Happy 20 to Ghostwriter on PBS

[simmytbone]

Hey guys,

20 years ago, we were introduced to a show that was one of the best Public Television Dramas of the 90's

I'm talking about Ghostwriter

The Original Ghostwriter was a series created by Liz Nealon and produced by the Children's Television Workshop (producers of Sesame Street, The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact and Square One TV) in association with BBC Television.

The series debut on Public Television's PBS on October 4, 1992 and the final episode aired on February 13, 1995.

The series revolves around a close knit circle of friends from Brooklyn who solve neighborhood crimes and mysteries as a team of young detectives with the help of an invisible ghost. The ghost can communicate with the kids only by manipulating whatever text and letters he can find and using them to form words and sentences. The series was filmed on location in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

The series was designed to teach reading and writing skills to elementary and middle school children. Each mystery was presented as a case, covering four or five thirty-minute episodes; children were encouraged to follow each mystery, and use the reading and writing clues given to attempt to solve them just as the Ghostwriter team does in the show.

Ghostwriter was critically acclaimed and honored for presenting a realistic, racially diverse world in its two-hour mystery stories. By the end of its third season, Ghostwriter ranked in the top five of all children's shows on American television. The program was cancelled after the third season due to a lack of funding. Ghostwriter has been broadcast in 24 countries worldwide, and generated a number of foreign-language adaptations, including a dubbed-over version on Discovery Kids Latin America marketed as Fantasma Escritor.

Merchandising

Created as an integrated, branded, multi-media project, the Ghostwriter brand included magazines and teacher's guides, software (Microsoft), home video, games/licensed product, and other outreach materials that reached over a million children each month. There were many Ghostwriter books released, both novelizations of the TV episodes and new stories. They were released by Bantam Books.

Video releases

During the mid-1990s Ghostwriter was released on VHS by two different companies, GPN and Republic Pictures. GPN is the company authorized by PBS to release all its shows on video. They have the entire series except for the last two cases. These videos are in the original format with each case divided into four or five episodes. Republic Pictures released only three cases (all from the first season) : "Ghost Story", "Who Burned Mr. Brinker's Store?" and "Into the Comics." In Republic Pictures' version, the four or five episodes for each case were edited together into a feature length movie. The Republic Pictures version is currently out of print, but can still be found in some libraries (US and Canada only). The GPN version was available to the general public for purchase through their website until 2007. Starting mid-2007, GPN is selling only to schools and libraries due to a change in licensing terms. However, the GPN version is still available in some libraries.

DVD releases

In February 2010, it was announced that Season 1 of Ghostwriter would be released on DVD by Shout! Factory. The 5-disc set, running 870 minutes long, was released on June 8, 2010. Supplements are a trivia game and a casebook

Tha cast of Ghostwriter were as follows:

Todd Alexander as Rob Baker (1992–1993)
Blaze Berdahl as Lenni Frazier
David López as Alex Fernández
Marcella Lowery as Grandma CeCe Jenkins
Tram-Anh Tran as Tina Nguyen
Sheldon Turnipseed as the leader of the group Jamal Jenkins
William Hernandez as Héctor Carrero (1993–1995)
Lateaka Vinson as Casey Austin (1994–1995)

and there were 2 actresses to play Gaby Fernández

Singer Mayteana Morales (1992–1994) and Melissa Gonzales (1994–1995)

Other cast members include Lt. Isaiah McQuade (Mike Hodge), and the team's enemies: Calvin Ferguson (Wil Horneff in "Ghost Story", Joey Shea thereafter) and Jeffrey Baxter (Jon Hershfield). The show's numerous guest stars included Samuel L. Jackson as Jamal's father Reginald "Reggie" Jenkins in the first three cases in season 1 (later replaced by Dean Irby), Mark Linn-Baker of Perfect Strangers, Julia Stiles of the film Mona Lisa Smile, Max Wright of ALF Fame, Famed Actor/Director Spike Lee, MTV VJ turned TV/Cable Personality Daisy Fuentes, Orlagh Cassidy, Judge Reinhold of the Beverly Hills Cop Movies, Melinda Mullins, Annabelle Gurwitch of TBS SuperStation's Dinner and a Movie, Robin Leach of TV's Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Veteran Actress Mia Korf of One Life to Live and NBC's Players, Famed Rappers Salt-N-Pepa, Madhur Jaffrey, Famed Jazz Singer Harry Connick, Jr., Dance Singer CeCe Peniston, David Patrick Kelly, Charles Mann and the man that knows best Bo Jackson.

