Simon And Simon and Whiz Kids


Simon And Simon (1981-1988)
Whiz Kids (1983-1984)
Type: Crossover
Group: 16

   I already know what you're thinking. You're thinking,"Wow, I didn't know Simon And Simon crossed over with Whiz Kids! Gee! Wow! Uh, what the hell is Whiz Kids?" Ah, you gotta love crossovers between hit shows and one season flops.

   Simon And Simon was a show about very different brothers named Rick and A.J. Simon who ran the struggling Simon and Simon detective agency. A.J. was the classy well groomed brother and Rick was the happily slobby have-a-couple-brews-with-the-guys brother.

   Whiz Kids was a show starring Matthew Laborteaux as shy teenage genius Richie Adler. Matthew Laborteaux had the patent on this role in the late 70's and early 80's.

   In Whiz Kids he played a kid whose dad would bring him outmoded pieces of computer equipment from his job. With these parts, Richie built his own computer that could do things so amazing they were only possible on TV.

   But so what? The show's entire premise was something that could only happen on TV. Richie and his school friends used Richie's computer and their smarts to solve crimes! Yes, junior amateur detectives. Think Murder, She Wrote but with puberty instead of menopause. I think that's why the show didn't fly. It was just too unbelievable. Adults weren't going to sit and watch the junior detective squad solve crimes and I think any kid watching the show could sense the implausibility of the entire thing.

   However, before the show ended its single season, it did have two crossovers with the popular Simon And Simon.

   A.J. Simon first showed up on Whiz Kids when he and the kids separate investigations ran into each other. A.J. of course scoffed at the kids crime solving abilities and warned them away from such a potentially dangerous "hobby". The beginnings of romance even began to blossom between A.J. Simon and Richie's divorced mom Irene. I suppose the idea was that this would serve as a good device to keep the shows crossing over if Whiz Kids stayed on the air. But it didn't and so the relationship went nowhere. Gee, nice guy A.J. Stop dating a chick just because her show gets canceled. Callous bastard!

   But before the cancellation there was one more crossover, this time with Richie appearing on Simon And Simon. Who else would you expect Simon And Simon to search out when they needed a computer expert! Richie lent them a hand, his mom and A.J. flirted some more and then CBS lowered the hammer and dropped Whiz Kids like a pox infected rat carcass.

Other Simon And Simon Crossover Links
Simon And Simon and Magnum, P.I.

Links To Whiz Kids Related Web Sites
Official Max Gail page (Whiz Kids' Llewellen Farley, Jr.)


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