Kids Incorporated: Difference between revisions

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{{quote| '''[[Executive Meddling|Focus Group Guy]]:''' "How many of you kids would like ''Itchy & Scratchy'' to deal with real-life problems, like the ones you face every day?"<br />

'''The Kids:''' "Oh, yeah! I would! Great idea! Yeah, that's it!"<br />

'''Focus Group Guy:''' "And who would like to see them do just the opposite -- getting into far-out situations involving robots and magic powers?"<br />

'''The Kids:''' "Me! Yeah! Oh, cool! Yeah, that's what I want!"<br />

'''Focus Group Guy:''' "So... you want [[Mood Whiplash|a realistic, down-to-earth show... that's completely off-the-wall and swarming with magic robots?]]"<br />

'''The Kids:''' "That's right. Oh yeah, good."<br />

'''Milhouse:''' "And also, you should win things by watching."<br|''[[The />Simpsons]]'', "The Itchy and Scratchy and [[Shoo Out the New Guy|Poochie]] Show" (Not a quote from this show, but it fits.)}}

The show was formulaic in nature: with only a few exceptions (a few all-musical "concert episodes", and once featuring kid breakdancers competing for a Karaoke Machine), each episode began with the band performing a number on-stage at "The P*lace", a local hangout with an illustrious history. (Itit had once been called "The Palace", and was renamed after the 'a' in the marquee had burned out.). After this, a short scene would set up the plot before the band returned to the stage to perform a second number. As the plot unfolded, two more songs would be performed off-stage, usually one solo number by whichever member of the cast was spotlighted that week (which in almost all cases is a slow ballad or love song), and one song worked into a [[Dream Sequence]] or [[Imagine Spot]]. In the final minutes, the plot would be resolved, and the band would perform a closing number on-stage, sometimes accompanied by a [[Montage Out]] of the guest characters. The third and fourth songs were ''always'' directly relevant to the plot (for example, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg2b12Skb64 a cover of "As Time Goes By" during a Casablanca-themed] [[Dream Sequence]]), the second and fifth songs were usually linked no more than thematically, while the first number was generally unrelated to the action of the story (Thethe final season dropped the second song for three extra minutes of dialog).

The show's longevity (it predated the Disney Channel's policy of imposing a 65-episode limit), despite being aired during a period when the Disney Channel was a commercial-free premium station, is taken by fans as evidence of the quality of writing and acting, in spite of the crazier episodes being prime [[Snark Bait]]. The show launched the careers of Stacy Ferguson (aka Fergie, of the [[Black Eyed Peas]]), Mario Lopez (of ''[[Saved Byby the Bell]]''), Scott Wolf (of ''[[Party of Five]]''), and (Jennifer) Love Hewitt. Note that the cast swapped people in and out nearly every season. So by the time the show ended, the titular fictional band was an entirely different group of people from where they started!

* [[Ambiguously Gay]] -: The Kid, though this is mostly due to the actor, who is now openly gay.

* [[Ambition Is Evil]] -: It gets especially awkward when it dawns on you that the writers never really state how successful Kids Inc. is as a band.

* [[Annoying Younger Sibling]] -: Stacy seems to be portrayed as this in some early episodes.

* [[Blonde, Brunette, Redhead]] -: This seemed to be the case with the girls in the band during the 1988 and 1989 seasons.

** 1988 lineup: Stacy (blonde), Connie (brunette), Devyn (redhead).

** 1989 lineup: same with the exception of Robin (brunette; Jennifer Love Hewitt's character).

* [[Book Dumb]] -: The Kid, as inferred in the 1984 "School's For Fools" episode (with [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|Germany's favorite singer]] in a guest role).

* [[Bowdlerise]] -: As mentioned in the section referencing the show on the trope page, this tended to be done with surprising inconsistency.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]] -: Stacy.

* [[Continuity Nod]] -: After the kids narrowly prevent the demolition of The P*lace, a historic landmark plaque is visible on the facade of the building in the [[Title Sequence]] for the rest of the series.

{{quote| "Kids In-co-por-ated/K! I! D! S, yes!..."}}

* [[Fable Remake]]: - beingBeing a kids' show, [[Justified Trope|it makes sense]] .

* [[Fashion Show]] -: A 1992 episode featured Haylie as a fashion designer preparing for one.

* [[The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry]] -: Renee and Stacy. It got so bad that, in 1984's "Her or Me" episode, the band was considering keeping only one of them.

* [[Imagine Spot]] -: Usually during the middle of each episode.

* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]] -: One early episode had the Kid and Mickey use a few of these to try to get in where the girls (having left them out) are shooting a music video with guest star Siedah Garrett.

* [[The Power of Rock]] -: Can reverse the effects of Time Travel and destroy a robot, it seems.

* [[Pretty in Mink]] -: During [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dwKSTKzbwY their cover of "You're a Friend of Mine"] in the episode "The Gift". One girl tried on a white fur coat, and another tried on a white fur stole.

* [[Snap Back]] -: Like you cannot even imagine. This editor's favorite is the episode built around Renee having to get new glasses. She becomes very self-conscious about it and the gang try to cheer her up. She grows to like her eyewear -- which of course [[Broken Aesop|she is never seen wearing ever again]].

**There is a seasonSeason 4 episode where Renee uses her glasses as reading glasses...she probably uses contacts and uses her glasses for reading

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] -: None of the original cast members saw the show out, nor did any of the cast members who replaced them. BTW, Stacy Ferguson was the longest tenured; from '84-'89.

* [[Techno Wizard]] -: Riley, the P*lace's soda jerk from '84-'88. His bizarre inventions drove a good number of the more outlandish plots.