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Kids Will Be the Talk of Nickelodeon

July 04, 1988|KARI GRANVILLE

Besides two game shows for children, the channel has a movie review show hosted by teen-age critics, "Rated K: For Kids, By Kids" has done a pilot for a children's court show and is considering developing a news broadcast for children.

The appeal of the talk show format, Darby says, was its versatility.

"People have come to us with ideas to make a cooking show for kids, to make an exercise show for kids. But what kind of cooking show can you make that kids will watch for half an hour? We aren't making them into chefs," he says. "But with this we can take a few minutes and say, 'You hate eating spinach, but here's a recipe you can use.' The same with consumer topics. You can do new toys for fall but to do a half-hour consumer show every day wouldn't work."

Nickelodeon's corporate parent, Viacom, struck it rich with the syndication of "Double Dare" and "Finders Keepers," suggesting that Nickelodeon has become a handy testing ground for syndication tryouts. As it happens, "Don't Just Sit There" tested even better with audiences than "Double Dare."

Yet Darby says that Nickelodeon isn't considering syndicating "Don't Just Sit There," because it is "our flagship show and it will define what Nickelodeon is."

On the other hand, he adds, "That's not to say we wouldn't make a similar program for syndication."

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