For many a ‘90s kid, Ghostwriter was a pretty hot show. The PBS series combined literature and what was, at the time, somewhat advanced CGI with a group of real-looking kid actors to tell a cryptic story out of beautiful Fort Greene, Brooklyn brownstones. The show’s run was unfortunately cut short, though, when federal funding was axed from PBS, and rumors about who the titular Ghostwriter actually was have always swirled online.
Late last year, Apple TV+ launched its own version of Ghostwriter. Bringing back the show’s multi-cultural NYC vibe, as well as its love for literature, the reboot is a way for all those parents who may have watched the show growing up to get together with their kids and revisit some old pals. The show is even offering a companion book series and reading challenge to get kids deeper into the books featured on the show, which include some old classics and some entirely new tales.
The A.V. Club talked to Ghostwriter writer and director Luke Matheny and Sesame Workshop senior vice president, creative development Kay Wilson Stallings about Ghostwriter’s new vibe, old stars, and whether those old Ghostwriter rumors still hold true this time around.
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Hmm. I don’t know that I’d say the original series had much of a “literature” component. I remember it being way more about LITERACY: the way we can read/view and write/express in order to communicate in creative ways. It was all about cracking codes, finding clues in letters, notes, snippets of texts. And, of course, having EXTREMELY neat printing. Not so much literature.Mostly, though, it was about Lenni’s ridiculous rap music.
A TV show with an NYC vibe? How unique, and original