Friday, August 27, 2010
The Brothers Pete
Time is a concept most abstract here in Gallowmere. From the sparseness of my posts lately and unfulfilled deadlines, it's pretty obvious. And to let you in on a secret, my books don't have timestamps, they are somewhere between anachronistic to just simply "achronistic". I avoid pop culture jokes, or commenting on events from present day in them. Though I may have elements which parallel certain things but take them to new ridiculous planes. But I often throw in objects and elements from time periods a little far back, and also make up technologies, cultural, and political customs which could be considered futuristic.
In my life, I am like Billy Pilgrim from Slaughterhouse Five; I'm unstuck in time. And right now I'm back somewhere in the mid-90s. A child approaching the double digits, a Canadian living in America, already weird, so I feel like a space alien. I'm home from school, and what's this I see on TV? Two brothers with the same name planting landmines on people's lawns and disguising themselves as lawn inspectors to con people into getting them to remove the mines from their lawn so that the little brother could buy a jetpack. A superhero who might just be a madman who lives in a port-o-john, helping the boy out with a paper route and throwing the paper's so hard they almost go through people's chests. The same superhero later becoming a bowler using a ball that has a hamster in it that he communicates with telepathically. A crossing guard who can make people physically incapable of moving forward by holding up his sign. This is all in one episode of The Adventures of Pete and Pete. It instantly becomes one of my favourite shows.
It's about two redheaded brothers named Pete Wrigley living in the fictional town of Wellsville in "The Sideburn State". Big Pete is a slightly dorky teenager who deals with sinister teachers such as a psychotic wood shop teacher who attaches different parts to his prosthetic hand (he lost the real one in an accident), and with the typical problems of growing up, figuring out if he wants to date his best friend Ellen, and dealing with his nemesis Endless Mike, a bully who has been in high school forever. Little Pete is who makes the show for me. He's a weirdo and a rebel who wears flannel hats, clothes too big for him, and has a different way of looking at things. He uses his own cuss words like "Blow hole" and constantly tells people to bite his neck hair. He often goes on surreal adventures, such as beating up the ocean, travelling back in time by crossing states during daylight savings hours, and befriending the elusive man who inspects underwear before packaging them.
Their father is pretty much Homer Simpson. He's fat, bald, mediocre at everything, and can be idiotic though well meaning. Their mother is a quirky character who has a steel plate in her head which is featured as a character on the show and is able to receive radio transmissions from around the world.
It has a very quirky and surreal sense of humour which I don't normally see in children's shows, hell, on TV altogether. Children's shows tend to be loud and silly, and deal with asshole kids who are unpopular but who would sell out their friends at the first opportunity to be popular. The Adventures of Pete and Pete has a sense of humour sort of like what can be found in Get A Life (which I might review later) or The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, though maybe not as outrageous. What makes it work was that though it is so ridiculous, it's played straight. As outrageous as the things are that happen, and as bizarre as the characters are, nobody ever seems to be winking at the screen, or being outwardly jocular in tone. It also had a fairly decent production value. It has a feel which is organic, and kind of cinematic. That's to say, it doesn't seem like it was just shot on a sound stage like the children's shows which will show in the 2000s like Hannah Montana and iCarly. And it has some interesting stylistic choices, especially episodes like "Tool and Die", "Halloweenies", and "Pinned!" (an episode where people actually get murdered, and murdered in ridiculous ways).
While I personally have no heart, the show has some heart too it. Not at all saccharine, but its way of showing the close but sometimes wavering bond between the Petes who are year apart in age is very compelling. They're best friends, but Big Pete often has to deal with teenage bullshit and Little Pete has to deal with the oppression of being a kid. They also often give serious dimension to people you'd never expect, like the weird superhero, a crossing guard who never goes home, and the solitary Ice Cream truck driver whose head is a giant scoop of ice cream.
The musical choices are also pretty interesting. It doesn't go for music which was popular for the time, and it doesn't go for having the hippest playlist. The music mostly matches the quirkiness of the show. Such as the instrumentals of music from Stephen Merritt. The theme song "Hey Sandy" being played by grunge band Polaris on the Wrigley's lawn perfectly encapsulates the '90s. The show itself is the '90s; fuzzy, sophisticated but not high tech, slightly innocent but a lot of strange things under the surface.
Not too many people I know even know of this show. I don't think it ever came on in Canada, but season 1 and 2 are on DVD. Paramount put season 3 on hold, but I have ehrm... taped versions of that one.
I give this show '95/'90s
See everyone in hell!
