''Kids Say the Darndest Things'' is an American

comedy series Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...

originally hosted by

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from January 9, 1998 to June 23, 2000. A revival hosted by

Tiffany Haddish Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish (born December 3, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. After guest-starring on several television series and lead role on a cable drama, Haddish gained prominence for her role as Nekeisha Williams on ...

aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from October 6, 2019 to January 19, 2020. ABC cancelled the revival after one season. However, the revival moved to CBS, its original network, from May 5 to June 23, 2021 with Haddish returning as host.

Premise

The host would begin a conversation by posing a question about life topics to a child, who usually responds with their own innocent, often comedic perspectives on the various topics. In the show's first inception, it would sometimes flash back to the 1950s and 1960s show ''

Art Linkletter's House Party ''House Party'' is an American radio daytime variety/talk show that aired on CBS Radio and on ABC Radio from January 15, 1945 to October 13, 1967.Dunning, John''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''(Oxford University Press, 1998), p. ...

'', with Cosby joined onstage by

Art Linkletter Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; sources differ; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of ''House Party'', which ran on CBS radio a ...

, that show's host, to introduce the vintage clips. It would show kids (of the time), their same comedic reactions to whatever Linkletter would ask or say to them. Cosby also provided some of the humor in the show. The revival continued the premise, with part of the show performed in front of a live audience, and the rest featuring taped segments.

Production

For the series' first iteration, ''Kids Say the Darndest Things'' was produced by

CBS Productions CBS Productions, Inc. was a production arm of the CBS television network (an initialism of Columbia Broadcasting System, along with its parent company CBS Television Studios, Inc.; the radio network was founded in 1927), now a part of Paramount Gl ...

with the co-production of LMNO Productions and Linkletter's company, Linkletter Productions. The revival continued its CBS association via

CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

, and was also co-produced by Haddish through her production company, She Ready Productions, and Eric Schotz of Anvil 1893 Entertainment.

Conception

The show is based on a feature with the same name in

's radio show ''

House Party A house party is a type of party where people gather at the residence of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, ...

'' and

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

, ''

'', which together aired mostly five days a week from 1945 to 1969.Dunning, John. ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1998), pp. 333.

In other media

The subplot of the ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'' episode "

Brian Does Hollywood The third season of ''Family Guy'' first aired on the Fox network in 22 episodes from July 11, 2001, to November 9, 2003, before being released as a DVD box set and in syndication. It premiered with the episode "The Thin White Line" and finished ...

" features Stewie auditioning for the show in an attempt to hypnotize the entire world using a mind-control device, with Cosby later unwittingly foiling his plans. In 2005, Robert Johnson and Albert Evans adapted the show into a full-length musical comedy.

International versions

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kids Say The Darndest Things 1990s American comedy television series 1998 American television series debuts 2000 American television series endings 2000s American comedy television series 2010s American comedy television series 2019 American television series debuts 2020s American comedy television series 2021 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American television series revived after cancellation Bill Cosby CBS original programming English-language television shows Television series by CBS Studios Television series about children