If you visit a site like this, chances are you already know what The Adventures of Pete and Pete is all about. Maybe you didn’t watch it while it was on the air, but you’re probably at least aware of the program’s existence. But for the select few of you who had better things to do in the early 90s than watch Nickelodeon 18 hours a day, Pete and Pete was a surreal little show that existed in one form or another from about 1990 to 1995. Without doing any sort of research to verify my facts, the series began as a handful of 60-second shorts that aired on Nickelodeon during commercial breaks or between other shows. The shorts focused on Pete and Pete Wrigley and the odd inhabitants of Wellsville including Artie, the strongest man in the world and local superhero. Eventually the shorts spawned a few seasonally-flavored specials before being picked up as a full fledged series whose first 8 episodes (plus four 30-minute specials) have recently been released on DVD as part of Nickelodeon’s Rewind series.

Unlike a lot of the shows I watched back then, I can watch Pete and Pete for more than just pure nostalgia because the show is genuinely excellent. It all takes place in a world where everything is just slightly wrong, a world where 24’s Dick Cheney is a mad shop teacher secretly building an air conditioner and an evil bowling ball has the power to tear a family apart. It’s beautifully written and decently acted, though Toby Huss, comedic genius that he is, completely steals every scene he’s in as Artie. It’s a strange show with a mythology all its own that’s far smarter than a kids show is usually allowed to be. Given how different Pete and Pete is, it’s really a wonder the thing got on the air at all and a real miracle that it lasted as long as it did. But even those days Legends of the Hidden Temple and Nick Arcade lasted for multiple seasons, so maybe it’s really not all that surprising after all.

Watching the series now, I’m amazed by just how sad it is. Even the happier episodes have moments of heart-crushing sorrow which seem completely out of place in a children’s show. There’s a quiet sort of sadness behind the surface of each episode, while episodes like What I Did on My Summer Vacation, about the mysterious Mr. Tastee and his unexpected disappearance, are especially melancholy.

The first season contains a couple of my favorite episodes, Rangeboy and When Petes Collide. The first follows Big Pete as he takes a job at his father’s golf range, driving around in a little cart picking up golf balls. He’s so embarrassed over his career of choice that he dons a bear suit and assumes the identity of Mr. Bear. Before long, all of Wellsville wants to take a shot at him, culminating in a contest which will result in his unmasking. Meanwhile, Artie tries to restore the memory of Clark, a turtle with amnesia who adventured with Artie and Hemingway (presumably the author) on a shiny tugboat in Italy. This episode highlights all that’s great about Pete and Pete, with its zany characters, fantastic writing, and moving moral lesson. Guess stars like Frank Gifford, with his golf club with a miniature version of himself on the end of it, The Perfect Mom from The King of The Road episode, and Bus Driver Stu Benedict, who finally makes that perfect shot, make the episode and each add their own brand of comedic talent to the mix.

When Petes Collide is the well known episode about Rolling Thunder, the powerful bowling ball which must get passed down to one of the Wrigley boys. While Pete and Pete must fight to win their father’s affection and the bowling ball, their dad battles against his own creepy father for command of his house. Meanwhile, Artie must do battle with Rolling Thunder itself in a battle between two of Wellsville’s titans. For me, this is Toby Huss’ episode from start to finish. From the moment he first shows up in his porta-home (an outhouse) and begins guarding the Wrigley home, to his showdown with Rolling Thunder and his time spent training Little Pete for a staring contest, the strongest man in the world steals the entire episode. It’s hard not to laugh watching Artie, dressed in red and blue children’s pajamas, leap around the Wrigley yard, stopping just long enough to flex his muscles and contort his face. The battle with Rolling Thunder, as the two of them roll about on the lawn before the ball chokes out the superhero, is especially great and stands as one of the truly classic Pete and Pete moments.

Hopefully this DVD set will sell enough to warrant future Pete and Pete releases. I’d love to be able to watch other great episode like the one in which Big Pete discovers an extraterrestrial who attends his high school or the episode when Little Pete helps his favorite underwear inspector get back on his feet. Yummy.