The Adventures of Pete & Pete

Danny Tamberelli (top) as Little Pete and Mike Maronna (bottom) as Big Pete

Big Pete Wrigley (Michael Maronna)

The show's narrator, Big Pete, often acts as a voice of reason in contrast to the strange occurrences and people around him. However, he also grapples with the problem of growing up and thus losing sight of the simple happiness of childhood, often to the disappointment of Little Pete. Aside from typical sibling rivalry, he and his brother are best friends. Big Pete plays trombone in the school marching band. Big Pete's nemeses are "Endless" Mike Hellstrom and Open Face. He and Little Pete shared enemies in both Hat Head and Lifeguard Mike "The Urinator" Uplinger.

Little Pete Wrigley (Danny Tamberelli)

Four years younger than his brother, Little Pete is often engaged in struggles against adults and other authority figures. He is also known to make irrational decisions in response to problems, like selling the house because his brother hung out with a girl instead of him, without taking responsibility for it (the only exception was back in 'Grounded for Life'). Little Pete has various enemies, including Papercut (who was originally Artie's main enemy besides John McFlemp). He showed defiance in throwing scissors, instead of rock, which angered Papercut to swear revenge on him and destroy him in the rematch. Little Pete's primary nemeses are Pit Stain (for insulting his glandular disorder) and Principal Ken Schwinger (the principal at his school). He and Big Pete share enemies in Hat Head and Lifeguard Mike "The Urinator" Uplinger.

"Petunia"

A tattoo on Little Pete's forearm depicting a prone woman in a red dress, Petunia receives her own credit in the show's opening sequence. Little Pete likes to make Petunia "dance" by flexing his forearm. In the series, Petunia's origins are a mystery and a cause of bafflement for Big Pete, though in an early Pete & Pete short, it is explained that Little Pete originally got the tattoo as a Mother's Day gift, infuriating his father and causing his mother to faint. Little Pete has a second tattoo of a sailing ship on his back, although the origins of this tattoo are never explained.

Joyce Wrigley (Judy Grafe)

The Petes' mother, usually just called "Mom". She tends to be the more stern parent and conventional parent, but also tends to be more reasonable than her husband, agreeing to compromise with her sons when the need arises. She also tends to intervene when her husband goes too far.

Mom's Plate

The plate in Joyce's head, which, like Petunia, gets its own opening credit via an X-ray. It can pick up radio stations, and, in the case of little Pete's radio station WART, can also broadcast them. Though it is stated that Joyce got the plate due a childhood accident, the nature of the accident is never explained.

Donald "Don" Wrigley (Hardy Rawls)

Usually known as "Dad", Don is the Petes' father. He and Joyce met when the metal detector he was using on a beach led him to the metal plate in her head. He is extremely competitive against practically everyone, including his own sons (particularly Little Pete, who seems to have gotten his own stubborn streak from his father), his neighbors, and other local parents. His hobbies include obsessive lawn care, bowling, and fishing, particularly for "Old Bob", a legendary striped bass.

Alison Fanelli (pictured in 2012) played Ellen Hickle, Big Pete's best friend.

Ellen Josephine Hickle (Alison Fanelli)

Ellen is Big Pete's best friend; though romance develops between the two on rare occasions, Pete generally sees Ellen as "a girl and a friend, but not a girlfriend". Over the course of the show she demonstrates some obsessive tendencies. In the pre-season 1 short "The Dot",[5] as well as the season one episode "Day of the Dot"[6] she is assigned the position of the letter "I" in "Squids" as part of the school marching band and attempts to hypnotize herself into "perfect dot-ness". She played French horn in the band. Ellen is also a huge fan of Greco-Roman wrestling and has vast knowledge on the subject, as seen in the episode "Pinned"[7] where she tries to coach Big Pete.

Artie, the Strongest Man in the World (Toby Huss)

Toby Huss played Artie, Little Pete's personal superhero.

