The unfortunate coincidence that somebody else had the same idea at the same time possibly helped sink this show. There was an hour show about an adult who went back to being a teen; I never saw that one but read critics who said that show took the premise way too seriously. "Do Over" did not make that mistake but did have touching moments along with the comedy.
I remember the episode "Block Party" in which the adult-minded teen, Joel, realized what was wrong with his family's relationship to their neighbors, and he ended up helping his father to realize it too, thus changing the history of his family. This show always raised the classic time travel question: if you change the past, does that mean when you return to the present everything will have changed because of it?
In another episode, Joel and his two best friends go to the premier of "The Empire Strikes Back." When a bully fighting over a place in line denies the three friends their opportunity to get the last available tickets, Joel gets him back by blurting out the all-time number one spoiler of the "Star Wars" series. Classic.
The other episode that stays with me is the one in which Joel enters a talent contest with a song he has written. Afraid that his own composition isn't good enough, he auditions by singing a song by the future band Green Day. Recognizing a classic when they hear one, everyone beats a path to his door; a talent scout for a record company attends the talent show. But Joel ultimately realizes that he can't live with being a cheat. He sings the song he actually composed himself, and, while everyone thinks it's OK, it's not as good as the other one they think he wrote. He doesn't get the record deal, but he is happy not to be living a lie. (Compare the movie "The Squid and the Whale" in which a teenager makes the opposite decision in the same kind of situation.)
This is another example of a good show that was never allowed to find its audience. Not as tragic as the demise of the superior series "Freaks and Geeks," but similar in that both shows deserved better than premature cancellation.
I remember the episode "Block Party" in which the adult-minded teen, Joel, realized what was wrong with his family's relationship to their neighbors, and he ended up helping his father to realize it too, thus changing the history of his family. This show always raised the classic time travel question: if you change the past, does that mean when you return to the present everything will have changed because of it?
In another episode, Joel and his two best friends go to the premier of "The Empire Strikes Back." When a bully fighting over a place in line denies the three friends their opportunity to get the last available tickets, Joel gets him back by blurting out the all-time number one spoiler of the "Star Wars" series. Classic.
The other episode that stays with me is the one in which Joel enters a talent contest with a song he has written. Afraid that his own composition isn't good enough, he auditions by singing a song by the future band Green Day. Recognizing a classic when they hear one, everyone beats a path to his door; a talent scout for a record company attends the talent show. But Joel ultimately realizes that he can't live with being a cheat. He sings the song he actually composed himself, and, while everyone thinks it's OK, it's not as good as the other one they think he wrote. He doesn't get the record deal, but he is happy not to be living a lie. (Compare the movie "The Squid and the Whale" in which a teenager makes the opposite decision in the same kind of situation.)
This is another example of a good show that was never allowed to find its audience. Not as tragic as the demise of the superior series "Freaks and Geeks," but similar in that both shows deserved better than premature cancellation.