Recap / Kids Incorporated S 2 E 26 Decade Of Hits

This episode marks the second of two special concert episodes to close out Season 2 of Kids Incorporated; with not much in terms of actual plot.

We open with a group of kids rushing to the P*lace in time for Gloria to perform the opening song “(Love is Like a) Heat Wave”; upon which Ryan explains this was a special concert covering select songs from the previous 10 years; and with 1976 covered, we turn to 1977 and the Kid’s performance of “The Greatest Love of All”. Riley then takes the stage to set Gloria up for our 1978 entry, “You’re the One That I Want” before Ryan takes over for the 1979 entry (“Let’s Go”) and the girls taking the helm for the performance of “Magic” as the band’s selection for 1980.

The second half of this special group of songs begins with Gloria and Kid performing “Celebration” to fill the 1981 slot; and while Gloria doesn’t sing for the 1982 entry (that role going to Stacy), the song does share her name (“Gloria”; leading to Kid joking about claims he had a big ego). Kid then takes the helm for the next two songs; covering 1983 (“Maniac”) and 1984 (“Beat It”; the latter song having an interesting setup where Darren {normally on bass guitar} and Mario {normally on drums} move to a platform on the opposite side of the stage area while Wendy takes over on drums).

Riley then takes the stage to close the concert out before Renee (who has not had a solo of her own at this point) reminds him that they have not covered 1985 yet, upon which Riley gives way to Renee to cover “Dress You Up” before the band closes the episode with a reprise of the theme song.

Behind the scenes, the series was originally canceled due to poor ratings (with the series airing on First-Run Syndication, this meant it was up to the local stations to find a time slot as opposed to a regular slot airing if it aired on a network or cable). However, the CBN Cable Network (now Freeform) decided prior to Season 2 to add reruns to their schedule which proved quite popular, and which caught the attention of the then-premium Disney Channel; which Un-Canceled the series, picking it up (and including the first two seasons) and agreeing to produce new episodes that would begin airing in the fall of 1986.

Songs performed in this episode^note all except “Let’s Go” and “Dress You Up” having been performed at least once prior to this episode. Also, with a total of 11 songs crammed in; the songs naturally are significantly shortened for time:

• “(Love is Like a) Heat Wave” (Martha and the Vandellas cover {also recorded by Linda Ronstadt}; lead vocals by Gloria)^note previously used in Season 1’s “Dance Palace” and later in Season 5’s “Kahuna Kids”, with Ryan taking over on lead vocals for that last performance
• “The Greatest Love of All” (George Benson cover {also recorded by Whitney Houston}; lead vocals by Kid)^note previously used in Season 2’s “One Glass Slipper”
• “You’re the One That I Want” (John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John cover; lead vocals by Gloria)^note previously used in the Season 1 finale “Civic Day Parade” only with Martika joined by now-former cast member Jerry Sharell
• “Let’s Go” (The Cars cover; lead vocals by Ryan)
• “Magic” (Olivia Newton-John cover; lead vocals by Gloria, Renee and Stacy)^note previously used in “A Lad and His Lamp” four episodes earlier. Despite the abbreviated time of the song, this version managed to squeeze in a portion of an additional verse
• “Celebration” (Kool & the Gang cover; lead vocals by Gloria and Kid)^note previously used in Season 1’s “X Marks the Spot”; with Martika replacing Jerry Sharell opposite Rahsaan Patterson in this version
• “Gloria” (Umberto Tuzzi cover {also recorded by Laura Branigan}; lead vocals by Stacy)^note previously used in “The Beginning”
• “Maniac” (Michael Sembello cover; lead vocals by Kid)^note previously used in Season 1’s “Go for the Gold”
• “Beat It” (Michael Jackson cover; lead vocals by Kid)^note previously used in the first regular episode, Season 1’s “Leader of the Pack”
• “Dress You Up” (Madonna cover; lead vocals by Renee)^note the 6th and final Madonna cover of the season, and one of four {five if you included “Into the Groove”; added to a 1985 re-release} from Madonna’s 1984 breakout album “Like a Virgin”
• “Kids Incorporated Theme” (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Gloria)^note previously used in “The Beginning”; this is the same version used in the Season 1 intro

Tropes associated with this episode:

• Formula-Breaking Episode: This and the preceding episode were special concert episodes.
• Grand Finale: Was originally intended to be such before Disney Channel picked the series up again.
• Last Episode Theme Reprise: The performance of the theme song considering this episode was intended to be the series finale.