Ghostwriter ... what a trip.

source: Wikimedia Commons

Gaby, Lenni, Jamal, Casey, Hector, Alex, Tina. Grandma Jenkins, and of course, Ghostwriter. Do these names ring a bell? I considered myself a member of the Ghostwriter Team, and it was one of my favorite shows growing up. I had a crush on Alex Hernandez (played by David Lopez), and I wanted Tina and Alex to get together sooooo badly. And even though Alex always had a thang for Tina, I wanted to be Lenni, with her awesome singer-songwriterliness. That music video episode? Probably the coolest thing I'd seen in my 8-or-so years at the time, and likely the reason I became so insatiably obsessed with music and the music industry.

Sigh.

I remember the later episodes/seasons far better than the earlier ones, partially because my local PBS station relished in the show's popularity towards its end, and I think I watched all 5 replays of the "Attack of the Slime Monster" episodes with faux-Gaby. (Why'd you leave us, Mayteana Morales, why?) I owned at least one Ghostwriter paperback novel, had a casebook that looked suspiciously identical to Tina's, and had my very own black Paper Mate Flair pen on a string around my neck. Yes, I was that dorky, and yes, I probably really thought I was "on the case" with the rest of the child actors. I thought Jamal's multicolored, threaded backpack in the London episodes was the coolest thing next to whatever Clarissa Darling was sporting at the time. I also thought Fulton Street was where I had to be, and tried to get my parents to make a detour there every time we left the city on vacation.

Looking back, I'm really impressed with the show, its ability to pull big-name actors, and most importantly, its ability to educate without being stuffy, pedantic or condescending. Bravo, Ghostwriter.

"You gotta believe and reach for the sky / you gotta believe, let your spirit soar high ..."

I'm not gonna lie. 1993 still seems cool to me.