The year is 2002, the place is the ABC television network, and the suspect is a two season cartoon by the name of Fillmore!. I stumbled upon Fillmore! while channel surfing during a sick day. I wanted something simple and light and at first glance Fillmore! was exactly that, a cartoon about the safety patrol in an elementary school.
What I did not expect was for Fillmore! to be a buddy cop drama wearing the skin of an elementary school. We’re talking “car” chases, gun fights (although never with actual guns), serial killers shredders, and gang violence. Now you might be saying to yourself “hold the phone mumbles, you said this was a kids show.” and that’s the beauty of it, the creators managed to take high stakes cop drama and mix it into the candy cereal of family entertainment.
Like in any classic cop show Fillmore, the character the show is named after, has a shady past and is a bit too much of a loose cannon. Fillmore lost his last partner to a family move and has been flying solo ever since. Due to his past truancy and his collateral damage issues, The principal wants him partnered with someone who can reign him in. The first episode starts on the day Fillmore meets the new student, Ingrid Third who will become his partner for the rest of the series.
Ingrid was being set up to take the fall for a school stink bombing. Due to her past history of stink bombing other schools, she is the prime suspect and only Fillmore believes that she may be innocent. They team up together to ferret out the truth using Fillmore’s criminal mind and Ingrid’s photographic memory. At the end of the episode after the culprit is unveiled Ingrid signs up with the Safety Patrol as Fillmore’s partner.
Fillmore! has surprisingly well-written mysteries laced with completely humourous elementary school encounters that still manage to give off the feeling of high stakes. If you like buddy cop dramas and cartoons with serious but at the same time laughable stakes this is the show for you. I mean check out the show intro and just try to tell me you are not intrigued: