Fillmore!

Fillmore is a police procedural set in a middle school. The way it takes itself utterly seriously and perfectly applies all the hard-boiled detective cliches makes it great fun, and sometimes even touching. This one's for adults as much as for children.

Disney's Fillmore! is a wonderfully written cartoon series, spoofing the 70s cop show genre. Set in X Middle School, the show's main character is Cornelius Fillmore - a former juvenile delinquent turned safety patroller. Fillmore is ably assisted by his partner Ingrid Third, a sardonic genius with an eidetic memory. The show slyly pastiches all manner of generic clichés: the duo ultimately report into school principal Folsom, a politician-type obsessed with her own image; Fillmore himself is the maverick detective, who breaks the rules to get what's done, while Third is his rational, Scully-esquire partner. And the movie and cultural references flow thick and fast - in one episode Fillmore and Third rely on help from a Hannibal Lecter-like graffiti artist. In another, they go undercover to infiltrate a scooter-thief gang with a task very similar to Gone In 60 Seconds.

Fillmore! only lasted two seasons before cancellation, and while the quality of the show is apparent, it is also easy to see why it didn't get renewed. This is a kids show, but the best aspects of the writing are probably too obscure to hit their targets, many of who will not even be aware that the show is supposed to be a spoof. As an adult, it is easy to appreciate the subtle humour, but the show isn't mature enough to appeal fully to adults.

This show probably would be funny on it's own, but as a kid growing up in the 70s and Quinn Martin Productions, this show is hilarious. From the onslaught of punnery to the running sports team jokes (X middle school never had a basketball or football team, but I do remember them in a Bocci ball field and miniature golf tournament). It was the tongue-in- cheek detail (a papier-mache volcano in the science fair named Mt. Cliché) as well as the mock seriousness of the crime that really made the show so enjoyable. It even had a killer opening montage, closing with unmanned bikes flying over a cliff ala Mannix.

The characters are great, every fundamental of a 70x cop show was met with certain beautiful overkill, Chief (no-first-name) Vallejo, as well as the forensic and investigative members with the comic relief (a cartoon with a comic relief character) of O'Farrell. It even had mayor in the principal of X Middle School voiced by Wendy Malick. I loved her on this show, her biting, witty threats were hilarious.

If anyone ever finds out this show is being released on DVD, iTunes or Google, please let me know. Or if you can find Scott Gimple's email addy. I just want to tell him how much I enjoyed his work and how can I get it.

As well as being notable for all of its main characters being named after names and places in California (Fillmore and Third, Folsom, Vallejo), "Fillmore!" basically takes the cop show and transfers it to school even more so than "21 Jump Street" and "The Mod Squad" did - on those shows the enforcers came in from the outside, here the school is self-enforcing, with our heroes Cornelius Fillmore and Ingrid Third as a team working as part of the Safety Patrol for X Middle School, an institution for learning that seems to be crammed full of miscreants from the evidence here, from simple bullies to forgery, robbery, etc.

Like "Police Squad!" and "Funky Squad," "Fillmore!" is in the mold of 1970s shows, here complete with a Quinn Martin-type gravel-voiced announcer ("Today's episode: 'Masterstroke Of Malevolence'! Act One: 'A Broken Masterpiece'!" For some reason the act titles appear on screen, but the overall episode titles never do...), bosses constantly leaping down our heroes' throats, and the kind of theme tune that cop shows today wouldn't go near. All of this just adds to the fun for adults watching, but "Fillmore!" doesn't go overboard with the grown-up references - it knows who its main audience is, and it hits it fair and square. It's a cliche, but this really is fun for all the family... I'm willing to bet that the movie version of "S.W.A.T." won't be half as good.

"Fillmore! I'm on it!"

I hate detective shows, I literally can't stand watching them. But strangely, there's something cutting edge about Fillmore that drew me to watch it. It could be a number of things.

The story lines? They were amazing, especially how a case that seems so simple can have so many plot twists and turns, and so many shocking answers. Even as a teenager, I don't work out who is the culprit until they work it out! Maybe the characters? Of course the best characters are Fillmore and Ingrid, but there's other characters I love, too. Namely, of course, O'Farrell. You can't help but love him! Other factors are, of course, the brilliant voice actors, especially Tara Strong. I love the voices she makes! If I could, I'd definitely make more episodes.

Unfortunately, it's down to Disney, and therefore, we will lose yet another great show.