System/Policy
By censoring ‘Arthur’, Alabama network turns back the clock
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Truly, what is more dangerous: two men making a sacred commitment to one another, or the denial of that reality?
Programs/Content
Alabama Public Television passes on ‘Arthur’ episode with gay wedding
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“PBS Kids programs are designed to reflect the diversity of communities across the nation,” a PBS spokesperson said.
Quick Takes
WGBH is disappointed by ‘outside of good taste’ Arthur memes
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The station hopes memes will be “respectful and appropriate for all audiences.”
People
Peg + Cat + Sesame = Daytime Creative Emmys for PBS, topping networks
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Longtime favorite Sesame Street took six statuettes, and the new PBS Kids animated series Peg + Cat, three.
Quick Takes
Tuesday roundup: FCC reveals spectrum auction details; Angelou doc goes forward
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Plus: A TV quiz show hits its 40th year on the air, and Arthur gets a hip-hop treatment.
Programs/Content
Mitchell probes Buster’s detour into controversy
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PBS has launched an internal review to find out why the gay mommies episode
of Postcards from Buster took so many people by surprise — especially
the show’s main funder, the U.S. Department of Education, and numerous aggravated conservatives. Two weeks after new Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings blasted the
children’s program for depicting same-sex parental couples, Minnesota conservatives were urging the state legislature to slash aid to Twin Cities PTV for airing the “Sugartime!” episode. Though PBS dropped the episode Jan. 25, mere hours before receiving Spellings’ searing letter, a quarter of public TV’s licensees — 46 of about 170 — have aired the show or plan to. Some aired it promptly and at the program’s usual hour.