The Adventures of Pete & Pete:
Season Two

Welcome to Wellsville, USA. Pete and Pete Wrigley are back for more surreal, early '90s, alternative action. Those little ginger kids are growin' up fast and that means high stakes pandemonium is bound to ensue. In season two, big Pete comes to terms with his hidden desire to be "more than just friends" with Ellen, all while overcoming the incessant torments of suburban super-bully/villain Endless Mike. Little Pete also makes big life changes: he befriends the new girl (Buffy's Michelle Trachtenberg), loses a best friend/local superhero, and stuffs a blue Eisenhower marshmallow up his nose...all in one epic 13 episode season.

Of course, the show wouldn't be the same without all those lovable celebrity guests. Iggy Pop, LL Cool Jay, Chris Elliot, Steve Buscemi, Janeane Garofalo, James Rebhorn, and one of the fat kids from Heavyweights all make memorable appearances. Iggy and LL were definitely the most bizarre and entertaining (Iggy even manages to show up several more times).

This show is definitely something special. It's the Nickelodeon family sitcom David Lynch never made. The second season of the series is just as good as the first (see a marvelous review of season one here), if not better. The humor is more absurd and abundant than ever and the there's also a lot of solid character development. The only major downer was that Artie (a.k.a. the strongest man in the world) had to leave the show late in the season. Apparently, he was just too unconventional for studio execs. Thankfully, he gets two whole episodes devoted to his departure, so it ain't all that bad. Still, I miss the guy already.

The full screen video transfer isn't anything to write to home about, but it is substantially better than the previous set. For starters, there's no more severe distortion and damage with the picture. Everything looks as good as it probably did in the first place, which is more than one could've hoped for after season one. At least this doesn't look like a worn-out bootleg VHS. Audio is fine: it comes in Dolby Digital Stereo. Still no subs. What are the damn lyrics to that tripped-out theme song? One of life's many great mysteries, I suppose.

As with the fist season set, special features consist of additional episodes and select commentaries. We get a full length bonus episode about space and Johnny Unitas, five 60-second Pete & Pete shorts, and three commentaries with voices provided by the likes of co-creators Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, director Damon Santostefano, writer Joe Stillman, Michael Marrona (big Pete), Danny Tamberelli (lil' Pete), and Toby Huss (Artie). The bonus episodes are all great (you gotta love those high concept shorts) and the commentaries are top notch, especially when the Wrigley brothers are both involved. But seriously, these tracks are wonderfully informative, self-deprecating, and humorous.

What are you waiting for? There's still time. Walk...no, run...no, drive to your local DVD retailer and pick up the first two seasons of The Adventures of Pete & Pete before they're all sold out. There's only 357 left 'til Christmas. Whether you're buying it for Junior, sis, Mom, Gramps, or even your rapscallion editor, it's sure to satisfy the ginger kid in all of us. -- Neil Karassik