Sugartime!

This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the VHS.

"Sugartime!" is the thirty-third episode in the first season of Postcards from Buster.

Summary[]

Buster heads to Vermont during Sugartime season and samples maple syrup and learns about milking cows. He also shops for a bonfire.

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"Sugartime!" was not aired nationally on PBS after it was criticized by then-Secretary of State Margaret Spellings for depicting two sets of lesbian parents. Vermont was one of the few states at the time to recognize same-sex civil unions. However, some PBS stations chose to independently air the episode, including Arthur's co-producer WGBH in Boston. WGBH also distributed the episode in PBS's stead to any member stations that wished to air it.
The terms "lesbian" and "homosexual" are never used in this episode. Instead, Buster remarks "that's a lot of moms!" and one of the children refers to loving her "step-mother."
- This approach (acknowledging the existence of same-sex couples while not making it the focus of the story) was reused nearly 15 years later for the episode "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone."
Despite the controversy, this episode was included in the DVD (and the VHS) of [Buster's Outdoor Journeys.
Arthur writer Cusi Cram later wrote the play Dusty and the Big Bad World, which premiered in 2009, based on the controversy surrounding this episode and the writing team's reaction.
The story of this episode was adapted as the book Buster's Sugartime.

DVD: