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Kids Incorporated (also known as Kids Inc.) was a children's television program that was produced from 1984-1993.

Plot

The series revolved around a group of children and teenagers who performed in their own rock group, Kids Incorporated. The band members struggled to deal with issues ranging from divorce to violence to schoolyard crushes while performing regularly at a local restaurant/theatre, The P*lace (called The Malt Shop in the pilot).

The city or town in which the P*lace was located was never disclosed. However, according to former crew member Paul Hoen, the show was supposed to be set in Fort Greene, a section of Brooklyn, New York City. The school depicted on the Kids Incorporated set had signage reading P.S., and later, Public School 127. The P.S. designation is associated only with NYC schools. However, other fans of the series have speculated that the show was set somewhere in Los Angeles.

although fans of the series assume it's Los Angeles.

Cast and characters

The cast of Kids Incorporated was almost entirely comprised of children and teenagers. The only recurring adult members of the cast were Moosie Drier ("Riley", 1984-1988), Sean O'Riordan ("Flip", 1989-1992) and Dena Burton (1993), who played owners of The P*lace.

The Kids Incorporated group

The members of Kids Incorporated ranged in age from eight to mid-teens. From 1987-1989 there were six members of the group; in other seasons, the band was always comprised three girls and two boys.

The characters on the show usually carried the names of the actors who played them (for instance, Renee Sands' character was also called Renee). However, in some cases, the names were shortened (Anastasia Horne became "Ana"); in others, the names were completely replaced. Martika's character, for example, was named Gloria; Jerry Sharell's character was named "Mickey" and Rahsaan Patterson was called "The Kid" and his real name was not revealed until well into the series. Jennifer Love Hewitt's character was called "Robin".

Actors left the series when they "aged out" of their roles as kids. The disappearances of some long-running actors, such as Jerry Sharell, Martika, Renee Sands and Rashaan Patterson, were written into the script, however, most of the time the performers were replaced without comment. Stacy Ferguson held the record as the longest-running cast member, staying with the show for six seasons. Moosie Drier was part of the cast for five seasons; Renee Sands, Ryan Lambert, Kenny Ford and Rashaan Patterson were in the show for four years each.

All of the members of the cast were strong singers and performed their own vocals. Several, such as Devyn Puett, were also trained dancers and occasionally showcased their abilities. However, none of the performers played instruments. In many scenes in the show, the characters are shown pretending to play the piano, guitar and other instruments.

For many of the cast members, Kids Incorporated was the beginning of a fruitful career in the music industry. Currently, the most visible ex-KI kid is probably Fergie, who performs with the Grammy-award winning group The Black Eyed Peas. Others who have been largely successful in the fields of music and acting include Martika, Renee Sands (Wild Orchid), Rashaan Patterson, Eric Balfour and Ryan Lambert.

The dancers

Supporting Kids Incorporated's singers was an ensemble of five young dancers. These cast members appeared in the background in scenes in The P*lace, they also performed choreographed routines and served as backup singers and musicians (pretending to play) during Kids Incorporated's performances.

Generally, the dancers did not have speaking roles, and the plots of the episodes never incorporated them. However, during Season One, dancer Wendy Brainard performed as a singer for Corey Hart's "It Ain't Enough" and Donna Summer's "Dim All The Lights". Aaron Hamilton, Nicole Cropper, Wendy Brainard, Mario Lopez, Shanice Wilson, Darren Lee, Kimberly Duncan, Danielle-Marcus Janssen, Brian Friedman and Andrea Wilson were the only dancers to ever have speaking parts during the run of the series.

Many of the KI dancers also went on to have successful careers in the arts, including actor Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell), recording artist Shanice and Broadway choreographer and dancer Darren Lee.

Guest stars

Guest stars on Kids Incorporated included both established celebrities and newcomers. Gwen Verdon, Kathy Johnson, Barry Williams, Billy Blanks, David Hasselhoff and Ruth Buzzi were among the stars who appeared during the run of the show. Young actors who guest starred on KI included Brittany Murphy, Andrea Barber, Scott Wolf and Jason Hervey.

Music

Music was an integral part of Kids Incorporated, and several songs were included in every episode. While these numbers were usually performed onstage in the context of a concert at The P*lace, they were also occasionally used to illustrate a character's internal monologue or conflict. The vocal responsibilities were shared by all five singers; every cast member was given an opportunity to perform featured or solo songs throughout the course of the season.

