 and included lesbian mothers, even though a few days earlier PBS officials, among them PBS's president, Pat Mitchell, viewed the episode and called it appropriate. That was before Education Secretary Margaret Spellings denounced the program, starring Buster Baxter, a cute animated rabbit who until now has been known primarily as a close friend of Arthur, the world's most famous aardvark. Ms. Spellings said many parents would not want children exposed to a lesbian life style.

NY Times

BTW, "Arthur" is one of my favorite "you're too old to be watching this" shows.

 

[videogamer]

"In fairness I would have to say a gay character is not one we would not include," he said, and then clarified. "The fact that a character may or may not be gay is not a reason why they should or should not be part of this series."

WTH I'm utterly corn-fused

In the episode that knotted Spellings's knickers, Buster goes to Vermont and meets children from two families, who show him how maple syrup and cheese are made.

At one of the homes, Buster is introduced to all of the children and to the two moms. One girl explains that one of the women is her "stepmom," whom she says she loves a lot.

One of the women asks the kids to get some maple syrup and some cheese for dinner, and to stop by the other home to borrow a big lasagna pan. In the other home, Buster is introduced to the whole family, including two more moms. Then the kids head off to get the ingredients, and Buster learns where syrup and cheese come from.

From what I understand, the Education Department says that this would not fit into the funding guidelines, but I fail to see how having one character's gender being different makes this particular episode bad. Since this show is supposed to help kids prepare for a school environment by introducing the children to a diverse group of people, the addition of a lesbian mom should actually help achieve this goal.

 

[Guzim]

Arthur is such a great show.

 

[Belfast]

This crap + "WHY DID THE PASSION GET SNUBBED BY THE ACADEMY?!" bullshit is making me hate the media more than ever right now. Don't you guys have a war to cover or are you going to continue allowing this kind of prattle to actually make it on TV?

BTW, The Passion got snubbed because it was CRAP. F9/11 didn't get nominated as best picture, either, you religiofascist dorks, but we aren't having any shit about that, are we?

 

[MIMIC]

This crap + "WHY DID THE PASSION GET SNUBBED BY THE ACADEMY?!" bullshit is making me hate the media more than ever right now. Don't you guys have a war to cover or are you going to continue allowing this kind of prattle to actually make it on TV?

On CNN, they continue to report on this story about a woman who was taken by police for a DUI...after drinking several glasses of Listerine. :lol


And BTW...this show "Postcards from Buster" is on right now. I haven't seen it before.

Those kids are some horrible actors. :lol

 

[levious]

And BTW...this show "Postcards from Buster" is on right now. I haven't seen it before.

Those kids are some horrible actors. :lol

you referring to the real life footage? I think it's supposed to be real people, if it's the show I'm thinking of, Buster traveling around with his dad.

 

[hobbitx]

Arthur rocks, but Buster's show is one really shitty spinoff. I much rather watch a D.W. series, or a science show featuring The Brain than this garbage.

 

[videogamer]

Several PBS stations will air an episode of the children's show "Postcards From Buster" despite the network's decision not to distribute it nationwide because two lesbian couples were depicted in it.

So far, 21 stations have said they will air it and another six have indicated they probably will, Jeanne Hopkins, spokeswoman for Boston's WGBH-TV, said Tuesday. The station produced the series.

PBS said last week it would not distribute the episode to its 349 stations around the country. The show features an animated character, Buster, visiting farms in Vermont where maple sugar is produced, and includes two lesbian couples that work on the farms.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/02/tv.pbs.lesbians.ap/index.html