''Roundhouse'' is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

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 ...

that aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

from 1992 through 1996.

Background

''Roundhouse'' debuted as a part of the original

SNICK SNICK (short for Saturday Night Nickelodeon) was a two-hour programming block on the American cable television network Nickelodeon, geared toward older (preteen to teen) audiences, that ran from August 15, 1992 until January 29, 2005. It was air ...

lineup on Nickelodeon in 1992 and continued airing on the network through the end of 1996.

Buddy Sheffield Morris Taylor "Buddy" Sheffield is an American comedy writer, producer and composer. He is probably best known as Emmy-nominated head writer on Fox TV's breakthrough sketch comedy series, ''In Living Color'', having written such favorites as "Homey ...

, a former writer for ''

In Living Color ''In Living Color'' is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Keenen Ivory Wayans created, wrote and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in a ...

'', and Rita Sheffield Hester created and produced the series. Recording artist

Benny Hester Benny Ray Hester (born May 3, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and recording artist. He is perhaps best known for his songs "When God Ran" and "Nobody Knows Me Like You", and for producing the groundbreaking tween/teen music-dr ...

was the music producer as well as co-producer of the series. They titled the show in reference to the roundhouses used by railroad companies to turn trains around and get them on the right track. This was in line with the show's theme song, in which the characters stated "we can go anywhere from here". In addition, the stage for the show mirrored the interior of a roundhouse.

Episode format

Each episode revolved around the Anyfamily and their problems in daily life. The half-hour show, taped in front of a visible live audience, was broken up into sketches, dance sequences, and musical performances by both cast members and the house band. After everything is resolved story-wise, a cast member (or everyone in the final episode) would yell the words "Reprise the Theme Song and Roll the Credits"; the cast then sang the opening theme a cappella in Southern Gospel style and closed the show with a dance number. All music used on the show was written specifically for ''Roundhouse''. Crystal Lewis and Shawn Daywalt were the principal vocalists for many of the songs in the first season. After Lewis left the series to pursue a career in

Christian contemporary music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

, she was replaced by Lisa Vale, who in turn was replaced by Amy Ehrlich and Jennifer Cihi for Season 3. Natasha Pearce became the series' principal vocalist in Season 4, but Vale returned for the fourth season as well.

Cast

*Bryan Anthony (Season 4) *Alfred Carr Jr. *

Jennifer Cihi Jennifer Cihi (born April 2, 1966) is an American singer/actress who performed on Broadway, television, commercial jingles and provided several songs for animated series and films. She is best known for being the original English dub singer of ...

(Season 3) * John Crane *Mark David *Shawn Daywalt *Ivan Dudynsky *Micki Duran *Amy Ehrlich (Season 3) *Seymour Willis Green *

Crystal Lewis Crystal Lynn Lewis (born September 11, 1969) is an American contemporary Christian and jazz singer, songwriter and actress. Lewis has been nominated for several Grammy Awards, and has won multiple GMA Dove Awards. Additionally, she has release ...

(Season 1) *Dominic Lucero (Seasons 1 and 3) *Shawn Muñoz (Season 3) *David Nicoll (Season 4) *Natalie Nucci *Natasha Pearce (Season 4) *Julene Renee-Preciado (as "Julene Renee") *David Sidoni *Lisa Vale (Seasons 2 and 4)

Death of Dominic Lucero

Following the show's first season, cast member Dominic Lucero was diagnosed with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

and left the show for treatment, later returning for three episodes in the show's third season. Lucero died during production of the fourth season on July 1, 1994, at the age of 26. The series finale was dedicated in his memory (opening with "This one's for our friend Dominic, who couldn't be here"). At Lucero's request, his condition was not made public; the audience was unaware of his condition as a result. Despite his absence, Lucero's name and picture remained in the opening credits for the series' entire run.

Roundhouse band

* Jack Kelly – drums * John Pena – bass guitar * James Raymond – keyboards *

Marty Walsh Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and former union official. He has been the 29th United States Secretary of Labor since March 23, 2021. A Democrat, he previously served as the 54th mayor of Boston from 2014, ...

– guitar * Will MacGregor – bass guitar (season 3) *

Abe Laboriel Jr. Abraham Laboriel Jr. (born March 23, 1971) is an American session drummer. He is the son of Mexican bass guitarist Abraham Laboriel, nephew of Mexican rocker Johnny Laboriel, and brother of record producer, songwriter, and film composer Mateo ...

– drums (season 4)

Episodes

Season 1 (1992–93)

*You Can’t Fire Your Family *New Kid in Town *Last One Picked *School Daze *First Date *Crushes/Idealism *TV on Trial *Meat Market *The Clock Strikes Back *Conflict *Lifestyles *The School Play *What If?

Season 2 (1993)

*The Game of Popularity *Environment *Pets *Step Family Feud *In Trouble *Independence *Fears *Best Friends *And Baby Makes Three *Summertime Blues *Technobabble

Season 3 (1993–94)

*Happy Holidays *Women vs. Men *Gang Violence *Jealousy *Talent *Rock Stars *Greed *Prejudice *Generation Gap *Puberty *Privacy *Self-Esteem *The Joke's on You *Running Away *Lies

Season 4 (1994–96)

*The Big Quake *Summer Camp *Change *Nobody's Perfect (Live Episode) *Dropout *The History of the Anyfamily - Part I *The History of the Anyfamily - Part II *Justice *Superstitions *Stress and Success *Obsession *War & Peace *Endings

Sets

The first season was filmed on Stage 19 at

Nickelodeon Studios Nickelodeon Studios was a production studio and theme park attraction run by the television network Nickelodeon at Universal Studios Florida. Opening on June 7, 1990, as ''The First World Headquarters for Kids'', the studio attracted young tour ...

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...

, with the opening credits filmed in the New York section of the park. The final 3 seasons were shot on Stage 4 at

CBS Studio Center Radford Studio Center, alternatively CBS Studio Center, is a television and film studio located in the Studio City district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. The lot has 18 sound stages from , of office space, and 223 dressing rooms. T ...

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

Awards and nominations

Syndication

YTV in Canada also aired the series during its initial run on Nickelodeon. After the show ceased production in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

reruns A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * T ...

aired on both

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

and

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 ...

. The

TeenNick TeenNick is an American Pay television, pay-TV channel that is operated by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Aimed primarily at teens and tweens, its programming includes a variety of live-action series inherited from si ...

late-night block

NickRewind NickRewind (formerly The '90s Are All That, The Splat, and NickSplat) was an American late night Block programming, programming block that broadcast nightly over the channel space of TeenNick. The block showed reruns of mid-late 1980s, 1990s, ...

sporadically reran the series beginning in 2015 as part of its initial rebrand as ''The Splat''.

Home media

To date, two episodes have been released on VHS.

References

External links

*
Easychair Expressway - Fan Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roundhouse (Tv Series) 1992 American television series debuts 1996 American television series endings 1990s American children's comedy television series 1990s American sketch comedy television series 1990s American variety television series 1990s Nickelodeon original programming Children's sketch comedy English-language television shows Television shows directed by Bruce Gowers