This is why the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" continues to elude distribution - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

frest45 · 09-04-2024, 03:35 PM

I stumbled upon this wonderful "community" while going down a Google rabbit hole. It is obvious to me that there is much clamor concerning the absence of this wonderful program that we all tremendously adore, and many of you have made excellent (and valid!) points concerning its absence. I'll spare personal details, as I am still an active pawn in this arena that we call "show business," but as a key participant in Nickelodeon's creative and operational processes during this revered and bygone era, I must insert myself and lend credence to your commentary, while elaborating on why you will likely never see the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" on a streaming service near you.

For those who did not personally experience Nickelodeon at its creative peak, Pete and his brother Pete were very much viewed as a core component of the network's identity during its formative years in endearing itself to a mainstream audience. In fact, a significant factor in casting Danny and Mike in their respective roles was the color of their hair, as it served to symbolize Nick's own "orange" brand identity. If you recall, APP was on an equal footing with its Nicktoon and live-action counterparts. Bumpers and other promotional materials certainly glorified the characters of Wellsville as a cornerstone of Nickelodeon's marketing lore. At the time, Pete and Pete were arguably the most visible faces of the network.

I'll contrast this with a statement that I either read, or heard, many years ago (and well after the show's cancellation), where either Will (McRobb) or Chris (Viscardi) stated something to the effect that APP was "really never supposed to be its own show," but I can assure you that this was simply not the case.

The show was quite literally the product of two genius kids from the promotional department who placed much labor and love into an enduring concept that derived from experimental shorts designed to skirt policy, per their placement in commercial breaks. Despite this origin, Chris and Will more than gained the full support of Nickelodeon brass to elevate APP as an episodic staple of the network, and they were undoubtedly seen as the emerging prodigal sons of the organization throughout the late '80s and early-to-mid-'90s.

Unfortunately, Viacom began aggressively policing the creative process at Nick following "controversies" surrounding "The Red & Stimpy Show," as well as other frivolous matters, and the end then soon began. In the spring(?) of '96, executives took Will and Chris out to lunch for what they believed to be discussions for a fourth season, and these executives then proceeded to inform them that the subject matter of the show was no longer conducive to Viacom's mission of representing a globally-relevant audience, and this, along with their perceived "suggestive" nature of little Pete's antics, were the key factors in APP's termination.

It should also be noted that the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" arose from the alternative underground of its era, and is essentially a Hal Hartley-inspired production for kids, so there were C-suite executives who blatantly had their sights on its crew and willfully and maliciously used reductive and inconsequential letters from evangelical watchdog groups as a convenient mechanism to make their case against the inmates running the asylum. Affiliates of this same group would work to sabotage the movie "Snow Day" (initially planned as an APP theatrical film) several years later, reducing it to a mere shell of its original form.

Essentially, Viacom utilized the imagery of alternative and anti-corporate culture to elevate a platform (Nickelodeon) that they then devoted to a global corporate cause. With minimal research, one can also identify this transition occurring at Nick's sister station, MTV, around the same time.

Will and Chris were devastated that their life's work had been taken from them. Understandably, they were truly bitter for many years following their loss, and have since embraced Pete nostalgia to a certain degree, but it was sickening to watch the network's successful pacification of these gentlemen's creative instincts with a far more diluted standard of output on their projects that would follow. The network maintained syndication of APP throughout the remainder of the '90s and early, early aughts, but soon thereafter ceased to acknowledge it on a recurring basis.

I cannot recall the exact month, but APP was removed from syndication altogether on the parent channel near the end of 2001, and I believe it to be September or October of that year. It had been significantly phased out in the two-to-three years preceding this point. Since that time, there have been sporadic broadcasts on Noggin's "The N" block, as well as on the parent channel for minimal one-off events. I can assure you wholeheartedly that the absence of the show from streaming networks has nothing to do with music licensing difficulties, as commonly purported. It's quite the opposite. There are many artists and bands featured in the show that would love nothing more than to introduce their music to an entirely new audience.

