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Ghostwriter was a PBS educational/mystery program co-produced by Sesame Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop) and the British Broadcasting Corporation. The show aired on PBS stations from October 1992 to February 1995.
Overview
The show followed the adventures of six young detectives living in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, New York, who would solve mysteries within their neighborhood with the help of a ghost. This ghost had the ability to manipulate any letters or words he could find to communicate to the kids, whether they were figuring out how to solve a particular mystery or if there was danger nearby. Early on, the young detectives began to call themselves the "Ghostwriter Team," so named after the titular character.
Even though Ghostwriter was produced to teach elementary and middle school children reading and writing skills, it was yet another TV series not spared the classic case of "battle of the arch-nemeses" syndrome. The Ghostwriter Team had a common adversary--it was another teenage boy named Calvin Ferguson. Calvin's family owned a local party supply store and, on a much lesser note, Calvin received top grades in all his classes. This was something that he liked to brag about, much to the chagrin of Ghostwriter Team member Alex Fernandez. They were in virtually every class together at school!
Furthermore, besides Alex, the five other regular members of the team were:
After Rob left the team to move to Australia, a younger boy name Hector Carrero was initiated into the Ghostwriter Team in Rob's place. Later, during the "Don't Stop the Music" story arc, Jamal's cousin Casey Austin saw Ghostwriter and became a team member herself.
Cancellation and Beyond
Ghostwriter ended in 1995 because of inadequate funding. It later resurfaced in a part of the UPN Kids programming block in 1997 before airing on ABC in syndication. The series was later shown on the Noggin/The N cable network until 2003. Episodes of Ghostwriter can now be seen on YouTube.
Ghostwriter was later revived in 1997 on CBS as The New Ghostwriter Mysteries which only lasted one season.
Awards
During its original run, Ghostwriter won:
- WGA Award, 1995 (Carin Greenberg Baker, "Don't Stop the Music")
- Young Artist Awards, 1993 (Nominated for "Outstanding Performers in a Children's Program," it went to all six original cast members)
Episodes
- Season One
- "Ghost Story"
- "Who Burned Mr. Brinker's Store?"
- "To Catch A Creep"
- "Into the Comics"
- "To the Light"
- "Who's Who?"
- "Over a Barrel"
- "Building Bridges"
- Season Two
- "Am I Blue?"
- "Get the Message"
- "Just in Time"
- "Lost in Brooklyn" (Rob Baker leaves for Australia after this episode. Hector Carrero replaces him.)
- "Who is Max Mouse?"
- "Don't Stop the Music"
- "What's Up with Alex?"
- Season Three
- At the beginning of this season, former NBC anchor Katie Couric interviewed the actors who played Lenni and Jamal as part of a three-peat special that aired "Over a Barrel" in its entirety. Also, this was the final season.
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