Buster's Back/Transcript

Introduction

A space shuttle approaches a futuristic NASA ground station. Arthur is part of mission control.

Arthur: Mission Control to Explorer 17. Mission Control to Explorer 17.

Buster: This is Explorer 17. Hi, Arthur.

Arthur: Hi, Buster. How was Jupiter?

Buster: It was gaseous. Wait till I show you my pictures.

Arthur: Let’s get together later and look at them at the Sugar Bowl. It’ll be just like old times.  

Buster’s space shuttle enters Earth’s atmosphere and lands on platform outside the ground station.

Crowd: (cheer) Buster appears in a door.

Arthur: Hey, Buster. Welcome back. I have our bikes here ready to go.

Buster: Oh, it's great to come home to my little town.    He takes a step forward and his leg bursts into flame.   

Arthur: Hh!

Buster: Wow, this town’s changed.     His head briefly becomes invisible. Then one arm mutates into living rock while the other extends like rubber.   

Arthur: No, it’s the same. Y-you’ve changed!

Buster: Gee, you think it's those cosmic rays I went through?

Arthur: I don’t think this is gonna be just like old times.

#

Buster is home but has not called Arthur yet. Mr. Read is vacuuming upstairs.

Mr. Read: Arthur?         Arthur stands by the window looking sad.

Arthur: (sniffs)

Mr. Read: I’m sure Buster will call you as soon as he can.

Arthur: Yeah, right. Sure. Whatever.

Arthur looks at the table with the checker’s board. Ghostly figures of himself and a bored looking Buster appear.

Vision of Arthur: Let’s play checkers.

Vision of Buster: Checkers? I will not fritter away valuable time on such trivialities. If checkers is your idea of an exciting game, perhaps you need a new friend. I went around the whole wide world, you know.

Vision of Arthur: (sighs)    The figures vanish.

D.W. comes up the stairs. Arthur is putting away the checkers board when she comes in.

D.W.: Aren’t you playing an exciting game of checkers with Bus Stop?

Arthur: Buster! And I have other friends, you know. If he doesn’t want to come over, fine. I don’t need him to have fun.    He starts taking Buster’s photos off a pinboard.    There’s Brain and Francine and Muffy.    He throws the photos into the waste paper basket.     Like flying in a plane makes you a big man or something. How interesting can some old ruins be anyway.    Buster comes in.

Buster: Oh, it was really interesting. Hi.

Arthur: Hi.    He hides the photos behind his back.

D.W.: Hi, Bus Stop.

Buster: Hi, P.W.

D.W.: (giggles)  You're silly!

Arthur: I was just, er... organizing your photos.

D.W.: Are you organizing used tissues and old gum too?

Arthur: Go   away!

Buster: I brought some stuff for you guys. It's downstairs.

D.W.: Presents!     They start going downstairs.

Arthur: Did you see the famous white cliffs of Dover in England?

Buster: Yeah, sure. They were white all right.

In the living room Buster takes a small stature of the Eiffel Tower out of a bag.

D.W.: Wow! Is this what doctors give shots with in another country?

Buster: No, that's...

Arthur: That's the famous Eiffel Tower. It’s in Paris, France. It's nine hundred and eighty feet tall, right?

Buster: I guess. I rode on the top of a double-decker in London.    He takes out a model.

Arthur: In England a truck is called a lorry, and the trunk of your car is the boot, right?

Buster: I think so. There was one really exciting thing I wanted to do the whole time while I was away...

Arthur: To climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, located in the Himalayas, eight thousand eight hundred and forty-six meters tall?

Buster: No. Something exciting.

Arthur: To walk on the Great Wall Of China, located in... thinks  China?

Buster: No, I...

Arthur: To ride a mule down the Grand Canyon, a gorge in northwestern Arizona, cut by the Colorado River over a period of two million years?

Buster: No, no, no, no. Something exciting.   Arthur looks baffled.    I wanted to play checkers with you, just like old times.

Arthur: smiles  Really?!

#

Arthur and Buster play checkers.

Buster: I would have come over hours ago, but I fell asleep on the ride home and my Mom didn't wake me up.

Arthur Oh. I thought maybe you didn't feel like coming over.

Buster: What, and miss this?   He sees the books on Arthur’s bed.    Did you read all those?

Arthur: I just started.    D.W. comes in.

D.W.: I can’t believe you think checkers is exciting.

Buster: Yeah.

D.W.: Are you sure you went around the whole wide world?

Buster: I thought it was exciting before I went around the world.

Arthur: Yeah, what'd you think, D.W.? He was gonna be all different now?

Buster: You know, it was worth coming back just for this.   He makes the winning move.

Arthur: Aw.

D.W.: Yay!    Arthur gives her a reproachful look.

Buster: I'm glad you still like checkers. I was afraid you might have changed while I was gone.

Arthur: After this game, want some cake. My dad made it.

Buster: Yeah, but only if we can play another game of checkers after that.

Arthur: Sure.