While there were a few original pieces in the KI repertoire, the group mostly performed covers of contemporary hit songs. Artists and songs covered included Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, "Hip-Hop Hooray!" by Naughty by Nature, "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure, "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi, "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John, "All Fired Up" by Pat Benatar, "The Promise of A New Day" by Paula Abdul, "Pump Up The Jam" by Technotronic, Motownphilly by Boyz II Men, "Strange but True" by Times Two and "Breakaway" by Tracy Ullman.

Due to the young ages of the performers and the target audience, lyrics referencing alcohol, drugs, violence, sex and slang were generally edited out of the songs and replaced with more benign language. However, occasionally songs were performed as written, "objectionable" lyrics intact. Examples of uncensored songs that were presented on the series include "Dancing with Myself" by Billy Idol ("The Storybook House" episode, 1989), "Seven Wonders" by Fleetwood Mac (1988) and "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson (1989).

The large number of songs performed in the series, and their myriad copyright, royalty and permission agreements, present a special challenge to releasing Kids Incorporated on DVD or returning it to television. In 2005, for example, a proposal to air Kids Incorporated as part of The Disney Channel's Saturday night teen line-up fell through when Disney CEOs suggested removing much of the music and replacing it with blooper reels.

Production and broadcast history

The original pilot film for Kids Incorporated was produced in 1983 and shopped to several networks by creator Thomas W. Lynch and producer Gary Biller.

The series was not picked up by a major network, but, distributed by MGM/UA Entertainment Co. Television, began a syndicated run in the fall of 1984. The original four cast members, Stacy Ferguson, Martika, Renee Sands and Jerry Sharell, were joined by Rahsaan Patterson and a company of five backup dancers.

In syndication, the show was usually shown on Tuesday or Sunday evenings, however, this depended largely on decisions made by local television stations. For example, KTRV, the now-FOX station in Boise, Idaho aired the show at first on Tuesday, then Saturday nights at 6:30 PM. WNBC in New York City aired it first on Sundays at 1 PM, then moved it back to 9 AM. It also aired on the CBN Cable Network (now ABC Family) in 1985 on Sundays. The shuffling time slots affected the ratings, and KI was cancelled the weekend of May 25 1986.

However, in the summer of 1986, Kids Incorporated was given a second chance when The Disney Channel acquired the rights to the series. It resumed production with the same cast, and new episodes began airing on November 3 1986. Disney's buyout package included the entire syndicated run; as such, edits had to be made to remove fee plugs & commercial outros. The show's main time slot on the Disney Channel was 4pm EST/3pm CST.

After the sixth season (1989) was filmed, Kids Incorporated was put on hiatus for two years, during which time most of the cast moved on to other projects or "aged out". The only performers who were invited to return to the show in 1991, when it resumed production, were Kenny Ford and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Budget cuts and the expiration of Disney's lease with MGM prompted another hiatus in 1993, after only ten episodes of Season Nine had been filmed. However, the last episode of this season, which aired on February 9, 1994, actually turned out to be the final one of the series. By the summer of 1995, when the show was scheduled to resume production, most of the cast members were graduating from high school/University or getting married and could no longer sustain the Kids Incorporated image. Thus, the show did not continue.

The proposed company for the final revamped version of the show was said to have included new cast members Raven-Symone, Brittany Murphy and Lee Young. Anastasia Horne, Brian Friedman and Ken Arata, all veterans from the 1993 cast, were supposed to return. Brian and Ken had previously appeared on the show as dancers; they were to be upgraded to starring roles as 'kids'. This would have been the first time in the series history in which dancers had been 'promoted.' Wendy Brainard signed on as the owner of The P*lace; the new dancer lineup included Anwar Burton, Charon Alderdge, Kevin Federline, Kenia Browne and Amaris Dupree.

The format of the show would have changed, giving the songs less importance and placing them in breaks in the main storyline action. Some proposed scripts had no songs at all. In addition, the show's filming would have moved from Los Angeles to Vancouver, Canada. The hype for the new Kids Incorporated project was all over Los Angeles, Inglewood and New York but never came to fruition.

After its default cancellation, Kids Incorporated continued to be shown in reruns on The Disney Channel until May 30, 1996. In Japan, the only country to change the language of the show, the series aired on the MBS Network until 2001. Many overseas nations or countries ended the program as well by late-summer 2001.

Former Kids and Adult Industry

Eric Balfour appears in a porn video located at this website ]

Producers

Throughout its history, various producers and production companies were associated with Kids Incorporated, including K-Tel Entertainment, Lynch-Biller Productions (later Lynch Entertainment), RHI Entertainment, and MGM Television (aka MGM-Pathe). Hal Roach Studios/Quintex, the studio responsible for the Our Gang (Little Rascals) short films series of the 1930s, was also involved with KI.

Kids Incorporated effectively launched the career of creator Thomas W. Lynch, who would go on to co-create The Secret World of Alex Mack and Romeo! among other shows.

