The Adventures of Pete & Pete

The Adventures of Pete and Pete is what more television shows should strive for. Kids can enjoy it, but I was 19 when I started watching it and have been intrigued ever since (I'm 24 now). This show is unique, humorous but not in the traditional way, very well written, very surreal and there is enough mystery to leave a variety of impressions and interpretations. Things that should be small events are blown up to very large scale circumstances with apocalyptic consequences. Other stories take completely random and unreal situations and make them a part of everyday life. If people thought like this on a daily basis, everyone's life would be much more exciting.

Artie, "The Strongest Man in the World", is a skinny fellow in striped pyjamas. His favorite smell is tire air. He's little Pete's personal superhero. Artie, who calls things "Pipe" when they're going well, is the only man capable of vanquishing a bowling ball that comes between two brothers. Without special effects the writers have created a very convincing alternate universe.

The stories are usually called "weird". More appropriately, they are metaphorical and mysterious. Little Pete and friends must survive a gym class dodge ball match, while Big Pete needs to study for a test. Whatensues is an epic of revolution and facing your fears. Cryptic characters come and go, bearing vague clues and meanings such as an old woman with a leg vein pattern matching an Iowa road map (though I've seen a map of Iowa and it's really just a big grid). Other times, yes, it's just plain weird. Very funny too.

Pete and Pete breaks away from every boring and trite television show out there. The problems on most sit-coms are stupid, petty and seem like every other show out there (everyday life is great, but WATCHING everyday life sucks). Pete and Pete breaks out of that completely. The storylines create profound meanings from quirky twists on everyday life; the quest for perfection...using an underwear inspector, a "lost" favorite song and the journey to get it back. If there is ANYTHING to compare this show to, it's like Tim Burton got control of the Wonder Years...kind of.

Pete and Pete says there is excitement in everyday life and implies that just about anything is possible...why not be a bus driver or a bear for career day?

If TV were truly what it should be: A medium to entertain, inspire and teach the masses, we would see so many more shows like this. Talented writers who made something unique right down to the theme music.

And the guest stars! They're offbeat yet recognizable and respectable... Steve Buchemi, Janine Garofolo, Chris Elliot, Adam West. Then rock and roll stars: Michael Stipe, Iggy Pop and Juliana Hatfield. Finally out of the blue you get Monday Night Football's Frank Gifford and PBS's John McLaughlin. Like I said, unique right down to the theme song.

This show is awesome.

I think of all the shows I still wish were on tv, I miss this one the most. this was one of the most weirdest creative sitcoms ever made. it was like this bizarre little suburban universe that I really wanted to be part of. not only was the writing great, but the music by one of my favorite bands polaris, is also great. I don't think that televison gets much more creative and funny than this show.

1993. What a good year for Nickelodeon. "Rocko's Modern Life" aired its first season and continued to break ground for animated television along with others such as "Ren and Stimpy", and "Doug." The icing on the cake, though, is the spunky, indie show "Pete and Pete" with enough originality to spawn a film series.

There is an undeniable wonder of "Pete and Pete" with it a magical quirk that made it so appealing. It revolves around the two title brothers (big and little Pete) and a town filled with colorful, complex characters. Big Pete narrates his whimsical and poignant look at growing up with an intellectual commentary of struggling in a bizarre suburban world.

The best episodes? I've narrowed it down to three. The first, "Yellow Fever"...it is a clever and hilarious narration of tensions building on a long bus trip. Everyone on the bus has a problem with someone or something and conflicting feelings build and build as the wild day progresses. Notably the lovelorn bus driver Stu and a boy who's ear seems to be a target for everyone to flick. Things boil over in an insane, chaotic conclusion wrapped up in a settling and likable denouement which never lets the episode get over the top.

Number two is an episode called "King of the Road" which captures life on the road with an oddly adroit authenticity of the pains of a family vacation. In this episode, Pete falls in love with a girl who will turn into just another car passed on the highway, but it leaves him feeling like the unanswered question of why you only see on shoe and not two on the side of the road.

Finally, there is an episode from which I can't remember the title, but it follows big Pete's struggle with a new responsibility as the ball collector at a driving range. Pete hides behind a costume of a grizzly bear to hide his humiliation and discovers himself as he finds different problems with his new job.

A brilliantly funny characterization of the local superhero Arty by Tobi Huss and excellent music by Polaris make "Pete and Pete" a one of a kind winner. I grew up with this show and still find new interests in the episodes as it is thankfully showed on Noggin (God bless digital cable!).

Unlike many who commented on this show, I didn't grow up watching Pete and Pete. You see, I'm nearly 60 years old.

I discovered it by accident, or I should say that my stepdaughter discovered it by accident, then I walked by and got hooked like Bob the bass. I ended being the show's biggest fan. As I re-watch it on DVD, I love it more than ever. Today I got season two and was going to watch one episode to pass the time. That had a prayer. As soon as I saw the episode names, I knew I had to watch them again: The Time Tunnel, Inspector 34, The Phone Call.

Those three episodes alone will demonstrate to you that this series is good in ways that no other series has ever touched. It says as much about America as any Ken Burns documentary, it makes me laugh as much as the best episodes of Seinfeld, and it's cooler than anything which ever sprang from the mind of Slushmaster Bob. Its narrative flow is deeply cynical, yet there is a strong undercurrent of warmth and hope, as if it despairs of what people are, without forgetting what they yet might be. It never forgets that we, like the Petes when they time-travel, may yet find a way to do it over, and get it right. Even without Riboflavin.

I have been a major league TV addict for 50 years, and if you ask me to name the best show I have ever watched ... well, I don't know if I could name just one ... but this obscure Nickelodeon show would be one that would come to mind - alongside I, Claudius and The Civil War and The Simpsons and all the other greats. It's sheer genius, with more than a touch of poetry.

In the words of Inspector 34, it's so much better than underpants.

Yes! I'm so happy! I just got an e-mail from TvshowsonDVD.com that nickelodeon is planning on releasing multiple shows on DVD in a set called "the Rewind Collection" which includes Clarissa, Pete and Pete, salute your shorts, Are You Afraid Of the Dark and You Can't Do That On Television! Yes! The classics are coming. Everybody can once again enjoy the best TV shows that Nickelodeon got it's true beginning from! The First season of each of these shows are said to be released around May 17th. After all these years of begging for them to put these shows back on the air, we can get the next best thing...a better thing...we can buy them and enjoy them in our own homes! It's just such a relief that Nickelodeon is finally recognizing the enormous pleasure that these shows once brought everyone and will bring them again.