One of the most popular public television programs during my childhood was Ghostwriter. The TV show followed a group of children who could see a ghost, Ghostwriter, who would assist them in solving mysteries in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The point of the show was to promote literacy among children. In an attempt to decipher who exactly Ghostwriter was and how the show stands today, I watched an entire case, “Who Burned Down Mr. Brinker's Store?” recently.
Each case for Ghostwriter was divided into four parts. The team developed a casebook which they would write suspects and clues in. They would also conduct a Rally for each other to meet up, which they would communicate via Ghostwriter.
Here's the opening theme, which actually is informative in explaining the show and the members of the Ghostwriter team. You may be wondering, “Have you made a drinking game for this show?” Yes, I have. One of the rules is that whenever someone says, “Ghostwriter,” you drink. In the theme song, that's 26 times. It'll get you messed up. Also, is it just a coincidence that Ghostwriter is said 26 times and there are 26 letters in the alphabet? I'd like to think the songwriter knew full well there would be a drinking game for this show.
“Who Burned Down Mr. Brinker's Store?” was the second case for the Ghostwriter team. The entire case is available on YouTube if you wish to put that much effort into this blog post.
The episode opens with a special guest star (something that the Ghostwriter producers were strangely capable of getting regularly). It was Jeremy Miller, Ben Seaver from Growing Pains. In this episode, he sports quite the mullet. We learn his name is Craig and he's desperate to get in on a game at the local basketball court. Craig also apparently plays basketball in khakis. Jamal (played by Sheldon Turnipseed, who knows where he is now?) stands up for Craig against the local king of the basketball court, Momo. Craig sets up a game against this dude to establish if he deserves to play on this neighborhood basketball court. So far, no mystery here, but some subtle racial commentary.
Jamal hangs out at Brinker's, a video store that also has video games and it's owned by Mr. Brinker. Signal: second special guest star! Mr. Brinker is played by Max Wright, best known as Willie from ALF! Boy, Max is definitely not as nice as when he had his alien friend by his side. Jamal is playing some type of computer game. A mysterious man in a suit arrives out of a cab and gives Mr. Brinker a letter. Mr. Brinker refuses to accept the letter and retreats to the back of his store. Jamal is curious, especially when Ghostwriter appears on his computer screen to ask him what “infringement” means. Hmm, for a ghost that promotes literacy and seems to be all about words, Ghostwriter is not exactly a dictionary. Mr. Brinker emerges, the man in the suit forces him to take the letter, Brinker does not seem happy and acts like a douche to Jamal.
Jamal returns home and he is as irate as a 12 year old can be. He starts to vent in words that he writes on his computer. Ghostwriter intervenes to calm Jamal down. Hmm, so Ghostwriter has some psychological knowledge? What a great friend. Ghostwriter comforts Jamal. Jamal begins to write a letter to Mr. Brinker to defend the rights of the children who visit Brinker's from Mr. Brinker's unwarranted rage. At one point, Jamal approaches his Grandma (Marcella Lowery, also memorable for her role as the principal on City Guys. Did I just say City Guys was memorable?) to find out a synonym to use in the letter. Ghostwriter may not be a dictionary, but Grandma Jenkins is a thesaurus!
We cut to Lenni, another member of the Ghostwriter team, who is working on a song. When I think about it, I can't imagine that a single one of these actors would want to watch this show now. At a point in our life in the early 90s where we dressed odd and did potentially embarrassing things, well, that was all documented for these kids. In actor Blaze Berdahl's case, she got the worst of it on this show. Lenni was the character who was all into music because of her musician father, so she'd always end up composing songs, singing, or dancing. Her songs were clearly written by an adult who had to think of something positive and for children, so it all just ended up being about “friends.” I think this same person was simultaneously writing songs for The Zack Attack on Saved by the Bell.
