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Kids Incorporated
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Kids Incorporated (also known as Kids Inc.) was a children's television program that premiered in syndication in August 1984, and lasted until May 1985. On November 3, 1986, the show moved to the The Disney Channel, where it lasted until 1993. Reruns lasted until April 4, 1996 in the United States, 2001 overseas. Winner of various Young Artist Awards during its nine year run, it is remembered fondly by adults who were in their teens in the 1980s. This TV show launched the career of Thomas W. Lynch, who would go on to produce "The Secret Life of Alex Mack" and "Romeo!" among others.
The show's production companies included: Lynch/Biller Productions (later Lynch Entertainment), Hal Roach Studios (aka Qintex) and MGM/UA Television (later MGM Television) (aka MGM-Pathe)
The syndicated run was distributed by MGM/UA Telecommunications.
Hal Roach Studios and MGM also produced the popular Our Gang (Little Rascals) short films of the 1930s.
The show consisted of a group of young teens (that occasionally shifted every few years as members grew too old to be "Kids" and were replaced) who performed watered-down and cleaned-up versions of pop music standards of the era, with most of the Kids noticeably pretending to play their own instruments (they did sing, though).
The one instance where the song performed was NOT cleaned-up was in a 1989 episode entitled "The Storybook House"; there the lyrics were kept intact (BTW, the song in question was "Dancing With Myself", by Billy Idol).
Along the way, lessons were learned through the conflicts of the kids (e.g. the value of honesty, or why not to cheat on a test.)
The show managed to jump start the careers of several big name stars. Among the cast were:
Eric Balfour (1991) (Actor, Six Feet Under, Conviction)
Stacy Ferguson (1984-1989) (Singer, group Wild Orchid and Black Eyed Peas)
Jennifer Love Hewitt (1989-1991) (Actress, Party of Five)
Mario Lopez (1984-1986) (Actor, Saved by the Bell)
Martika (1984-1986) (Singer, solo)
Renee Sands (1984-1987) (Singer, group Wild Orchid)
Jerry Sharell
Shanice (1984) (Singer, solo)
Rahsaan Patterson (Popular Hollywood backup vocalist)
The group of kids during the first several seasons released several platinum-selling albums of cover songs. The show also seems to have launched David Hasselhoff's singing career, when he appeared to serenade the children with his rendition of The Contours' "Do You Love Me?"
Currently, the rights to KI are split with different companies. The domestic rights lie with MGM (through Sony Pictures Television), while the video archives reside with the Disney Channel.
