July 17, 2002

8:29 PM

Classic Nick Homepage.The Adventures of Pete and Pete! Welcome Freshman! Mr. Wizard! David the Gnome! Pinwheel! Eureka's Castle! Count Duckula! Danger Mouse! Salute your Shorts! Hey Dude! They're all here!

Relive your childhood by perusing the pages at the Classic Nick Homepage. Remember whole subplots for shows you can't remember ever having watched! Go that extra step and demand the shows be put back on the air--sign the Petition! Already 5961 signatures strong, maybe there's a chance that MeFi could help the 80's Nick generation to once again experience the majesty of Artie... "The strongest man in the world!"
posted by Hammerikaner (41 comments total)

The Adventures of Pete & Pete is being shown on Nickelodeon's new-ish channel for 'tweens, The N. I think it's only on digital cable and satellite systems, though.
posted by nstop at 8:46 PM on July 17, 2002

Yes, the nog. A friend of mine just informed me of this mystical channel. And sadly, it is only available on digi cable and satellite.
posted by Hammerikaner at 8:47 PM on July 17, 2002

What about The Tomorrow People? It isn't mentioned anywhere on the site. Of course, it wasn't a Nickelodeon original production, but neither was The Third Eye, and that's on there.
posted by bingo at 8:54 PM on July 17, 2002

"They're all here!"

Almost. No Tomorrow People, and that's a pretty glaring omission. It was one of my favorites!

I don't know anything about that "The N" thing, although there is a "Noggin" channel that the site seems to be related to.
posted by majick at 8:55 PM on July 17, 2002

I don't remember the Tomorrow People. What was it about?
posted by Hammerikaner at 8:55 PM on July 17, 2002

It ran on Nick until about 1983 or so, and was a series about a bunch of kids who were the next step in human evolution and had handy abilities like teleportation and mindspeech.

Something about this guy's fan page bothers me, though: He retains fond memories of Pinwheel, the accursed toddler programming that consumed more and more of the morning programming on Nickelodeon over the years. I thought it was incredibly irritating, but that's probably because I'm 10 years older than this guy.
posted by majick at 9:08 PM on July 17, 2002

Pete and Pete rocked. My littlest sister was around seven when it started and I was in my early twenties but we both dug watching it together. 'Twas a treat to think of them again.
Does anybody remember the episode where younger Pete had a garage band and spent most of the episode looking for "his song" which we finally got to hear at the end. As I recall the song wasn't half bad. I'd love to know where an .mp3 of that is, if anyone knows.
posted by jonmc at 9:09 PM on July 17, 2002

It's Hey Sandy by Polaris.
posted by Hammerikaner at 9:25 PM on July 17, 2002

No Nick when I was a kid, but The Elephant Show was loved by my sons, even saw them in concert in Oklahoma City. I love you in the morning and in the afternoon. I love you in the evening underneath the moon . . . Argh! Can't get that tune out of my head now!
posted by RunsWithBandageScissors at 9:25 PM on July 17, 2002

No, Hammerikaner, it was something else. I remember the chorus went "I was around..." but of course I may be nuts.
posted by jonmc at 9:28 PM on July 17, 2002

Oh. Sorry, I was thinking of the show's theme song.
posted by Hammerikaner at 9:31 PM on July 17, 2002

my god, Welcome Freshman. streaming videos now!
posted by mcsweetie at 9:44 PM on July 17, 2002

jonmc, the song you want is "Summerbaby" by Polaris. You may now boot up the file-sharing client of your choice, or break down and buy the soundtrack.
posted by jjg at 9:49 PM on July 17, 2002

I Loved, Loved, LOVED The Tomorrow People. We had to move when i was like 10, and didn't have cable at the new place. I was so sad to find that when we finally got cable again it wasn't on anymore. I've seen it since (at least I saw the British version which may well be different), and I didn't like it nearly as much.