The series won a Writers Guild of America Award in 1995 for Children's Script — Carin Greenberg Baker, for "Don't Stop The Music" and was nominated for a 1993 Young Artist Awards for Outstanding Performers in a Children's Program: Todd Alexander, Blaze Berdahl, David López, Mayteana Morales, Tram-Anh Tran, Sheldon Turnipseed

In 1997, CBS aired a new version of the show, The New Ghostwriter Mysteries produced by Decode Entertainment in association with the Children's Television Workshop.

The show featured a new team of three kids:

Erica Luttrell as Team Leader Emilie Robeson, Charlotte Sullivan as Camella Gorik and Kristian Ayre as Henry "Strick" Strickland. Ghostwriter only had two colors, which were silver and gold. The show was filmed in Canada, and aired from September through December 1997.

The new show had little in common with the original, changing Ghostwriter's on-screen appearance, introducing entirely new characters, and getting rid of the serial format of the original series.

The series was canceled after a year due to low ratings.

The original series was rerun from 1995 to 1999 on PBS. The UPN Kids block on UPN also ran re-runs for a short time in 1997. Then, in 1999, it was syndicated on ABC for a short time. Later that year it moved to the cable/satellite network Noggin, and subsequently on The N when The N became a part time channel/programming block on Noggin. Ghostwriter aired on The N until 2003.

Blaze Berdahl can be heard on numerous TV ads and commercials and Mayteana Morales now sings with a Funk Group called The Pimps of Joytime

Marcella Lowery went on to star in the TNBC Saturday Morning Series City Guys and she is also best known as Elvin's Mother Francine on The Cosby Show

and so, Happy 20 to Ghostwriter, God Bless You and Thanks for Everything

I would love to see a reunion of the show

and also, you can checkout all of the Ghostwriter Episodes on YT

http://www.youtube.com/user/iamghostwriter2



and now, here are Video Clips to the openings:

Ghostwriter - The PBS Years


The New Ghostwriter Mysteries - The CBS Years

[TMC]

EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT 'GHOSTWRITER'

[MacLeaper]

Nice to see a thread for Ghostwriter! :-)
I was a fan of this show when it first aired in the '90s and I recently fell in love with it again when I ran across the Season 1 DVD at the library- I've since watched the whole series again. Such a fun, educational show- and PBS did it so well that as a kid you often didn't really realize just how much you were learning- because it was so fun!
The series had quite a number of books released based on it- I've got a number of them, but not quite all yet. There was also a video game released for PC and a board game as well.
I'd love to see "The New Ghostwriter Mysteries" just for completion's sake, even though it doesn't seem to be nearly as good, judging from the few video clips I've seen.
But yeah- yay for Ghostwriter! Rally G!

[MacLeaper]

