Hey Smilin' Strange

This is my attempt at a review of the first episode of The Adventures of Pete and Pete. I've considered doing this for a few shows, and I'm test running it here. I don't expect it to be spectacular as this is my first review ever on this blog. We'll see how it goes. Let me know what you think.

The Adventures of Pete and Pete: Season 1: Episode 1: "King of the Road".

The first episode of The Adventures of Pete and Pete showcases a lot of the elements that made it beloved by fans in the early 90's. The episode centers around the Wrigley family's road trip to the Hoover Dam. In the course of events, the family ends up facing off against another family on their way to the Dam who are a little bit better at doing the road trip and upstage Dad who likes to think of himself as the "King of the Road" or as his license plate declares "King O Frod".

The humor in Pete and Pete is kind of hard to explain. A lot of it is truly absurd or completely out there. A memorable moment of the episode is when Mom picks up the police radio on her head plate, the head plate thing being strange in of itself and never explained. This would be funny by itself, but it turns out what the police report is about is a man dealing with a haywire garage. Cut to young Pete messing around with a garage door opener.

The crazy antics of the show work though. In some shows, especially live action kids shows, they often find a hard time striking a balance between the crazy jokes that are completely out there and the story that is at the heart of the episode. More recent shows like Zoey 101 and iCarly come to mind (And don't judge me for having watched these shows). For Pete and Pete though, it works because the whole world that the show exists in is sort of bizarre. The creators of the show spend a fair amount of time early on making it clear that anything can happen in this world. That the crazy and surreal are every day phenomenon. Young Pete can inexplicably have a tattoo, and road kill bingo can be a family road trip pastime simply because anything goes in Wellsville.

The absurdness isn't the only thing going for the show, although it is part of its appeal. The show has an underlying sweetness to it. The Wrigley's commiserate with one another in the final act of the episode in order to defeat the rival family in a roof stacking competition. And although older Pete has complained the whole episode about how annoyed he is by the trip, he ultimately recognizes the importance of his family.

The episode is strung together from one strange act to the next through older Pete's narration, which feels very similar to Ron Howard's narration on Arrested Development, tying the show together. Much like Arrested Development, the show can have one disparate element after another because Pete is prepared to guide us through the strange world and storylines of the show. The narration is perhaps one of the saving graces for all the weird, albeit lovable, humor of the show.

As the Wrigley's car passes the under pass which Artie, the strongest man in the world, is hanging onto, older Pete comments, in a 'we're not in Kanasas anymore sort of sentiment', "we pass outside the superhero jurisdiction of Artie ... and there's no turning back". In deed there is not with The Adventures of Pete and Pete.