Kidd Video

Premise

The title sequence explained the plot; Kidd Video and his band of the same name (played by live-action performers in the first half of the title sequence) were kidnapped by a villain named Master Blaster, and transported to Master Blaster's home dimension, a cartoon world called The Flipside. They were rescued by a fairy named Glitter, and subsequently spent each episode of the series either helping to free the denizens of the Flipside from Master Blaster's rule, or trying to find a way back to the "real world". Master Blaster, a caricature of a corrupt rock manager or music executive, flew around the sky in his floating castle, which resembled a giant jukebox.

The show was dominated by an MTV-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 break danced 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, which then produced fan merchandise such as coloring books and chocolate bars with images of the band.

Characters

Season 0 (Season Pre-1)

1. Pilot - September 8, 1984

Season 1

1. To Beat the Band - September 15, 1984
2. The Master Zapper - September 22, 1984
3. Woofers and Tweeters - October 6, 1984
4. Barnacolis - October 13, 1984
5. The Pink Sphinx - October 27, 1984
6. Cienega - February 16, 1985
7. The Lost Note - February 23, 1985
8. Music Sports - March 2, 1985
9. Chameleons - March 23, 1985
10. Euphonius and the Melodius Dragon - May 5, 1985
11. Professor Maestro - May 12, 1985
12. Grooveyard City - May 19, 1985
13. The Stone - May 26, 1985

Season 2

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

Cast

Voices

Music

The theme song, "Video To Radio", was written by frequent musical collaborators Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, who also contributed other songs to the show. The song "Time" was written by bandmember Bryan Scott.

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.

Crew