Harriet the Spy: Now About Makeovers, Cute Boys, Beating Popular Kids

Remember when Harriet the Spy was all about the unintended power of the written word, the folly of pride, and the painfully real social complications of middle school?  Well, start trying to forget, because now it’s all about teen celebrity heartthrobs, tabloid blogging (or, at least, some heavily romanticized vision of it), and a healthy dose of fake high school drama as only the Disney Channel can provide.  If only XKCD had been right…

A sad, sad, blasphemous trailer after the jump. 

When we were young, and you had to wait fifteen minutes for Netscape to connect, Harriet the Spy was the first Nickelodeon movie.  This was a big deal, because at the time Nickelodeon was the only channel that showed all day kids programming, unless you had satellite.  And the network actually had some really special programming throughout, like You Can’t Do That On Television, and Pete & Pete, and had just started to make its own weekly animated content, bringing Doug, Ren and Stimpy, and Rocko’s Modern Life to the world.  Harriet the Spy starred Michele Trachtenberg of Pete & Pete fame, Rosie O’Donnell, and Ertha Kitt.  Running along with it in theaters was the first episode of Hey, Arnold!

Just try to hang on to that as you watch this.

Our Favorite Part: “Marion’s already posting!” “WHAT, already?!” “Harriet, WHEN ARE YOU POSTING?!”

It’s like somebody put my life on television.