Let's begin...
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Canadian
IMDb; official website (I think); Retro Junk; TV.com; Wikipedia
This show was actually designed to interact with toys kids could buy, of like fighter ships or whatever, which were on the show... Very interesting concept. I mean, lots of shows are made basically to sell toys or games, but how many of them interact with those toys? Anyway, I never had any of the toys. But aside from that merchandising concept, the show wasn't all that bad. I don't remember it well, but it was set in a sort of dystopian society run by a sort of cyborg called Lord Dredd. He had various minions working for him, including the Biodredd Youth (inspired by the Hitler Youth of WWII, I suspect), and sort of robots, ground units called Blastarrs and sky units called Soarons. Those two groups didn't seem to like each other, there was fighting between them, but mainly of course they fought the good guys, the title characters, a resistance group who had these sort of uniforms that could be powered up and turn into cool armor with various weapons and functions and whatnot, I guess. I'd like to see the show again sometime, maybe.
Well, I never got a chance to see this when it was originally on. But then some other channel was showing it, I don't remember when, like a couple years ago or something. I don't remember what channel, either. But anyway, there were a couple of kids investigating weird stuff. I don't know what else to say about it. Already I don't remember it well, but I'd like to see it again sometime. I probably didn't get to see all of it, either. But anyway... there was like a sequel series called Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension (IMDb; TV Tome) which I guess didn't last as long and probably wasn't as good. I didn't hardly see any of that at all, but it was an interesting concept, doing basically the same show but in a parallel universe. Not very different from the original universe, but still. Um, but whatever, I'd have to say "So Weird" is sort of similar to these shows, but much better than they were.
The Girl From Tomorrow, Australian
IMDb; TV Tome
See also Tomorrow's End (IMDb). Well, this girl from the future named Alana accidentally ends up in 1990 and has to try to get home though her folks don't know where or when she is and her time machine is like broken or stolen or something. There's a villain called Silverthorn. Alana makes a friend, Jenny Kelly, but no one else really believes Alana's from the future and stuff. Um, I don't know what to say about this show. It was a miniseries, actually. Two miniserieses. Or whatever. It was a decent little show, kind of fun, and we kinda like Alana.
The Journey of Allen Strange, Nickelodeon
IMDb; TV Tome
This was the story of a young alien who was stranded on Earth and befriended a girl named Robbie, and her little brother Josh, and the alien took on the name Allen Strange. Robbie and Josh lived with their father, who was divorced. Mostly it was a pretty lame show, but Robbie was kinda cute, and the conspiracy stuff was kinda funny. There was this inept guy named Phil Berg, who had some lame show about aliens, which he didn't seem to really know much of anything about. Despite this, he would later get mixed up in some real alien and conspiracy stuff; some sort of government MIB type group (except sinister) would eventually play a role in the series. Plus some evil aliens who were enemies of Allen's race. And stuff. I dunno, I didn't watch it all the time. But all the conspiracy stuff was just so ridiculous it couldn't help being funny.
Ocean Girl, Australian
IMDb; TV Tome
This was on Disney Channel for awhile, but I hardly got to see any of it. It was nearly done by the time I got the channel, then they stopped showing it. I'd like to see it from the beginning, but it's not all that important to me, though I expect we kinda liked that ocean girl.
The Odyssey, Canadian
IMDb; TV Tome
Sometimes reruns on WAM!
Anyway, in the beginning, this kid named Jay falls from like this tree fort trying to get his father's telescope back from some bully kids who stole it. (Jay's dad is supposedly dead, having drowned when he was out fishing with Jay when the boy was younger, but eventually there will be some question as to whether that's true or not.) Anyway, Jay falls and hits his head and he's in a coma for much of the series. His consciousness goes to a place called "Downworld," in which there are no adults. Kids run everything... there are adults beyond a wall somewhere, where there are no kids... but that won't matter for quite awhile. Meanwhile, everyone in Downworld looks like their counterparts from Upworld (reality)... but they have different names and don't know anything about that other reality. Jay's the only one who does. Jay makes a couple of friends, Flash and Alpha, who'll travel with him in his quest to return home. Alpha looks like his friend Donna in the real world except that she doesn't need a crutch or whatever; and Flash looks like Keith, one of the bullies in the real world, who feels guilty after Jay falls into the coma, and befriends Donna and helps out with Jay sometimes in the real world.... Anyway, Downworld is controlled by people at a place called the Tower. Apparently the former ruler was Brad, a kid who was somehow a counterpart of Jay's dad. The ruler is supported by the Monitors, kids who are kind of the military or police. Brad was overthrown by his chief Monitor, Macro. Macro would later be overthrown by his own chief Monitor, Finger. Jay would eventually lead a revolution against Finger, become ruler himself, and Flash was his chief Monitor. It all gets very complicated. We also rather like this girl named Medea who used to work with Macro and Finger, but ends up helping Jay and his friends. Plus Jay's dad, as an adult, shows up at some point in Downworld. And um... all kinds of weird stuff happens in the show. Eventually Jay wakes up in the real world, but a part of him is still in Downworld. So that story continues, but the story in Upworld takes on a whole new dimension, with Jay trying to get used to all the changes that have taken place while he was in the coma. He ends up dating Medea's counterpart, Sierra. It's all quite bizarre and rather fun.
Phil of the Future, Disney Channel, Fridays 6:30pm
IMDb; network site; TV.com
Phil Diffy is from the year 2121, and he and his parents, Lloyd and Barbara, and his little sister Pim, were on vacation in the past, but somehow got stranded in our time. So they have to try to live a normal life, while hiding their origins from people. Except Phil's best friend here, Keely (who we like). He has a few friends (including Tia, who we also like), but Keely's the only one who knows the truth about the Diffys.
Phil seems to be the most normal one in his family, and also seems to enjoy the time he's stuck in well enough. There's not much I can say about his parents, but Pim is... an endearing little imp, who considers herself above everyone, especially the primitive people of the 21st century. There's a girl she knows named Debbie Berwick who's annoyingly prissy and stuff, and Pim can't stand her, but Debbie thinks they're friends. (Debbie is played by Kay Panabaker, who also played Nikki on Summerland [see drama 5] .)
Oh, and a caveman apparently stowed away in the Diffys' time machine in the prehistoric past and wound up in the present, with them. They call him Curtis. He causes some comical trouble, as he's kind of hard to hide and keep under control, but eventually he starts to become at least a bit more civilized. Oh, and the Diffys also have alot of nifty gadgets from the future that do all sorts of, you know, cool, futuristic things. I dunno what else to say right now. It's a silly show, not great, but I enjoy it well enough.
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, ABC
ABC Family; IMDb; Retro Junk; The N; TV.com; Wikipedia
Reruns on ABC Family.
Well, I probably watched two or three seasons of this. I dunno. Maybe a bit more. Can't really remember, but I know it must've gone on for a few years or so after I stopped watching it. Anyway, it was based on a comic book that I never read, about a teenage witch named Sabrina Spellman (who we like). She lived with her aunts, Hilda and Zelda (who we kinda liked). I dunno where Sabrina's parents were, dead or just away, or what. One of them was a mortal, so she was actually only half-witch. And there was a talking cat named Salem Saberhagen, who was a warlock that had been turned into a cat as punishment for like, trying to take over the world, or something. But he was funny. Probably the best part of the show, actually, aside from the eye candy that was Sabrina. And Zelda. And some of Sabrina's school friends who we liked, though I don't really remember them well now. And her school rival, Libby (who we also liked).
So, what else to say? There was a slightly dumb guy named Harvey Kinkle, who Sabrina dated. I don't even remember if they were a couple at the start of the series or if it took awhile before they became more than just friends. But he didn't know Sabrina was a witch. No mortals did, I suppose, and the Spellmans had to keep people from finding out. Thus, hilarity ensued. Well, it was always a fairly campy little show, or cheesy, or something. But fun, and sort of funny, and silly. And, you know, there was magic. And a whole other realm the Spellmans occasionally went to, and other magical creatures and stuff, I guess. It could even be kind of interesting, at times. Yep, a simple little guilty pleasure, the show was. But eventually I think it just got too dumb, too much about the eye candy, IMHO, so I got sick of it and stopped watching. But it was okay for awhile.
The Secret World of Alex Mack, Nickelodeon
IMDb; TV Tome
Reruns on Noggin.
This girl named Alex Mack got splashed with some kind of experimental goop or whatever from the local factory, and she got these powers because of it, like telekinesis and morphing into some mercury-like stuff or something. The only two people who knew about this were her friend Ray and her sister Annie. Meanwhile, her father worked at the factory. But he was pretty clueless. And like this evil woman named Danielle Atron ran the place, and wanted to find out who was the kid who Dave, the dumb truck driver, had accidentally splashed the goop on and stuff. A couple of evil guys worked at different times for her, trying to track down the kid. I dunno what else to say. We do like Alex, and definitely also Annie. And their mom, I guess maybe.
