Biz Kid$

Starring	Lauren Dupree, Kaelon Horst, Maia Lee, Alexander Oki, Amanda Powers, Miriam Schwartz, Austin Siedentopf, Devon Stark, Christina Marie Taylor, Catherine Thompson,^{[citation needed]} Elizabeth Wright, Pat Cashman, John Keister
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	71 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Jeannine Glista, Erren Gottlieb, Jamie Hammond, James McKenna
Running time	26 minutes
Production company	WXXI
Distributor	American Public Television PBS Kids Go! (2008-2012) PBS Kids (2017)
Release
Original release	January 6, 2008 (2008-01-06) – June 20, 2017 (2017-06-20)

Biz Kid$ (stylized as biz KID$) is an American educational television series that teaches financial education and entrepreneurship to kids and teenagers. It uses sketch comedy, musical guests, guest and special guest appearances, and young actors to explain basic economic concepts.^[1] Its motto is: "Where kids teach kids about money and business." Biz Kid$ has been described as comparable to KING-TV’s Almost Live!.

Production

Biz Kid$ was created by the producers of Bill Nye the Science Guy, the Emmy Award winning science show from the 1990s. Comedy sketches, spoofs of old TV shows and movies, commercial parodies, and silly antics are performed by a cast of Seattle teenage actors.

The first season of Biz Kid$, comprising 26 episodes, includes the lost episodes, was filmed in 2007. The second season, comprising 13 episodes, the lost episodes were included, began filming in April 2008. The crew traveled to various locations in the United States to film young entrepreneurs.

Cast

The Biz Kid$ cast is made up largely of teenage actors from the Seattle area. Writer John Keister also has small recurring roles.

The original cast members were Lauren Dupree, Kaelon Horst, Bob Jones, Maia Lee, Alexander Oki, Amanda Powers, Miriam Schwartz, Austin Siedentopf, Devon Stark, Christina Taylor, and Elizabeth Wright.^[2]

Hosts

Lauren (The Hip Hop Dancer), a teenage girl who has her two best pals Maia and Kaelon. She is a 17-year-old girl at Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, because she loves theater, dance, and music. She is the leader of her Theater Arts team at Seattle Academy of Arts & Sciences. She is Lizzie’s adoptive older sister. From her senior year of high school in season 1 to her college days in season 5. The show ended when Lauren was 21 years old and she graduated from Howard University, By the sixth season she was a 30 something woman. She starred in a movie called Crossroads when she was a young child in middle school.
Kaelon (The Smooth and Suave Boy), Lauren’s best friend, He is a 17-year-old guy at South Kitsap High School where he loves to play basketball. He is smooth and suave, and he is Austin’s adopted brother. He is a leader of The Biz Squad (a parody of The Mod Squad) with his ladies Lauren and Maia. The show ended when Kaelon was 21 years old, and he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, He is a leader of the South Kitsap High School basketball team and later the University of California, Los Angeles basketball team. By the sixth season he was a 30 something man. He got married to his wife in the future. He starred in the short film Driver's Ed when he was 15 years old from his sophomore year of high school.
Maia (The Friend Lover), Lauren’s second-best friend, the youngest of Biz Kid$. She is a 14-year-old girl at her high school where she loves shopping, music and friends. She’s like a younger sister to Alex. She got ended by the third season when Maia was 16. From her freshman year of high school in season 1 to her junior year in season 3. She starred as an orphan in a black and white silent movie when she was 13 from her middle school days.
Alex (The Language Speaker), He is a 17-year-old guy at Lakeside School where he’s learning different languages. He's like an older brother to Maia. He is a leader of Alex's Angels (a parody of Charlie's Angels), with his female friends Amanda, Miriam and Christina. The show ended when Alex was 21 years old, and he graduated from Yale University. From his junior year of school in season 1 to his college days in season 5. By the sixth season he was a 30 something man. He played baseball. He starred as Woody in a ReAct Theater production Six Degrees of Separation when he was just 16 years old.
Amanda (The Attention Girl), She is an 18-year-old girl at her high school when she is friendly and outgoing. She likes to pay attention. She is Christina’s best friend. The show ended when Amanda was 22 years old, and she graduated from college. From her high school days in season 1 to her college days in season 5. She has her friends from he rpast when she was a little girl. Now she has her own friends.
Miriam (The Funny People Laugher), She is a 17-year-old girl at Roosevelt High School where she makes people laugh. She is one of Christina & Amanda’s best friends. She’s like a sister to Alex and Maia. The show ended when Miriam was 21 years old, and she graduated from University of Minnesota. By the sixth season she was in her mid 20s. She got married to her friend Adam in Oregon in the future. From her high school years in season 1 to her college days in season 5.
Austin (The Pranker Boy), He is a 16-year-old guy at Issaquah High School where he enjoys teaching with kids and he played football. He is Alex’s best friend. He is Kaelon’s adopted brother. The show ended when Austin was 20 years old, and he graduated from the University of Washington. From his sophomore years in high school in season 1 to his college days in season 5. He had his attending rules when he was a kid.
Devon (The Tae Kwon Do Boy), He is a 12-year-old 7th grader at his middle school where he enjoys karate and taekwondo. He is the second youngest of Biz Kid$. He is Lauren and Lizzie’s adoptive younger brother. The show ended when Devon was 16. From his middle school days in season 1 to his junior year of high school in season 5. He was having his kung fu trophy when he was a kid.
Christina (The Perfectionist), She is a teenage girl with her glasses from her school where she is the perfectionist. She is one of Amanda & Miriam’s best friends. The show ended when she was a young adult, she lost a couple of pounds from her weight loss, her diet and exercises, and she graduated from college. From her high school days in seasons 1 to 3 to her college days in seasons 4 and 5. She lost weight and her healthy diet plan is great for her.

