(Photo Credit: Focus on the Family)
I always felt robbed in the invisible friend department because none of my drawings came to life and acted as my consciousness or dared me to do stupid things. I swear, some kids have all the luck. That was the premise for McGee and Me, a production from 1989 that targeted young Christian audiences in an attempt to provide wholesome entertainment, teach a few bible lessons, and maybe make some money in the process. The show was a mixture of live-action and cartoons, with a few fully animated segments in most episodes, but as skillfully as it brought those two mediums together, could the show successfully crossover into a secular world?
Created by Ken C. Johnson and Bill Myers, the series follows Nicholas Martin and his family as they move to Eastfield, Indiana, and must deal with being the new kid at school as well as other trials of growing up while also attempting to grow closer to The Lord. Now, we all know that the best show to take place in that state is Eerie, Indiana, but none of that weirdness is happening here. Most of Nick’s adventures revolve around childhood problems, bullies, sneaking out to go see a movie, upsetting his friends, his parents embarrassing him, and just trying to look cool or stand out to his peers. There are some more serious episodes, but for the most part, it’s about Nick, his parents, two sisters, and their dog called Whatever. Great name for a pet, even if the real dog’s name is Poundcake.
Nick isn’t a bad character. He’s a talented 11-year-old artist and a skilled amateur inventor, judging by several of the contraptions in his room and the wonderful Rube Goldberg device we see in the show’s excellent intro. He just seems to lack confidence and has a horrible flaw of not knowing when to shut up. This kid’s mouth gets him into so much trouble, but yet when he should speak up to help out a situation it usually takes extra motivation to get Nick going. Most of these episodes are about him learning a lesson, but he was clearly never taught that silence is golden. Nick is played by Joseph Dammann, who would have been 11 or 12 himself around the time these first nine episodes were filmed, and I have never seen a kid that young have perfectly defined stress creases on his face. He skillfully expresses the duress the character is feeling, as well as a pained look that is something closer to constipation, but all the child actors here do well considering their age. Their work in one episode was even nominated for an award.
McGee is the other main character, his animated sidekick who tries to act as a confidant and guiding force. Sometimes, McGee will actually get Nick in deeper trouble or simply come across as slightly antagonistic, especially when his creator is stubborn about something. This little imp is the comic relief, constantly messing with things he shouldn’t or getting into Nick’s stuff. He’s also the star of the cartoon segments, some of which are retellings of biblical fables, others are wild adventures or a look at how McGee influences Nick’s choices, showing his brain as a sort of computerized command center. Some have speculated whether McGee is magical realism, whether Nick is suffering from mental delusions, or if this is how to show his id attempting to run amok. Johnson, one of the co-creators, voices McGee and all of the other animated characters, proving to be a skilled voice actor, matching McGee’s goofy and sincere sides while never being too overly helpful in most situations, giving his young friend a chance to work many of these issues out for himself—with a little push.
Nick keeps the presence of McGee a secret from his friends and family, though there is one scene that may suggest the youngest sister can at least hear or perceive the cartoon in some way. The only member of the family to fully interact with McGee other than Nick is their dog, Whatever. This leaves the lines skewed a bit on whether McGee is simply an imaginary friend or perhaps something a little more.
The Martin family isn’t bad. His parents are stern but fair and seem to genuinely love their children. For as much as the show is about Nick learning life lessons, the parents each have an episode where they have to realize a fault of their own as well. David Martin (Terry Bozeman) is a journalist, lays down the law in the house, and is often used as the wise advice giver in the real world and Nick’s mind. The mom, Elizabeth (Vaughn Taylor), is a caring and nurturing figure in the kids’ lives, trying to point them in the right direction while also showing them how to treat and help others. The older sister, Sarah (Sarah Dammann), is constantly picking on her siblings and trying to deliver sassy comebacks, making her one of the more entertaining characters on the show. Some of the lines they give her are dumb, but she’s trying her best to make them work. Jamie (Chelsea Hertford) is the youngest in the family, fitting a lot of kid stereotypes from that time, but her role works well for the family dynamic, and we all feel bad when Nick brushes her off. They all currently live with Nick’s grandmother (Eve Brenner), who we know next to nothing about other than when she tells a story to help her grandson get over his jealousy.
Nick has his friends at school as well. Chief among them is his friend Louis (pronounced “Lewis” and played by Brent Kelly), who helps add to the comedy, tempts Nick to do bad things, and helps our main character realize when he’s messed up. The big character arc here is with Derrick Cryder (Johnny Green), who starts as the school’s primary bully but has a serious redemption arc in the last few episodes. The show tried to keep it all in the family, as three sets of sibling actors were used, though only one duet played characters that were related in the show. There are a few notable guest characters and a couple of actors people may recognize, but my favorite one was Phillip Monroe (Whitby Hertford), who was in the worst Nightmare on Elm Street movie, The Dream Child.
