Whiz Kids

A whiz kid is an exceptionally brilliant or accomplished young person.

Whiz Kids may also refer to:

Entertainment

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Whiz Kids (TV series)

Whiz Kids is an American science-fiction adventure television series that aired on CBS in the United States. The 60-minute series was created by Philip DeGuere and Bob Shayne and originally aired from October 5, 1983 to June 2, 1984, lasting one season and consisting of 18 episodes. The premise follows four high school tenth-graders, portrayed by Matthew Laborteaux, Todd Porter, Jeffrey Jaqcuet, and Andrea Elson, who use their sophisticated knowledge of computers to become amateur detectives, solving crimes and bringing perpetrators to justice. Although the series experienced a notable backlash from critics for its portrayal of teenage computer hackers, the program garnered four Youth in Film Award nominations for its young stars, as well as a fifth nomination as "Best New Television Series" of 1983.

Production

Conception

Philip DeGuere 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. Prior to the series' premiere in October 1983, the premise of teenage computer geniuses hacking into other computers was often compared to, and thought to have been inspired by, that of the feature film WarGames, which had been released in May 1983 and became a hit during that summer. However, DeGuere repeatedly stated that his idea for the show was originally conceived in 1981 and was subsequently validated when Time named the computer its 1982 "Man of the Year."

Whiz Kids (Department of Defense)

Whiz Kids was a name given to a group of experts from RAND Corporation with which Robert McNamara surrounded himself in order to turn around the management of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) in the 1960s. The purpose was to shape a modern defense strategy in the Nuclear Age by bringing in economic analysis, operations research, game theory, computing, as well as implementing modern management systems to coordinate the huge dimension of operations of the DoD with methods such as the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System (PPBS). They were called the Whiz Kids recalling the group at Ford Motor Company that McNamara was part of a decade earlier. The group included (among others):

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