Computer Kids

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.

I probably haven't seen this show since 1983, but I still remember it. I don't recall when I started watching. I think possibly some summer friends whose father owned a small electronics equipment chain recommended it. I seem to recall also that Matthew Laborteaux was on the cover of an early children's computer magazine called K-Power I initially learned about, I think, from scholastic book fairs at my elementary school. I recall the magazine had a BASIC program you could type into your computer to have it simulate the exchange between Richie and his talking computer during the opening of the show. K-Power later got absorbed into Family Computer just as a small section, and then Family Computing changed its name to something else and dropped the K-Power section at which I stopped subscribing.

Incredibly, I can still replay the instrumental theme song to this show in my head. But apart from these bits of trivia, I don't remember the show itself too well!

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!!!!

I was 13 when this show aired, and remember really liking it. It was well written (at least to a mature 13 year old), and I looked forward to it every week. The problem was, the programming geniuses at CBS blew it. It was on one week, preempted the next 2, moved to a different night, preempted again. It never stayed in a location long enough to gain any audience following. Here I was TRYING to watch the thing and they made it quite difficult. I remember being quite frustrated and ticked off when it was cancelled.

It would be interesting to see it again today, 20 years later, and see how it compared to other shows of its day.

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.