In the meantime, Jamal goes to drop off his letter to Brinker's. Some kids throw fireworks at him, which causes damage to his jacket. Later, we find out that Brinker's store catches fire. Ahh, the mystery has begun!
Gaby and Tina arrive on the scene to try to interview Lt. McQuade, the investigator of the arson. Gaby is the reporter and Tina is the director and being a bit of a bitch about it. Lt. McQuade has no time for these children. However, later Gaby slips him a note, which convinces Lt. McQuade to conduct an interview. Tina is impressed. Gaby says she used word imagery in the note to convince Lt. McQuade. See, if you read and write well, you can convince police officers to give you any information you want.
By the end of this episode, Jamal is threatened. END OF PART ONE.
Part Two begins with Jamal lying to Lt. McQuade about his whereabouts when the fire happened. Jamal is a pretty terrible liar. He later finds his jacket, with the evidence of the burn mark. He knows he's not in good shape.
Ghostwriter is back to talk to Jamal. Man, Ghostwriter is being really annoying about this whole copyright infringement thing. He also asks Jamal what the “FBI” is. Hmm, so Ghostwriter is not an American. Interesting. Also, we're learning a lot about that letter that mysterious man handed Brinker. FBI and copyright infringement. What is Mr. Brinker up to?
Here's the point where it should be pointed how important Ghostwriter was in 1992 and how pointless he would be today. If Ghostwriter showed up today to a bunch of kids to help them, they could easily respond, “Uhh...we have the Internet.” These kids could Google “infringement” in a second and not deal with this annoying ghost trying to get answers from them on the word.
Gaby and Tina get to work on their casebook for this case. I have to admit that I was so obsessed with this show as a kid that I also had a casebook. I have no idea where it is. Just like any song performed by Lenni Frazier, I never want to see it again.
Jeremy Miller is back (I've decided to call him Jeremy Miller rather than his character name of Craig because he's freaking Jeremy Miller) and he's actually wearing proper basketball attire. He challenges Momo. They have a spirited battle, but Momo edges him out on the last shot. Frankly, Jeremy Miller's defense was terrible. However, he earns the respect of Momo and Jeremy Miller is now allowed to play on the neighborhood courts whenever he wants. Thank God!
Gaby and Tina go to interview the cab driver who brought the mysterious man in the suit to Brinker's store. Signal: third special guest star! Captain Lou Albano as the cab driver! Captain Lou gives plenty of information and thinks he will actually be on legitimate television because, you know, news agencies hire 10 year olds to do their work.
We return back to Jamal, whose father confronts him about the charges from the police that Jamal is a suspect in the Brinker's store arson. Signal: fourth special guest star (and biggest one yet)! Samuel L. Jackson as Jamal's father! This is an interesting point in Samuel L.'s career. This is right around the time of Jungle Fever and soon after he got out of rehab. Interesting that he was probably playing both a crackhead and a straight-laced father at the same time.
Jamal is in trouble. END OF PART TWO.
Jamal is wearing the same clothes that he seemingly wore a couple days earlier. When you have a public television budget, I assume this type of thing happens. Sadly, budget issues ended Ghostwriter. It was probably for the best as puberty was also ending the show. It was going to get odd in the fifth season if all of these teenagers preferred talking to their secret ghost rather than other people.
We find out that Mr. Brinker sells a used tape to Tina with an old Western on it. Frankly, Tina and Gaby's documentary looks far more interesting than this Western. They should consider selling it back to Mr. Brinker and possibly turn a profit. But, things are only getting further suspicious with Mr. Brinker and his tapes.
The team has a Rally where they officially have Tina join the team. She is presented with her official Ghostwriter team pen. This is an amazing moment for Tina. Sadly, no one can realize how much this actually was seen as a valuable item for children watching this show at the time. I gladly wanted to send in a self-addressed stamped envelope answering some Ghostwriter-related questions to some odd P.O. Box in New York to get one. You're not officially a member until you get a cheap ballpoint pen blessed by Ghostwriter.
