It's been over a decade since this show premiered September 14, 2002 and initially aired as part of the ABC Kids block, and it's been over a month since it reached it's tenth anniversary. I have to start off by saying I admit I didn't check for it at the time and during the other times it was broadcasted on there. I don't know why I was so afraid to take a chance on it exactly and didn't bother to give it a try in the first place. I missed out when it originally ran, but I'd make up for it a few years later when I decided to check out this program on Youtube. If it weren't for that video site and the posters who uploaded copies of episodes on there, I still wouldn't have gotten to watch it, since it doesn't air on the Disney Channel nor does it seem to air on Toon Disney (albeit seldom from what I read on Wikipedia) anymore. And to date, it still hasn't been released on DVD officially unfortunately. But since getting into it via viewing videos of the episodes online, I've got to say, it's one of the most outstanding series that ever emerged from Walt Disney Television Animation in my eyes. And it's since been one of my favorites (cartoon, Disney or otherwise) of not only the 2000s, but of all time. What had I been missing for as long as I had??? After seeing this, I now regret not doing so sooner and wish I had. As the last program produced by the studio/company independently, I'm so glad it went out on this one. This was the perfect one to go out on in the process. I find it to be one of the wittiest, most intriguing ever made. I'm just so fascinated and captivated by it. I know that some may not concur with me here, but in my view, this is one of the strongest, among the best of and probably the last of the truly greats by WDTA. Since hooking up with the Disney Channel (also a decade ago) in co-producing original shows, most (if not all) of them haven't quite been up to par and matched the level of this one, from some of the reviews I read on IMDB and T.V.com, although I saw some of the animated Disney Channel originals as well. I've yet to be impressed with a Disney 'toon as brilliant as this. If I had kids, this is definitely one of the 'toons to which I'd exposed them. Sorry for rambling with my thoughts on it, but I just can't praise Fillmore! enough.
Fillmore! is the brainchild of creator Scott M. Gimple and directed by Christian Roman. It's a crime/mystery/suspense show in a junior high setting (X Middle School) and parodies what's reminiscent of '70s cop shows (it can also be considered and described as a kid-friendly version of the Law & Order and CSI franchises). It follows the cases of the eponymous lead character, Cornelius Fillmore (voiced by Orlando Brown of later Family Matters, Max Keeble's Big Move and That's So Raven fame), a former juvie delinquent turned safety patrol officer. The back-story is he'd reform, turning over a new leaf after getting caught raiding the school's chalk supply by safety patroller Wayne Liggett, who gave him an ultimatum: Join the safety patrol or spend lengthy time in detention. To avoid the latter, he agreed to take the former option. Wayne would become Fillmore's new (and first) safety patrol partner , but when the former moved away, he'd be replaced by Ingrid Third (voiced by Tara Strong, Kim Possible, Danny Phantom), a goth girl with an aptitude for photographic memory, when she came to X, as shown in "Ingrid Third, Public Enemy #1" (although Fillmore would meet up with Wayne again when he visits him in Tennessee where the latter is now based and resides to take on a case there in "South of Friendship, North of Justice").
