A backdoor pilot episode for the series, also titled "Postcards from Buster," originally aired as part of Arthur's eighth season on December 22, 2003.[2] The official series aired on PBS Kids Go! from October 11, 2004, to February 20, 2012. The series went on a 3–year hiatus between November 2008 and February 2012.
In Arthur, it is already established that Buster's parents had divorced, and his father is a pilot. This spin-off series revolves around Buster's travels with his father, Bo Baxter. Arthur Read and many other characters from Arthur make cameo appearances in this series, with many episodes featuring an Arthur character playing a minor role.
Premise
Postcards from Buster featured Buster travelling to various locations across North, Central, South America and Europe. Episodes primarily took place in the United States, but also featured many destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Italy, and many other places. Buster is accompanied by his father, who is a pilot for a band of musicians. In each episode, Buster meets children in the location who introduce him to their real-life families and provide insights into global culture.
The sequences featuring Buster are animated, while the segments showcasing the children are live-action, presented from the perspective of Buster's video camcorder. After each location, Buster sends his friend Arthur a "video postcard" tape, providing a summary of his experiences and the people he has met in that specific location.
The series aimed to showcase multicultural and diverse families, including a Muslim family in Illinois, a Mormon family in Utah, and a Mestizo family in Texas, among others.[3][4]
Paramount Home Entertainment has released a series of "Postcards from Buster" DVDs and VHS tapes focusing on specific topics. The releases include themed DVDs of "Postcards from Buster", such as "Buster's Outdoor Journeys", which features episodes like "Sugartime", "Meet Me at the Fair", "The Giant Pumpkins", and "Bayou by Me". Another release is "Buster's Got the Beat", which includes episodes like "Beats by the Bay", "Buster and Beatrice", "The Music Mystery", and "Buster's Sweet Song". There is also "Buster's Buddies", featuring episodes like "Buster's League of Champions", "Best Friends", "A Sense of Direction", and "Sleepy in Seattle". Additionally, there is "Buster's World of Sports", which includes episodes like "Winter Gold", "Swimming in the Desert", "Rock and Roll", and "Rodeo Cowgirl". VHS releases only include the first two episodes from each DVD.
In "Sugartime!", Buster meets lesbian couples and their children while visiting Vermont to learn how to make maple sugar. The United States Secretary of Education, Margaret 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."[6][7][8] 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 in New York City, New York, KCTS-TV in Seattle, Washington, and KVIE in Sacramento, California, which are flagship stations; and the show's co-producer, WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts (which distributed the episode directly to public television stations after PBS's decision).[9][10][11] It was, however, included in both the VHS and DVD version of the collection "Buster's Outdoor Journeys".
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