It had been over 17 years since the Teen Sitcom ‘Kids on Bikes’ was cancelled, when a reunion show was put togeteher by the cast to finally produce and air the season 6 finale on Netflix.
This effort was spearheaded by Chloe Watson, a visionary actor, now turned producer, who wanted to challenge the audience and make them think, Max Doug, a washed up actor who wanted to show the world he still had it, and Dennis Richardson, the one actor who had remained succesful after the show and was seeking even more fame.
Putting together this final episode was a daunting task as the cast members had left the original production on bad terms and their relationship had hit further lows afterwards. Dennis ended up marrying Bronson, Chloe’s ex-husband and on-scene flame during the original show. Dennis and Max were also at odds as Dennis had ‘stolen’ some of the spotlight from Max, and Max never recovered.
Another complication the team faced, was that the script was left as-is since the show was cancelled. Which meant that it was written to be played by teenage actors, not grown adults.
The first step to get the production going was to produce a catchy musical number. This was very important as if done right, it could bring much needed funds to the project as it was a product placement by Coca-Cola for its new product, Cocaccino, ‘half the size, twice the sugar’. Maya, the contact from Coca Cola, wanted a happy song that showcased how this new product made people happy. Unfortunately this clashed with Chloe’s vision and made it very jarring considering the show started on a somber note with the death of one of the teachers. The musical number did get created, but not to the liking of Coca Cola, who pulled out of the show after seeing it.
The team then wanted to build up some excitement in the media by providing a sneak preview to critics. Unfortunately, with the funds from Coca Cola no longer available, the cast had to practice in questionable locations, such as Denis and Branson’s house. Using Dennis’ contacts, they managed to put together a gala in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria though. While the event was a mess, especially because Max could not get into the building as he was persona non-grata due to his antics some years back, the show ended up getting lots of publicity due to viral videos of the gala taking over the internet as it was seen as very ironic how these 30 year olds were trying to breath life into a teen sitcom.
Finally, the cast got around producing the episode. The success of the sneak preview brought them much needed funds. Enough to get some studio space… but only enough to shoot the episode in one weekend. Here, the old script caused issues. One scene in particular turned very problematic as Chloe was supposed to catch Tiny Teddy who was falling from a high chair. Originally, Tiny Teddy was a baby on the show, but he was now a 17 year old football player.
The episode was produced and put on Netflix. Unfortunately, it was a huge failure that had no followers. Word has it it became a cult classic among stoners, but it never got enough views on the platform.
Dennis and Max did not make up. Max continued being a has-been with emotional problems. The one that had some success afterwards was Chloe, who received an award for her documentary “Adults on Bikes” that showcased the struggles the team faced producing the season finale.
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