Open Threads

Kidd Video Day Thread

Does anyone else here remember Kidd Video? It was a Saturday morning cartoon that originally ran on NBC from 1984 to 1985 (though I would have watched it on CTV in Canada). The title sequence summarizes the plot: a live-action band consisting of four teenagers are practicing in a storage unit when suddenly an animated villain called The Master Blaster appears and transports them to an animated dimension called The Flipside, intending to make them his “musical slaves”; however, a fairy (dressed in a headband, leotard and leg warmers) named Glitter comes along at just the right time and frees them by sneezing. They then set off to try to find a way back to the “real world”.

I watched this show quite a bit on Saturday mornings during its run, though I can’t say I remember much about it now except for the song from the title sequence. But years later in high school when I asked some friends if they remembered Kidd Video, no one else did! For a while I thought maybe I had imagined it or gotten it confused or conflated with something else in my mind, and in those days we couldn’t just hop on the Internet to look these things up. But no, it actually existed!

Some interesting tidbits I learned while reading up on this:

  • The show was created in association with Saban Productions, which of course later brought Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (based on the Japanese Super Sentai series) to American audiences
  • One of the band members was played by Robbie Rist, who is perhaps best known for playing Cousin Oliver during the final season of The Brady Bunch
  • Other voice actors who worked on the show include Cathy Cavadini, Hal Rayle, Peter Renaday, Robert Towers, Marshal Efron, Susan Silo and Michael Bell
  • While the series only ran for 26 episodes from 1984 to 1985 and seems to have been mostly forgotten, in Israel the “band” released an album in 1986 and reportedly toured there in 1987

OPTIONAL DISCUSSION PROMPT: What are some relatively obscure or short-lived cartoons or TV shows that you remember watching as a kid?

Have a Great Day Thread, Avocado!