Little Pete's personal superhero and one of the few adults for whom he holds any respect. His catchphrase is "I am Artie — the strongest man ... in the world!" He wears a costume of a tight-fitting red-white-and-blue striped shirt, red long johns, and black running shoes without socks (claiming the lack of socks allows him to run at super-speeds, with the drawback of blisters). Artie claims an array of eccentric but apparently legitimate superpowers: he can skip stones on Neptune, move an entire house by an inch, turn Hat Head into a jack-o'-lantern, and hit a golf ball 300,003 yards, among other feats. Artie's main enemies are John McFlemp and Paper Cut (before he became Little Pete's nemesis). Don successfully got rid of him under McFlemp's manipulation as he was the only one who truly hated Artie. He later brought Artie back when Joyce made him see how miserable Little Pete was without him. Artie left the show after the 2-part episode "Farewell, My Little Viking", to find another little boy in need of a superhero. His spot in the opening credits would later be replaced in the third season with Nona. Stu would take over Artie's position in protecting Little Pete from his future enemies.

Theodore "Teddy" L. Forzman (David Martel)

Teddy is one of Big Pete's three friends (the others being Ellen and Bill). Teddy is a perpetually cheerful dork who is also in marching band and is known for bringing up odd trivia, then remarking "what, you guys didn't know that?" He also loves to exclaim "Excelente!" while raising his finger and give "soul shakes" (an elaborate handshake punctuated by hissing "Soul!") to friends. Teddy's cheerful personality once drove Endless Mike to a complete emotional breakdown.

Bill Korn (Rick Barbarette)

Bill is Big Pete's friend, who has a knack for practical jokes and sarcasm. He was renowned for getting Teddy to shoot milk out of his ears and getting Bus Driver Stu accused of kidnapping a busload of kids. He also admitted to once eating snot in the episode "Field of Pete". Bill did not appear after the second season.

Nona F. Mecklenberg (Michelle Trachtenberg)

Michelle Trachtenberg pictured in 1995 dressed as her character, Nona F. Mecklenberg (Little Pete's best friend).

Little Pete's best friend. Her middle initial "F" stands for Frances, but she wants to change it to Frank, Fahrvergnügen, or Forklift. She wears a cast, not because she has a broken arm but because it causes an annoying, itchy feeling on her arm which she enjoys scratching. She had a brief crush on Little Pete once or twice in the series.

Natasha (Heather Matarazzo)

A neighborhood kid and Little Pete's friend. She was a member of the Nightcrawlers who forced herself to stay awake by pulling her pigtails.

Monica Perling (Maris Hudson)

One of Little Pete's friends, Monica is the resident Kreb Scout. Her unfortunate luck with pets has given her a reputation as the "Girl Scout of Death", and she even has a graveyard for them. She has excellent hearing, supposedly because one of her ancestors married a bloodhound.

Wayne Pardue (Justin Restivo)

Also known as "Wayne the Pain". First appearing in the third season, Wayne tended to tag along with Little Pete and his friends, but as his nickname implied, Little Pete found him annoying due to his cluelessness and his tendency to spout phrases like "geez louise!" Wayne had an unrequited crush on Monica, who found him as irritating as everyone else.

Clem LaNelle (Aaron Schwartz)

He was in several episodes as a friend of Little Pete. He served as the drummer of Little Pete's band, The Blowholes, and was a member of the Nightcrawlers, staying awake longer than anyone other than Little Pete and Artie.

Libby Hurley (Winnie Zhang)

Appeared in the "Nightcrawlers" and "The Call" episodes as a friend of Little Pete. Libby was adopted by the Hurley family. She stays awake via solar-powered sneezes, but flagged once the sun went down.

"Endless" Mike Hellstrom (Rick Gomez)

Endless Mike is the mortal enemy of Big Pete. The origins of his nickname are unknown, though it is speculated it was due to his perpetually repeating the same year of high school; it has also been stated that his nickname comes from the fact that "his hatred of Big Pete is endless". Endless Mike reigns over shop class and loves Neapolitan ice cream. Although his relationship with Big Pete is largely antagonistic, the two have joined forces on rare occasions. The neighborhood kids hate and despise Endless Mike, but also envy him because he owns his own car. He hates Little Pete in "Time Tunnel" for humiliating him at the drive-in theater by showing everyone there their home movies of him as a toddler and in "Halloweenie" for foiling his attempt to make Big Pete hate the holiday like him.

"Hat Head" (Chris Leveille)

Hat Head draws his name from the fact that his hair perpetually looks as if it has been flattened by a hat, even though he is never actually seen wearing a hat. He originally appeared on several of the original shorts, making him the first bully in the Pete & Pete world. Hat Head hates Halloween and plots with Endless Mike to ruin it for the neighborhood kids, in part because Halloween is too frightening for him. He is frequently defeated by Artie, who protects both Petes from him and even made him into a man-made jack-o'-lantern with his proton push.

