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.
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 8–9 pm 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.