Holy crap did I love this show growing up. This show was like NCIS for children. Okay that’s kind of a stretch but wouldn’t that be an awesome idea. In an age where nobody was really interested in cop shows all that much especially kids this show manages to bring a genre back from the dead and do a better job than most cop movies today.
The show centers around Fillmore a kid in middle school who used to bad kid until a member of the school’s safety patrol steered him right and he wound up becoming a member of the safety patrol. His partner Ingrid was also a troublemaker in the past but Fillmore steered her right and now she’s a member of the school’s safety patrol. In each episode there would be an incident at the school named X Middle School in which the safety patrol was called in to solve it. The stories were amazing. At first the cases seem so simple and obvious but as the episode goes on we get so many plot twists and shockers that knock you off guard. The characters were great to. Fillmore is that classic hard-boiled detective who does whatever it takes to bring the perp in even if he has the break the rules and destroy school property while his partner Ingrid is the rational smart one who brings Fillmore back to reality and isn’t afraid to break the rules as well. The two work off each other quite well in the show. We also have a cast of mixed races like their commissioner is Mexican-American who has a cocoa addiction and is always at odds with Fillmore because of school property damage, a Japanese girl who’s amazing with forensics, a Scottish photographer who serves as the comic relief character in the show, and the school principal who’s more concerned with her image and represents the mayor or district attorney you see in those 80s cop movies. That’s what the show is, a shout out to all those comedic cop movies that were shown in the 80s and still manage to get a good laugh out of people to this day. I think what makes this series so fun to watch is how dedicated they are to the setup of the show. The producers know they’re ripping off buddy cop movies and are fully aware that the show’s premise is ridiculous but they go all the way with it. We have cases involving corrupt girl scouts, bicycle thieves where Fillmore goes undercover to stop them, teepee bandit with a Hannibal Lector theme going on, students trying to steal the answer sheet to a test, stolen library books, acts of vengeance, the list goes on and the producers of the show are dedicated to staying serious with their setups but still making sure to get a good laugh out of the viewers. I loved every minute of this show but the one thing that I admit was annoying were the catchphrases such as disco and crackers who says that? But other than that there was nothing in this show I had a problem with. It was witty, smart, clever, funny, and enjoyable to watch and it’s easily one of my favorite Disneytoons out there that ended far too early before it could really take off.