One of the things that grabs me or draws me to this show is the constant set-up. In each episode, viewers meet the students and staff there and anybody else who have problems that need to be solved or someone may turn out to be a person of interest or suspect in a case. And each episode tackles not only a different case, but a different subject matter as well. Therefore, not only are the usual (but more child/family-friendly alternative) topics featured, but what normally and commonly takes place at school is covered as well. In the case (no pun intended) of "A Dark Score Evened", it dealt with bullying. Considering and being that I hadn't gotten into the show yet, at the time I never thought it would be another one of those educational/informational shows until I read an article on this mentioning it, that it was designed with that requirement in mind, which Mr. Gimple had and managed to include. When I look back on the socially aware aspect and message of the bullying episode I brought up, I see it now and it does make sense how that would fit. The series is a homage of sorts to various cop shows and movies, like Shaft, complete with a blaxploitation theme or score for some of the incidental music. In addition to crime, mystery and suspense, it has action, comedy and drama as well. There have been a few episodes that parodied post-'70s, like-minded movies, such as "To Mar a Stall" parodying Silence of The Lambs. The safety patrol featured in this school (and possibly many others like it, at other schools, within the same universe), isn't your typical, average or ordinary safety patrol. Members of that force really act more like detectives or investigators. They spend more time at their headquarters in X Middle and figuring out mysteries than attending classes. X is an above-average middle school, seemingly larger than any other and has a population of over 1,000. There are so many clubs (both conventional and unconventional) that they'd give one a reason to look forward to going there almost every day. Some fun trivia is several of the characters' surnames were taken from Californian streets, taking inspirational cues from The Streets of San Francisco. Rounding out the rest of the main cast are junior commissioner Horatio Vallejo (voiced by Horatio Sanz, Saturday Night Live, Boat Trip), whose position is that of a police chief, Danny O'Farrell (voiced by Kyle Sullivan, Malcolm In The Middle, The War at Home), the crime scene photographer who provides much of the comic relief, Joseph Anza (voiced by Danny Tamberelli, The Adventures of Pete & Pete, All That), the bodyguard trainee, Karen Tehama (voiced by Lauren Tom, Grace Under Fire, Catfish In Black Bean Sauce), the forensics specialist, Principal Dawn S. Folsom (voiced by Wendie Malick, Just Shoot Me, Hot In Cleveland), who acts as the mayor, and vice principal Raycliff (voiced by Jeff Probst, Survivor, The Jeff Probst Show), who acts as the vice mayor and right-hand man. Plus, the late Don LaFontaine can be heard as the voice-over narrator announcing every episode's title and their three acts. There are several characters voiced by the recurring and guest casts (although most of the main and recurring cast members voiced more than one character also), ranging from Fillmore's parents (voiced by Gary Dourdan and Holly Robinson Peete) to Ingrid's dad (voiced by Anthony Head), among others. And while the majority of characters are notable more for their background/walk-on roles, most of whom had at least one eminent, significant, and even pivotal role as part of the cases in which they're featured. That's another of the main things I find interesting about it. And a lot of them are interesting. There have been so many suspects who range from the sympathetic and merciful to the apathetic and merciless.
A third thing I like about this show is the relationship between Fillmore and Ingrid. After coming from previously troubled backgrounds, they ultimately decide to pair up and work as a team once they redeemed themselves by moving to and getting with the right side of the law. These partners making for one of the best duos in crime solving and stopping. I came across a comment concerning Fillmore's catch-phrase, "disco", with which that person had beef with it. But at least it's one that's easier to get (being a '70s reference and in lieu of "excellent"), for me anyway. I never quite got Ingrid's catch-phrase, "crackers". While reading someone's review pertaining to this one another site, that reviewer brought up the fact that the show sometimes got too dramatic. That this is supposed to be primarily a cop/detective parody but the writers spent more time on the drama, which would make it a real thing rather than a send-up. I hadn't really noticed just how much drama there is, but even so, that's what O'Farrell is there for and that's why he was brought in to balance things out some. It still has some comedic moments. A second reviewer on another site had beef with the fact that there's a pursuit-of-the-suspect moment in each episode. I, on the other hand, don't spend time dwelling on that so much, paying attention to nor caring about that. There still are plenty of other things to focus on this series besides that and there are plenty to keep me engaged. I consider and find that to be a petty issue (not that it would probably matter to that reviewer anyway), so whatever. That reviewer should anticipate that it's part of the mystery programs' shtick, what did that reviewer expect and what more or better did he want from it exactly? I know it may be too much of the same routine. Maybe so, but still.
