KID ‘N PLAY
Christopher “Kid” Reid – Himself (live)
Christopher “Play” Martin – Himself (live)
Christopher Hooks – Christopher “Kid” Reid
Brian
Stokes Mitchell – Christopher “Play” Martin
Tommy
Davidson – Jazzy, Acorn
J.D. Hall – Pitbull, Mr. Reid
Cree Summer – Marika, Downtown Patty, Terry Martin
Martin Lawrence – Wiz, Hurbie
Dawnn Lewis – Lela Martin
Danny Mann – Hairy
Rain Pryor – B.B.
Dorian Harewood – Old Blue
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Kid 'n Play. |
Christopher
“Kid Coolout” Reid and Christopher “Playboy” Martin were part of rival high
school hip-hop groups: The Turnout Brothers and The Super Lovers. Meeting
during a competition, the two hit it off and, after their respective groups
broke up, they formed their own in 1986. Initially called The Fresh Force Crew,
they had recorded two songs before officially changing their name to Kid ‘n
Play in 1987 based on shortened versions of their respective nicknames.
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Kid 'n Play animated. |
With
their fame riding high, NBC decided to offer the pair a TV deal. NBC not only
gave them an animated series, but also a live-action sitcom. The cartoon was
developed by Cynthia
Friedlob and John Semper. While providing the theme song and appearing in live
wraparound segments, Kid ‘n Play didn’t voice their animated counterparts. Instead,
their roles were played by Christopher Hooks and Brian Stokes Mitchell,
respectively. To attract the pre-teen audience, the duo was portrayed younger
and still in school. Azor, renamed “Hurbie” for the series, was still their
manager of sorts, albeit goofily portrayed, and drove the official Kid ‘n Play
truck around. He was played by House Party co-star and
then-relatively unknown comedian/actor Martin Lawrence. Kid also had a
mohawk-sporting dog named Hairy (Danny Mann).
The
series has often been compared to Fat
Albert in that it featured kids in an urban
setting engaging in adventures that had a positive moral message for the
viewers. Joining the duo were their backup dancers Lela (Dawnn Lweis), Play’s
sister, Marika, Play’s crush, and Downtown Patty (both Cree Summer); their DJ,
Wiz (Lawrence); Play’s tomboy little sister, Terry (also Summer); and rival
performers The Mean Machine: Acorn (Tommy Davidson), B.B. (Rain Pryor) and
Pitbull (J.D. Hall), who would engage in practical jokes and sabotage the duo
out of jealousy. Also tagging along was Jazzy (Davidson), a klutzy boy
that idolized Play.
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Ad for NBC's 1990 Saturday morning line-up. |
Kid ‘n
Play debuted on NBC on September
8, 1990. Aside from the music from Kid ‘n Play themselves, the show’s original
music was composed by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, while the rapping was handled
by Romeo Rich, Stan “The Guitar” Man, Nye Tucker and Yutaka. the show only lasted
a single season of 13 episodes before it was cancelled. A major contributing
factor was it was scheduled opposite two ratings powerhouses on the rival
networks: CBS’ Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles and ABC’s Beetlejuice. Another factor
was that NBC was looking to get out of the cartoon business and further build
on the success of Saved by the Bell. Kid and Play, having grown up on
cartoons and enjoying being the first rappers to have one, stood firm and
cancelled production on the sitcom in anger. That show that ended up taking its
place was Will Smith’s career-launching The Fresh Prince of
Bel-Air. Marvel Comics would
publish a series based on the cartoon in 1992 that ran for nine
issues.
In 1995,
after their third House Party outing, the act split up to
pursue their own ventures. Kid continued to act, guest-starring in numerous
sitcoms and hosting several specials. Play became a born-again Christian and
spent time working on Christian-based hip-hop projects before founding HP4
Digital Works and Brand
Newz. He also became a professor at North Carolina Central University. Beginning in 2009, the duo would reunite on several talk shows and for the BETHip Hop Awards, and engaged on a House
Party anniversary tour where they performed
with various acts, including Salt-N-Pepa. In 2012, Kid 'n Play returned to
the House Party franchise with House Party: Tonight's
the Night, which served as a direct sequel to House Party 3. In 2014, they appeared in Radio Shack’s “The
80s Called” Super Bowl commercial.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Play’s Place” (9/8/90) – To get a
date with Marika, Play tries to impress her by saying he and Kid will be
appearing at a big club.
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