I've recently been watching "The New Ghostwriter Mysteries" series! It's nice to finally be able to see this show. I have a number of observations about it and comparisons to the original series. But I will say my overall verdict first. It's nowhere near quite the same as the original and I don't think it would ever displace my love for that show....but, despite its many flaws, I still find myself liking it anyway. It is a pretty fun little show.
Here are the main similarities and differences I've noticed. First of all, it is still some form of Ghostwriter because it is made by the same people. But this is a half hour version that was created because that better fit CBS' airing schedule, from what I understand. That may also have affected things because it didn't run on the same schedule throughout the week like the original series. However, I think the half hour version did work well enough for the most part. Yet time and again, when I've seen it attempted, I've noticed that half hour mystery shows also seem to be way too compact to follow well. (I'm also a fan of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books and a similar scenario exists there. In the late '70s, there was a hour long show called "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" that did a great job adapting the series. In the mid-'90s there was an attempt to do new half hour versions for both The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. While I enjoy these shows too, I also have the same complaint- the mystery is way too compact to really follow very well in only half an hour. Everything has to move so fast because of that and it makes it hard to follow the story sometimes.
There are other details to consider with this show as well. The basic premise is still the same, but there are totally different human actors/actresses. Emilie, Camela and Henry are the three kids who see Ghostwriter in this show. Now, I actually like the new three leads pretty well. All of them do a great job with their roles. But it's not the same as having the original gang. Ghostwriter has appeared to a number of people and has recruited numerous people for the team, including some who only appeared in one episode and never showed up again. It seems totally fitting that he could have recruited some more team members. The problem is that there seems to be no hand-off whatsoever. The show just jumps right in to the first case, assuming the viewer is already aware of the premise of Ghostwriter. It would have been nice to offer a quick origin recap of some sort for the sake of viewers new to the series. And while the series is still clearly set in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY- (as evidenced by the Fort Greene pizzeria that the gang often hangs out at), this seems to be about the only connection. I have yet to see any mention of Zora Neale Hurston Junior High but I presume that's where the kids go to school. Ideally, I would have loved to have a pilot that featured some of the original gang in cameo roles to offer some sort of hand-off. Maybe Ghostwriter wanted to maintain a presence at the middle school since the original gang would have been in high school at this point. And they might be busy solving cases there with his assistance, even as he worked with the middle schoolers (Emilie, Camela and Henry) too. In any case, something to explain why these three kids now saw Ghostwriter would have been nice for way of explanation.
Ghostwriter still maintains his basic shape but only appears in either gold or silver colors. Also, and I know this is kind of weird to say for this character, but Ghostwriter on this new show doesn't seem to be quite the same personable character he was on the original series. It seemed like the kids had much more of a relationship with him and that he would interact with them more too- and not just about cases. They also celebrated each other's lives together. To be fair, Ghostwriter still does this some in the new series. He has sent congratulatory messages to members of the new team. But it's different with how the kids connect with him. It's probably a consequence of the half hour format that time constraints keep things curt. The kids only seem to call on Ghostwriter to help them find clues. It feels more like they just order him around than anything. Again- this is probably because of the constraints on the series in order to finish the episode and mystery in a half hour. For this reason most likely, the kids only seem to refer to Ghostwriter when writing as "GW". They do say the name Ghostwriter in conversation at least and the original team certainly used the abbreviation GW at times- but it does get a bit irksome sometimes.
Another component that seems to be hugely lacking is the educational portion of the show. It is still there in limited fashion- the kids use reference materials like a dictionary to look up the meanings of words and a phone book to find someone's address. They have had to crack codes and use some similar English Language Arts skills and strategies the original show did here and there- but it seems it’s been very limited, which again is not surprising, given the time constraints of the show. At least it’s still there (usually) in some limited fashion.
I suppose those are my major complaints. There are some good points though. The standard Ghostwriter logo is still intact in the title, though the theme song is quite different. This series seems to have a thing for nicknames, as all three characters have them, though they’re not all used all the time, of course. Emilie Robeson is also known as Em, Camela Gorrick is often known as Cam and Henry Strickland is usually called Strick. And in keeping with that, Ghostwriter is often referred to as GW in conversation and pretty much always in writing (though they do say the whole name a number of times as well.)
The mysteries seem to be mostly in keeping with the tone of the original show. There are a number of crooked operations brought down, including gambling rings, housing development bullies, sabotage plots, thievery and the like. The team searched out suspects and followed up on clues and often called upon Ghostwriter to look into places they couldn’t get to in order to find information. However, then they would have to find additional proof since they couldn’t explain to anyone how they had come across the information Ghostwriter provided. A number of times they were able to use such information to catch someone in the act.
The theme of a fairly diverse group of young people working together to solve mysteries and stop crimes is still there and that’s always fun. The supernatural angle of Ghostwriter certainly adds a lot to that. I wish his character could have been utilized more in regards to normal conversations with the kids. The show could have provided a place to find out more of his backstory. It would have been very interesting to see the flashback story of when Ghostwriter was still alive as a human, which the writers talked about doing on the original series. It doesn’t look like we get much of anything further as to clues about Ghostwriter’s identity or anything like that. We don’t seem to get any mentions of the original gang or past adventures. The parents are essentially non-existent on this show; I’m not sure if any of them even make any appearances. It is mentioned that Emilie’s father is a lawyer though, as she sometimes talks about the cases he’s worked on. It is established that Henry Strickland was once a juvenile delinquent and had been to a juvenile detention center for a time. Em and Cam both work for the school newspaper and contribute articles often based on the mysteries they solve as a team. I’m not sure if Strick works for the paper too or not, but probably so.
Since the series only ran for 13 episodes, there wasn’t room to see what could have been. It would have been nice to have 2 part episodes at some point. I would have particularly enjoyed seeing Ghostwriter’s backstory and having cameos and/or full out guest appearances from the original gang. Because of the short run of the show, I don’t believe it got any accompanying merchandise, like the original series did. (And the original show got tons- VHS releases, a book series running close to 50 titles in number, magazines, board game, PC game, contests, appearances, etc.) As I said though, despite all its flaws, I still find it a fun and enjoyable series.

[MA]

You know who was also a guest star on the original show?

Ellen Foley from Night Court! She played a school principal.

[MacLeaper]

Cool! I didn't know that. Thanks for the information. Ghostwriter did manage to have a couple of big stars appear on the show. It's widely known for Samuel L. Jackson appearing as Jamal's dad in the first episode. Julia Stiles also had a role on there as a computer hacker. Spike Lee was on there and so was Mark Linn-Baker (of Perfect Strangers fame!) and Max Wright (Willie Tanner on ALF!)

[MA]

Originally Posted by MacLeaper

Cool! I didn't know that. Thanks for the information. Ghostwriter did manage to have a couple of big stars appear on the show. It's widely known for Samuel L. Jackson appearing as Jamal's dad in the first episode. Julia Stiles also had a role on there as a computer hacker. Spike Lee was on there and so was Mark Linn-Baker (of Perfect Strangers fame!) and Max Wright (Willie Tanner on ALF!)

