Puff, puff, puff...bore, bore, bore...
Every once in a while, I remember some random TV show from my childhood or adolescence that I loved, but which is apparently pretty obscure, because everyone looks at me like I'm a big fat liar when I mention it.
My sister and I are, I think, the only two in the world who remember Powerhouse, which I believe was in some way affiliated with the Electric Company (okay, that part I might be making up). Some of the details are fuzzy, but I think it was about this group of teenage sleuths, but I'm not sure if they were officially set up to be a sleuthing group or if they just were friends from a community center or something. Brenda was the adult figure in their lives, and there were 5 or 6 kids, I think, but I only remember Lolo and Pepper.
Anyway, my sister and I quote this show all the time, and no one knows what the hell we're talking about when we say:
"Yeast won't make you rise, Lolo." -- Brenda, to Lolo, after he has been trying all manner of tricks to grow after being picked on for being short and scrawny.
"Puff, puff, puff...bore, bore, bore..." -- Pepper, while watching smoke come out of a factory; it turns out to be an SOS, which Lolo eventually realizes.
"Chabliss, Chablee, what's the difference?" -- Pepper, on her favorite kind of wine, in the "Pepper has a drinking problem, but only for this episode" special episode.
There also was an episode with a pinkeye epidemic that I believe turned out to be not pinkeye at all, but some other thing spread by a stray cat. Seriously; this was quality television.
Anyway, what got me thinking today about Powerhouse was another random show, Fifteen. This was a Canadian show on Nickelodeon in the early '90s, I guess, and it was horrible, horrible, horrible. The acting was atrocious; the storylines were cliched and ludicrous; the sets and props were embarrassing. It made Saved by the Bell look like Shakespeare. But it was oddly compelling, and I secretly watched it every weekend (much like I watched Degrassi, although that was a much better show).
One of the worst characters on the show was Billy, somebody's little brother who they, in the later seasons, tried to make into a Cute Boy, even though he was sooooo not a Cute Boy (although I think he played Cute Boy to Incredibly Unattractive Cheerleader Stacey, so maybe it was okay).
I discovered today that Billy was played by Ryan Reynolds, who is engaged to Alanis Morrissette (who, as we all know, got her start on You Can't Do That On Television); People magazine did a story about them, and I saw the picture and was like "Holy crap! That's Billy from Fifteen!" After I confirmed on IMDB that he is, in fact, Billy, I really wanted to know whether he and Alanis knew each other when they were both shooting Nickelodeon shows in their youth, or at least for the writer to acknowledge that it would've been a possibility but their ships passed in the night or whatever. But nothing; no mention. Because, I'm convinced, my sister and I are the only ones who remember Fifteen.
My sister and I are, I think, the only two in the world who remember Powerhouse, which I believe was in some way affiliated with the Electric Company (okay, that part I might be making up). Some of the details are fuzzy, but I think it was about this group of teenage sleuths, but I'm not sure if they were officially set up to be a sleuthing group or if they just were friends from a community center or something. Brenda was the adult figure in their lives, and there were 5 or 6 kids, I think, but I only remember Lolo and Pepper.
Anyway, my sister and I quote this show all the time, and no one knows what the hell we're talking about when we say:
"Yeast won't make you rise, Lolo." -- Brenda, to Lolo, after he has been trying all manner of tricks to grow after being picked on for being short and scrawny.
"Puff, puff, puff...bore, bore, bore..." -- Pepper, while watching smoke come out of a factory; it turns out to be an SOS, which Lolo eventually realizes.
"Chabliss, Chablee, what's the difference?" -- Pepper, on her favorite kind of wine, in the "Pepper has a drinking problem, but only for this episode" special episode.
There also was an episode with a pinkeye epidemic that I believe turned out to be not pinkeye at all, but some other thing spread by a stray cat. Seriously; this was quality television.
Anyway, what got me thinking today about Powerhouse was another random show, Fifteen. This was a Canadian show on Nickelodeon in the early '90s, I guess, and it was horrible, horrible, horrible. The acting was atrocious; the storylines were cliched and ludicrous; the sets and props were embarrassing. It made Saved by the Bell look like Shakespeare. But it was oddly compelling, and I secretly watched it every weekend (much like I watched Degrassi, although that was a much better show).
One of the worst characters on the show was Billy, somebody's little brother who they, in the later seasons, tried to make into a Cute Boy, even though he was sooooo not a Cute Boy (although I think he played Cute Boy to Incredibly Unattractive Cheerleader Stacey, so maybe it was okay).
I discovered today that Billy was played by Ryan Reynolds, who is engaged to Alanis Morrissette (who, as we all know, got her start on You Can't Do That On Television); People magazine did a story about them, and I saw the picture and was like "Holy crap! That's Billy from Fifteen!" After I confirmed on IMDB that he is, in fact, Billy, I really wanted to know whether he and Alanis knew each other when they were both shooting Nickelodeon shows in their youth, or at least for the writer to acknowledge that it would've been a possibility but their ships passed in the night or whatever. But nothing; no mention. Because, I'm convinced, my sister and I are the only ones who remember Fifteen.
2 Comments:
Ok, you aren't the only one. I was in the shower today and couldn't get the "puff, puff, puff, bore, bore, bore" out of my head -- I remember exactly what it was from. I figured I'd type it into DuckDuckGo and see if anyone else was as weird as me, remembering it after all of these years. Congratulations! :^)
I seem to recall that this show was the first time I saw Yeardley Smith, who later went on to greater fame as the voice of Lisa Simpson.
By
Anonymous, at 11:00 AM
I remember that
By
Unknown, at 9:17 PM
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