Roundhouse

Remember Roundhouse

Synopsis of Saturday Morning Show

“Whenever my life gets me down,
I know I can go down,
To where the music and the fun never end…”

Sketch comedy went MTV in this pioneering “SNICK” program, a sort of hip-hop Saturday Night Live for kids. Roundhouse mixed songs, dance, and comic bits, all performed by a multi-talented, multiracial cast of twentysomethings. The show was co-produced by Buddy Sheffield, a head writer on the sketch comedy series In Living Color, and like that program, it contained almost as much fly dancin’ as it did comedy.

Accompanied by strobe lights, fog machines, and an in-house band, the twelve-member cast of Roundhouse delivered up to twenty sketches in one half-hour program, a perfect pace for a generation raised on the rapid-fire delivery of music videos. The comedy covered everything from TV and movie parodies (“Geriatric Park,” “Phlegm & Stinky”) to faux commercials (“Chia Pit,” “Toxema”) to the recurring “AnyFamily” skits, which featured a rapping Mom and a Dad in a motorized La-Z-Boy. In each episode, these skits were tied into a preteen-friendly theme like “New Kid in School,” “Popularity,” or “Summer Job.”

Roundhouse was a powerhouse addition to the SNICK lineup, which included such Nickelodeon stalwarts as Clarissa Explains It All and Ren & Stimpy. The show ran four seasons, with surprisingly few cast changes. Many Roundhouse talents went on to successful careers in music, acting, and dance, but their fans know that one thing will always remain the same:

“As long as that music keeps playing,
You know what I’m saying,
I know that I can find a friend,
Down at the Roundhouse.”

Release History

8/15/92 - 11/94 Nickelodeon

TV Sub Categories

live-action
variety

TV Studio

Nickelodeon, Rebel Entertainment

Television Cast

Mom Shawn Daywalt
Dad John Crane
Various Bryan Anthony
Various Alfred J. Carr, Jr.
Various Jennifer Cihi
Various John Crane
Various Mark David
Various Shawn Daywalt
Various Ivan Dudynsky
Various Micki Duran
Various Amy Ehrlich
Various Seymour Willis Green
Various Crystal Lewis
Various Dominic Lucero
Various Shawn Munoz
Various Natalie Nucci
Various Natasha Pearce
Various Julene Renee
Various David Sidoni
Various Lisa Vale
Guitar Marty Walsh
Keyboards James Raymond
Bass John Pena
Drums Jack Kelly
Drums Abe Laboriel, Jr.