Monday, September 8, 2014

On The Air: Kid President: Declaration of Awesome (2014)

40 years ago, a little boy named Rodney Allen Rippy charmed viewers in a series of ads for Jack in the Box restaurants, if memory serves me correctly, such that CBS signed him on to co-star with the Harlem Globetrotters on their Popcorn Machine variety show, which lasted 1 season. Rippy's career didn't last too much longer after that.

Today, another precocious pre-teen has hit the airwaves, having used modern technology (read: YouTube) to spread his message of peace and fun, such that the Hub Network worked out a deal to bring Kid President to their channel. Had this been, say, 20 years ago, well, young Robby Novak would've been spreading his message on Nickelodeon.

Kid President: Declaration of Awesome, to use the show's full title, debuted as a Saturday night series in June, and presently, The Hub is sprinkling reruns on different nights of the week. I'm not sure if they have enough material available now to run the show 5-6 nights a week, but we gotta get this kid on earlier in the day. You know, like, after school, but that would break up the Hub's block of overplayed series (i.e. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which was given mini-block treatment as recently as last week on weekdays), and they can't have that, can they? Of course not.

On YouTube, Novak has sat down with everyone from President Obama to Beyonce to NBA star Jeremy Lin. I haven't seen any of those interviews yet, but something tells me that the President isn't Robby's only role model. I wonder if he's been allowed to watch Arsenio or reruns of anything with Bill Cosby.........!

The Hub Network's YouTube channel offers this teaser:



We need more kids with fresh ideas. The problem is, Hub is already copying the other guys by playing their hits into the ground, and will burn out Kid President before his time. Not good. Stick to once a week with this kid, and the show will last longer.

Rating: A.

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