The Adventures of Pete and Pete reunion with Polaris

The Adventures of Pete and Pete reunion with Polaris, a set by Pocketsofgreen on Flickr.

So, not book-related, but anyone who loves story (and especially if you were too young or "too old" and missed its heyday) should check out the ol' Nickelodeon TV series The Adventures of Pete & Pete. It is arguably the best children's television dra-medy ever.

I went to the reunion show hosted by Cinefamily last night at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, and it was SO fun. They had the set dressed like the lawn from the opening credits and included not just the main characters but also some of my favorite secondary characters.

Best of all, Polaris, the band whose theme song for the show used to send me into fits of air guitar as a teenager, reunited for one night only and played fan favorites such as "Saturnine", "Summerbaby", "Waiting for October", and "Hey Sandy". They totally rocked!

I wish I hadn't gotten that last thing of beignets at Umamicatessen next door because the theatre was also serving adult "Orange Lazarus" and frosty treats from Mr. Tastee :/ I was too full! I will have to make some Blue Tornado Bars before summer is over.

If you're intrigued, check out the DVD sets for Seasons 1 & 2. Even with the horrible production quality of the recording (it looks like someone taped it off their TV in the mid-90s and they recorded it again while it played it on another TV) you can't beat the mix of "funny, sad, strange, and beautiful" stories that Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi produced.

My friend Katie had a really great seat up front thanks to our friend Christina (who is a huge fan and supporter of Cinefamily) and took these great photos.

I'm glad she did that because we were up in the mezzanine and I couldn't even have gotten a decent picture of the back of Teddy's head (Dave Martel) up there. It was dark.

I took this one, as did about 300 other hipsters

The Adventures of Pete & Pete ran from 1993-1996 and starred Hardy Rawls (Don Wrigley aka Dad), Judy Grafe (Joyce Wrigley aka Mom), Allison Fanelli (Ellen Hickle), and Toby Huss (Artie), with Michael Maronna and Danny Tamberelli as the titular brothers Pete.

Aside from the show's creators, director Katherine Dieckmann, and the main players, guest stars Syd Straw (Math Teacher Miss Fingerwood), Rick Gomez (Endless Mike Hellstrom), and Damian Young (Bus Driver Stu Benedict) spoke during the reunion panel.
The third season has not been released due to issues at Paramount, but episodes can be found on YouTube. For more on Pete & Pete check out the fan-made site at http://pnp.norecess.org/.