Powerhouse | |
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![]() Title card | |
Created by | Ira H. Klugerman Ruth Pollak[1] |
Developed by | Educational Film Center |
Written by | Ruth Pollak |
Directed by | John Gray Michael Switzer |
Creative director | Johnson B. Gordon |
Presented by | Elizabeth Johnson |
Starring | Sandra Bowie Domenica Galati Jason Kravits Michael Mack Jessica Prentice Michael Wikes |
Voices of | Mark Gordon |
Theme music composer | Richard Paul Brier (theme) |
Opening theme | "The Powerhouse Is You!" |
Ending theme | "The Powerhouse Is You!" |
Composer | Fred Karns (score) |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 16 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Simon Spenscer |
Producers | Ira H. Klugerman Martin Sonnenberg |
Production location | Washington, D.C. |
Cinematography | Tom Richmond |
Editor | Terry Halle |
Camera setup | 16-millimeter film |
Running time | 28 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | PBS |
Picture format | 1.37:1 |
Audio format | Mono |
Original release | December 12, 1982 January 3, 1983 | –
Powerhouse is an American television series produced by the Educational Film Center at Northern Virginia ETV, which aired on PBS for 16 episodes in 1982. It was billed as "a 16-part series for young people and their families," with the target audience being primarily children, preteens, teenagers, and young adults. The series was later rerun by Nickelodeon from 1984 to 1986.
Set in Washington, D.C., Powerhouse is focused on the adventures of a racially and ethnically diverse group of five teenagers and one adult from the inner city, based at a former boxing and sports gym headquarters turned into a youth community center. The center was founded by Brenda Gaines, a woman who inherited the property from her late father, a former boxing champion. The basic message of the series is that every person is a source of creativity and power, expressed in the lyrics of the show's theme song as "We all have a Powerhouse deep down inside".
Each episode deals with significant personal issues affecting young people, such as alcoholism, peer pressure, and physical fitness, combined with fast-paced action-adventure stories in which the group often has to solve a mystery or prevent a crime. For example, in one episode they have to expose the head of a racketeering operation that threatens to put Brenda and Powerhouse out of business. In another episode, they try to locate the source of a potentially lethal food-poisoning outbreak.
Episodes were presented in two acts, with a break in between; the breaks were filled by "uncommercials", short clips designed to convey ideas potentially of interest to the series' target audience (such as health, fitness and cultural diversity). Another Powerhouse feature was a salute to a particular youth organization, such as the Boy Scouts of America, which preceded at least one of the uncommercials.