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

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.!"

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.

This comment is being written by a 39-year-old through the eyes of a nine-year-old. I was crushed when this show was canceled. I loved it.

Five guys drove around in a delivery van called the Big Bologna trying to catch oddball "criminals". One "crimina", for example, was called The Goodfather. He went around putting extra change in parking meters.

More like an off-beat, live-action version of Scooby-Doo than The Monkees. They would get a case, work to solve it and somehow include a music video before there were music videos.

My favorite, I think, was named B.J. I thought that he was funny because he would go uncontrollably nuts when he heard the word "banana." There was also a newsman character that was kind of funny too.

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.

Musically, no worse than most of the bubblegum pop of the 70's, certainly less annoying than disco :) Four reasonably attractive guys, someone for every little girl to dream about. Campy, farcical, definitely ;) But one of my own favorite memories. John Lansing was pretty much the main heart throb, but all the other guys were pretty cute by the standard of the day. And it was funny! No one took it seriously when "Doc" and "Rosemary" (Rita Wilson) attempted to sword fight with saplings, obviously, but the silliness was part of its charm. It didn't take itself as seriously as some other shows designed to tap into the younger market.The show was never given a chance to catch on at all. Its too bad because the cast was fairly talented. I'd watch it over old Monkees shows any day. And I'd listen to "Baby Blue" over "Pleasant Valley Sunday".