Oh, how I long for my youth when goofy TV still seemed magical. But, to really relive your youth, you need to go straight to the Source.
posted by willnot at 9:50 PM on July 17, 2002

Does anyone know if it's possible to see episodes of the Tomorrow People these days? Syndicated or on tape, or something?
posted by bingo at 9:51 PM on July 17, 2002

Everything I know about funny, I got from Turkey TV and You Can't Do That on Television. This means that I know nothing.
posted by ColdChef at 9:52 PM on July 17, 2002

Thank you jjg nad tell the mrs I loved the book...
posted by jonmc at 9:53 PM on July 17, 2002

bingo - might not help you since I'm guessing you don't have a region 2 DVD player, but you might try here.
posted by willnot at 10:04 PM on July 17, 2002

"Pinwheel, Pinwheel, spinning around.. Look at my pinwheel and see what I've found.."

Wow, talk about having flashbacks.. and there was one other show I remember watching, but I cant remember if it was on Nick or not.. Was about a guy named Sam, who had some kind of store (candy store?).. there was a (puppet) mouse, an African-American lady (human), Sam (puppet), and his self-aware intelligent Apple II.. but I *cant remember the name of the show*. Anybody else know what I'm talking about?
posted by mrbill at 10:11 PM on July 17, 2002

I used to watch Today's Special every day in the summer when it was at the 12:30 pm spot because there was nothing else on but the news and soaps, and I didn't want to get up off the couch. The show was sincere but awful. Somehow I have fond memories of watching it.

The turkey tv theme song rocked. I also loved the kid talking to his grandpa, "Nope, can't make it sonny, that's when grown ups, uh, trim their nasal hair! yeah."
posted by mblandi at 10:18 PM on July 17, 2002

Whoops, nevermind, it was Today's Special that I was thinking of. Needed to read the page a bit more. 8-)
posted by mrbill at 10:19 PM on July 17, 2002

Whoops, nevermind, it was Today's Special that I was thinking of. Needed to read the page a bit more. 8-)
posted by mrbill at 10:43 PM on July 17, 2002

Besides the Tomorrow People, which I also enjoyed (the woman who ran the Culex experiment was creeeeepy), Classic Nick is missing my favorite example of children's/young adult programming ever on television, the show Roundhouse. Original comedy skits and music every week. Fantastic cast of astonishingly talented singers and dancers. Winning storylines that hammered home messages with just the right amount of overkill to not sail over the head of your average prepubescent viewer. The messages they tackled, and the tact with which they tackled them ... marvelous. And that theme song!! Kids' television aspires to this. Great link, though, even though it's incomplete. It did take me back.
posted by grrarrgh00 at 11:11 PM on July 17, 2002

The Tomorrow People was one of the best Nick shows ever. Correctly placed in the time line of when Nick was bizarre and aired The Third Eye -- the one show to give me continuous nightmares and fevers when I was a child. Can you remember the series with the people who lived under the lake, in the white catacombs? When they turned mad they sweat and became these awful creatures? Here's a fun fact: Peter Davison, star of the Tomorrow People, became Doctor Who's Fifth Doctor, after Tom Baker. Pow! Does anyone remember the Tomorrow People episodes with the sentient pink bubbles, or the people with the masks in the woods? I desperately need to sort out these memories...
posted by aschulak at 11:33 PM on July 17, 2002

a friend of mine went out with the actress who played ellen on pete and pete, alison fanelli.

that is all.
posted by complex at 12:28 AM on July 18, 2002

I have these really bizarre memories of The Tomorrow People that involve an image of Hitler's face melting and one of the characters joining a satanic cult. Surely I'm imagining this, right? It was Nickelodeon, for heaven's sake! Somebody help me out here.
posted by turaho at 4:20 AM on July 18, 2002

Remember when they changed the original, waycool Spartakus theme to that crappy Menudo song?

I'm still mad about that.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 7:08 AM on July 18, 2002

I can't believe no one mentioned Mr. Wizard.

I watched it a lot with my brother, and we thought it was pretty cool.

Of Turkey TV I only remember the intro - I can't remember anything specific from the show. Odd.
posted by beth at 7:15 AM on July 18, 2002

"Ready.... aim..."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! Stop the execution!"

