''CityKids'' is an American

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, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

that aired late Saturday mornings on ABC from 1993 to 1994. The show consists primarily of live action performances, interspersed with

Muppet The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...

segments, courtesy of

Jim Henson Productions The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known fo ...

. These Muppets were composed of original characters designed specifically for the show, not ones taken from ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

'' or ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as ...

''. These original characters often served as the

Greek chorus A Greek chorus, or simply chorus ( grc-gre, χορός, chorós), in the context of ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr plays, and modern works inspired by them, is a homogeneous, non-individualised group of performers, who comment with a collect ...

for the show, commenting on the situations of the human characters, but not actually interacting with them. Similar to NBC’s attempt of pushing the adolescent programming for late Saturday mornings with ''

Saved By the Bell ''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in primetime, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United States ...

'' since 1989, ''CityKids'' was the first and only late Saturday morning series on ABC primarily targeted to a teenage audience, as well as the only one produced by the Jim Henson Company at the time, not to mention an urban one. However, the show failed to generate desirable ratings from any demographic, especially the teenage one, and the show was cancelled by ABC after one season, consequently airing strictly children’s programs on the network the following year. The show's main theme song was composed by

Malik Yoba Abdul-Malik Kashie Yoba (born September 17, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for his starring role as NYPD Detective J. C. Williams on the Fox police drama ''New York Undercover'' and as Yul Brenner in the film ''Cool Runnings''. H ...

& Raleigh J. Neal II, both of whom also composed other songs for the series and served as Musical Creative Supervisor for the show.

Plot

Characters

Humans

* Angelica (portrayed by Cyndi Cartagena) * Snoopy/Christian (portrayed by Hassan Elgendi) * John (portrayed by

Dulé Hill Karim Dulé Hill (; born May 3, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as personal presidential aide and Deputy Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series ''The West Wing'', for whi ...

) * Susan (portrayed by Anne Ho) * Tito (portrayed by

Renoly Santiago Renoly Santiago (born March 15, 1974) is a Puerto Rican actor, singer and writer known for his appearances in films such as '' Dangerous Minds'', '' Hackers'' and ''Con Air'', and in television series such as ''Touched by an Angel'' and '' Law & ...

) * Nikki (portrayed by Diana Smith) * David (portrayed by Brad Stoll) * Frida (portrayed by Audrey Ince) * Mr. Lester (portrayed by

Don Chastain Don Chastain (September 2, 1935 – August 9, 2002) was an American actor, singer, and screenwriter. He worked in television in Los Angeles and New York and toured the United States and Canada. Early years Chastain was born in Oklahoma Ci ...

) * Unknown Character (portrayed by

Dash Mihok Dashiell Raymond Mihok (; born May 24, 1974) is an American actor and director best known for playing Brendan "Bunchy" Donovan in the Showtime drama '' Ray Donovan''. Early life Mihok was born in New York City, the son of theater actors Andrea ...

) * Unknown Character (portrayed by Michelle Ingkavet)

Puppets

* Dread (performed by

David Rudman David Rudman (born June 1, 1963) is an American puppeteer, puppet builder, writer, director, and producer known for his involvement with the Muppets and ''Sesame Street''. Career David Rudman has been a ''Sesame Street'' Muppet performer since ...

) - A

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philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

. * Bird (performed by

Joey Mazzarino Joseph Mazzarino (; born June 4, 1968) is an American actor, puppeteer, writer and director. He is best known for his roles on ''Sesame Street'' as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on ' ...

) - A

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

who is Dread's sidekick. *

Hot Dogs A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

- A bunch of Hot Dogs that would perform songs. Their sketch would begin with a zoom in on the container they are being served in. The sketch ends with a bunch of tongs taking one of the hot dogs. ** Frankie Frank (performed by

) - An anthropomorphic hot dog rapper who is the leader of Frankie Frank and the Footers. * Captain (performed by

) - A character who works "Inside the Head" with Libido and Lieutenant. In newspaper promotions of ''CityKids'', the Captain was shown to have originally been depicted as a red bespectacled monkey before they went with the puppet design that appeared in the show. * Libido (performed by John Henson) - A creature-like character that is black who works "Inside the Head" with Captain and Lieutenant. * Lieutenant (performed by

) - A character who works "Inside the Head" with Captain and Libido. * Koozebanians (performed by

Noel MacNeal Noel MacNeal (born September 15, 1961), sometimes credited as Noel McNeal or Edward Noel MacNeal, is an American puppeteer, actor, director and writer of children's television who has performed since the early 1980s. He was the voice and puppetee ...

and

) - Three aliens from the planet Koozebane. Two of them have two eyes while one of them has one eye. * Dirt Sisters - Trish (performed by

, voiced by Elizabeth Regen) and Toya (performed by

, voiced by Cenophia Mitchell) are two gossipy girls that talk to each other on the phone and talk about the episode's main plot. Trish is from

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

while Toya is from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Episodes

Cast

* Cyndi Cartagena as Angelica *

as Mr. Lester * Hassan Elgendi as Snoopy, Christian *

as John * Anne Ho as Susan * Audrey Ince as Frida * Michelle Ingkavet *

* Cenophia Mitchell as Toya (voice) * Elizabeth Regen as Trish (voice) *

as Tito * Diana Smith as Nikki * Brad Stoll as David

Puppeteers

* John Henson as Libido *

as Koozebanians *

as Bird, Captain, Trish *

Alison Mork ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's po ...

Carmen Osbahr Carmen Osbahr-Vertiz (born April 21, 1962) is a Mexican-born American puppeteer, singer and voice actress who has performed Rosita in the popular hit children's series ''Sesame Street'', since 1991. Osbahr has also performed Kiki Flores in '' T ...

* Don Reardon *

as Dread, Frankie Frank, Lieutenant, Koozbanians, Toya * Carlo Yanuzzi

Later appearances

* The puppet for Bird later appeared in ''Muppet Time'' where he is the straight man for the Three Silly Bears in their segments. This pigeon was also performed by Joey Mazzarino. * The puppets for Dread, Captain, Lieutenant, Libido (now purple), the Hot Dogs, the Koozebanians, and the prototype Captain later made appearances in the ''

Puppet Up! ''Puppet Up! – Uncensored'' is a Adult live puppet musical show produced by The Jim Henson Company combining puppetry and improvisational comedy created by Brian Henson and Groundlings performer Patrick Bristow. The show is advertised for "ad ...

'' shows and other Jim Henson projects. * The puppets for the Koozebanians later made appearances in ''

Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time is a TV series on Discovery+ that stars Duff Goldman. The show details Duff and his friends exploring the science of different foods. It debuted on Discovery+ on April 29, 2021. Plot In his kitchen/laboratory called Bak ...

''.

References

External links

*
TV Guide: CityKids Summary

Retrojunk: CityKids

The CityKids Foundation, Official Website
{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1990s 1990s American children's television series 1993 American television series debuts 1994 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming American television shows featuring puppetry Television series about teenagers Television series by The Jim Henson Company English-language television shows Television shows set in New York City