"Open-Face" (Jason Late)

One of Big Pete's enemies. A boy who is always shown eating open-faced sandwiches, even in church. Ellen dated him briefly in one episode.

Fran "Pit Stain" Jones (Eric Kushnick)

Little Pete's primary antagonist in season 3, he has a glandular disorder that gives him huge, smelly armpit stains. Little Pete gave him the nickname, which was quickly adopted by everyone in school (including the teachers), causing Pit Stain to swear revenge against Little Pete. He has a secret crush on Nona which often distracts him to the point of abandoning his pursuit of Little Pete. He is also often seen with his goons, "Hairnet" (Helen Davidson) and "Drawstring" (Yull Neri Borda). Drawstring was later replaced by "Nightbrace" (Robert Whitfield). During episode 3.07, "The Last Laugh", Little Pete and Pit Stain worked together to mastermind a prank on Principal Schwinger and the "Up With Personal Hygiene Singers".

"Paper Cut" (Christopher Conte)

Artie's original enemy in the season 2 episode "Farewell, My Little Viking" (parts 1 and 2). A boy who grew up in a copy shop, he is covered with lacerations and scars from paper cuts. Paper Cut can fold paper into hundreds of origami shapes, including makeshift weapons. Paper Cut enjoyed making life miserable for the helpless students by forcing them to throw "rock" while playing rock paper scissors (since he always throws "paper"). When Little Pete defied him by throwing scissors, Paper Cut made it his personal mission to destroy Little Pete in the rematch. Little Pete repeatedly defies him, and the other students, finally seeing how helpless Paper Cut is when he isn't allowed to get his way, gang up and drive Paper Cut out of Wellsville forever.

Principal Ken Schwinger (Adam West)

The principal of Little Pete's school who has earned the title of Most Despised Principal in Wellsville due to his tyrannical imposition over the student body. Schwinger institutes a mandatory regime of squat thrusts in gym class, orders that the school serve creamed corn (Schwinger's favorite food) for every meal, and invites a singing group called "Up With Personal Hygiene" Singers to perform every year, reflecting Schwinger's strange obsession with personal hygiene. This last caused Little Pete to make a truce with his mortal enemy Pit Stain to orchestrate a prank that ruins Schwinger's reputation and frees the school from his control. In turn, the humiliated singers revoke Schwinger's honorary giant cotton swab and swear off the school forever.

Mike "The Urinator" Uplinger (Christopher Cooke)

The lifeguard at the Wellsville swimming pool, he appears in ("Splashdown") as an antagonist to both Petes. When Little Pete and his friends threaten adult swim with their "atomic splash", Uplinger conspires to undermine them by giving Big Pete a lifeguard whistle and power over the pool. Big Pete is won over by his new authority and tries to do a good job by enforcing the pool rules, including kicking his brother and friends out of the pool. However, Big Pete realizes that Uplinger has been using him and soon joins Little Pete in defying Uplinger by performing the Atomic Splash, causing even the adults to join them in the forbidden dive. Uplinger is finally defeated and he is exposed as having broken the primary pool rule: never urinate in the pool's filter. Monica proved this by using a chemical known as Weewee See which exposes his inability to hold his bladder after drinking too much coffee. Uplinger is humiliated further as everyone chases him out of the pool for good.

The Wrigley house from season 3, located in Cranford, New Jersey.

Phil Hickle (Steve Buscemi)

Ellen's father and guidance counselor of Big Pete's high school. Once an enemy of Don Wrigley in "Apocalypse Pete".

James "Pop" Mecklenberg (Iggy Pop)

Nona's loving and occasionally overprotective dad. One of the many adults who feared Artie due to his strange ways until Artie stood up for him against his mortal enemy, John McFlemp. He is very proud of his home and his neighborhood. After the Pumpkin Eater gang was exposed, Mr. Mecklenberg forced the gang to clean the entire neighborhood with cotton swabs.

Mr. Tastee (Toby Huss)

A parody of Mister Softee, Mr. Tastee is a mysterious ice cream vendor who never removes his mascot costume head. Mr. Tastee comes to symbolizes summer for the neighborhood kids, who become caught up in the mystery of who he is and why he seems so lonely. When the Petes' attempts to strike up a friendship cause Tastee to flee, the Petes and Ellen spend the summer tracking him down via his holiday photographs, learning that he was once married to a beautiful blind heiress who called him "Leonard". The kids eventually find Mr. Tastee, who confesses that he has commitment issues. They agree to allow Mr. Tastee his privacy as long as he returns to the neighborhood.

