Just finished the entire series.
Real good show. Good acting on Hart's part. Clarissa is a nice role model and would be great for kids today.
shareWhere did you find season 5!!??
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MovieChat Forums > Clarissa Explains It All (1991) Discussion > Just finished the entire series.
You can buy a few episodes. But not all the episodes of season 5.
shareMillerFarrow, I want to thank you SO MUCH for telling us where to find the complete series. This summer, I got a weird urge to watch this show again. I hadnt seen it since the reruns stopped airing in '97, but this was one of the shows I really loved as a little kid. It's weird, but as a youngster having someone like Clarissa talk directly to me was strangely comforting and empowering. It's almost like she was my friend, not just some mindless entertainment.
So anyway, I searched long and hard for downloads, torrents, videos...anything online. Even some detailed reviews or synopses would've sufficed. But for weeks, I couldnt find anything. Until I saw this thread that is. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. It's been a great time these past few weeks reliving my childhood. For anyone in doubt, I can vouch for the seller myself. Here's a link for the lazy: http://www.sell.com/25SHXH. I urge everyone to buy a copy, if only because this series is sadly out of print and it doesnt look like Nick or Viacom is going to do anything to save it. We need as many copies floating around as possible as back-ups.
Anyway...
So, I'm happy to say, after seeing the whole series again, this show holds up very well. I agree, the character of Clarissa is a great role model, and Melissa did a wonderful job bringing her to life. We could really use more Clarissa-types on TV for kids and less of these Victoria Justice, Miley Cyrus or Miranda Cosgrove types. They come off as fake, "show-offy" and selfish, and that's not what kids should be looking up to.
I do have to say though, the show does kind of lose steam a bit after Season 3. I'd venture a guess that you're the only other fella here who's got the whole series somewhat fresh on the mind, MillerFarrow, so I'm curious to see if you agree with that assessment or not. I think it's still great in Seasons 4 and 5, and I consider "The Firm" (S5, Episode 7) to be the best episode of the series, I just think something changed. Clarissa wasn't as...i dont know...spunky or clever as she used to be. She was more responsible, which makes sense as she was growing up, but it was a bit less interesting to watch.
The Office died in Season 4. Lieberstien's a hack. Tate sucks. All facts
Hmm... hard to say because with the exception of "The Darling Wars" (S3, Episode 4) "The Last Episode" and "A Little Romance" (S4, Episode 7) I haven't really watched the series. I never really noticed Clarissa not being as spunky or clever a bit after season 3. Or maybe I did. However, it never bothered me. I cared about her. To see her grow up and on the track to become a young successful woman was really nice. It better stabilized her status as a good role model for young girls. If you were Clarissa's age when the series started and you grew up with her. Then you would be graduating high school around the same time. You could look to her. But not only that, she dealt with a lot of issues on the show that teenagers go through. We liked the show because it respected us. It treated Clarissa as a real person with real problems and solutions. It wasn't treated as how Nick handles there shows today. The last episode does a good job as it should with handling the development of Clarissa. It gives a good sense of where she's headed.Hopefully I answered your question. I hope I didn't get carried away. I can't wait for Things I can't Explain Next Year!
shareInteresting take. Let me just say, I didn't grow up with the show in the way you describe. I was very young when it aired, and all I remembered of it for the longest time was the theme song, just how "cool" Clarissa was in general, and the vague image of Ferguson and a giant rubber band ball (seriously. it's from the episode "Commitment" in Season 4)
Anyway, upon rewatching it, I agree--the Clarissa character is very likable and I always wanted to see her succeed. Seeing her grow up and mature is part of what made the show an enjoyable watch. HOWEVER, I really think after Clarissa grew up around Season 4 there was much less they could do with her. I just think of episodes like "Road Trip," "The Cycle" and "Editor in Chief" where nothing really happens to be honest. Or others like "ESP R US," "Boy Thoughts" and "Piper Comes to Visit" where Clarissa is sidelined while another character takes center-stage in her world. There's just episodes that start to seem off in a way that's hard to describe.
There's still a lot of really great episodes in these later seasons, of course. Aside from "The Firm," you've got "Alter Ego," "Clarissa Gets Arrested," "A Little Romance" and many others. But it's almost like they were forced to find their niche again after someone decided that now that Clarissa was "grown up" she had to be more responsible. Again, it's natural character progression, but it's less fun to watch than Clarissa scramble to memorize her lines last minute in "The Understudy" or make up a BS attraction for kids in "Involunteering."
I don't know... I loved every episode in its own way, but like I said, I feel like the tone was a bit less fun in the later seasons. Still a great show all around, but Seasons 2 and 3 were definitely the peak.
The Office died in Season 4. Lieberstien's a hack. Tate sucks. All facts
I didn't grow up with the show either. That's just how I imagine it being like. I can agree that in some of the later episodes the show shifted focus and didn't give Clarissa a lot to do. They sucked the creativity out of her character. However, I do appreciate that the series never really jumped the shark and got unbearable.
shareYES. You summed up my thoughts better than I could; Clarissa got less creative and more...'average' for lack of a better word. And yet at the same time, I feel like the conflicts were a bit less relatable. I definitely give them credit for keeping her consistent in Season 5 with the whole journalism thing, but that itself kinda came from out of nowhere. We'd been watching her grow for 4 years prior and we never saw her show an interest in journalism until that point. I feel like her becoming a creative writer or straight-up artist might've suited the character better, but that's just me.
I agree, the show never actually jumped the shark though. There were plenty of great episodes in the later seasons, and aside from the UFO episode the last half of Season 5 is a very strong run of episodes which shows they probably could've gone on for another year had they wanted.
The Office died in Season 4. Lieberstien's a hack. Tate sucks. All facts
Clarissa wanting to be a journalist didn't come out of nowhere. That profession fit character well. She always had the tenedecy to try and make things more exciting there they actually are. She was very motivated when she put her mind to something. Those are good qualities of a journalist. Well that's at least what I think.
shareShe had an interesting take on things, and a talent for making the mundane interesting. But to be honest, I never saw those qualities come into play in her journalism/the episodes about it. But that's just me.
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