Cousin Skeeter

Cousin Skeeter is an American children's sitcom, that originally aired 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. A rumour was circulated online that the show's run ended after slime was dumped on the puppet during a taping of Figure It Out, permanently staining it. This is untrue, as the puppet's appearance on Figure It Out was in 1998, 3 years prior to cancellation.
The show's theme song is a parody of 702's 1996 hit "Steelo", written by Missy Elliott.
Overview.
"Cousin Skeeter" first aired on 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.
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 [Nickelodeon] network".