Ultimately, the reason that we have been deprived of the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" is solely a matter of corporate politics in a post-9/11 environment of censorship and creative homogeny. Chris and Will have remained connected to Nick in various capacities, so it is wishful thinking to expect them to ever indicate their true feelings concerning Viacom's heavy-handed role in the loss of their "baby." At the time, many of us even suspected that some type of non-disclosure agreement had been executed in exchange for their continued employment at the network, though I cannot state this definitively. In my opinion, there has always been a "Stockholm syndrome" element of Will and Chris' approach to the manner in which they were treated following the show's cancellation.

Despite there no longer being any aspect of the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" that could even remotely be considered more suggestive than the materialistic indulgences and ideological oppression with which we are now confronted on a daily basis, Viacom (pardon me, "Paramount") has all but withheld the show from distribution for nearly two decades. The starched shirts who unyieldingly opt to view little Pete and Artie's relationship as "pedophilic," or a school bus charging towards the edge of a cliff as a potential motivator for an act of terrorism, or smashing a pumpkin on another's head as "bullying," are the same individuals who enlisted Dan Schneider, approximately one year prior to the conclusion of APP, to initiate the process of systematically squeezing the spirit out of teen programming.

It is clear that times have changed, but the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" gracefully captured the adolescent freedom and innocence of a much simpler time, and it should no longer be withheld for fear of its influence on subsequent generations of youth who have not had the chance to experience that world.

- T.F.

P.S. ~ I do not have the time, nor risk tolerance, for such an endeavor, but I would argue that whoever creates a YouTube exposé on this topic would surely be sitting on a content creator goldmine. The world needs Pete, and his brother Pete, now, more than ever.

JamesG · 09-14-2024, 12:51 PM

Thank you for this post. I love "Pete & Pete" and I was wondering if you have any "inside info." on Season 3 not getting a DVD release?

Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi did an interview back in 2012 where they said the Season 3 DVDs were made and never released.

Quote:

WM: The same thing goes on with the mythical third season on DVD. They put out the first two and everyone’s thrilled, and the third one doesn’t come out, and no one has ever told us why. And they made it, it’s in the warehouse.

CV: It’s packaged, it’s recorded, we did commentary tracks with a bunch of the cast, there’s all these special extras on it. They pressed them, we saw it. Nothing.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...831-story.html

My sister went to '90s Con last year and got Danny Tamberelli to sign my DVDs:

09-04-2024, 03:35 PM	#1
frest45 Member First Time Poster Join Date: Sep 04, 2024 Posts: 1	This is why the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" continues to elude distribution I stumbled upon this wonderful "community" while going down a Google rabbit hole. It is obvious to me that there is much clamor concerning the absence of this wonderful program that we all tremendously adore, and many of you have made excellent (and valid!) points concerning its absence. I'll spare personal details, as I am still an active pawn in this arena that we call "show business," but as a key participant in Nickelodeon's creative and operational processes during this revered and bygone era, I must insert myself and lend credence to your commentary, while elaborating on why you will likely never see the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" on a streaming service near you. For those who did not personally experience Nickelodeon at its creative peak, Pete and his brother Pete were very much viewed as a core component of the network's identity during its formative years in endearing itself to a mainstream audience. In fact, a significant factor in casting Danny and Mike in their respective roles was the color of their hair, as it served to symbolize Nick's own "orange" brand identity. If you recall, APP was on an equal footing with its Nicktoon and live-action counterparts. Bumpers and other promotional materials certainly glorified the characters of Wellsville as a cornerstone of Nickelodeon's marketing lore. At the time, Pete and Pete were arguably the most visible faces of the network. I'll contrast this with a statement that I either read, or heard, many years ago (and well after the show's cancellation), where either Will (McRobb) or Chris (Viscardi) stated something to the effect that APP was "really never supposed to be its own show," but I can assure you that this was simply not the case. The show was quite literally the product of two genius kids from the promotional department who placed much labor and love into an enduring concept that derived from experimental shorts designed to skirt policy, per their placement in commercial breaks. Despite this origin, Chris and Will more than gained the full support of Nickelodeon brass to elevate APP as an episodic staple of the network, and they were undoubtedly seen as the emerging prodigal sons of the organization throughout the late '80s and early-to-mid-'90s. Unfortunately, Viacom began aggressively policing the creative process at Nick following "controversies" surrounding "The Red & Stimpy Show," as well as other frivolous matters, and the end then soon began. In the spring(?) of '96, executives took Will and Chris out to lunch for what they believed to be discussions for a fourth season, and these executives then proceeded to inform them that the subject matter of the show was no longer conducive to Viacom's mission of representing a globally-relevant audience, and this, along with their perceived "suggestive" nature of little Pete's antics, were the key factors in APP's termination. It should also be noted that the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" arose from the alternative underground of its era, and is essentially a Hal Hartley-inspired production for kids, so there were C-suite executives who blatantly had their sights on its crew and willfully and maliciously used reductive and inconsequential letters from evangelical watchdog groups as a convenient mechanism to make their case against the inmates running the asylum. Affiliates of this same group would work to sabotage the movie "Snow Day" (initially planned as an APP theatrical film) several years later, reducing it to a mere shell of its original form. Essentially, Viacom utilized the imagery of alternative and anti-corporate culture to elevate a platform (Nickelodeon) that they then devoted to a global corporate cause. With minimal research, one can also identify this transition occurring at Nick's sister station, MTV, around the same time. Will and Chris were devastated that their life's work had been taken from them. Understandably, they were truly bitter for many years following their loss, and have since embraced Pete nostalgia to a certain degree, but it was sickening to watch the network's successful pacification of these gentlemen's creative instincts with a far more diluted standard of output on their projects that would follow. The network maintained syndication of APP throughout the remainder of the '90s and early, early aughts, but soon thereafter ceased to acknowledge it on a recurring basis. I cannot recall the exact month, but APP was removed from syndication altogether on the parent channel near the end of 2001, and I believe it to be September or October of that year. It had been significantly phased out in the two-to-three years preceding this point. Since that time, there have been sporadic broadcasts on Noggin's "The N" block, as well as on the parent channel for minimal one-off events. I can assure you wholeheartedly that the absence of the show from streaming networks has nothing to do with music licensing difficulties, as commonly purported. It's quite the opposite. There are many artists and bands featured in the show that would love nothing more than to introduce their music to an entirely new audience. Ultimately, the reason that we have been deprived of the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" is solely a matter of corporate politics in a post-9/11 environment of censorship and creative homogeny. Chris and Will have remained connected to Nick in various capacities, so it is wishful thinking to expect them to ever indicate their true feelings concerning Viacom's heavy-handed role in the loss of their "baby." At the time, many of us even suspected that some type of non-disclosure agreement had been executed in exchange for their continued employment at the network, though I cannot state this definitively. In my opinion, there has always been a "Stockholm syndrome" element of Will and Chris' approach to the manner in which they were treated following the show's cancellation. Despite there no longer being any aspect of the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" that could even remotely be considered more suggestive than the materialistic indulgences and ideological oppression with which we are now confronted on a daily basis, Viacom (pardon me, "Paramount") has all but withheld the show from distribution for nearly two decades. The starched shirts who unyieldingly opt to view little Pete and Artie's relationship as "pedophilic," or a school bus charging towards the edge of a cliff as a potential motivator for an act of terrorism, or smashing a pumpkin on another's head as "bullying," are the same individuals who enlisted Dan Schneider, approximately one year prior to the conclusion of APP, to initiate the process of systematically squeezing the spirit out of teen programming. It is clear that times have changed, but the "Adventures of Pete & Pete" gracefully captured the adolescent freedom and innocence of a much simpler time, and it should no longer be withheld for fear of its influence on subsequent generations of youth who have not had the chance to experience that world. - T.F. P.S. ~ I do not have the time, nor risk tolerance, for such an endeavor, but I would argue that whoever creates a YouTube exposé on this topic would surely be sitting on a content creator goldmine. The world needs Pete, and his brother Pete, now, more than ever.