Stu Benedict (Damian Young)

An eccentric and emotionally unstable bus driver who was once in love with fellow bus driver Sally Knorp. His longing for Knorp causes him to drive his charges in endless loops through town, pointing out significant locations in his and Sally's relationship, while the children are forced to listen in frustration. Finally Endless Mike comes to the trapped kids' rescue by reporting Stu for kidnapping, while Ellen and Big Pete arrange a reconciliation with Sally. Stu does play protector to Little Pete in the season 2 finale episode "Sick Day" when he helps him avoid getting caught skipping school, and in the season 3 episode "The Good, The Bad and the Lucky", where he puts Pit Stain and his gang under bus arrest.

Frank Gulcher (Jim Lally)

A crossing guard who defends the crosswalk with his life, abiding by "the code of the crosswalk". Frank is haunted by the memory of the time he failed to save Little Pete's pet lizard Gary from death by oncoming traffic. Despite this, Gulcher is one of the few adults who Little Pete is friends with.

The many guest stars that appeared on Pete & Pete include:

• Selma Blair — Penelope Ghiruto, school bus passenger from whose name Big Pete can make 27 words. ("Das Bus")
• Elizabeth Bogush — Diane Senski, love interest of Big Pete who loses interest due to Big Pete's friendship with Teddy, whom she finds too annoying. ("The Trouble With Teddy")
• Golden Brooks — Heather, captain of the tennis team and Big Pete's love interest. ("Crisis in the Love Zone")
• Drew Carey (uncredited) — Veteran at 4 July picnic launching fireworks. ("Grounded for Life")
• Jude Ciccolella — Mr. Slurm, high school shop teacher with a claw for a hand. ("Tool and Die")
• Matthew G. Cliff — Roger SanGreco, known as "Chalkface" due to his pale skin and the fact that he smells like classroom chalk. He is a short-lived enemy of Little Pete. ("The Call", "Dance Fever")
• Ellen Cleghorne — Bus driver Sally Knorp, on-again/off-again girlfriend of Stu Benedict. (Appears in "Day of the Dot" and "Yellow Fever", though she is mentioned in other episodes)
• Marshall Crenshaw — "Lightning" Mel Ratner, a meter reader who joins Little Pete's band. ("A Hard Day's Pete")
• Art Donovan — As himself, talking to Big Pete about playing with Johnny Unitas. ("Space, Geeks, and Johnny Unitas")
• Martin Donovan — Crossing guard Kenneth G. Keegan who passes messages between Big Pete and Ellen in "Apocalypse Pete"; also Smith ("Smitty"), a security guard whom Little Pete and Petunia distract in "Space, Geeks, and Johnny Unitas".
• Richard Edson — School janitor and field chalker Mr. Beverly. ("Valentine's Day Massacre")
• Chris Elliott — Meterman Ray, a meter reader who foretells Little Pete's future. ("Sick Day")
• Gordon Gano — Mr. Zank, the first of many substitute math teachers. ("X=Why?")
• Janeane Garofalo — Ms. Brackett, an English teacher. ("X=Why?")
• Frank Gifford — As himself, a customer at Dad's driving range. ("Rangeboy")
• Ellen Greene — Abilene Jones, drive-in film operator. ("Time Tunnel")
• Debbie Harry — A neighbor whose lawn the Petes sweep for land mines. ("New Year's Pete")
• Eliza Harris — Girl in the straitjacket. ("Last Laugh")
• Juliana Hatfield — Lunchlady Emma. ("Don't Tread on Pete")
• Patty Hearst — Mrs. Kretchmar, a member of the family that moves into the Wrigley house. ("35 Hours")
• William Hickey — Grandpa Wrigley, Dad's dad. ("When Petes Collide")
• David Johansen — Park Ranger Thorsen, who scrutinizes Dad's activities until learning he is hunting for Old Bob. ("On Golden Pete")
• LL Cool J — Mr. Thornberry, Little Pete's teacher. ("Sick Day")
• Luscious Jackson — The band that plays at the school dance. ("Dance Fever")
• Alicia Keys — A student ("Tool and Die")
• Ann Magnuson — Eunice Puell, mail carrier and object of Little Pete's affection. ("Crisis in the Love Zone")
• John McLaughlin — As himself, devoting a portion of his show to support Big Pete's bid for Dad's bowling ball. ("When Petes Collide")
• Miracle Legion — The four-piece version of Polaris that Little Pete sees in a garage ("A Hard Day's Pete"). Polaris, in turn, was Miracle Legion minus guitarist Mr. Ray.
• Bebe Neuwirth — Mail Lady McGintee, a mail carrier whom Little Pete comes across on his sick day adventure. ("The Call", "Sick Day")
• Larisa Oleynik — A nurse who rushes Little Pete through the hospital. ("Dance Fever")
• Vincent Pastore — Vincent Park, a neighbor and bowling agent who is impressed with Artie's bowling skills and gets him to sign a bowling contract.
• Geoff Pierson — Mr. Perfect, dad's competition on a family trip to the Hoover Dam. ("The King of the Road")
• Kate Pierson — Mysterious blind millionaire Mrs. Vanderveer, who was once married to Mr. Tastee. ("What We Did on Our Summer Vacation")
• John Ottavino — Inspector 34, inspector of Kreb of the Loom underwear and Little Pete's guardian angel. ("Inspector 34")
• Suzzy Roche — PEO MacMillan, meter maid and Inspector 34's love interest. ("Inspector 34")
• James Rebhorn — Supervillain John McFlemp, who rallies the neighborhood to turn Artie into a respectable adult. ("Farewell My Little Viking" (parts 1 and 2))
• Sarah Shannon — A grocery store employee who gives Little Pete a label from an expired can of tapioca pudding. ("Sick Day")
• J. K. Simmons — Barber Dan, who refuses to talk to Big Pete. ("Saturday")
• Michael Stipe — Captain Scrummy, a disliked rival ice-cream vendor to Mr. Tastee. ("What We Did On Our Summer Vacation")
• Syd Straw — Math teacher Miss Fingerwood. Played bass in the Blowholes. ("Hard Day's Pete", "X=Why", "Valentine's Day Massacre")
• Liza Weil — Margie Corsell, a girl for whom Big Pete abandons his brother ("35 Hours"). Weil also played a bully in "Yellow Fever", with her mother Lisa as a teacher in the same episode.

