My Secret Identity!!

[netsetter]

Does anyone here remember the show that starred a a teenage Jerry O Connell called
My Secret Identity? He palyed a kid who had secret powers and went on adventures with the help of his neighbor professor.I used to love this show when I was a kid even though it was somewhat cheesy. I remember a few years back, it's reruns used to play on SciFi, but I haven't really heard much about it in the recent years. Thoughts...?
Also, I recall a show that used to come on right after MSI called Superboy, about a teenage Superman. Anyone else remember?

[kika]

Hai..
Well i remember it to... I have forgotten al about this show..
I justed to watch it to.. But now in my country, thats Holland, it is no longer broadcasted,.. it's a chame because it was a great show !!!

Kisses kika

[TMC]

Television Turmoil: My Secret Identity

Setting itself apart from most superhero programs, My Secret Identity never has Andrew don a costume. He uses the name Ultraman for most of the first season before unceremoniously dropping it (probably when the creators found out about that guy overseas). The show mostly uses its superpowered adventures as a way of teaching lessons to the kids watching. Sure, Andrew usually finds himself in a fight at some point in an episode, but not without learning the importance of trusting your friends or how to share your feelings properly.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about My Secret Identity, especially when compared to the previous syndicated kids‘ shows we’ve covered, is that it’s distinctly not bad. That sounds a bit like damning with faint praise, but any praise is welcome in this temple of snark and disregard that I’ve built. It might not be riveting television, but the program strikes a nice balance between cheesy humor and fun superhero antics. This is mostly thanks to O’Connell and McGrath, who elevate the boilerplate material with their comedic chemistry. In fact, this show holds the distinction of being the only program I’ve covered to win an Emmy Award. Sure, it was an International Emmy Award, but that still counts.

Make no mistake, My Secret Identity is not immune to some of the same things that plague other shows in this column. Bad dialogue, poor effects, and repetitive stories are just some things that plague the program. The repetitive plotlines are perhaps the most grating element. Most episodes involve Andrew meeting a girl who he immediately has the hots for. A surprising number of them end up kidnapped or in some other danger that requires superheroic intervention. In the rare instance that a girl is not around, then it is time for the seemingly monthly dissolution of Andrew and Kirk’s friendship. Sometimes that too involves a girl! It’s a bevy of similar plotlines that all end mostly the same way.

There is also the curious case of Andrew’s superpowers. Included in his standard superhero power-set of incredible strength and invulnerability, Andrew also has the ability to fly. In the first season, while he can achieve weightlessness, he needs an external force to move through the air, leading to him carrying around cans of aerosol spray. This gets dropped in the later seasons, no doubt because of the rising cost of aerosol cans, and Andrew can now fly unassisted. Andrew also loses his powers when exposed to radiation, which is apparently rampant in Canada with how frequently it comes into play.



My Secret Identity ran for three full seasons before ending its run in May 1991. There isn’t an official reason for the cancellation, but O’Connell was clearly aging out of the early teenage audience that the show was aiming for. Coupled with the show sidelining a lot of the superhero elements in favor of teenage melodrama, that likely put the writing on the wall. There is only so much budget you can cut before you’ve removed an entire show’s premise.

Jerry O’Connell has clearly gone on to bigger fame since the show’s end. Nowadays, this is nothing more than an odd footnote to find on his IMDb page. Derek McGrath continued to find success as a character actor, mostly in TV roles. The rest of the cast didn’t fare nearly as well as the two leads. That’s expected given how much the show sidelined them. Still, it’s easy to see why some folks have a fondness for My Secret Identity. It’s goofy fun that doesn’t take itself seriously, sometimes that’s all you need in your TV shows.