Anti-gay wrath crumples loving episode of Postcards From Buster'

I watched the controversial episode of Postcards From Buster recently, the PBS kids show that had the U.S. secretary of education up in arms, that PBS President Pat Mitchell declined to distribute to member stations, that launched an internal review and has become another hotly debated battle in the country's culture wars.

All this because Buster, an animated bunny, visits a couple of real-life, obviously loving families with two moms.

Yep. Lesbians. Deal with it.

Actually, you won't have that opportunity because Channel 8 (KAET) has declined to air the episode, which, before it decided not to distribute it, PBS had scheduled for Feb. 2, then rescheduled for March 23.

"I think I would be making somewhat of a political statement if I take a show that PBS has not approved" and broadcast it, said Greg Giczi, Channel 8's general manager. And he's right. WGBH, the Boston station that produces Postcards From Buster, made the episode available to stations; so far 47 have aired it. Not that Channel 8 usually runs from controversy or even the possibility of it. For instance, the station aired a 2003 version of The Gin Game in which Dick Van Dyke, of all people, uses the F-word when shouting at Mary Tyler Moore - again, of all people - when a "clean" version was available. But that was adult programming at a later hour. Giczi, who screened the episode with his kids, said that while there was plenty of debate and that he "sincerely wrestled with this," the Buster episode was different. His decision, he said, wasn't based on content.

"I just don't believe in making political statements through children."

Too late. The political statement's been made, but not by Giczi. It was made in part by Mitchell, who is leaving her post when her contract expires in 2006, and Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education. Spellings said in a letter to Mitchell that many parents wouldn't want their children exposed to the lifestyles shown in the episode, and included language about the funding of the show. You don't have to be paranoid to sniff out a threat in that.

Postcards From Buster is a spinoff of Arthur, an excellent kids show about an aardvark and his friends, in which Buster Baxter flies around the country with his dad, sending video postcards of his adventures to his mom (his parents are divorced). The videos are live-action, while Buster's a cartoon. In the episode in question, called Sugartime!, Buster goes to Vermont and learns about making maple syrup.

Nothing controversial so far.

Buster visits Karen, who used to work with his mom, Karen's partner, Gillian, and their kids. Their relationship is neither avoided nor exploited; it's presented in a completely non-judgmental way. While looking at family photos, Buster tells the family's daughter that she sure has a lot of moms. Yep, she says. Later they visit another family with lesbian parents, but most of the episode is spent on Buster playing with the kids and watching syrup being made (and eaten).

Indeed, despite what you might think by the uproar, the parents aren't the focus of the episode; they're hardly in it, and when they are they're just doing normal parent stuff - sending the kids on errands, making cookies, that kind of thing. There's no making out on the couch, no stolen kisses while Buster's not looking. Other than Buster's comment about having a lot of moms, the kids don't even mention their parents.

Except for this: Emma, Karen and Gillian's daughter, shows Buster around the house. He admires a photo of the two women.

"This is one of my favorite pictures," Emma says.

"How come?" Buster asks.

"Because it has my mom and Gillian," Emma says, "people I love a lot and they mean a lot to me."

Maybe I'm naive, and I'm certainly not qualified to be the secretary of education or the president of PBS, but that sounds like something parents might actually want their kids exposed to.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/0219goody19.html