So Weird, Disney Channel
IMDb; TV Tome
For the first couple seasons, the main character was Fi Phillips (who we rather like), who investigated the paranormal, which she frequently encountered as she and her brother Jack travelled on the tour bus with their mother, Molly, a singer. Their dad died when Fi was too young to really remember him. She eventually learns that he also used to investigate the paranormal, and it got him killed, because spirits on the other side weren't happy with his investigations. They're not too keen on Fi's, either. Meanwhile, no one much believes in any of the stuff Fi talks about or puts on her website. Let's see, there are also Molly's manager, Irene, and Irene's husband Ned, who drives the bus and is in charge of the roadies. They have a couple of kids, Clu and Carey, or maybe one of them is a cousin or something, I forget. Anyway... In the third season, Fi decides to stay with her aunt, and is replaced by Annie, the daughter of old friends of Molly. She starts investigating all this weird stuff, but she was never as interesting as Fi, except for this mystical spirit animal panther of hers who showed up now and then. Anyway...
Spellbinder, Australian
IMDb; TV Tome
Another Australian show that was on Disney Channel and was nearing the end of its run by the time I got to start watching it. And I'd like to see it from the beginning, but it's not really important. But we did like Riana and Ashka.
Strange Days at Blake Holsey High, Discovery Kids
Discovery Kids; IMDb; TV.com; Wikipedia
Well, I watched as much of this as I could on NBC. There's this group of kids who investigate strange things that happen at their boarding school, which they sometimes call "Black Hole High," because there is a black hole there. Or a wormhole, rather. The main girl in this group seems to be the new student, Josie Trent (who we quite like). The others in this little "science club" are Josie's roommate, the neat and studious Corinne Baxter (who we like), Lucas Randall, a sort of nerdish conspiracy theorist, his friend and roommate, the more social Marshall Wheeler, and Vaughn Pearson, who the rest of the club don't entirely trust... Their science teacher, Professor Zachary (or "Z" for short) also kinda helps figure out the weird stuff that goes on. And there's a mysterious janitor who seems to know stuff. And this guy named Victor Pearson who runs some research company called Pearadyne, he seems to be a bad guy, which is why the other kids don't quite trust his son, Vaughn. There's also Principal Amanda Durst, with whom some of the kids often get in trouble. It's not really clear how much, if anything, she knows about the odd things that go on. But she has to deal with Pearson alot, because he's a benefactor to the school and like, on the board of directors, or whatever.
Well, so... I haven't seen all of the show, and I don't remember all that I have seen. But there's a wormhole in Professor Z's office, which seems to be the souce of the strange things that happen around the school. And the strange things generally have something to do with whatever lesson he's teaching in science class, though that usually seems to be remarkably coincidental. Of course, these lessons exist basically, I think, to make the show educational, since it is a Discovery Kids show, after all. But sometimes the connections between science and main plot seem tenuous at best. And the lessons tend to differ wildly in level; some things I think should have been learned in grade school, others in advanced theoretical physics classes, like university level. Anyway, sometimes the kids travel through the wormhole, back in time. And there was an explosion at Pearadyne in 1987, at which point Vaughn's mother disappeared. And... I dunno, everything was pretty cyclical. Like there was this Qigong ball that got energized by the wormhole, but it was taken from the Pearadyne lab at one point and brought back in time, where it was acquired by young Victor Pearson, who used it to power a device he and his wife later created, which was responsible for the creation of the wormhole.... Weird. Another important thing that happened at one point was that a clone of Josie was inadvertantly created, but the janitor sent her away somewhere. She'd show up from time to time after that, and became very important, even if no one else really knew she was still... involved... until the end of the series.
Well, anyway, I can't begin to describe all the weird things that happened. But there were more normal things, too, like Vaughn and Lucas both liked Josie, and I guess she liked both of them, so that was complicated. And of course, Vaughn didn't completely trust his father, but he was also upset that his friends didn't trust him, and meanwhile his main concern was that someday he hoped to find his mother. There was also some mystery about Josie's mother, who apparently used to work with Victor. And, I dunno... just all sorts of mysteries. But, the series finale, "Conclusions," pretty well answered all the questions, so that was good. I think it had a few flaws, but that's not important. Basically I was happy with how it all ended. And... I guess that's all I can say.
The Zack Files, Canadian
IMDb; TV Tome
I think maybe this aired for awhile on FOX Family Channel or whatever, and later on FOX. I can't really remember, and I never saw much of it. Nor was it a great show, but it was passable. There was this kid named Zack Greenburg who went to some prep school or something, and he and his friends investigated paranormal stuff, I guess. Something like that, anyway. I don't really remember it too well. I can't think what else to tell you.