Lately my life has seen a lot of near-misses that turned into new blessings. I couldn't get my hands on the Sugar Rush TV show, so I ended up reading the far superior original novel. The DVD series of Unfabulous is sucpiciously unavailable, so I ended up revisiting a show whose DVD I could find -- a show from my very distant past. And frankly it may even outclass Unfabulous.
I keep thinking "there's no deeper into my television history I could ever possibly go." I've revisited shows from when I was 12 only to find they're thrice as well-written as I ever could guess. Will I someday realize Barney was a work of genius? I doubt it. But Alex Mack takes my archeological excavating to new heights thus far, a show all the way back from the mid-90s. It hasn't knocked me completely off my feet but it has left me very deeply impressed as an expert piece of solid craftsmanship, and a definitive work in the teen genre.
The Secret World of Alex Mack is a Sitdram, a show that generally follows the conventions of situation comedies but with a more serious atmosphere and only the rare unambiguous punchline here or there. Sitdrams generally have a 30 minute runtime (22-ish sans commercials) and are typically very episodic like a sitcom. A term you more commonly hear is Dramedy, but a dramedy more closely resembles a drama, the way a sitdram resembles a sitcom. Dramedies frequently feature an hour-long episode running length and focus on story arcs, but with a lighter atmosphere than the stone-cold approach many dramas wield.
It didn't hit me until I popped the DVD in and watched the first episode. "Thomas W. Lynch... where have I seen that name before?" It turns out that the creator of The Secret World of Alex Mack would go on to make the impeccable South of Nowhere ten years later! And that's far from his only credit. Though not as prolific as the untouchable Dan Schneider, Thomas W. Lynch has carved out a sizable portion of Nick history, including the drama Caitlin's Way and the recent comedy Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures. His work permeates with sentimental weight, stylish production, and excellent music selection.
I find the mid 90s aesthetic of Alex Mack particularly exulting and masterfully refreshing. The mild production (as was standard in the 90s) is a glorious change of pace from the overstimulation you find on even the most supposedly "adult-oriented" programs today (i.e. news shows). It has a strong dignity and zenlike simplicity to it that for obvious reasons you don't find in any of the current Nick or Disney shows -- they're all comedies. Drama was the norm for teen live action in the mid 90s and the early 00s, but today straight-up comedy reigns unopposed. While I'm a diehard comedy fan, Nick could desperately use a new sitdram or drama. I'm hoping that after Bucket & Skinner, maybe Lynch can put together a new one.
Alex Mack truly shines when it puts aside the subplot of the chemical plant trying to capture Alex, and focuses on Alex's family and social life, crafting quality coming of age material which I find sincere and close to home. Luckily, this happens often. Alex's run-ins with the evil chemical plant are mostly unconvincing, since it only takes a few iterations to demonstrate that no consequences will really come from it. There isn't a lot of longterm plot development in the show but there is a much-appreciated smattering of schmaltz and drama covering very much relatable contnet that is realistically handled. You also have to give Mack credit for spawning the subgenre of magical power teen shows, followed most notably by Wizards of Waverly Place.
Finally, this opens up the door for me to acquire more vintage Nick shows. Luckily I have a couple options left to me: Pete & Pete, Clarissa Explains it All. Unfortunately, a lot of good old shows have never been released at all, neither on DVD-R nor on digital services like iTunes. Nick has released a few classic series and still shows several on Teen Nick, while Disney has released zero from their back catalogue and halts reruns of old shows as quickly as possible.
I'm hoping that the digital era will rectify this mistake -- today, every new episode of a show is quickly released onto iTunes and Amazon. Ideally these shows will remain available 5, 10, 15 years from now when Shake It Up, ANT Farm, and Big Time Rush become novel and therefore newly lucrative. However, it's possible old shows will be pulled from iTunes when they become no longer current -- I've already seen this happen with some music. It would seem to me a no-brainer for shows to be kept on iTunes for purchase, no matter how few buyers they get, seeing as how it's not exactly taking up space in a warehouse anywhere! But this is not always the case, only time will tell how old shows are treated.
