''Kidd Video'' (originally in development as ''Hot Rocks'') is an American Saturday morning live action/cartoon created by DIC Enterprises in association with

Saban Productions Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and S ...

. The series originally ran on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from 1984 to 1985. Reruns continued on the network until 1987 when

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 ...

picked the show up. In the show, four teenagers are taken into a strange dimension called "the Flipside" and become cartoon characters, forced to fight the Master Blaster and his gang, the Copy Cats. The show included then-current music videos. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2001 when Disney acquired

Fox Kids Worldwide ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Television that is responsible for the operations of the U.S. cable network Freeform. The company was originally formed as International Family Entertainment, a spin-off of the Christian Broad ...

, which also includes

Saban Entertainment Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and S ...

. The series is not available on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

Premise

The title sequence explained the plot; Kidd Video and his band (Named Kidd, Carla, Ash, & Whiz) of the same name (played by

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

performers in the first half of the title sequence) were practicing in a storage unit when an animated villain named the Master Blaster appeared, and transported them to the Master Blaster's home dimension, a cartoon world called the Flipside. The Master Blaster plans to use them as his musical slaves. They were rescued by a

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

named Glitter and subsequently spent each episode of the series either helping to free the denizens of the Flipside from the Master Blaster's rule, or trying to find a way back home to the "real world". The show was dominated by an

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

-esque music video theme. Each episode featured at least one action sequence set to a popular song, and the heroes would often distract their enemies by showing current music videos and sneak off while the enemies were entranced. Each episode also ended with a live-action music video by Kidd Video. Other pop cultural current events featured heavily in the show as well: the characters often breakdanced to relax, rode on skateboards and one episode was devoted entirely to video games. The visual style of the cartoon itself was heavily influenced by the more surreal videos showing on MTV and by album artwork of the era by artists like Roger Dean. The band was created specifically for the show; they performed their own songs and they provided the voices for their cartoon counterparts. At the end of some episodes, the live action band would be shown once again performing a music video, such as "A Little TLC". The music videos produced by Kidd Video then became very popular in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, which then produced fan merchandise such as coloring books and chocolate bars with images of the band.

Characters

* Kidd Video (portrayed and voiced by Bryan Scott) - Lead singer and guitarist of Kidd Video. * Carla (portrayed and voiced by Gabriela Nelson) - The drummer of Kidd Video and the band's sole female member. Her frequently-uttered catch-phrase was "Ay-Ay-Ay!" * Whiz (portrayed and voiced by

Robbie Rist Robbie Rist (born April 4, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for playing Cousin Oliver in ''The Brady Bunch'', Martin in '' Grady'' and "Little John" in ''Big John, Little John''. Rist is also known for voicing assorted characters in te ...

) - The nerdy guitar-and bass-player of Kidd Video. He owned a

Subaru Brat The Subaru BRAT (acronym for “Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter”) was a light-duty, four-wheel drive coupé utility, version of the Subaru Leone originally introduced in 1977. The BRAT was developed directly from the company's fou ...

which was in the garage at the time of the band's abduction and also got pulled into the Flipside. As a result, it now serves as the group's main transport through the music world. * Ash (portrayed and voiced by Steve Alterman) - The clumsy keyboardist of Kidd Video; he also plays bass and saxophone. * Glitter (voiced by

Cathy Cavadini Catherine Janet Cavadini is an American voice actress. She is most well known as the original voice of Blossom on Cartoon Network's animated television series ''The Powerpuff Girls'', and as and Tanya Mousekewitz in ''An American Tail: Fievel ...

) - A

who befriends Kidd Video's band. She saved them from the Master Blaster, as seen in the introduction, with her unique ability to temporarily gain enhanced strength whenever she sneezes. * Toolbot (voiced by

Hal Rayle Hal Rayle (born January 4, 1955) is an American voice actor. He has done many roles for both animated series and live action movies. Career Rayle has had a number of voice acting jobs over his career. Rayle's animated series roles include Miss Pi ...

) - A robotic toolbox that debuted in Season Two. He is Whiz's pet. * The Master Blaster (voiced by

Peter Renaday Peter Renaday is an American actor. His career spans several films and television shows. His major roles include Master Splinter in the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', as well as Abraham Lincoln in the Hall of Presidents, and Henry in Count ...