Lt. McQuade is really coming down hard on Jamal, and so is the accusatory Mr. Brinker. It reaches blows in regards to Jamal's jacket. But, hey, Jeremy Miller is back! Jeremy Miller comes to Jamal's defense using a big phrase, “circumstantial evidence,” and Lt. McQuade must accept that Jeremy Miller is right. He can't arrest Jamal based only off circumstantial evidence. Mr. Brinker clearly doesn't like circumstantial evidence.
They call a rally again. Jeremy Miller wonders what a rally is, but they don't allow him to come along. He is NOT on the Ghostwriter team, remember? He does not have a pen!
While at the rally, Ghostwriter produces something he sees from the police station. It's an arrest warrant for Jamal Jenkins. He is to be arrested tomorrow for arson. NOOOOOO! END OF PART THREE.
Here's an extra fact about Jeremy Miller. Not only is he awesome at basketball and a sound legal mind, he also knows his electronics. With such versatility, how is this guy not on the Ghostwriter team?
The team creates an elaborate ruse in Brinker's so that Jeremy Miller can get access to the backroom and see what's up with all these tapes. Alex knocks over a bunch of tapes. Jeremy Miller and Jamal sneak in the back. Despite the two making noise in the backroom, Alex covers it up pretty well by renting about eighty movies. When Brinker finally goes to the backroom, Jeremy Miller and Jamal escape. Alex runs out the front thus preventing himself from renting $150 worth of videos.
Gaby and Tina interview a guy who delivers tapes to Mr. Brinker. Mr. Brinker hasn't paid in a while, so this dude gets really angry about it. Apparently, it doesn't dawn upon him that he's being videotaped or that these children are trying to free their friend from suspicion for arson.
The team looks back at all the video that Gaby and Tina have taken. The FBI agent entered Brinker's at 4:20. Nice job, adult writers of Ghostwriter – have to entertain yourself somehow. The writers do drop the ball as Ghostwriter responds to something that the team had said aloud. As established, “he can't hear and he can't talk,” and it's totally reliant on them communicating with him via words. It didn't happen in this case, and it's ultimately a major issue in this extremely deep show.
Via looking at Tina's video, the team determines that by the time listed on Brinker's store that Mr. Brinker must have set fire to his own store. They confront him in his backroom with the assistance of Lt. McQuade, and Mr. Brinker is taken away! Jamal is free!
At this point, Lt. McQuade proves that he is less effective than the Sheriff of Cabot Cove on Murder, She Wrote. It's one thing to allow a noted mystery writer to continuously outplay you, but a group of children? Let's just say Lt. McQuade won't be getting any promotion papers to a Law & Order series anytime soon.
Gaby and Tina create a moving documentary, which they show to the team and Jeremy Miller. Then, surprise, Ghostwriter reveals himself to the team and to Jeremy Miller! Jeremy Miller is now part of the team. The team then celebrates by dancing to Lenni's song.
While Jeremy Miller may have seen Ghostwriter, he was never seen again on the show. It probably was because his manager realized that Jeremy Miller could roll from Growing Pains into some other sweet television role that was way better than a show on public broadcasting. Hmm, maybe not.
Here's the end to this episode. Compare it to the Saved by the Bell friendship song and decide your favorite! Strangely, the Saved by the Bell tribute video contains the words “copyright infringement.” Thank God I watched this Ghostwriter episode so I understand what this Saved by the Bell fan is talking about.
Now, considering this episode, I think I've figured out who Ghostwriter is. He's not an American, willing to give his advice, and has the ability to bless. That's right. Ghostwriter is none other than Pope Pius IX, the longest-reigning Pope in history, who then felt the need to communicate to children in New York following his death!
Well, this has easily been the longest thing ever written on this site. If you're ever up for watching Ghostwriter (a.k.a. Pope Pius IX), let me know. Yes, I own the first season DVDs. And, by let me know, you will have to call a Rally.
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