Merchandise

Kids Incorporated: The Beginning and other videos

The 1983 pilot film was never shown on television, however, in 1985 it was released on VHS as Kids Incorporated; The Beginning. In order to include cast member Rahsaan Patterson, who joined the show after the pilot was shot, a new storyline was edited into the film. His character "The Kid" was depicted as the new kid in town, who was very shy and afraid to audition for the band. He also revealed the origins of the Kids Incorporated group. Patterson's scenes were filmed 1984, and edited in with the 1983 footage of the rest of the cast.

Two additional KI videos were released in 1985, entitled Chartbusters and The Best of Kids Incorporated. While the show was still in syndication, four records were also released, entitled Kids Incorporated, New Attitude, Kids Incorporated:The Chart Hits and a second Kids Incorporated. At least two of these records achieved platinum sales status.

Current DVD plans

As of November 2006, MGM and The Disney Channel and NBC have had several talks with Thomas Lynch about releasing the series on DVD or re-broadcasting it on Disney primetime. MGM has stated that the official reason for Kids Incoporated s absence from the DVD and TV markets has not been because of domestic or music rights, but because of recent financial changes to the companies involved with the series. The final decision for future Kids Incorporated releases lies with NBC and Disney.

In the past, the series has been held from DVD and television due to complicated questions of rights and logistics. In addition to the numerous issues involving the music played in the show, matters have been further complicated by the fact that the rights to Kids Incorporated are divided between three different companies. Currently, MGM owns American domestic television rights, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment holds DVD rights, while the video archives reside with the Disney Channel.

In a 2005 interview, Fergie hinted that the show would be released on DVD, however, both studios were quick to deny any such rumor.

International Versions

Japan has had two renditions of this series. One a dubbed, the other being a regular version exclusively to Japan. It was called StarS and most of the seasons had the star image used from 1989-1992 on the USA version. This version ran between 13-26 episodes a piece, for 3 seasons from 1999-2001.

Another version called StarS2 will premiere on MBS next summer. It was produced by TOEI and co-produced by Sunrise Studios, same with the dubbed. Iraq, England, Iceland, Hawaii, Polynesia, Samoa, New Zealand all dubbed the show. Hawaii decided not to air the regular version but 2001 the started to show the series beginning with Season 2 all the way through Season 8. New Zealand made their own version, High Life in 1990 and it ran periodically with 6 episodes a year from 1990-1995 and when season 5 ended TVNZ-2 cancelled it.

Trivia

• The series was filmed at Hollywood Center Studios in California for its entire run.
• A significant amount of time passed between the filming of each season, accounting for the speed at which the kids in the cast seemed to age. The first seasons were filmed six months apart; seasons 7-9 were filmed each year in the spring.
• Kids Incorporated was one of the only shows, along with MMC, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and You Can't Do That On Television, in which the complete seasons took place within the calendar year, instead of the traditional fall-spring shooting/broadcast schedule. For instance, if an actor was with the show from 1985-1988, he actually appeared in four seasons, not three.
• In the spring of 1986, the cast performed at Knott's Berry Farm outside of Los Angeles as a part of a small promotional tour. Martika, Rahsaan, Renee and Stacy were joined on stage by actor/singer Tommy Puett (of Life Goes On fame) filling in for Ryan, who was not able to attend. Tommy's sister Devyn Puett would join the cast in 1988.
• On a couple of episodes during seasons 4 and 6, the show's credits list Stacy as Stacey Ferguson.
• The original name of The P*lace was The Palace; the asterik comes from the burnt-out neon "A" on the sign on the front of the theatre. This is visible in the opening and ending credits.
• During the first seasons, the text on the fire curtain on the old theatre stage in The P*lace reads "asbestos." In later seasons of the series, this was changed to "Fire Curtain," reflecting the growing public concern about asbestos safety i the late 1980s.
• Nicole tried out in season 7 but didn't make it. Devyn invited her back to auditions in season 8 and she joined the cast in 1992.
• Brian Friedman, Ken Arata and Jennifer King all tried out for the series between 1987-1989.
• Brittany Murphy, Amy Jo Johnson both tried out in 1990.
• Thomas Lynch's son appeared in a season 3 episode along with Nick Biller.
• Had Kids Incorporated been relaunched last year and included blooper reels, it would've joined other Disney series like Lizzie Maguire and Even Stevens.
• Eric Balfour appears in pornographic videos.

External links and references

• Kids Incorporated at IMDb
• Unofficial Kids Incorporated Website

• 1980s TV shows in the United States
• Disney Channel shows
• Children's television series