The Gweeb Files By Aris Janetakos


http://www.kidsincorporated.us

    Ever speculate where or what town Kids Incorporated took place in? Whose garage they in actuality practiced in? Or where all these doors really led to? I thought it was about time to actually have some of these questions answered instead of relentlessly brooding them year after year. You must think I have a lot of time on my hands writing this editorial instead of doing something more practical. Personally, this is one of the things I have wanted to pen for quite some time as these questions are constantly asked to me. This editorial will be broken up into several parts and released in installments.

Part 1: The Garage
    It’s sort of funny how from the very creation of KIDS Incorporated the acclaimed “Garage” was supposed to be Mickey’s, but through the seasons it became other cast member’s garages.
    In Season 1 the garage was Mickey’s (Jerry Sharell) and a lot of time was spent in there. It appears that he lived somewhere in/near the Magic Shoppe or the Coco Club, but we can’t really discern for sure. We don’t even know where anyone lives on Kids Incorporated. The kids did a number of songs in there such as Hindsight 20/20 and Cover Me.
     Moving onward to Seasons 2 through 4 (1985-87), it was now well thought-out to be Kid’s (Rahsaan Patterson) uncle’s garage. The writers perhaps assumed that it was superfluous to explain the reasoning behind this because of the viewer’s lack of perception. In the 1986 special, Rock In The New Year, Stacy comes out of the upstairs door and finished helping the Kid’s mom with the dishes. They were practicing numbers for their big New Year’s bash and when Riley’s latest invention ruined the inside of the P*lace, he asked the Kid’s uncle to use the garage. The only thing that would even remotely make sense is that the Kid and his mother live with Kid’s uncle. Would it be the Kid’s mother’s brother, or would it be his father’s brother? Who knows, these are the kind of plot holes that didn’t mesh well for continuity in the series.
    Time marched on and we turn happily to Seasons 5 and 6 (1988-89) and there is no justification as to whose garage it is now. They seemed to be practicing quite a bit in the garage as well as Connie inventing a time machine, but at this time we don’t know whose it is or if it was just turned into a jam room for KIDS Incorporated.
    It wasn’t until Season 7 (1991) that it became Ana’s (Anastasia Horne) garage. Ana was Robin’s (Love Hewitt) cousin on the show and apparently moved into town and magically came into the band (as with Robin in 1989). After Season 5 (1988), no episodes were geared to bringing in new members they were just sort of ‘there’ and no explanation was given of Stacy’s absence in Season 7 either. From season 7 until the last episode in season 9, the garage was Ana’s.

The next part will cover the Magic Shoppe, Coco Club, and the Bookstore!