Anytime. I know that Greg Lee from Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego and the lady who played the original Prairie Dawn and Zoe on Sesame Street (Fran Brill) also were guest stars.

[MacLeaper]

It makes sense that Fran Brill might have shown up as Sesame Workshop produced the show, along with Sesame Street, of course. (And as a Muppets fan, I definitely appreciate knowing that- cool!)

[MacLeaper]

(I said this on another thread, but I'll just repeat it here.)

I recently finished watching all of "The New Ghostwriter Mysteries".
It's nice to say now that I have seen all of the Ghostwriter series through both its incarnations. And while I certainly prefer the original series, I actually found myself liking the new series as well. I can also now confirm that Em's dad does show up in at least two episodes and offers advice to the gang. I've already pointed out the many issues I found with the series, but I did notice that in the last few episodes of the show, some of these issues seemed to be addressed. It does seem like Ghostwriter and the gang were made to be more personable. The last two episodes even seemed to hint that a friend they had helped out may discover the secret about Ghostwriter. At least, he was certainly asking questions about what they were writing and what "GW" means. That was neat; too bad the series didn't continue for that storyline to go anywhere. Also of note- the last episode actually deals with spirits and curses and made for an interesting episode since the team obviously believes in ghosts. The supernatural angle, oddly enough for a show about a ghost, never seemed to get played up much on either series, so it was neat to see this connection made in the last episode.
"The New Ghostwriter Mysteries" is certainly different and it has its share of flaws, but I still actually like this series fairly well. It takes some getting used to for sure, but it isn't so bad overall. I just wish a connection to the original series could have been made beyond just GW. It'd be great for all of the Ghostwriter series to get completely released to DVD!

[MA]

Originally Posted by MacLeaper

It makes sense that Fran Brill might have shown up as Sesame Workshop produced the show, along with Sesame Street, of course. (And as a Muppets fan, I definitely appreciate knowing that- cool!)

Are you on Muppet Central Forum just like I am?

[MacLeaper]

Yes!
I use a similar handle there- GonzoLeaper. (But I'm honestly only very sporadically on that board- just as I'm kinda that way with this board too.) I do check in on both every now and then though... There are just so many other real life things going on.... I can't always be on all the message boards. But it is nice to see what's happening every so often.
Cool to find another MC user here.

[danderson400]

I remember watching the episode "Don't Stop the Music" and it amazed me how everything went wrong for "Lenni" in that episode. The facts were: First, Lenni and the team are making a music video for MTV with Jade Morgan, played by Annabelle Gurwitch from "Not Necessarily The News" who is the president of Smash Records. Lots of accidents are happening during the video shoots. Studio lights started to go out and team's feet get glued to the floor. Plus, the lighting board explodes because someone cut the wires and somebody is leaves to mysterious notes for Jade. Then the music tape is ruined and so is the other copy of the tape. Also, Lenni receives flowers from Marlon Campbell, played by Robin Leach from "Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous" who is the president of In Your Face Records. He is Jade's competitor and wants to steal Lenni away from her. But in the end, Lenni gets her big break anyway, but i felt so much for Lenni, due to all the trouble she went through to get the video on MTV.

[TMC]

What happened to Ghostwriter… and why did it disappear at the height of its success?

In the early 1990s, Ghostwriter wasn’t just another kids’ show—it was a full-blown phenomenon. A mystery series that taught a generation how to read, think, and solve problems… all while hiding one of the darkest backstories in children’s television history.

In this video, we’re diving deep into the weird rise and sudden fall of Ghostwriter—from its groundbreaking literacy mission and surprising corporate backing, to the shocking real story behind the ghost himself that PBS never revealed on air.

• Why was a top-five children’s show suddenly canceled?
• Why did it never get a proper ending?
• And what was the secret the writers kept hidden for over a decade?

If you grew up in the 90s, this is one of those shows you remember… but probably never fully understood—until now.

💬 Now I want to hear from you:

• Which Ghostwriter case stuck with you the most?
• Was it Max Mouse, Gooey Gus, or something else entirely?
• Did you ever have a pen necklace… or try to start your own Ghostwriter team?

And most importantly—when did you first learn the truth about who Ghostwriter really was?

Drop your memories in the comments. I read every one.

If this video brought back a piece of your childhood, make sure to like and subscribe for more deep dives into the shows that shaped a generation.

Six kids, one highly literate ghost. What follows is a series of adventures, mysteries, and a really excellent recipe for arroz con pollo.

In today's video, we talk about Ghostwriter. In my opinion, the most underrated 90s kid show. Do you like Ghostwriter?