Kickin' It

Kickin' It
Created by	Jim O'Doherty
Starring	Leo Howard Dylan Riley Snyder Mateo Arias Olivia Holt Alex Christian Jones Jason Earles
Theme music composer	Ali Dee Theodore, Jordan Yaeger, Julian Michael Davis & Jason Gleed
Opening theme	"Kickin' It with You", performed by Victoria Rocks
Composer(s)	Alan Ett
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	84 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jim O'Doherty Marc Warren (season 1) Dave Bickel J.J. Wall (season 3-present)
Location(s)	Hollywood Center Studios, Hollywood, California
Camera setup	Videotape (filmized); Multi-camera
Running time	23 minutes
Production company(s)	Poor Soul Productions It's a Laugh Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	Disney XD
Picture format	720p (HDTV)
Original run	June 13, 2011 (2011-06-13) – March 25, 2015 (2015-03-25)
External links
Official Website

Kickin' It is an American martial arts inspired comedy television series that originally aired on Disney XD from June 13, 2011 to March 25, 2015. Created and executive produced by Jim O'Doherty, the series is rated TV-Y7 and follows the karate instructor at an under-performing martial arts academy, played by Jason Earles, and his five misfit students, played by Leo Howard, Dylan Riley Snyder, Mateo Arias, Olivia Holt, and Alex Christian Jones.

On September 20, 2011, Disney XD announced the series had been renewed for a second season.^[1][2] The show's second season premiered on April 2, 2012.^[3] Disney XD announced on November 5, 2012 that the series had been renewed for a third season and would go into production in January 2013.^[4] The third season premiered on April 1, 2013. Alex Christian Jones was not a main cast member for the third season. In August 2013, Disney XD ordered a fourth season of the series, scheduled to air in 2014, making it the first Disney XD Original Series to go past 3 seasons. Olivia Holt left the fourth season cast to star in the Disney Channel series I Didn't Do It. The fourth and final^[5] season premiered on February 17, 2014.^[6] The final episode of the series aired March 25, 2015.

Premise

Located in a strip mall, the Bobby Wasabi Martial Arts Academy is known as the worst dojo in the under-performing nationwide Bobby Wasabi chain. To improve the dojo's image, a tight knit crew of underdogs enlists new kid Jack to join and help teach them about life, karate and friendship. All the members of the dojo follow the Wasabi code: "We swear by the light of the dragon's eye, to be loyal and honest and never say die. Wasabi!" There are always two to three story lines. The main one teaches a lesson and the others are for comic relief.^[7]

Production

The series was created by Emmy nominated producer, Jim O'Doherty who started his career as a sitcom writer and producer for the television comedies 3rd Rock from the Sun, Grounded for Life, and The Tracy Morgan Show.^[8] Kickin' It is said to be inspired by O'Doherty's childhood growing up on Long Island, New York where he earned a green belt in martial arts, but was forced to end his training when his local dojo closed down and was turned into a veterinary clinic.^[8] This childhood connection to martial arts, combined with three of his daughters' interest in karate, laid the foundation for the premise of the series.^[8]

Casting for the series began in early 2010^[9] with Jason Earles, former star of Disney's Hannah Montana cast in the role of Sensei "Rudy".^[10] Leo Howard, a black-belt in karate and former star of Disney's Leo Little's Big Show, was cast in the role of "Jack".^[11] Dylan Riley Snyder, former star of Disney's Broadway musical Tarzan, was cast in the role of "Milton".^[12] Mateo Arias, brother of Earles' Hannah Montana co-star Moises Arias, was cast in the role of "Jerry".^[13] Olivia Holt, who previously appeared in commercials for Hasbro, Mattel, and Bratz, was cast in the role of "Kim".^[14] Finally, Alex Christian Jones, who appeared in Ruben Studdard's "Flying Without Wings" music video, was cast in the role of "Eddie".^[15]

The pilot episode of Kickin' It was filmed in August 2010 and in November 2010, Disney XD announced it had green-lit the series (then known as Wasabi Warriors) and filming would begin in January 2011.^[16][17] With the announcement of the series, Disney Channel CEO, Gary Marsh commented on the groundbreaking martial arts sitcom formula, saying: "By weaving martial arts into the fabric of a traditional situation comedy, we've created a completely unique sitcom form. Plus, by pairing our star Leo Howard — a real life black-belt martial artist — with a brilliant comedian like Jason Earles, we've tipped the scales towards success."^[18]

Cast and characters

Main characters of Kickin' It during the first two seasons: L to R, Rudy, Milton, Jack, Jerry, Kim and Eddie

Episodes

Release

Ratings

The series's premiere of Kickin' It garnered approximately 873,000 viewers, which made it the highest-rated series premiere in Disney XD's history (including the network's former incarnation as Toon Disney), followed by I'm in the Band's premiere which garnered 863,000 viewers.^[21] The premiere scored 578,000 viewers among children 6-14 and 393,000 among teens 9-14, and was Disney XD's number one live-action series premiere of all time among Kids 6-11 (431,000).^[21] In the United Kingdom the first episode delivered 88,000 viewers and the second one delivered 62,000 viewers.^[22]

Awards and accolades

Broadcast

The series originally premiered on June 12, 2011 on Disney XD. It also airs on Disney Channel. It aired as a preview on July 21, 2011 and officially premiered on September 1, 2011 on Disney XD (UK and Ireland).^[25] It aired on Disney Channel (Australia and New Zealand) on December 31, 2011 as a preview and on August 25, 2012 as a premiere.^[26] It will premiere on April 10, 2014 on Disney XD (Australia). It premiered on September 24, 2012 on Disney XD (Malaysia)^[27] and on March 16, 2013 on Disney XD (Southeast Asia).

References

External links

• Official website
• Kickin' It at the Internet Movie Database
• Kickin' It at TV.com
• Kickin' It at TV Guide