Whiz Kids

I am really trying to remember 20 years ago to this show. It was very much a spin-off of the success of War Games. Richie had a computer that could do almost anything. It was built from a lot of spare parts that must have been around the studio. If it could flash, it went in the computer.

At the time I loved the show because I was young and though computers were neat. I would like to see the show again just to see what I think now.

The thing that I remember most about the show is that EVERYTHING seemed to be run by computers. In one episode they were locked in some room. In that room was some discarded terminal that they were able to connect to the building sprinkler system and set it off. Deus ex Machina situations like this happened way too often...and Richie was always like MacGuyver with a keyboard.

Still...I remember liking the show back then.

Another reviewer mentions having trouble following the show because it kept being preempted and moved around.

Considering the flack this got for having teenage hackers doing whatever they wanted, I suspect the network either intentionally sank it or at least didn't seem to mind doing things that would harm any new show.

It's basically Wargames for TV. It leans more into fantasy at times, but much of the hacking shown was reasonably accurate.

Hello,

I've been following the discussion with interest - Whiz Kids was my favourite show on British TV when I was growing up. This and Tron left a big impression!

Just a quick note: the music isn't Rossini, it's adapted from Mozart's 'Elvira Madigan' (Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major). It's an amalgam of highlights from Part I of the concerto.

My favourite theme of all time :)

I do love Whiz Kids. I wish they'd release the DVD already!

• Dave

The theme music for the series was Gioachino Rossini's La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie)Overture.

I remember scenes of a floppy disc drive spinning up, the head loading and then doing a seek - all very tech and enjoyable.

I recall plot holes even though I was just post teenage at the time. Blowing up (zooming in) on a photograph to extract detail below pixel size gains was one.

It deserved repeating a few times but I felt that it was ignored as the powers that control TV programming seldom (at that time) understood that tech series had a following, as we have seen with the Star trek and Stargate spinoffs.

I loved this show when it came out. I also got all the computer mags back then. Wired, 99'er (I had the TI-99 4/A computer), Compute, Family Computing, etc... I had over 800 computer mags from back then that I lost recently in a flood. :( This show is available if you just look. Youtube has some eps, but you can find the entire series (only one season) on torrent sites if you look hard enough.

I agree with the comment, that the show started to NOT be as good once they were 'employed.' Yes, just like the hardy boys shows...

This series is worth seeing again. It is a fun show. REALLY brings back memories.. Directly because of this show, my best friend and I started our own computer company writing software for the TI and then the Amiga computers... We won the 3rd party game of the year in 84 for the TI. We were between junior and senior year of high school.. There is a REM line in the game that makes a reference to Whiz Kids...

Go find the show, and enjoy!!!!