Cousin Skeeter is an American children's sitcom, which ran on Nickelodeon from 1998 to 2001. It starred Robert Ri'chard as Bobby, a young boy whose life changed when his strange cousin Skeeter came to live with his family. With Skeeter's help, Bobby learns life lessons and tackles the ups and downs of growing up. The show also included Meagan Good as Bobby's friend Nina, Rondell Sheridan as Bobby's father Andre, and Angela Means as Bobby's mother Vanessa. Skeeter is portrayed by a hand puppet with Bill Bellamy providing his voice, and Drew Massey performing the puppetry, assisted by Alice Dinnean. Within the show, Skeeter is treated like a regular human and no mention of him being a puppet is made. Although the series was shot in a single-camera format, the show used a laugh track. The show's theme song is a parody of 702's 1996 hit "Steelo", written by Missy Elliott.
Overview
Cousin Skeeter first aired in September 1, 1998 on Nickelodeon, sharing the 8–9pm programming block with The Wild Thornberrys. Cousin Skeeter was one of many shows at this time to touch on the idea of multicultural themes in television around this time, with notable shows such as The Brothers García originating around this time as well. The show focused primarily on issues that many African Americans were facing during this time period, by presenting them in a comical way via the use of Skeeter. Skeeter frequently causes mischief, which is often balanced out by Bobby having to correct the situation.
Episodes
Characters
Main
Skeeter - Skeeter is a puppet whose life changed when he moved from Georgia to New York City to live with his cousin Bobby. He is a loud-mouthed, impulsive, and reckless ladies' man, who spends each episode getting Bobby into trouble. Skeeter is also friends with several notable celebrities, including Michael Jordan, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, and Dennis Rodman. He's not easily angry, unless someone remarks on his extreme shortness, which causes him to fly into a rage. The fact that he is a puppet is never acknowledged on the series.
Bobby Walker - Originally from Inglewood, California. Bobby is smart and well-behaved. Often the victim of his cousin's mischief, Bobby often gets mad at Skeeter, but Bobby likes him nonetheless.
André Walker - Bobby's father who is a music producer.
Nina Jones - Nina is Bobby's best friend. She and Bobby have a crush on each other at the start of the show and later start dating. She is a fast talker and Nicole's best friend.
Vanessa Walker - Bobby's mother, a lawyer, is often annoyed by Skeeter just like Bobby is. She and Andre can't wait for the boys to go to college, and the couple will do anything to get Skeeter and Bobby out of their hair.
Supporting
Nicole - A female puppet character, Nicole has more class and manners than Skeeter. She first appeared as a new student in the second season's TV movie, "New Kids on the Planet". Nicole quickly became friends with Nina and they are like sisters. She is depicted as tough, once wanting to join the high school football team, and threatening to hurt the school bully if he hurt Skeeter.
Duke - Bobby's friend Duke appeared in the first and second seasons of the series.
Geoff - One of Bobby's friends from school, Geoff always seems to be a bad role model for the boys.
Brenda
Reception
Critical
Cousin Skeeter received mixed reviews. A writer from The Hollywood Reporter described the shows characters as "undeveloped" and "dependent on a one-liner approach". Others note that the contrast between Bobby and Skeeter is meant to act as a kind of role model for children, but the message is lost in the strange behavior of Skeeter. Many viewers found it odd that the fact that Skeeter is an actual puppet is never acknowledged by any other characters, which left them to wonder why he was even a puppet in the first place. Ray Richmond, a writer for Variety, found the content borderline offensive, calling it an "a half-hour entrant in Nickelodeon’s primetime "Nickel-O-Zone" lineup" that sends "TVs view of black culture careening back to the Stone Age". However, Rotten Tomatoes rated it as one of five 1990s children's shows that helped "pave the way for black representation on TV", with the article citing the episode "The Bicycle Thief" which tackled the issue of police interacting with black children.
Ratings
According to a Variety article from February 1999, Cousin Skeeter was "consistently ranked as the top-rated live-action series for the network".
Award and nominations
1999
* Young Artist Award nominated for best performance in a TV Drama or Comedy series - Leading Young Actor: Robert Ri'chard
