The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.

From the previous comment.....

This was not a production of neither Sid or Marty Krofft nor was it a production of William P. DeAngelo. "The Kids From C.A.P.E.R." was without a doubt one of the sugary live-action Saturday Morning shows that was part of NBC-TV's Saturday Morning Schedule that premiered on September 11, 1976. This short-lived children's live-action/part musical series was produced by Don Kirschner,who was the former musical supervisor for the rock group The Monkees,and also served as the executive producer of this series along with producer Alan Landsberg(under his production company,Alan Landsberg Productions).

A quartet of talent teens made up C.A.P.E,R(Civilian Authority for the Protection of Everyone,Regardless),a crime-fighting unit that was also did double duty as do-gooders in the fight against crime. Between occasional song segments,all of the kids reported to Chief Vinton(Robert Emhardt)of the 972th Police District. Klintsinger(Robert Lussier),a reporter for the local newspaper,often tailed the group to get the scoop who was basically the only one that seemed to care what the group did. However,NBC put this show on its Saturday Morning schedule opposite the animated "The New Adventures of Tarzan"(which was on CBS),and "The Krofft Supershow",(which was a live-action variety adventure/comedy hour long kids show that was on ABC) The series produced 12 episodes before ending on November 20, 1976. NBC dropped the show after two months,due to dismal ratings with repeated episodes(when the network moved it to new time slot which didn't help neither)during the summer of 1977,when it placed against the animated "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids"(which was on CBS),and "Dick Clark's American Bandstand"(the hour long musical-variety show for the teenage set that was on ABC),where it died a slow quick death on September 3, 1977. And from this writing,it hasn't been seen since.

There's a word that could never be associated with "The Kids from C.A.P.E.R." and that's serious. The show was goofy fun and they knew it so they played with it. Often times they broke the fourth wall, stopped for pointless musical numbers, had silly gags that would take place and generally had a fun time doing it.

That silliness was really part of the charm. It was like the Monkees but from a group of guys that weren't a band and never played any instruments. It didn't take itself seriously and why should they?

Each member of course had some ability or power that the others lacked. PT was able to sniff out clues like a bloodhound along with his nose named Seymour.

Bugs was the strongman of the group who could call on his strength by looking at his hands. Of course if you tied his hands behind him, he was powerless. And he had a strange thing with bananas. Speak the word near him and he'd go crazy repeating the word over and over again until a bell rang, he'd snap out of it and wonder what was going on.

Doomsday felt like he was bad luck to the crew but he, at least according to the theme song, was filled with sunshine. He also had a strange appetite, wanting things like hot fudge omelettes. He could also speak to animals.

And finally was the guy that all the girls went crazy over namely Doc who was the brains the looks of the operation.

It only lasted 13 episodes and it's never made it's way onto DVD or VHS which is a shame. But there was an LP that came out with a lot of the songs they did. Oddly enough, it didn't have the theme song or the fan favorite "Baby Blue".

I was one of those preteen girls who went gaga over this show. They were all cute, but Bugs was my favorite. I was devastated when it got canceled.

The Kids from CAPER, like "Hot Hero Sandwich," was a Saturday morning, live-action show with a pre-fab rock band. Definitely silly and a bit more fun than Hot Hero, neither, however, lasted over a season. However, I eagerly awaited for both every week the short seasons they were on the air. Although this show was only a brief blip on the radar screen of cultural ephemera, it's a good example of how industry pre-fabbed and pre-packaged teen bands for TV somehow continue to maintain a tenuous hold on their aging ex-audience!

As a 45 year old man who hasn't seen the show since it's first run, I find it funny how myself and others still recall the actors, songs, and even some story lines. It's nice to know that others of my generation still remember, "...the kids, the kids, the kids from C.A.P.E.R.!"

The other reviewer who has seen this show speculated that the Kids were a Sid and Marty Krofft product. They weren't. Don Kirshner, former musical supervisor for the Monkees, oversaw both the music and the show, so it's only natural the Kids seemed not a little like the Pre-Fab Four. It's not hard to make that mistake: the Kroffts had the live-action Saturday morning market cornered, in addition to having a couple of pre-fab groups themselves, like the Bugaloos and Kaptain Kool and the Kongs. I have the Kids' sole Lp: it ain't great, even by bubblegum standards(perhaps because bubblegum music peeked about six years earlier). However, there were some noteworthy names involved. Neil Sedaka contributed a song, and Paul Schaffer (David Letterman's band leader)functioned as musical arranger, I believe.