Lizzie (The Creative Girl), She is a teenage girl from her high school who loves to make clothes, prom dresses and others. She is another one of Christina & Amanda’s best friends. She is Lauren’s adoptive younger sister. She is a leader of Get Lizzie Love! (a parody of Get Christie Love!) The show ended when she was a young adult and graduated from college. From her high school days in season 1 to her college days in season 5. She made clothing designs when she was little.

Guest stars

Judith Levine, an author of Not Buying It!
Ace Young, an American Idol finalist
Richard Karn, Home Improvement star and the fourth host of Family Feud from 2004 to 2006.
Brie Larson, an actress who needs to wear her clothes in Hollywood, California.
Cymphonique Miller, an actress, singer, dancer, and rapper who makes Byou.
Tracey Conway, Steve Wilson, Nancy Guppy, and more of John Keister and Pat Cashman’s former Almost Live! cast members.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder.

Sketches

All My Investments, a parody of the soap opera on ABC, All My Children. Featured in two episodes "Saving and Investing for Your Future" and "Bulls, Bears and Financial Markets".
The No-Sale Zone, a parody of the television series The Twilight Zone. Featured in an episode "Sell, Sell, Sell (The Science of Sales)".
Mr. Squeezya Card, a commercial parody of the Visa card. Featured in an episode "Using Your Credit-Crazy or Compelling?".
As the Economy Turns and As the Budget Turns, both parodies of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns. Featured in two episodes.
The Adventures of Compulsive and Compare Kid, Amanda and Miriam as two teenage girls named Compulsive and Compare Kid to look at the newest phone ever. Featured in an episode "How to Be a Smart Consumer".
Banks of Our Lives, a parody of the soap opera on NBC, Days of Our Lives. Featured in an episode "Take it to the Bank!".
Gus Greenback: Gumshoe Detective, a 16-year-old teenage detective named Gus Greenback (Austin Siedentopf) has all the money clues to his friends, a pretty popular rich girl named Darla Dollar (Miriam Schwartz) and his assistant Sergeant Sawbuck (Lauren DuPree) solving some entrepreneur files during the mid to late 1940s and early 1950s in Seattle.
Film, television spoofs, and other comedy sketches are featured in some episodes.

Episodes

Main article: List of Biz Kid$ episodes

Broadcasting

Biz Kid$ is produced in association with WXXI of Rochester, NY, is distributed by American Public Television in the United States, and started airing in the United States on January 6, 2008. By June 2008, the show was on 311 of the nation's 343 PBS stations in 50 states.

It airs on KCTS-TV and KBTC-TV in Seattle and Tacoma.^[3] By the launch of Season Two, Biz Kid$ was airing in all 50 states and was available to over 287 million people.^[4]

The show also aired in the United Kingdom on the Simply Money channel and also aired in Canada on the Knowledge Network.

Curriculum

A free curriculum is available for download for use by teachers and parents to use in classrooms, afterschool programs and at home.^[5] Each episode has a specially designed curriculum with activities, reviews and tests, all of which comply with the National Endowment for Financial Education standards. Five core Biz Kid$ lesson plans are available in Spanish.

