The Red Hand Gang (TV Series 1977– ) Poster

(1977– )

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8/10
Loved The Red Hand Gang!!!
safenoe19 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
The Red Hand Gang theme song still runs in my mind, and I'm really pleased the gang was multiracial sort of, and had at least one female. The kids were quite intelligent being able to crack down on crime without having to engage in illegal wiretaps or poke an eye into the Bill of Rights.

This series introduced me to the surname Labyorteaux. It's a tongue twister and I do associate it with Little House on the Prairie. The Red Hand Gang is ripe for a reboot, just like 21 Jump Street. I'm thinking maybe Spike Jonze can direct it and even feature stars such as Ryan Gosling, Zoe Kazan, Russell Crowe and Will Smith's son. The original cast can make cameos just like The Brady Bunch movie.
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8/10
Saturday Morning Pictures in the UK
wearecity16 August 2009
The Red Hang Gang always takes me back to my childhood in the 70's and early 80's. Certainly in the UK, kids used to be treated to very cheap cinema showings on Saturday mornings, which we kids used to call Saturday Morning Pictures.

The Red Hang Gang, was always a part of those mornings. We always saw part of a storyline each week, before a film such as Herbie was shown.

The theme tune after all this time is still catchy and unforgettable, the kids are likable and nearly every kid wanted to be involved in such stories as those in the show (of course we didn't think of the circumstances).

Overall one of the best kids shows in the 70's and one which will always transport me back to summer school holidays and those Saturday Morning Picture showings.
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'Famous Five' from across the pond.
juho6918 December 2004
I loved watching 'The Red Hand Gang'! The three series were shown several times during the late 1970s and early 1980s. One involved a chimpanzee, the second the kidnapping of a rich boy and the third the capture of a famous footballer as part of a plan to steal jewellery. I enjoyed the children's adventures more each time I watched them.

The 'Gang' consisted of four boys - Frankie (the leader), J.R., Little Bill (Frankie's younger brother) and Doc - and one girl, Joanne. All the children were highly observant, imaginative and capable of taking the initiative. These skills were invaluable in their pursuit and outwitting of the crooks - and, usually, very successful. One such comical episode during the third series was when they kept disturbing one of the crooks in his hotel room by sending up services he didn't want, including Doc dressed as a singing telegraph boy!

The series was quite 'Enid Blyton-ish' in its form of a club of children discovering mysteries, outwitting the crooks and everyone receiving his or her just deserves at the end. This was one of the reasons it appealed to me. Also, it was cleverly written in that each episode ended with a cliff-hanger, making young viewers want to watch on. There was also the catchy theme music, with the children jumping in on trampolines (presumably!) and its montage of their adventures.

Simply but effectively made, 'The Red Hand Gang' deserves to be repeated - or, at least, remade and updated - so that it can be enjoyed by today's children.
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10/10
Red Hand Gang!
Zeab70@aol.com9 November 2006
God, How I loved this show as a kid! It was so cool but wasn't on very long. James Bond III was the most popular and I have seen him in other 70's shows as well. If you Brits love 70's kid shows may I recommend: "Infinity Factory" with it's disco theme song and titles teaching young people ages 10-14 the wonders of math! "Zoom" was hot too and I have a copy of the Best of Zoom from the 1970's! "High Feather" about some kids at a summer cap right before Reagan was elected president, "Vegatable Soup" with it's "soulful" approach to things in life (Loved the kids on skateboards traveling in time)! Wished children television shows were this fun again (and away with Ipods and cell phones!)
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10/10
One of my absolute favourites
VanWhistler20 August 2002
This series was what I was brought up on. I watched every episode. It was on in the mornings in the UK. Made me want to have a Chopper bike just like one of the kids in the show. I thought the little kid on his skateboard was ultra-cute. I remember the kidnapping episode, one with baseball cards, one where they were trapped in a basement with one of those dumb-waiter things, lots of chopper biking, that one at a marina, and I think there was one with a horse or stables. All in all, good clean child-friendly fun. Great for a 6 year old like I was. Wouldn't mind seeing it again. Can anyone let me know of any place that I can get hold of a copy to watch?
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I loved this series !!! Bring it out on DVD or video...soon
blytonseeker6 April 2003
I remember this series as the best kids adventure series ever. I loved the kidnapping episode and remember the kids rescuing that poor kid from the boat. For all those kids out there who haven't seen this, it's almost a crime, you don't know what you're missing...and maybe it's better that way. Once seen, never forgotten.
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Red Hand Gang
EGe346290119 June 2005
I remember the final episode of the kidnapped boy stories. Lil" Bill and the kidnapped boy are being held hostage on a boat. They're tied up below deck in their underwear. They are subsequently rescued and the kidnapped boy is carried off in a blanket by his parents.

