Buster's Sweet Success

Buster's Sweet Success is the second half of the second episode of Season 6. It first aired on October 1st, 2001 along with "Arthur Plays the Blues".

Summary
Buster is fundraising for the school band by selling chocolates, but he ends up eating some of them and giving others away. Since he doesn't have the money to pay for them he opts to make his own chocolates, called Buster Clusters, which turn out to taste terrible.

Plot
The episode starts off with Buster who waves goodbye to his mom. He then sees Arthur holding a box and asks what's in it. Arthur tells him they are chocolates and Buster mistakes it for an art project they had to create using chocolate that he forgot to take note of in class. Arthur corrects him and says that they are selling them to raise money for the band for new instruments. Buster then decides to sign up to contribute to the cause. Muffy says to Ms. Krasny she could unload twenty, meaning her dad will buy them. Buster decides to do the same and Ms. Krasny questions whether Buster could sell that many and Buster tells her he knows chocolate more then anyone else. Buster tries to sell chocolates to various people including the Tibble Twins, but he has not sold one box, largely due to his poor presentation skills in offering them to each person.

Francine then comes and tells Buster she only sold four boxes, Brain has sold six, and Prunella is doing better as she has raised $20 so far. Buster says to her that he hadn't had much luck, but guarantees that he would of sold all the boxes of chocolates by the end of the day. Needless to say when Buster got back home he had gone up and down main street and didn't sell one box. His mother suggested to him that he needs a gimmick to get people interested, but Buster doesn't have any ideas. Buster then sees a commercial from Jack's Joke Shop and he decides the next day to give out free samples. Soon Buster gets hungry and eats one box. Binky asks him if he sold any and Buster said no and Binky goes on to tell Buster he sold chocolates to George. Binky then asks if the chocolates are really free and ends up taking one whole box, which Buster tells him the chocolates not the box itself, but Binky does not listen and makes off with the unpaid chocolate.

At school Arthur asks Buster how many boxes he had left and Buster tells him ten. At first Arthur assumes Buster sold them, but Buster tells him he ate them much to the shock of Arthur. Buster asks Arthur how much he owes Ms. Krasny and Arthur replies $30. Arthur reassures Buster that they will think of something. Arthur raises the price of the chocolates from three dollars to six and tells Buster he can't eat anymore. Buster manages to control himself and makes $18 from his raised prices, and stashes the remaining chocolate in his closet so he will not be tempted. However, he has a nightmare that night where the chocolates demand that he let them out of the closet, and he desperately tries to fight their urges. The nightmare ends just as he seems to approach the closet door.

The next morning however Buster discovers he ate the chocolates and goes to Arthur's house and tells him about what happened. He then imagines what will happen when the band doesn't get new instruments.

In Buster's mind, the band is wearing uniforms that are ripped, are dirty, and is patched up and everyone in the band were all playing hand made instruments that were made out of various things. They play Chopin's Funeral March, but soon the parents of the kids are laughing at them. Soon Buster gets the idea to make new chocolates from scratch. He and Arthur attempt to make the chocolate all by themselves by following the ingredients labeled on the back of the box, but grossly misread the ingredients and end up putting in various nonsensical things like soy sauce, egg shells, and even tomatoes. When they are done cooking, Buster eagerly tries to taste one, but Arthur tells him not to for he will eat them all, and so they do not test the chocolate before preparing it for sale.

Buster is soon selling "Buster Clusters" and when everyone hears they are homemade, they all eagerly buy a box. Soon, Buster has made $36 and then Mr. Haney shows up and decides to partake in Buster's sale. However, he tries one of the chocolates and finds that they taste terrible, and soon all of the customers who bought Buster's chocolates return and demand their money back.

At school Buster and his mom in the principal's office and Mr. Haney comes in and tells him that the supporter of the band will pay off Buster's debt under one condition. He has to work at a store for a couple hours this week and Buster is nervous about it. Mr. Haney however reassures him that the will do alright working at the store. Buster is seen working at Jack's Joke shop and Arthur comes in to see how he is doing.

Soon two customers walk in and Buster soon shows them the Buster Clusters, which he claims looks good, but tastes crummy. Buster appears to be doing very well at Jack's Joke Shop.

Trivia

 * A man who Buster tries to sell chocolate to says he is allergic to chocolate, however, when Buster is selling "Buster Clusters", the man buys a box.
 * Mr. Haney is among Buster's customers when he buys some of the Buster Clusters; when Buster explains it's to raise new instruments for the school band, Mr. Haney seems surprised at the news of this fundraiser as if he were previously unaware of it, which doesn't make sense as he is the principal of the school, and thus would be fully aware of this fundraiser.

Home Video
DVD: VHS:
 * Arthur's Music Jamboree
 * Arthur's Tasty Treats
 * Arthur's Tasty Treats