| Runtime: | 30 Minutes |
| Creator: | Jake Austen Jacqueline Stewart |
| Starring: | Jake Austen Mia Park |
| Producer: | Jake Austen Jacqueline Stewart |
| Country: | United States |
| Network: | Chicago Access Network Television |
| Num Episodes: | over 1,000 |
Chic-a-Go-Go is a public-access television cable television children's dance show that airs on Chicago Access Network Television (CAN-TV). The show bills itself as "Chicago's Dance Show for Kids of All Ages".
The show invites members of the public to participate in tapings at CAN-TV studios. A typical episode features dancing to prerecorded music, as well as musical guests lip syncing to their own songs. Each show is hosted by Jake Austen, who portrays Ratso, a teenage puppet rat, and Mia Park as human sidekick Miss Mia.[1]
Among the show's regular features are the "El Train Line" (based on Soul Trains "Soul Train Line"), the "Fantasy Dance" (which features dancers in front of a green screen), and videotaped interviews with guests.
Austen got the idea for the show when he published a story in his magazine Roctober about Kiddie-a-Go-Go, an all-kids dance show produced in Chicago between 1963 and 1970. Austen and Stewart met the show's creators, Jack and Elaine Mulqueen, and were inspired to complete a certification course that would allow them to use the facilities of Chicago Access Corporation. They shot the first episodes of the show in March 1996.[2]
In addition to Kiddie-a-Go-Go, the show is influenced by well-known dance shows such as Soul Train, American Bandstand, and Solid Gold.
In the 2004 movie The Big Bounce, Morgan Freeman's character is seen watching the show.[3]