Fillmore!

This show probably would be funny on it's own, but as a kid growing up in the 70s and Quinn Martin Productions, this show is hilarious. From the onslaught of punnery to the running sports team jokes (X middle school never had a basketball or football team, but I do remember them in a Bocci ball field and miniature golf tournament). It was the tongue-in- cheek detail (a papier-mache volcano in the science fair named Mt. Cliché) as well as the mock seriousness of the crime that really made the show so enjoyable. It even had a killer opening montage, closing with unmanned bikes flying over a cliff ala Mannix.

The characters are great, every fundamental of a 70x cop show was met with certain beautiful overkill, Chief (no-first-name) Vallejo, as well as the forensic and investigative members with the comic relief (a cartoon with a comic relief character) of O'Farrell. It even had mayor in the principal of X Middle School voiced by Wendy Malick. I loved her on this show, her biting, witty threats were hilarious.

If anyone ever finds out this show is being released on DVD, iTunes or Google, please let me know. Or if you can find Scott Gimple's email addy. I just want to tell him how much I enjoyed his work and how can I get it.

I've been watching this show on ABC's Saturday morning line-up, and I must say, I actually like this show. The show is about kid named Cornelius Filmore who is a hall monitor at X Middle School (quite a weird name for a school), whom along with his partner Ingrid Third prevent mischief in the hallowed halls of the school. What I like about this show is how Filmore, and Ingrid have a comissioner like boss in their hall monitor jobs, and I also love it how this show pays homage to old 1970's cop shows. I think that's pretty cool, and a great concept. Overall, I think "Fillmore!" is a great show, though I'm sure it might not be as great to some people. 10/10.

As well as being notable for all of its main characters being named after names and places in California (Fillmore and Third, Folsom, Vallejo), "Fillmore!" basically takes the cop show and transfers it to school even more so than "21 Jump Street" and "The Mod Squad" did - on those shows the enforcers came in from the outside, here the school is self-enforcing, with our heroes Cornelius Fillmore and Ingrid Third as a team working as part of the Safety Patrol for X Middle School, an institution for learning that seems to be crammed full of miscreants from the evidence here, from simple bullies to forgery, robbery, etc.

Like "Police Squad!" and "Funky Squad," "Fillmore!" is in the mold of 1970s shows, here complete with a Quinn Martin-type gravel-voiced announcer ("Today's episode: 'Masterstroke Of Malevolence'! Act One: 'A Broken Masterpiece'!" For some reason the act titles appear on screen, but the overall episode titles never do...), bosses constantly leaping down our heroes' throats, and the kind of theme tune that cop shows today wouldn't go near. All of this just adds to the fun for adults watching, but "Fillmore!" doesn't go overboard with the grown-up references - it knows who its main audience is, and it hits it fair and square. It's a cliche, but this really is fun for all the family... I'm willing to bet that the movie version of "S.W.A.T." won't be half as good.

"Fillmore! I'm on it!"

Fillmore! is, to be succinct, a totally awesome cartoon. As a 21-year-old male, it might be hard to believe I could be such an enthusiastic supporter of the show, but I am. I actually arranged my school schedule so I could see the show more often.

Fillmore! is about a cadre of safety patrol officers patrolling the hallways of X Middle School, Home of Lobstee The Lobster. Through hard work and detective skills, they always manage to catch the crook before a half an hour is up.

The show is hilarious. First and foremost is its tone, which never deviates from the gravity of the matter. Shredded petitions and pilfered robotic dogs are treated as serious as a homicide, and the detectives hit the beat in a middle school version of Law & Order. It never lets the characters know just how ridiculous the setup is, and plays fairly within their world.

Beyond that, the subtle jokes work wonders to add to the show's quality. A banner being put up reading "Hooray for Banner Club" or a group working together, becoming as solid as "Geodude using his harden attack" are just examples of how sublime the show can get.

This really is a great example of a show that everyone can enjoy. The animation is bright and vivid, the characters are all real with good motivations, and some of the plots will actually leave you guessing, which is refreshing for a show aimed at the younger set. Catch Fillmore! whenever you can.

Fillmore is a police procedural set in a middle school. The way it takes itself utterly seriously and perfectly applies all the hard-boiled detective cliches makes it great fun, and sometimes even touching. This one's for adults as much as for children.