Talk:BOUNCE (1999)/@comment-36691248-20191127175808

The first thing parents are likely to notice about the new Bounce is that it's definitely not the show they, and especially I, grew up on.

The new Bouncers bound onto a colorful neon-lighted house to a hip-hop rendition of "Someone Show me how to Bounce Bounce Bounc-ah Bounce". They wear baggy pants and ubiquitous 90s teen clothes, not blue letter shirts with names emblazoned across their chests. The closest thing to a uniform for these kids is a funky T-shirt with the Bounce logo on it.

This should all be a relief, the show's producers believe, to the children of the baby boom parents who grew up with funny man Andy Garçon or Bulgarian-born Dimitrima Yorgova, with her arm trick. This is basically Bounce: The Next Generation. If the original show spoke for the kid culture of the 1960s, its '90s reboot, the producers hope, will define the children of today.

Show producers at Fine Brothers Entertainment will soon find out just how close to the mark it is. The show, which began production at dock1 in Media City LA on June 26 last year, debuts on PBS' PTV block for children, which will soon rebrand as the PBS KIDS channel, today. It will air each weekday at 5:30 p.m., providing kids (probably ages 3 to 13) a half-hour of good times with the Bounce gang. Conceptually, the show remains very much the kin of its '60s predecessor. Viewers watch material sent in by kids like them, inspiring themselves to write to the show on letter or online about what they'd like to see. The iconic time-and-date clock will now present live-action serials alongside stories (like the original) but this time now written by viewers. The first serial, The Happy House, is about two teenagers who share a house together. While the 3 shaped windows will remain the same giving viewers live-action films about how things are made etc.New Segments will include Magic in the Kitchen for cookery, Brainteasers for wacky challenges, and Playhouse for drama. As one of the identifying values of kid society, it suffuses the show daily. The Bouncers, all skilled actors and musicians, prerecord the segments, all of mostly which have been viewer-submitted.

The show is also an outlet for plain old silliness. In one episode, the kids will put a can of cheese spread head to head with a can of whipped topping to see which will squirt the longest. On another, 30 dalmatian puppies will be unleashed on the set.

Bounce will not be a medium for copyrighted songs like the original. It will be a place to learn, but only in an atmosphere of fun. In one episode, two Bouncers will demonstrate freezing bananas with liquid nitrogren. Elijah Wood will stop by to teach the Bouncers a new dance, and a youngster who bounces on books with his pogo stick (Cool Tricks!!!). In the Meetings segment, the cast will talk about issues such as dating anxieties. They will also make vegetable stamps.

"We're trying to be smart and - for the lack of a better word - to be hip," said producer Caroline Yopez.

The embodiment of all these lessons in life will be the Bouncers. There are now 7 beaming, bright-eyed faces, ages 6 to 14. Selected from auditions of 5,000 kids, they have come from all parts of the country, simply bursting with energy, charm and talent. And unlike the original group of Bouncers, they represent a variety of ethnic backgrounds, including blacks, Asians and Indians.

"We are concerned about making sure everyone in the States is included and welcome," said co-producer Rafi Fine, of Fine Brothers Entertainment. "But it's not just ethnic skin color, if you will. We have a range of ages and talents. I think each kid is different in many interesting ways."

The producers promote this individuality. The kids shop for their own clothes. They hang out in their own zone when they're not on set, and they go to school on set in between. On this show, the writers listen when their stars complain, "We would never say that."

"We want to show kids that we're actual people," said bouncer Alex Lamb, 10, of the Bronx.

Keeping these gifted kids as just kids is one of the producers' most important jobs. The cast goes to school three hours in the morning and then to rehearsals and taping. associate producer Benny Fine, said it is essential that the Bounce gang have fun - both for their own good and the show's. It is the Bouncers' kid-next-door attitude that audiences will relate to.

"We want kids to know that we are diverse in some sorts of way," said Phoenix Cailette, 13, a cast member from Los Angeles.

One of the ways Bounce hopes to capture its audience is through involvement. While the 7 on-air kids are the indisputable stars of this show, every day will connect with the audience on the website as the original show never did, Benny Fine said.

"We decided that one of the real opportunities we have is to extend this thing to the children at home," Fine said.

The Bouncelet viewers help members of its home audience realize their fondest dreams in Knock-Knock. guest segments which take place through the windows. A Springfield youngster spent the day with his baseball idol, Derek Jeter, a Philly 8-year old houses stage shows which inspire healthy living, a young girl met model Christie Brinkley at a photo shoot, and two teens visited Sarah Michelle Gellar and the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kids at home will be invited to write in on the show's companion website, pbs.org, about the people they've dreamed of meeting.

And during this rendition of Bounce's finale, everyone takes to the stage, dancing. The well-known Bounce closing tune, which features "Box 567, Los Angeles Callie, 137144..." ends this time around in a raucous disco song suggested and written by the Bouncers themselves:

Wave your arms up in the air

And wave them round like 'ya just don't care

'Cause we, the Bouncers say

Come and have fun every day

(Come and have fun every day)

Aaaaalll right

Aaaaalll right

Bounce rocks again

Bounce rocks again

It's Bounce, all right, but the tempo is up for the '90s.