The 1990s was a golden age for television. From Twin Peaks to The X-Files to The Larry Sanders, it was a decade where television grew up and broke barriers that film was afraid to touch. It was the culmination not only of the 20th century but the Millennium and there was an air of closure and looming revolution. We were in the dawn of a technological age of information and the dusk of a more spiritual and simpler understanding of our selves. The 90s brought a post-modernist and metaphysical color to the way we see and represent ourselves in media and entertainment. Not all TV programming was this awakened, adventurous and accepting of the future, but the children's network Nickelodeon was a surprising home of many next-level shows that appealed to adults and kids alike.
The Adventures of Pete was Nickelodeon's crown jewel and is comparable to the best television shows in history.
What P&P offered was a unique worldview and satirical but highly emotional tone that contextualized the transition from childhood to adulthood by revolving around the straining bond between two twin-like brothers who were only separated by their levels of maturity. This central relationship reflected the unconscious drama that was effecting the world (and still is) and united viewers of all ages. The show captured a nostalgia and fear of aging that is universally felt and only grows stronger as we reach death.
These serious themes of existentialism, alienation, paranoia, delusions of grandeur and a quest for immortality played out in the lives of suburban youths who found epic spiritual dramas in the most mundane and absurd times and places. Yet viewers can relate to that massive pressure and frustration with being a child, powerless and yet full of potential. The brothers Pete were most often awakening to their place in the universe and making peace with being small and human rather than superheroes or godlike historical figures. The show was a great examination of the frail human ego and all of its pitfalls and triumphs. But it was so much more than a coming-of-age sitcom. It was an almost mythological analogy of the human spirit told from with a childlike innocence tempered by the brilliant temperament of its adult creators.
The show lasted 3 short seasons and ended rather anticlimactically before the quality could take a major dip. This only enhances the simplistic poetry of the series as we never get to see the characters age or learn anything of their adult fates. Their universe ends and bleeds into our own. We take these characters, their stories and their lessons with us, which should be the ultimate goal of storytelling but is even more pronounced and delicately rendered in children's storytelling. The overwhelming success of Pete & Pete is proved in the sentimental reverence the show has amassed from an entire generation that tuned in. Its highly unlikely another show will recapture or top this one and so it will live on forever as the new classic that it is.
The Adventures of Pete was Nickelodeon's crown jewel and is comparable to the best television shows in history.
What P&P offered was a unique worldview and satirical but highly emotional tone that contextualized the transition from childhood to adulthood by revolving around the straining bond between two twin-like brothers who were only separated by their levels of maturity. This central relationship reflected the unconscious drama that was effecting the world (and still is) and united viewers of all ages. The show captured a nostalgia and fear of aging that is universally felt and only grows stronger as we reach death.
These serious themes of existentialism, alienation, paranoia, delusions of grandeur and a quest for immortality played out in the lives of suburban youths who found epic spiritual dramas in the most mundane and absurd times and places. Yet viewers can relate to that massive pressure and frustration with being a child, powerless and yet full of potential. The brothers Pete were most often awakening to their place in the universe and making peace with being small and human rather than superheroes or godlike historical figures. The show was a great examination of the frail human ego and all of its pitfalls and triumphs. But it was so much more than a coming-of-age sitcom. It was an almost mythological analogy of the human spirit told from with a childlike innocence tempered by the brilliant temperament of its adult creators.
The show lasted 3 short seasons and ended rather anticlimactically before the quality could take a major dip. This only enhances the simplistic poetry of the series as we never get to see the characters age or learn anything of their adult fates. Their universe ends and bleeds into our own. We take these characters, their stories and their lessons with us, which should be the ultimate goal of storytelling but is even more pronounced and delicately rendered in children's storytelling. The overwhelming success of Pete & Pete is proved in the sentimental reverence the show has amassed from an entire generation that tuned in. Its highly unlikely another show will recapture or top this one and so it will live on forever as the new classic that it is.