Pete and Pete

Nickelodeon carves out the cornerstone of childhood television for me. I can't remember the a single plotline from The Smurfs or The Snorks (weren't they just the same show anyway, only one on land and one under the sea?), and short of The Muppet Babies (which freaking RULED) nothing on network television, or even the Disney channel resonates so clearly as the shows Nickelodeon aired through the golden days of my childhood. Mr. Wizard and David the Gnome dominated my early mornings when I lived in Oklahoma. To this day I can probably sing at least 10 different Nickelodeon jingles off the top of my head ("Nick-Nick-Nick-Nick-Nick-Nick-Nick! Nick-e-lo-de-on!") It was the channel that taught me about the presidential election. I voted over the phone, and I thought it was really important. I bought into their seductive habits of speaking for kids, as if we were an underappreciated minority, and activist organization not to be reckoned with. Short of Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street, I can't think of any other television that influenced my life as much as that channel.

And then, just when the sexual allure of MTV should have held an iron grip upon my pubescent hormones, there came Pete and Pete, the greatest television show IN THE WORLD! Make no bones about it folks, this show ruled. If you haven't seen it, find it. It beats out every other Nick show (even the recent almost grand slam that is Invador Zim). Its understanding of the absurd and the strange made You Can't Do That On Television look pathetic by comparison (well... I mean... they were all barf jokes anyway). It beats out Full House no questions asked. (and please, don't ask any questions about Full House. If you don't recognize its brilliance, it ain't no fault of mine!) No show since this time has grasped my heart so tightly.

In one choice episode, possibly the least funny, most heart wrenching and greatest achievement for Pete and Pete is the episode in which Little Pete discovers his favorite song. He rides his bike down the road and hears a band (Polaris, the band that wrote and performed the bulk of the show's music) playing a song, and his life is changed forever. He never hears it again. He forms a band to try and record the song, starts his own radio station pleading with the masses to find this band, and this song, HIS favorite song. And he doesn't find it. Do you think me a fool to say this was one of the saddest television moments of my life? I believe that this episode spawned a generation of music lovers in the same way that Bambi shocked a generation of children into environmentalism and animal rights. (editors note: this Bambi theory is only founded in the minds of very few and is thus far unconfirmed... but we'll let it slide.) The bitter irony is that the episode almost makes you forget that you heard the song at the beginning of the show, and wonder if you ever really did hear it. That's what makes it so sad. Pete makes you realize that it's not just his favorite song ever, it's yours to.

It was a show that appreciated music so strongly that it cast Michael Stipe as an Ice Cream Man and Iggy Pop as a next-door neighbor ("You got gunk in my soup!") And most importantly, hired a great band to record the bulk of their music. Polaris, the show’s own little Greek chorus trio provided early 90's REM-esque pop music the whole way. It continually explained the relationship between Big Pete and Ellen that they could not even explain, as their friendship became complicated as they grew older and hormones struck. They didn't have to figure it out, but Polaris sympathized, and sang what was on both of their minds. I really can't say enough about this show.

What spawned this sudden trip down memory lane? Stylus Magazine (with thanks to Jack McKinney.) Stylus wrote an article in homage to the music which can be read here. Just scroll down a few articles. Included are four mp3's of Polaris' music, linked below:

Polaris - Hey Sandy
Polaris - Summerbaby
Polaris - Waiting For October
Polaris - Everywhere


This music may not change you're life, though I wish it would, because it changed mine. Even though the show was a goofy comedy in which kids protested math class like it was the civil rights movement, and true greatness came in the form of stuffing a cereal marshmallow in the shape of a president’s head up your nose, it had me hooked.