While the new plot line is unexpected, this isn't the first time for the show to feature a gay character since it showed a lesbian couple back in a 2005 episode of the show's spin-off 'Postcards From Buster'.
- May 14, 2019
AceShowbiz - Fan-favorite cartoon show "Arthur" returned for season 22 on Monday, May 13. The PBS Kids show opened the new season with a major change for one of its characters.
The season opener, which was titled "Mr. Ratburn and the Special Someone", saw Arthur's teacher Mr. Ratburn coming out as a gay and even getting engaged to another male character. Arthur and some of other characters were shocked upon finding out about the engagement. It was because they never thought that their teachers had private lives of their own when they weren't at the school.
"When they go home, they sharpen pencils, eat kale and dream up homework assignments," Buster, one of Arthur's friends, said about the teachers in the episode. "They don't even sleep! They just go into low-power mode and watch documentaries."
Later, they saw Mr. Ratburn having lunch with his sister, whom they thought the woman he's planning on marrying. They overheard their conversations and thought that the woman was too uptight for Mr. Ratburn. Arthur and friends further thought that she would make him miserable should they get married. With that in mind, they attempted to stop the wedding from happening.
Once they arrived at the wedding, they were beyond surprised to see Mr. Ratburn standing next to another male at the altar. The two looked so much in love, so Arthur and his friends decided to call off their plan of sabotage. Instead, they found themselves having fun at the wedding and even playfully making fun of the way Mr. Ratburn and his new husband move during their first dance.
While the new plot line was unexpected, this wasn't the first time for the show to feature a gay character. In a 2005 episode of the show's spin-off "Postcards From Buster", Buster took a trip to Vermont to find out how maple syrup is made. In the episode, which was titled "Sugartime", Buster met children with many mothers who are lesbians. "Boy, that's a lot of moms!" the rabbit said of the coupled up mothers in the episode.
