Tribute to 'Sidekicks'

[disneyfella]

In 1985 the Disney anthology series returned to television as "The Disney Sunday Movie" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hwCl8ZfOck ). This was an opportunity for Disney to test the market for future television projects. They were new to the live action television series market which had changed so drastically since 'The Mickey Mouse Club' with shows like 'Charlie's Angels', 'Hart to Hart', and 'Moonlighting' showing there was a much more mature audience who was entertained with action and suspense on television more than song and dance. Indeed, many TV pilots were aired in this timeslot that never received a series (i.e., The Fluppy Dogs, etc.). Unfortunately, only one of the pilots that aired ever got picked up for an eventual television series. "The Last Electric Knight" was the story of a young martial arts expert who, after being orphaned, is left in the care of a hard-nosed but soft-hearted detective. The 1986-1987 series became known as 'Sidekicks' and lasted for only 23 episodes (including the pilot which re-aired a week before the series began). Follow the links below to learn more about this series:


The wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidekicks_%28TV_series%29

The original pilot has been posted on YouTube:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDgDH8DDnEs
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjT8c3ZHi8A
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGhJnUS8isc
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x28qP2N_hrE
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZTSxpunQis



The series is given a complete episode breakdown in Bill Cotter's "The Wonderful World of Disney Television" book. Overall, though, the series was about the evolving relationship between Ernie, and Jake Rizzo.

I haven't watched them all, but the YouTube poster seems to have posted many of the other episodes if you click on their name.....the episodes were 30 mintues long, so they are fun to sit down and watch every now and again. Use the wiki post above to watch the series in order. Feel free to post your memories, and thoughts about the show. I hope you enjoyed taking a look back at the 80s and 90s Disney stuff (I seriously LOVE this stuff!!).