"(sigh) What is it thees time?"


God, I loved You Can't Do That on Television.
posted by Tin Man at 7:20 AM on July 18, 2002

Barth burgers. Sweet, sweet memories. I had a crush on Lisa. Holy Crap! I had no idea they had that many cast members.
posted by ColdChef at 7:37 AM on July 18, 2002

I definitely enjoyed Mr. Wizard. But all this talk of the Tomorrow People just has me confused and saddened that I can't remember it at all.

Now Hey Dude was a show. Ted... Buddy... Melodie! Oh, the crazy situations they got themselves into on that dude ranch. If only I lived in the desert, with a horse, and a 10 gallon hat.

Oh, and on Salute Your Shorts. Dr. Kahn was voiced by none other than Ben Stein.
posted by Hammerikaner at 7:39 AM on July 18, 2002

The Tomorrow People sounds a bit like the DC comic book characters of the same name. I don't think the book was called The Tomorrow People, though, because Marvel had one, I'm not sure what it was about though.

Perhaps one of these comic book companies still owns the rights to the characters, and that's why they aren't being re-broadcast?
posted by o2b at 7:40 AM on July 18, 2002

OOPS! Nononononono! Not Lisa! Not Lisa! Christine! There's my girl! I *heart* her.
posted by ColdChef at 7:43 AM on July 18, 2002

jonmc - Polaris was the name they used on the show, but you might want to lookup tracks under "Miracle Legion" as well. They usually published with that name.
posted by lilboo at 7:55 AM on July 18, 2002

david the gnome is the coolest.
posted by moz at 8:23 AM on July 18, 2002

Danger Mouse was also excellent. The artwork and animation had a wonderfully bizarre style that I'm guessing was mostly due to the show being very, very British. Great stuff to inflict upon a growing American child's mind.

Am I just imagining this, or was there also a short Claymation-style show called "The Red and The Blue" or something along those lines? I remember something about these two different-colored bits of clay that would fight each other in inventive and hilarious methods...
posted by 40 Watt at 8:32 AM on July 18, 2002

Mmmm, Dangermouse . . . .
posted by JanetLand at 10:05 AM on July 18, 2002

Ugh - that damn Pinwheel show....still makes my eyes twitch just thinking about it.
It was on the air after my parents divorced (I was probably around 13) and my dad was living with my brother, his wife and her 5 yo daughter. So, going on the weekend visits to dad's meant sleeping on the couch in the living room - which led to me being woke up every damn morning at 6am to that horrid song. aaarrrgghhhh.......
It also had that really weird creepy chick Penny on there that had pennies for eyes.
posted by thatothrgirl at 12:05 PM on July 18, 2002

aschulak -
I remember those white-catacomb-dwelling-creepy people/alien things! They scared the pants off me! Dang, I actually wondered if that was some nightmare I had had as a child, because I couldn't remember the name of the show! I wish I could remember The Tomorrow People, it sounds like it was a pretty good show ;) I'm sure it will come back to me eventually, though.
posted by fizgig at 12:45 PM on July 18, 2002

Oh crumbs!

For some reasons I think that being slimed used to be called something different....that the slime was originally less PC and had to be changed (probably around the same time Ren and Stimpy showed). I was probably too young to get the story straight. When I got older, I fell in love with Nick at Night shows like Mr. Ed and Donna Reed. But when I think about why, it was probably from constantly hitting the channel in place of late night Cinemax.
posted by samsara at 3:33 PM on July 18, 2002

This, THIS was my Nickelodeon! I remember the Tomorrow People, and have 3/4s of the first episode on a tape somewhere. I think I have the British version that was shown in the 90s, when SNICK was new.

The N & Noggin share the same channel (the N is an outgrowth of Noggin) and comes on at 6 pm est/3 pm pst for those of us fortunate enough to have digital cable. They even run the original Pete & Pete shorts!! They are also showing Daria now, along with one of my personal fav shows, Clarissa Explains It All.
posted by somethingotherthan at 6:55 PM on July 18, 2002