) - The primary villain of the series. He brought Kidd Video's band to the Flipside to be his musical slaves until Glitter freed them. As a caricature of a corrupt rock manager or music executive, the Master Blaster flew around the sky in his floating castle, which resembled a giant jukebox. * The Copycats - A trio of anthropomorphic

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s that serve as the Master Blaster's minions. They get their name because they always lip-synch to their songs. They consist of: ** Cool Kitty (voiced by Robert Towers) - The leader of the Copycats. ** Fat Cat (voiced by

Marshall Efron Marshall Efron (February 3, 1938 – September 30, 2019) was an American actor and humorist originally known for his work on the listener-sponsored Pacifica radio stations WBAI New York and KPFK Los Angeles, and later for the PBS television sho ...

) - The overweight member of the Copycats. ** She-Lion (voiced by

Susan Silo Susan Silo (born July 27, 1942) is an American actress who is known for her work in voice-over roles. Early life Susan Silo was born in New York City. Both her parents were actors. Career Her acting career started in television on the episo ...

) - The female member of the Copycats.

List of episodes

Pilot (1984)

# Pilot - September 8, 1984

Season 1 (1984–85)

# To Beat the Band - September 15, 1984 # The Master Zapper - September 22, 1984 # Woofers and Tweeters - October 6, 1984 # Barnacolis - October 13, 1984 # The Pink Sphinx - October 27, 1984 # Cienega - February 16, 1985 # The Lost Note - February 23, 1985 # Music Sports - March 2, 1985 # Chameleons - March 23, 1985 # Euphonius and the Melodious Dragon - May 5, 1985 # Professor Maestro - May 12, 1985 # Grooveyard City - May 19, 1985 # The Stone - May 26, 1985

Season 2 (1985)

# The Dream Machine - November 2, 1985 # Double Trouble - November 2, 1985 # No Place Like Home - November 9, 1985 # Having a Ball - November 16, 1985 # Old Time Rocks that Roll - November 23, 1985 # Starmaker - November 23, 1985 # Narra Takes a Powder - November 23, 1985 # Race to Popland - November 23, 1985 # Master Blaster Brat - November 23, 1985 # Twilight Double Header - November 23, 1985 # A Friend in Need - November 30, 1985 # Pirates and Puzzles - November 30, 1985 # Who's in the Kitchen with Dinah? - December 7, 1985

Cast

* Bryan Scott - Kidd Video * Steve Alterman - Ash *

- Whiz * Gabriela Nelson - Carla

Voices

* Michael Bell - Additional Voices (Season 2) *

- Glitter *

- Fat Cat; Additional Voices (Season 2) *

- Toolbot (Season 2) *

- The Master Blaster; Additional Voices (Season 2) *

- She-Lion * Robert Towers - Cool Kitty; Additional Voices (Season 1)

Music

The theme song, "Video to Radio", was written by frequent musical collaborators

Haim Saban Haim Saban (; he, חיים סבן; born October 15, 1944) is an Israeli-American media proprietor, investor, and producer of records, film, and television. A businessman with interests in financial services, entertainment, and media, and an e ...

and

Shuki Levy Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as ''The Real Ghostbusters ...

, who also contributed other songs to the show. The song "Time" was written by band member Bryan Scott. The song "A Little TLC" composed by Lynsey de Paul and

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

and accompanying video was featured at the end of the first episode "To Beat the Band" and the end of the last episode "Who's in the Kitchen with Dinah?". Kidd Video released a vinyl album in Israel and the band reportedly toured there in 1987.

Home video

Six VHS tapes with a single episode each were released in the United States from DiC Video & Golden Books and numerous Spanish-language tapes were available from Vídeo Peques under the Travelling Video line.VHS - Clásicos Kidd Video , Animecion.com

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1980s American animated television series 1980s American musical comedy television series 1984 American television series debuts 1985 American television series endings American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated musical television series American television series with live action and animation Animated television series about teenagers English-language television shows Fictional musical groups NBC original programming Television series by DIC Entertainment Television series by Saban Entertainment Television series set in fictional locations Television series created by Jean Chalopin Television series about parallel universes