 | |
| Premiere | September 18, 1993 |
| Finale | January 29, 1994 |
| Network | ABC |
| Seasons | 1 |
| Episodes | 13 |
The Dirt Sisters; Trish and Toya
Dread and Bird
The Hot Dogs
Inside the Head
CityKids was a short-lived Saturday morning show on ABC. It first aired on September 18, 1993. Thirteen episodes were produced. The last show aired on January 29, 1994.
The TV Guide description of the first episode said: "A wacky new batch of Muppets that includes the Dirt Sisters -- two urban teens who spread the latest gossip around town -- and a group of rappin' hot dogs called Frankie Frank and the Footers highlight CityKids. The human CityKids they interact with are an ethnically diverse group of teenagers whose urban misadventures are charted. The first outing celebrates individuality and teaches a lesson in how to deal with a touchy racial situation."
The Muppet cast also included Dread, a Rastafarian philosopher who appeared with his pigeon sidekick, Bird. There was also Inside The Head, a segment showing what happens inside the heads of some of the characters with the characters Libido, Lieutenant, and Captain.
The show was a co-production between Jim Henson Productions and the CityKids Foundation, a New York non-profit agency that helps young people use the performing arts to talk about issues impacting their lives. Each episode was written and produced "for kids, with kids," with members of The CityKids Foundation working as performers, creative assistants and production interns.[1]
The show's main theme song was composed by Malik Yoba, who also composed other songs for the series and was a musical creative supervisor.
The pilot episode originally aired as an "ABC Saturday Morning Special" on January 30, 1993, and featured markedly different puppet designs for some of the characters. The pilot also featured a segment on Planet Koozebane that highlighted the issue being dealt with in the real world as a bunch of one eyed green aliens are chasing and bullying another green alien because he has two eyes.
Muppet Segments[]
- The Dirt Sisters (featured in all 13 episodes)
- Dread (featured in 11 episodes)
- The Hot Dogs (featured in 9 episodes)
- Inside the Head (featured in 3 episodes)
- Planet Koozebane (featured in 1 episode)
Episodes[]
Episode titles and episode order comes from Henson.com listing[2] and the CityKids.com episode archives[3]. Airdates taken from old TV.com listings.[4]
- Pilot (9/18/93 | watch)
- Pack of Lies (12/4/93 | watch)
- Love Letters on the Hudson (12/11/93 | watch)
- Becoming a Man (12/11/93 | watch)
- The Curse of Ali Baba (10/9/93 | watch)
- All My Trials (12/18/93 | watch)
- Get a Job (10/2/93 | watch)
- The Mural (10/23/93 | watch)
- I Am Woman (1/29/94 | watch)
- Reputation (10/16/93 | watch)
- Rooftop Thanksgiving (11/20/93 | watch)
- Alterations with Attitude (10/30/93 | watch)
- Quality Time (11/13/93 | watch)
Cast[]
- Cyndi Cartagena as Angelica
- Hassan Elgendi as Snoopy
- Dulé Hill as John
- Anne Ho as Susan
- Renoly Santiago as Tito
- Diana Smith as Nikki
- Brad Stoll as David
- Charlene Fergus (uncredited in pilot)
Guest Actors:
- Olivia Birkelund, Don Chastain, Donald Faison, Peter Jay Fernandez, Arthur French, Ira Hawkins, Cristina Hernandez, Kevin Jordan, John Manfrelotti, Robert Rodriguez, Angela Scott, Mary Testa, Karen Trott
Muppets[]
- Cenophia Mitchell as the voice of Toya
- Elizabeth Regen as the voice of Trish
Muppet Performers:
- David Rudman as Dread, Frankie Frank, Lieutenant, and Toya (puppetry); also Puppeteer Captain
- Joey Mazzarino as Bird, Doggy Jay, Captain, and Trish (puppetry)
- John Henson as Libido
- Noel MacNeal
- Alison Mork
- Carmen Osbahr
- Don Reardon
- Camille Bonora (uncredited)
- Louise Gold (uncredited in pilot)
Credits[]
- Co-Executive Producer: Alex Rockwell
- Associate Producer: Pat Nugent
- Supervising Editor/Muppet Segment Supervisor: David Gumpel
- Muppet Character Designer: Kirk Thatcher
- Muppet Workshop: Tim Miller, with Paul Andrejco, Heather Asch, Fred Buchholz, Isabelle Dufour, Henri Ewaskio, Larry Jameson, Rollin Krewson, Tom Newby
- Production Designer: Lyndon Mosse
- Costume Designer: Muriel Stockdale
- Video Technical Director: Thomas Guadarrama
- Animation: Ken Brown / Lisa Crafts
Sources[]
- ↑ Henson.com - Archived on September, 2001
- ↑ City Kids (1993 - 94) Episode List
- ↑ CityKids Muppets TV Show
- ↑ TV.com