McGee and Me! | |
---|---|
Genre | Children, Spiritual, Educational |
Created by | Ken C. Johnson Bill Myers |
Starring | Joseph Dammann Sarah Dammann Terry Bozeman Vaughn Taylor |
Voices of | Ken C. Johnson |
Composer | James Covell |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 12 (+1 special) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Dan Johnson |
Producers | George Taweel Rob Loos |
Cinematography | Timothy Eaton |
Editor | Rod Stephens |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | Focus on the Family Living Bibles International Tyndale Productions |
Original release | |
Release | June 4, 1989 June 11, 1995 | –
McGee and Me! is an American Christian television series created by Ken C. Johnson and Bill Myers. The series premiered on June 4, 1989, spanning twelve episodes and one special until its conclusion on June 11, 1995. Each half-hour-long episode centers on Nicholas, his cartoon friend, McGee, and the moral lessons they learn as Nick grows up after moving to a new town.[1] McGee and Me! deals with issues such as honesty ("The Big Lie"), bullying ("Skate Expectations"), and faith in God ("Twister and Shout").
McGee and Me! stars Nicholas Martin, an 11-year-old aspiring artist and cartoonist who lives with his family in the town of Eastfield, Indiana. His father, David, is a newspaper journalist while his mother, Elizabeth, works at a counseling center. Nick, his parents, his older sister Sarah, and their younger sister Jamie, all first move to Eastfield in the first episode, moving into their grandmother's house to live with her. Nick often spends his time drawing and conversing with his imaginary friend, an animated cartoon character named McGee, who has wacky adventures of his own and serves as Nick's constant companion and confidant. Nick's life is constantly challenged by worldly trials and tribulations that put his morals and convictions to the test, with Nick learning valuable lessons along the way and, at times, facing the consequences of his actions.
His friends include Louis Armstrong, a streetwise kid and Nick's best friend, Renee Johnson, a pretty girl and a good student who hangs out with Nick and Louis, Phillip Monroe, a young "nerdy" boy in Nick's class who's very smart and sometimes picked on by older kids, and, in the last two episodes, Jordan Michaels, an athletic football-playing student who's also into computer graphics. In the first nine episodes, Nick's main adversary is Derrick Cryder, a bully who constantly picks on Nick, Phillip, and other kids, but by the end of the Christmas episode, he reforms when he saves Nick from a gang member after Nick shows him kindness. Derrick later serves as a voice of reason for Nick in Episode 12 after Nick strains his friendship with his other friends.
The first nine episodes feature Nick in waning years of elementary school, while the final three episodes, titled The New Adventures of McGee and Me!, see Nick enter junior high school. The actors at the time were much older than their characters' ages, giving Nick the appearance of a high schooler instead, due to the final three episodes having been produced a couple of years after the first nine.
On January 25, 1992, ABC aired "The Big Lie" as a pilot for a possible series run.[2] The episode aired as part of the ABC Weekend Specials series yet ABC spokeswoman Janice Gretemeyer stated that the episode had been edited to allow for commercials, and to remove specific Christian references.[2] Another episode, "Take Me Out of the Ball Game" aired as part of the ABC Weekend Specials series on September 12.
The entire series has aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and on TBN's children network Smile of a Child, but stopped airing sometime before April 2012.
Mary Stevens of the Chicago Tribune described the children's series as "exceptional", and that "the production quality is top-notch". Stevens goes on to say that the series "offers an entertaining mixture of live action, animation and well-written stories with positive moral messages", and despite being based on Bible principles "the series isn't excessively preachy or pushy".[5] Entertainment Weekly gave the episode "A Star in the Breaking" an A rating: "No matter what your religious orientation, you and your child will likely find the message compelling".
In 1990, producer George Taweel received the Michael Landon Award for the series.[6][7] In 1993, Joe Dammann, Sarah Dammann, Chelsea Hertford, Whit Hertford, and Shaylisa Hurte received nominations for "Outstanding Youth Mini-Video Series".[3]