Fans of 90’s Nickelodeon TV will probably remember “The Adventures of Pete & Pete.” And even if the show’s plot lines escape you, you probably at least remember the theme song and it’s unintelligible third line:
Fan sites have dedicated countless hours to debating the third line and while some think they’ve figured it out, the singer, Mark Mulcahy, has decided to never confirm or deny the lyric. In his interview on NPR with Terry Gross, he said, “I don’t want to tell anybody that I have so few secrets in my life. But also I don’t think anyone would want to know what it is. That’s become my opinion about it. I don’t think it would please anyone to know what it is.”
Secret theme song lyrics aside, this show was awesome. Narrated by the elder Pete, the show combined surreal elements to the brothers’ interactions with their family, friends, and other hilarious townsfolk.
Years later, I look back on this show that I enjoyed and am left with three frustratingly unanswered questions:
1. Why are both of the brothers named Pete?
Were their parents lazy? Was elder Pete a disappointment so they decided to try again with the younger Pete? Did they decide they had found the perfect name and couldn’t do any better so they named them both Pete a la George Foreman?
2. Who tattooed a large pinup on an eleven-year-old’s forearm?
I know that underage tattooing happens all the time but it’s usually done by fellow underage scratchers. But this looks like a professional quality tattoo. Either Little Pete has a very talented classmate or some adult thought it was okay to tattoo an elementary school student. And we know his parents didn’t sign off on it because the tattoo origin was explained in a short: Pete got it for his mom as a Mother’s Day gift and although he was initially punished by his parents, they eventually accepted that their young child has a sexy pinup tattooed on his forearm.
3. WHAT IS THE THIRD LINE OF THAT DAMN SONG?!
Happy Throwback Thursday!
Emily Regan 