|
|
|---|
|
 |
Go CityKids, Go Citykids, Go! —The chorus of the show's theme song.
|
 |
CityKids was an American teen, family, comedy, drama, musical television series that aired late Saturday mornings on ABC. It was created by Jeffrey Solomon. It was a co-production between the New York, non-profit organization, The CityKids Foundation and Jim Henson Productions. It ran for one season between late 1993 and early 1994 for 13 episodes and was dropped by ABC after failing to achieve desirable ratings. Unlike most other, Jim Henson-related projects, this series was aimed at primarily the urban teenaged demographic. The theme song was co-composed by future New York Undercover star, Malik Yoba and Raleigh J. Neal II, who co-wrote other songs, and served as the creative music supervisors. Savage Steve Holland (who co-created Eek the Cat and The Terrible Thunderlizards with Bill Kopp), directed the pilot episode. Several of the youth involved in the CityKids Foundation were also involved in the making of the show. They worked as performance artists, creative assistants, and production interns. The show was designed by teens, with teens, for teens. The pilot episode originally aired as an ABC Saturday Morning Special, which premiered on January 30, 1993.
The series revolves around an ethnically-diverse group of seven (eight in the pilot) teenagers and high schoolers who come of age while getting into various misadventures somewhere in New York. In each episode, at least one of the CityKids is faced with some problem, such as racism (Susan in "Pilot"), credit card debt (Nikki in "The Curse of Ali Baba"), and an absentee parent (Snoopy in "Quality Time") and they have to figure out a way to solve it. Although the live-action segments with the CityKids are the main focus, there are also cuts to the muppets segments. But rather than featuring preexisting, established muppet characters from previous shows like The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, the muppets in this are newer, more original characters created in mind for this show. They represent the Greek Chorus for the CityKids. Other segments feature black-and-white scenes that have everyday people giving their thoughts on the subjects at hand and at least two musical numbers per episode. Because of all these, it stood out from other teen shows of the time like Saved by the Bell.
The most prominent member of the main, human cast was actor Dule` Hill in an early role. He would later go on to appear in Psych and The Wonder Years reboot, among other things. Donald Faison of Scrubs fame appeared in the musical number, "Saturday", from the episode, "Quality Time", as a dancer. Several of the muppets in this went on to appear in later projects.
- An Aesop: One of the common features of this.
- Anthropomorphic Food: Frankie Frank and Footers, and other hot dogs.
- Berserk Button: In "The Curse of Ali Baba", Tito loses it when he finds his sister talking to a guy and doesn't approve of that at the same time the redesigned Libido loses it. So much so, Libido escapes his cage and lies on a literal berserk button, pressing it.
- Big Brother Instinct: Tito is overprotective of his sister, as shown in "The Curse of Ali Baba".
- Comic Trio: The Inside the Head muppets.
- Coming of Age Story: The center of this for the CityKids' senior high years.
- Cool Shades: Frankie Frank.
- Susan wears a pair in "Pilot" due to being self-conscious about the shape of her eyes.
- Crowd Song: Every song throughout the show.
- Cult Classic: The show didn't get much attention when it ran, but it has a small, devoted fanbase. It could be considered to be among the most underrated shows ever made, with or without muppets.
- Curse Cut Short: In "Becoming a Man", Lieutenant tells Captain, "We're going straight to...", for David's lie to a priest, but Captain cuts him off before he can finish that sentence.
- Dreadlock Rasta: Dread, his are purple.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: The Inside the Head muppets and The Dirt Sisters had prototypical designs in "Pilot" before their redesigns appeared in other episodes. Like Lieutenant was originally a bespectacled, red monkey.
- Early Installment Weirdness: The unnamed black girl who was part of the circle of friends in "Pilot" is never seen again afterward.
- Faint in Shock: David in "Pilot" after being shot down by Freida and revealing the second time of what goes on in his head.
- First-Name Basis: Most of the main, human characters' last names are unknown. Susan is the exception, as her last name, Ng, is revealed in "Pilot".
- Freudian Trio: The Inside the Head muppets Captain (ego), Lieutenant (superego), and Libido (id) respectively.
- The Girl in the Mirror Talks Back: In "Pilot", Susan's reflection in the bathroom mirror talks back to her after the former is racially harassed. Her reflection tries to convince her not to let the three guys who did that bother her so much and remind her of the meaning behind what and who she is.
- Gossipy Hens: The Dirt Sisters (Toya and Trish).
- Greek Chorus: All the muppets in this represent it for the CityKids.
- Hip-Hop: This soundtrack is a major theme, including the theme song and "Whatcha Gonna Do About Hate?", from "Pilot".
- The group, Frankie Frank and the Footers, are in this music genre.
- Holiday Episode: "Rooftop Thanksgiving".
- Hypochondria: David believes he's suffering from this in "I Am Woman".
- Jewish Complaining: David in "I Am Woman", when he thinks he's suffering from several illnesses.
- Madness Mantra: The original Libido in "Pilot" repeatedly says "Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!" and "Must have it! Must Have it!", after David tries to decide on approach a girl he likes named Freida.
- The redesigned Libido in "Pack of Lies", repeats "Help me! Help me!" in a panicked state when Snoopy can't answer a question his professor asks him.
- Mental World: Where the Inside the Head segments take place and where its self-titled muppet characters dwell.
- The Musical: At least two songs in each episode.
- New Jack Swing: Some of the background music is in this style, as this show premiered around the tail end of the New Jack Swing era.
- "A Little Bit of Lovin'" from "The Mural".
- No Name Given: The black girl who appeared with the other CityKids in "Pilot". Her name is never mentioned.
- Overly Long Scream: The prototypical Libido from "Pilot" lets out a long wail in response to Freida turning down David's request for her to go out with him.
- Reggae: The song, "More Love", from the pilot episode.
- The instrumental theme music that plays when Dread and Bird's segments appear.
- Shout-Out: Kermit the Frog is mentioned in "Pilot". Susan's little sister comes up to her from behind and covers her eyes, saying "Guess who?". Then, Susan guesses "Kermit the Frog?".
- Show Stopper: "Heal the Rainbow" from "Rooftop Thanksgiving".
- Sidekick: Bird is this to Dread.
- Split-Screen Phone Call: Featured every time the Dirt Sisters call each other.
- Spontaneous Choreography: Most notable during the intro/theme song.
- Thanksgiving Episode: "Rooftop Thanksgiving".
- Tombstone Teeth: Both the prototypical and redesigned versions of Libido with their manic grins.
- Too Good to Last: The show received no more than one, 13-episode season due to lack of viewership support and low ratings.
- Visual Pun: In "Pilot", literal butterflies appear when Lieutenant tells Captain that David has them in his digestive tract.
- Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises:Both versions of Libido to emphasize their mania.
- Wild Hair: Both the prototypical and redesigned versions of Libido. Though the latter's hair seems to be more made of wires.