Ghostwriter

I loved watching Ghostwriter when I was little. It was a mystery show for kids where this ghost would help solve mysteries by reading clues, and would appear to the kids only as words/text. The idea was great, but I've come to realize the acting wasn't very good.

On another note, I was just watching the premier episode of Real World Philadelphia, and noticed that William "Willie" Hernandez is on it. He is now around 23, and is a personal shopper. He said that his passion, though, is not in shopping, but in the arts. When he was a kid he played Hector on "Ghostwriter." Turned out to be a pretty good looking guy!

"Ghostwriter" was a wonderful escape from reality and into the brain-teasing and fascinating lives of a team of young adults. The teenagers were chosen by a friendly spirit (Ghostwriter) who could only communicate through writing. The original team, (starting out with only two members and broadening into about seven to eight members) is chosen to explore the many mysteries, cheats, and other oddities in their home town Brooklyn, NY. The original "Ghostwriter" TV series was a show like no other and captured the attention of many viewers anywhere. There will never be another show like it, may its memory live on in the minds of its faithful viewers for eternity.

Back when Ghostwriter was on PBS, I never missed an episode, and was disappointed when it went off the air. Now when I catch it on Nickelodeon and Noggin (and educational children's channel), the show is just as good as I remember it. The best thing about Ghostwriter was that it never insulted the intelligence of its viewers, even though its targeted viewing audience was about 7 to 12 years old. Each mystery took four episodes to complete, and the plot was always complex and interesting enough to justify the continuations. It seemed like the writers never cut corners just because this was a children's show. Another great thing about the show was its setting in New York City. It was obvious that the show wasn't shot on some fake urban soundstage in Hollywood. The characters run around the city in an area called Fort Greene, and the community is portrayed in a warm and authentic way. A huge credit to the show was its great young cast. Even though their acting skills weren't great, they each managed to adhere a strong personality to the characters.

Special props go to Joey Shea, who was hilarious as Calvin Ferguson, the smarmy kid who was the de facto arch nemesis of the Ghostwriter team. Overall, the show was always entertaining and funny.

Ghostwriter was this interesting show aimed for the juvenile trade to encourage folks to read. That's something you have to encourage at a young age. It was shot in and the episodes were located in some familiar areas of New York City and watching the show it all looked quite familiar to me.

Just who or what was Ghostwriter. He was this other worldly being who could only and who chose to only communicate with a select group of adolescents by writing wherever, be it on a computer or on a bathroom wall. The kids got involved in solving a mystery and their method was to read Ghostwriter's clues and keep a case notebook of what they learned. Eventually they put things together.

I remember one episode where Ghostwriter brought up some painful memories for people in Brooklyn. He had them go to Sullivan Place because an old ballpark was located there and that had something to do with the mystery. Kids their age in the 1990s would have no memories of Ebbetts Field, but they did the required research to learn. A show that teaches how to research is a valuable thing indeed.

I wish it were still running.

This was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. After recently seeing it on 'Noggin/The-N' i was able to appreciate it a bit more. The mysteries were original, and had good morals to them. Each 'mystery' consisted of 4 episodes. The episodes consisted of the mystery, and another side story about one of the characters. I thought it helped bring along the characters and storyline. One of my favorites was 'Max Mouse'. The ending was kind of a twist that you could predict, but it still ended very well. The Series was very good, but near the end of its run, you could start to feel its aging (especially when they started replacing actors with new ones). Overall, I love this show. It was a great show that I highly reccomend...if you can find it on TV again since it was taken of 'Noggin/The-N'