References

External links

Former PBS Kids original programming

Former PBS Kids original programming
1960s-1970s debuts	Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968–2001) The Electric Company (1971–1977) Zoom (1972–1978)
1980s debuts	3-2-1 Contact (1980–1988) Powerhouse (1982–1983) Reading Rainbow (1983–2006) Newton's Apple (1983–1999) Kidsongs (1985–1998)¹ Learn to Read (1987–1988)³ Square One Television (1987–1992) Shining Time Station (1989–1995) Long Ago and Far Away (1989–1993)
1990s debuts	Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1991–1995) Mark Kistler's Imagination Station (1991–1998)² Barney & Friends (1992–2010) Lamb Chop's Play-Along (1992–1997) Ghostwriter (1992–1995) Behind the Scenes (1992) Kino's Storytime (1992–1997) In the Mix (1993–2012)³ Gerbert (1993–1997)² Pappyland (1993–1999)¹ The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon (1994–1999)¹ Kidsongs (1994–1998)¹ The Magic School Bus (1994–1997) Bill Nye the Science Guy (1994–1998) Globe Trekker (1994–2010) The Huggabug Club (1995–2000)¹ The Puzzle Place (1995–1998) The Big Comfy Couch (1995–2009)¹ Wishbone (1995–2001) Katie and Orbie (1995–1997) Groundling Marsh (1995–1997)¹ The Swamp Critters of Lost Lagoon (1995–1997)¹ Bloopy's Buddies (1996–1998)¹ Kratts' Creatures (1996) Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? (1996–1997) Adventures from the Book of Virtues (1996–2000) Tots TV (1996–2002) Arthur (1996–2022) Theodore Tugboat (1996–2002) The Reppies (1996)¹ Cave Kids (1996)¹ Wimzie's House (1997–2001) Salty's Lighthouse (1997–1998)¹ The Charlie Horse Music Pizza (1998–1999) Noddy (1998–2000) Teletubbies (1998–2008) Someday School (1998–2001)¹ Zoom (1999–2005) Zoboomafoo (1999–2001) Adventures with Kanga Roddy (1999–2001)¹ WishARoo Park (1999–2001)¹ Hello Mrs. Cherrywinkle (1999–2001)¹ Redwall (1999–2002)¹ Dragon Tales (1999–2005)
2000s debuts	Between the Lions (2000–2010) The Dooley and Pals Show (2000–2003)¹ Caillou (2000–2010) Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000–2003) Corduroy (2000–2001) Elliot Moose (2000–2001) Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse (2000–2002) George Shrinks (2000–2004) Seven Little Monsters (2000–2004) Timothy Goes to School (2000–2001) Anne of Green Gables (2001–2002)¹ Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (2001–2002) Jay Jay the Jet Plane (2001–2005) DragonflyTV (2002–2008)³ Angelina Ballerina (2002–2006) Liberty's Kids (2002–2003) The Toy Castle (2002–2005)¹ The Berenstain Bears (2003–2004) Boohbah (2003–2006) Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks (2003–2007) Clifford's Puppy Days (2003–2006) Curiosity Quest (2004–2015)² Peep and the Big Wide World/Pocoyo (2004–2011)¹ Make Way for Noddy (2004–2007) Maya & Miguel (2004–2007) Postcards from Buster (2004–2012) Thomas & Friends (2004–2017) The Shapies (2005–2007)² Toopy and Binoo (2005–2006)² Danger Rangers (2005–2006)¹ The Zula Patrol (2005–2008)¹ Bob the Builder (2005–2012) Time Warp Trio (2005–2006) Signing Time! (2006–2008)¹ It's a Big Big World (2006–2010) Franny's Feet (2006–2010) Wunderkind Little Amadeus (2006)¹ Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman (2006–2010) SeeMore's Playhouse (2006–2008)¹ Design Squad (2007–2011) Super Why! (2007–2016) WordGirl (2007–2015) WordWorld (2007–2011) Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies (2007–2008)² Animalia (2007–2008)² Biz Kid$ (2008–2017)¹ Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures (2008–2009) Raggs (2008–2009)¹ Martha Speaks (2008–2014) Sid the Science Kid (2008–2013) Lomax, the Hound of Music (2008) The Electric Company (2009–2011) Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps (2009–2010) Dinosaur Train (2009–2020)
2010s debuts	The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! (2010–2018) SciGirls (2010–2020) Peg + Cat (2013–2018) Bob the Builder (2015–2018) Mack & Moxy (2016) Ready Jet Go! (2016–2019) Splash and Bubbles (2016–2018) Esme & Roy (2019–2021) Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019–2021)
Current Original series template All programs are distributed by PBS unless where noted. ¹ Distributed by American Public Television (APT). ² Not distributed by PBS or APT. ³ Instructional program.