It's truly a pity that the powers that be have not seen fit to put it out on DVD.

The only wee criticism I have is that either Bill or the kidnapped boy weren't gagged. I guess that was not done for the seek of dialog.

I also recall the first episode of that arc. They first spot a picture of the kidnapped boy in the paper. Then they see him in the window. Not terribly professional kidnappers.
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Memorable kids show!
Edward_D_Wood_Jr31 July 2003
Now kids are on holiday and seeing the rubbish they have to watch ,it got me thinking about 'The red hand gang' One of the best kids dramas ever! I can't believe they only made 12 episodes! It also had one of the most annoying and catchy theme tunes of all time.When is this show going to be released on video or DVD? kids of today are missing out!
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I agree bring it out on DVD
madonna_rodeo16 October 2005
Was watching Eerie Iniana with a friend and suddenly thought of this amazing show and wondered if it was out their to watch. Loved this when I was 3 and 31 would love to watch it for old times sake. Its a classic with a great idea and catchy theme tune. It needs a DVD release now!

The Red Hand Gang was a gang of five stereotypical street kids who met in a clubhouse. They solved crimes and mysteries, the usual stuff. The gang was led by a character called Doc a smart kid with glasses (pictured top left in the picture).

The show was first shown on the American NBC network on Saturday mornings between the 9th September 1977 and 28th January 1978. There were only twelve episodes ever made which makes me wonder why it was so popular and why so many people remember it. However it was even more popular in the UK than it was in the USA.

Throughout the series they prevented a jewel heist, captured some kidnappers, and prevented a museum robbery. The shows were arranged so that the stories overlapped between the episodes and the shows creators would always end an episode at a cliffhanging pinacle moment... to be continued.

They were called the "Red Hand Gang" because they would leave their red hand prints on fences. In one episode they drew around a hand with a red marker pen onto the back of a truck so that they could follow it.

The opening theme credits show the gang running towards the camera to the very catchy theme tune, then cut to shots of each them jumping on a trampoline as their credit pops up onto the screen. Then some action shots, such as on skateboards and shots from the episodes. As you would imagine, chopper bikes and sweat bands also featured in the show!

The show was probably very successful because kids wanted to be like the Red Hand Gang.
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Interesting Fate of this Show!
richard.fuller15 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Little House on the Prairie is joining the (American) Tvland lineup and I was looking up various castmembers to see if they had done anything else. I am well caught up with what many of them did, but Matthew Laborteaux must be the most evasive. He just couldn't escape Albert Ingalls. His brother, Patrick, seems to have done rather well on the show, JAG. Maybe Matt just hasn't gotten the same break.

Anyway, I see The Red Hand Gang, a show made for Saturday mornings that I vaguely recall, as it just didn't live up to its amusing expectations. It was too overly serious for this eleven-year-old and for Saturdays of Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny and the Superfriends.

It is very surprising to see so many posts from the UK. Clearly the show was taken overseas and went into endless syndication there. It seems this is rather the same thing that was done with other shows, such as Land of the Giants and Time Tunnel.

Had it remained in America after its run, it would have only been "It's Albert Ingalls, It's Albert Ingalls, look at how young he is!" so the show seemed to rarely, if ever, appear in any kind of rerun. Plus it only had one season.

Of this cast listed, Anthony Zerbe has done the most.

James Bond III has several appearances, but is still a standout in only one other childhood appearance, when he was on The Love Boat with Sandy Duncan and Jim Stafford, the country singer.

As I said, it was overly serious for me. I remember a few things (the boy in a mask is recognized by the bad guys by his shirt, he takes off the mask and it was now the girl, James Bond seeing 'a woman with no head!') and so on. There would be a handful of childhood detective groups like this left and right back then.

But to see so many posts from the UK is what is most interesting!
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brilliant
swolleneyebags29 August 2005
as with most posters here i too am from the uk and it seems that Americans have forgotten this gem. i have not seen this for over 25years and my memory of it is very faint. my fondness for it is still here and this is my first comment i've made in years of visiting IMDb! the retro 70's look of the red hand gang and it's music was so special to me. i remember the kids jumping in under the credits at the end and the bikes they'd ride about on! i think i had a chopper style 'tomahawk' bike as a result of this show. anyway, it was well shot and the story was very good, certainly held my attention as a 6 year old. one thing i would like to know is was the chapters to this held within the show of another kids TV program? the one with the cartoon monsters - werewolf, Dracula and frankenstein (the one that would always say 'i needed that'). also the show had the three muskateers in it i think? i think i'm thinking of the banana bunch which was much earlier? or 3-2-1 contact - does anyone remember that as well? oh well, the 70's was a great time. just wished i could remember it a bit better and catch up with some of this old footage again.
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