One widely reported guest appearance — Hunter S. Thompson in "New Year's Pete" — has been described as "apocryphal" by show creator Will McRobb, who has said the Hunter Thompson listed in the credits is instead a similarly named extra.[8]

The show also used music from standard production music libraries.

• "Blood in the Gutter" by Laurie Johnson
• "Drama Link (d)" by Hubert Clifford
• "Dramatic Impact #3" by Ivor Slaney
• "Fisticuffs" by Laurie Johnson
• "Ballata Per Un Pistolero (Ballad of a Gunman)"[12] A notable Western theme in the style of Ennio Morricone, it was used whenever there was a showdown between characters, for example Little Pete and the ringing phone in "The Call".
• "Lonely Stranger" by Laurie Johnson
• "Maniac Pursuit" by Trevor Duncan

Nickelodeon VHS tapes were first released through Sony Wonder, then through Paramount.

• "Snick Vol. 1: Nick Snicks Friendship" — Includes one episode from each show in the early SNICK lineup: Clarissa Explains It All, Roundhouse, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Are You Afraid of the Dark?. A pre-series Pete & Pete short is included in between each show. This tape includes the shorts "Artie, the Strongest Man in the World", "X-Ray Man", and "Route 34".
• "Snick Vol. 2: Nick Snicks the Family" — Includes the same lineup as "Friendship". The Pete & Pete shorts are "The Burping Room", "Mom's Plate", and "The Punishment".
• "Classic Petes" — Includes the episodes "What We Did on Our Summer Vacation" and "Apocalypse Pete", plus the bonus short "Artie's Workout". (with an accompanying "Petunia" Tattoo)
• "School Dazed" — Includes the episodes "Day of the Dot" and "Tool and Die", plus the bonus short "StareMaster" (with an accompanying "Magic Motion Eyeball Card").
• "Farewell, My Little Viking" — Includes both parts of the story, edited into one long episode. Also includes the short "Artie, the Strongest Man in the World".

Nickelodeon DVDs are released through Paramount.

Season Releases