Disappointing and disheartening to say, the series was dropped too soon after only a couple seasons and 26 episodes in total. Although it could've been worse. It could've been just limited to another one-off pilot. I surely wouldn't want that on the one hand, I know I should be glad and grateful that Disney allowed it to go this far at all, and I am. 26 is a fairly decent number of episodes. However, could've been better/greater. But still, at the same time, on the other hand, there's so much more that could've been done on the program. It had so much potential and nearly infinite possibilities, and it had plenty of the former left. There are more things that I would've liked to have seen and known, and since learning it got dropped as soon as it did, I can't help wondering about what more there could've been or would've been. Like, who else would've guest starred? What other suspects would've been profiled? Would there have been at least one episode that centered more on Joseph and Karen, for once? Would Jean Geary have been a character or among the characters focused on in a third season episode or beyond had there been any others eventually? And would there have been plans for Brad Parnassus to return? This is one of WDTA's series that grabbed me the most and that dern studio/company had to drop it too soon. Dern it and dern them getting the final say!!! Too good to last?!? According to TV Tropes. Heck with that!!! It deserved so much more than it got, including an Emmy or an Annie. For dern sure it's more worthy of those than Fanboy and Chum Chum. We need more, great shows like this one and less of the dreck like Flamboy and Crum Crum outweighing the better stuff that's airing these days anyway. There are some Disney cartoons that were/are just as great as this and they got longer runs. How could or does one explain that, exactly? Aside from a theory that I have and thought of concerning this: If episodes of Fillmore! had been ordered for and originally aired as part of a weekday afternoon cartoon/kid show block like the Disney Afternoon, then I believe that it's almost a sure-fire guarantee that it would've had a much better chance at being allowed to run longer. Most series that aired on the D.A. block had long and more satisfying runs. Airing each new episode five days a week means a higher number of episodes ordered. Notice how those shows received a greater number of episodes picked up within a single season than what aired as part of the One Saturday Morning/ABC Kids block. Though I know the D.A. block unfortunately already went defunct three years prior to Fillmore's premiere, which would've meant the block would've had to be renamed or replaced. Better yet, the majority of Fillmore! episodes could've been ordered and aired on a weekday afternoon block while some others could've been ordered and aired on Saturdays on ABC, like what was done with Darkwing Duck. Even though I was still in the middle of catching up on this, after finding out a pair of seasons and 26 episodes was what it was allowed to get, it still left me wanting more, even more now that I'm completely caught up on it. Once again, dern them for doing this to me and others in favor of higher rated Disney Channel programs and having the returned market share of mediocre programs, as I read on someone else's blog. Dern that too. It's such an injustice how this got canned so soon without receiving a more proper, real ending. Oh, if only... what more there really could've (and should've) been. Horse-feathers. Although on a lighter note, I had a dream a few months back about a new episode of this series I was watching premiered. What it revolved around particularly is vague, as it was just the opening with a few moments of the first act and I never finished it in its entirety.
Fillmore! has it all. Intelligent writing, stellar voice cast, a cool instrumental theme song by Ookla the Mok and more. If anyone reading this hasn't already seen it, then I highly recommend not to make the mistake of sleeping on it and putting it off for as long like I did. One of my top 5 shows/cartoons of the last decade. As for the minority of haters of this, don't listen to them. What do they know? I guess they just don't have an appreciation for or know a stellar series when they see it and probably prefer bottom-of-the-barrel, deplorable, mindless horse-scat like the aforementioned FB&CC and I'll take Fillmore over that any day. There are simply many things about it that make it so much different/intriguing/original from all the rest., mystery or otherwise. I love how this show managed to surpass the youth demographic and attract, and appeal to older viewers as well, whether that may have been Disney's intention or not, and thereby dispelling the long-held falseness (and horse-feathers) about most cartoons being kid stuff only. Despite the rating for it being TV Y (or is it TV Y-7, I'm not sure), I and many others would consider it more of a general audiences show, which would make it TV G instead. It's a crime how this has yet to be brought to DVD officially. Now if only I could use my detective skills to find sites selling the unofficial DVDs (and that are legal) by those who aren't derned cheapskates when it comes to not accepting money orders as payment options. I was somewhat hooked on Fillmore!, I admit. There is just so much to like about this program that makes it enthralling. For whoever may read this, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to do so.
