MovieChat Forums > The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1993) Discussion > Anyone else think this show really raise...

Anyone else think this show really raised the bar?

posted 13 years ago by twentymooseman
4 replies | jump to latest

I was watching the 90's nick block the other night and realized that most of the stuff on there really didn't age well. Shows like All That have nostalgic value but the humor would pretty much only appeal to the age group it was meant for. Pete and Pete, on the other hand, was written as a show for the entire family and when I went back and watched a few episodes recently, I caught about hundred things that flew over my head as a kid. In overall quality, I think that Pete and Pete really raised the bar for family TV.

[–] DickyBettsBass 13 years ago

Yes, I think so too. I would say it did, along with shows from the same era like "The Wonder Years", "Eerie, Indiana" and "Clarissa Explains It All". A lot of it has to do with intelligent and creative writing that doesn't talk down to the audience and isn't afraid to take risks.

We know that Nickelodeon for instance works totally differently these days, with panels of the target age group watching previews, and if one kid doesn't get a certain reference or plot development, it is instantly changed to this lowest common denominator. I'm sure it works the same for Disney TV and most other channels, and that's why most of TV content nowadays appears derivative and dumbed down. Not to mention heavily preoccupied with all sorts of tie-in merchandise and ratings on various media. In this way we get stuff like "The Naked Brothers Band", a badly written and executed show seemingly aimed at preadolescents on a TeenNick slot, which is really an insult to teenagers' intelligence to me.

How are we supposed to evoke a sense of wonder, feel stimulated to explore things and actually learn something if we continue to aim for the lowest of the lowest?

Dicky

P.S. Just to qualify this and not to sound arrogant, I write from a European perspective where children's TV has always been mostly non-commercial and working from certain standards of quality and moral, educational and innovative value. Let's say most of us grew up watching PBS-type programming. I now see that we're being invaded by all this Dan Schneider and co. stuff and this has quickly become the standard and main point of reference. I really regret this development, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[–] twentymooseman 13 years ago

I don't really think that many teenagers watch teen nick. I've never really watched it, but just seeing commercials, it looks more like something for preteens (like 10-12) in that area where they're excited to become teenagers. By the time I was 14 I had pretty much stopped watching Nick and Cartoon Network and was watching network dramas like Lost and House and sitcoms like Seinfeld, Arrested Development and Scrubs.

[–] DickyBettsBass 13 years ago

I don't really think that many teenagers watch teen nick.

I hope they don't.

By the time I was 14 I had pretty much stopped watching Nick and Cartoon Network and was watching network dramas like Lost and House and sitcoms like Seinfeld, Arrested Development and Scrubs.

Good on you! These are great series and way better than what Nick currently has to offer.

So what does TeenNick think is their target audience if it's mostly dumb run-of-the-mill preteen fare? I suppose they call it 'teen' because 10-year-olds don't want to be called 'kids' or 'preteens', and watching something marketed for teens makes them feel as though they really belong?

Dicky

[–] jptf2 13 years ago

Doug and pre-1998 Rugrats hold up, as does Rocko's Modern Life.

Basically, all the Nicktoons prior to Ahhh! Real Monsters (not sure about that one, as I haven't watched it since I got bored with it as a kid).

Hey Arnold! was decent.

The live shows, though.....out of all of them, only Pete & Pete holds up. As a kid who didn't get it, I thought it was just so-so at the time. Boy was I wrong.

Truly magnificent, and the fact that they cast for their characters, as opposed to going for looks, shows in the performances. These are real people...not a bunch of beauty contest contestants trying to just remember their lines.