# PonderIt

## Wednesday, February 01, 2006

### Buster and the Mormons

The PBS kids show "Postcards from Buster" is about a bunny-kid who travels around the country with his Dad and visits different people--so you learn about what kids do in Chinatown, in North Dakota, in Florida, etc. Today's "Postcards from Buster", Buster visited Utah. He hung out with a Mormon family, visited Dinosaur National Monument, and...went to Family Night!
Buster goes sledding with the Hershey family, with six kids. A lot of the show is taken up by the fact that the family is big and they all have to get along and help out to make things work. When Buster is shown the "work chart" on the refrigerator, there is a picture of Christ next to it. You can also recognize the "Work and the Glory" series on their bookshelves in the background.
The Hershey kids are fairly close in age, but not unusually so (especially for Mormons!). They apparently only have one bathroom, but I don't really believe that. It's too big of a house for only one bathroom, in my opinion. Maybe the kids aren't allowed to use the master bathroom.
Buster asks why the family does FHE, and Clark Hershey (the Mormon dad) says, "It is what our pro...our church leaders have asked us to do." They have an opening prayer, a musical number, and then they make cookies to take to their neighbors.
Anyway, it was a pretty darn good episode (for Postcards from Buster, that it), and showed the Mormon family in a really friendly light. Not bad!

#### 4 Comments:

- Great news. Not to much weirdness?

  By Eric Nielson, at 2/01/2006 12:44 PM

- Considering that "Postcards from Buster" is meant to help kids learn and understand other cultures, I would hope it was positive. It's just a good thing it wasn't an FLDS family :-).
  It was this same show that had some people up in arms over Busters visit to a family that had two mommies...

  By Ian, at 2/01/2006 3:45 PM

- Eric, it really was quite good. The only weird thing was the bathroom--considering how nice the house was (inside and out) it seems odd that there is only one bathroom. But if that is the weirdest thing in a show about Mormons, I'm all okay with it.
  And Ian, I know. I was sort of concerned about it when I first heard that one was filmed in Utah. But it really showed the family in an excellent light. They seemed normal and happy and busy (of course, I come from a Mormon family with six kids close together too. Maybe I was just identifying with them).
  And compared to some of the other families Buster visits, the Hershey family was positively mainstream. They don't home-school (or at least nothing was said about it), they don't put ethnic costumes on and dance in parades, they don't eat odd foods, etc. The big "hook" was how large the family is, not so much that they are Mormon.
  I actually kinda liked it!

  By Keryn, at 2/01/2006 9:41 PM

- What? A house with only ONE bathroom!!! Is that only in the Mormon culture... Or do other homes in other neighborhoods, in other religions have only have ONE bathroom??? I am shocked... just shocked. The abuse.. I tell ya, the abuse.

  By a house on a corner, at 3/26/2006 1:58 AM

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