The writing for McGee and Me wasn’t horrible, but some of the lines felt tacked on, there are some painfully obvious exposition dumps (more than usual in shows like this), and a couple of the episodes just feel a bit cringe, even for children’s programming. The writers liked using a good helping of pop culture references, most of which are classic and easy to follow, with a few even fitting into the episode’s theme naturally. We do have one Bill Cosby mention, but considering the time, that’s not surprising. There are also a lot of jokes with character names, like his friend being Louis Armstrong, and later, an athlete named Jordan Michaels, or how about a rich patron named Sir Loin of Beef. That one is in a dream sequence, but still.
The animated segments are potentially the best parts of McGee and Me. Often, we see McGee interacting with random objects in Nick’s life, of course, but the fully drawn portions of the episode were bright, engaging, and funny, mostly thanks to the exceptional work done by AKOM, a company that has worked on several astonishing shows. We see some wonderful design work as well as classic gags that bring lively characters popping off the small screen, and it is kind of a shame there wasn’t more of this. Although there are only 12 total episodes of McGee and Me, there was a special, McGee TV: Out of Control, which is a compilation of stuff from the other episodes with a few new in-between segments, giving us a taste of what a more McGee centered show might have looked like. The coolest part of this, however, is that Townsend Coleman (TMNT, The Tick) voiced the narrator.
Music is a big part of the show as well, and it is so cheesy. Corny may be a better word because the songs often simply discuss the situation in the episode or keep trying to repeat the moral to hammer things home. Several of these musical numbers are kind of bad, but a couple of tunes do work and even got stuck in my head briefly. A big shout-out to the main theme though, as that is legitimately catchy and helps elevate the awesome intro.
Though this was a program for kids, there are a couple of themes that surprised me. Storylines touch on – or, in some cases, simply brush up against – themes like divorce, child abuse, and gang problems, and a couple of the animated segments show cartoonish violence, smoking, and guns, and one even has cops pointing their weapons at children, though we don’t see it directly. There is also an episode featuring a Native American character that the kids refer to as a “crazy Indian man,” but that seems more like a product of the time. Another element of seriousness that may come for anyone looking up the actors is that Joseph Dammann (Nick), has had a long struggle with addiction, which he has been open about and seems to be recovering from.
McGee and Me is, obviously, very bible focused, and several of the episodes open up with Nick reading a scripture from his bible, or one is narrated over an animated segment. The morals discussed in the episodes aren’t bad, even if someone may not subscribe to the more spiritual aspects of them–though this show is wrong about horror movies, even if I loved the Siskel and Ebert spoof. There’s nothing too egregious here for anyone to worry about, even though it was partially produced by Focus on the Family. There is, however, a strong heap of guilt-baiting in a couple of these stories, and that definitely stuck with some people.
The show taught me a little more than just how bad lying was or why I should obey my parents. It was with McGee and Me that I learned you can count the seconds between lightning flashes and thunder to tell if a storm is moving closer or farther away, as well as that some people are better at drawing curves while others have more trouble with straight lines and angels when it comes to character art. As a young aspiring artist, this seemed informative, and I loved that we saw Nick drawing as a way to de-stress, an activity that worked for me at that age as well.
McGee and Me was somewhat popular, especially in Christian circles, of course. I remember seeing the first few episodes as a kid at our church, and that is a strong nostalgic memory. It was mostly released through a direct-to-video format, appearing in a small number of stores, but in 1992 ABC aired two of the episodes months apart slotted in their Weekend Specials, with time cut to add commercial breaks and some of the stronger Christian language dropped to try and reach a broader audience. Later, the entire series aired on other networks with similar programming, and supposedly, it even reached the UK with more edits. There were also books released that told of Nick’s adventures from the videos, but some contained extra story details and even subplots that didn’t make the episodes.
McGee and Me made a comeback in 1992
The first nine episodes of McGee and Me aren’t bad and quite entertaining for the most part, but the show returned with three new installments in 1992. It had a less impressive intro, was calling itself The New Adventures of McGee and Me!, and featured most of the same actors, who had all aged by three years. Nick’s new voice threw me at first, as he and Derrick had notably hit a bigger growth spurt. Sadly, this set of tales is somewhat of a downgrade from the first batch.
It’s almost a shame the show didn’t continue. Many of these episodes come so close to clicking, even outside of the biblical overtones. There are charming scenes that capture that feeling of being a kid and having to learn the ways of the world while wanting so badly to grow up fast. The show could have been much worse. The quality in these productions is worth noting, nothing seems too cheaply done, as the sets are solid and almost every episode features a new location, with my favorite being the “Trash TV” show they made up for the second episode, which is clearly based on Double Dare, just without the questions. Even though it was geared toward a target audience and made most of its impact on home video, it never feels lazy or there just to cash in. I can’t recommend this one too much, but I’m willing to bet a lot of kids grew up with McGee and it’s still an interesting oddity to those who didn’t.
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