Whiz Kids is an American science fiction adventure television series that originally aired on CBS from October 5, 1983, to June 2, 1984.

The series starred Matthew Laborteaux, Todd Porter, Jeffrey Jacquet and Andrea Elson as the titular “whiz kids”, a group of teenagers who became amateur detectives using computer technology to solve mysteries.

The show also starred Max Gail as an investigative reporter and A Martinez as the commanding officer of the local police precinct's detective squad.

Philip DeGuere stated in several 1983 interviews he conceived Whiz Kids after recognizing the importance of computers in his work as a television producer and believed the "new" technology could make an interesting premise for a series.

However, DeGuere repeatedly stated that his idea for the show was originally conceived in 1981 and was subsequently validated when Time magazine named the computer its 1982 "Man of the Year.

When explaining the decision to build the show around high school-age characters, DeGuere stated, "We specifically cast them at an age where it would be fun to watch them grow.

"[1][5][6] In an attempt to keep the innovative premise plausible, DeGuere hired technical advisors and a computer analyst to supervise and provide input on the stories.

"[2] In June 1983, four months prior to the series premiere on CBS, the pilot sparked controversy after it was screened for critics, affiliates, and advertisers at a Phoenix press conference.

As a result, small changes were made to the original pilot, and two additional adult characters were written into all subsequent episodes: a police detective and a newspaper reporter.

[5][6][7][8] Richie Adler (Matthew Laborteaux) is a tenth-grader who lives with his mother, Irene (Madelyn Cain) and younger sister, Cheryl (Melanie Gaffin).

Guidance is provided by Llewellen Farley (Max Gail), a reporter for the fictional newspaper the LA Gazette, whose stories are often exposés of crime and corruption.

In most episodes, the three groups — the police (mostly led by Quinn), the media (usually Farley), and the Whiz Kids — all contribute to cracking a case and in bringing the criminals to justice.

[7] Whiz Kids premiered on CBS on Wednesday, October 5, 1983, at 8:00 PM Eastern,[10] facing off against the hit action drama The Fall Guy on ABC and the popular reality show Real People on NBC.

Keeping the same 8:00 PM time slot it had on Wednesday, Whiz Kids now had competition from two other series aimed at younger viewers, since NBC counterprogrammed the hour with the popular sitcoms Diff’rent Strokes and Silver Spoons.

Those two series managed to keep the younger audience that CBS was targeting with the move, and the show also performed poorly against ABC's crime drama T. J. Hooker in the same timeslot.

[11] After the fifth episode in the new timeslot aired on February 4, 1984, CBS removed Whiz Kids from the regular programming lineup, a move that effectively cancelled the series.

[11] After its cancellation, Universal offered reruns of Whiz Kids to local stations in the United States for a number of years to air as part of their weekend schedules.

Chicago Tribune critic Marilynn Preson wrote, "Mostly it will be children and teens and young adults who may come to love this series [and] that's a big part of the problem.

"[5] New York Times critic John J. O'Connor felt similarly, writing "Whiz Kids is a kiddie show, the kind of product that should be shown on Saturday mornings or late afternoons.

"[10] Associated Press critic Fred Rothenberg echoed the sentiment, writing "Whiz Kids does not make a whimper on the sex-and-violence scale, yet it may be more dangerous to children than anything on television this season.

[O]ur adolescent heroes – sort of Hardy Boys high on silicon chips – engage, willy-nilly, in assorted illegal activities: computer tampering, driving without licenses and grave-robbing.

"[15] Montreal Gazette writer Mike Boone gave the series premiere its one positive review, writing "To enjoy Whiz Kids – and I think a lot of people will – viewers will have to suspend disbelief and buy the show's rather far-out premise.

When you consider the types of TV programs aimed at young viewers in recent seasons, Whiz Kids represents a giant leap forward in intelligence and sophistication.

In the episode, entitled "Fly the Alibi Skies", the adolescent crime-solvers use Ralf to assist the Simon brothers in capturing a murderer by hacking into a computer network linked to San Diego International Airport.