The Red Hand Gang

Now kids are on holiday and seeing the rubbish they have to watch ,it got me thinking about 'The red hand gang' One of the best kids dramas ever! I can't believe they only made 12 episodes! It also had one of the most annoying and catchy theme tunes of all time.When is this show going to be released on video or DVD? kids of today are missing out!

Was watching Eerie Iniana with a friend and suddenly thought of this amazing show and wondered if it was out their to watch. Loved this when I was 3 and 31 would love to watch it for old times sake. Its a classic with a great idea and catchy theme tune. It needs a DVD release now!

The Red Hand Gang was a gang of five stereotypical street kids who met in a clubhouse. They solved crimes and mysteries, the usual stuff. The gang was led by a character called Doc a smart kid with glasses (pictured top left in the picture).

The show was first shown on the American NBC network on Saturday mornings between the 9th September 1977 and 28th January 1978. There were only twelve episodes ever made which makes me wonder why it was so popular and why so many people remember it. However it was even more popular in the UK than it was in the USA.

Throughout the series they prevented a jewel heist, captured some kidnappers, and prevented a museum robbery. The shows were arranged so that the stories overlapped between the episodes and the shows creators would always end an episode at a cliffhanging pinacle moment... to be continued.

They were called the "Red Hand Gang" because they would leave their red hand prints on fences. In one episode they drew around a hand with a red marker pen onto the back of a truck so that they could follow it.

The opening theme credits show the gang running towards the camera to the very catchy theme tune, then cut to shots of each them jumping on a trampoline as their credit pops up onto the screen. Then some action shots, such as on skateboards and shots from the episodes. As you would imagine, chopper bikes and sweat bands also featured in the show!

The show was probably very successful because kids wanted to be like the Red Hand Gang.

God, How I loved this show as a kid! It was so cool but wasn't on very long. James Bond III was the most popular and I have seen him in other 70's shows as well. If you Brits love 70's kid shows may I recommend: "Infinity Factory" with it's disco theme song and titles teaching young people ages 10-14 the wonders of math! "Zoom" was hot too and I have a copy of the Best of Zoom from the 1970's! "High Feather" about some kids at a summer cap right before Reagan was elected president, "Vegatable Soup" with it's "soulful" approach to things in life (Loved the kids on skateboards traveling in time)! Wished children television shows were this fun again (and away with Ipods and cell phones!)

I remember this series as the best kids adventure series ever. I loved the kidnapping episode and remember the kids rescuing that poor kid from the boat. For all those kids out there who haven't seen this, it's almost a crime, you don't know what you're missing...and maybe it's better that way. Once seen, never forgotten.

I loved watching 'The Red Hand Gang'! The three series were shown several times during the late 1970s and early 1980s. One involved a chimpanzee, the second the kidnapping of a rich boy and the third the capture of a famous footballer as part of a plan to steal jewellery. I enjoyed the children's adventures more each time I watched them.

The 'Gang' consisted of four boys - Frankie (the leader), J.R., Little Bill (Frankie's younger brother) and Doc - and one girl, Joanne. All the children were highly observant, imaginative and capable of taking the initiative. These skills were invaluable in their pursuit and outwitting of the crooks - and, usually, very successful. One such comical episode during the third series was when they kept disturbing one of the crooks in his hotel room by sending up services he didn't want, including Doc dressed as a singing telegraph boy!

The series was quite 'Enid Blyton-ish' in its form of a club of children discovering mysteries, outwitting the crooks and everyone receiving his or her just deserves at the end. This was one of the reasons it appealed to me. Also, it was cleverly written in that each episode ended with a cliff-hanger, making young viewers want to watch on. There was also the catchy theme music, with the children jumping in on trampolines (presumably!) and its montage of their adventures.

Simply but effectively made, 'The Red Hand Gang' deserves to be repeated - or, at least, remade and updated - so that it can be enjoyed by today's children.