Lately I’ve been re-living my childhood through my son, and by this I have come to the realization that kid shows are the biggest racket in North America. Think about it………you pander to retarded little people who can’t criticize or think objectively. I would like to think that this is why The Simpsons got through those lean years. What kid in a focus group is going to say that this animation is crappy or that the 3rd act in this certain episode doesn’t hold up.
The kids that were going through puberty but were allowed to hang out without adult supervision.......hmmmmm.
The quaint show that comes to mind is………… Ghostwriter! Definitely no exception to my theory. After watching the first three episodes with my son, except now through the prism of an adult, you can’t help but laugh at some of the idiosyncrasies. The Pilot starts out with Samuel L Jackson which already had me rolling on the floor. Pre-Pulp Fiction Jackson is the equivalent of seeing Prodigy from Mobb Deep in a tutu……..just doesn’t add up. He and his son (Jamal) are in the attic looking for a trunk where they knock over a book and free Ghostwriter. That’s it folks, the spiritual sleuth is unleashed and then goes on to do amazing teleportation tricks for the next three seasons that make you wonder how he was trapped in a book in the first place. Fast-forward to a scene where Jamal is walking home, practicing some of his karate air kicks which is a clear indicator that Jamal went on to be a virgin deep into his 30’s. But it starts to get amazing when Ghostwriter starts to reveal himself to the kids. I don’t think they freak out nearly enough for children that are witnessing a ghost that changes colours and juggles words. But I guess that’s the advantage of producing a show that caters to kids that have no Internet as an alternative. Jamal finds a coded letter on the ground later that shaped and molded my malleable little mind into thinking that every crime scene had a Zodiac letter. When money was stolen out of my piggy bank as a child I waited precariously for a Zodiac letter…………..I’m still waiting! I went on to develop a complex because I thought that Jamal and company were better than me for always finding a coded letter, but this isn’t about my insecurities. Jamal goes on to form a team with fellow detectives, Lenni, Alex, and Gaby (Complete non-sequitur but Alex had a shouting match with Jamal that lead to a vein popping out of his neck. No doubt in my mind that he’s beating his wife right now) who are trying to figure out who the kids are that are stealing school bags. Which lead to my favorite scene, the robber in a double-faced ghoul mask sliding down the slide and snatching the bag. How bout you just run him down and get what’s yours, there were 14 robberies apparently, all with the same result. Boy/Girl gets robbed, takes two steps, and then yells “help that’s my bag” to no avail. I also enjoy the thought that the robber had a Halloween mask on in the park and no one decided to raise an eyebrow. I know everyone thinks you can do running commentary on everything from our childhood but a lot of things were well done. The Magic School Bus was a clinic on how to have your cake and eat it.
By the end of our little mini-marathon, I was all laughed out and my son had the look on his face that I probably had at his age. Shocked and amazed, can’t wait until he’s blogging about how mean the years have been to this show.
Here’s a link to part one if you have time to waste and want to regale in nostalgia.
Mr. Reason 