Sidewalks Entertainment

The current version of Sidewalks is primarily a celebrity-based interview and music show, but the original concept was somewhat different.

The initial draft was to feature street performers, who are also known as sidewalk performers (hence the show's title). Cameras would follow and showcase the street performers in San Francisco or at the studio where Sidewalks was produced. Shortly before production began, the street performer segment was dropped due to time and a lack of interest from some of the money-starved talents. Only a handful of street performers eventually appeared on the series.

The early years of Sidewalks became a TV showcase for unknown aspiring musicians and artists. Talents appeared with at least one full-length performance, followed by a short interview. For some of the talents, the show produced exclusive music videos of the acts. The Sidewalks clips became one of the trademarks of the production for guests and viewers (after airing on an episode, the videos went on to become demonstration reels for the guests and also appeared on some international television programs).

In 1990, the show expanded its format and experimented with national music videos. Along with musical clips from popular artists such as Mariah Carey, Jessica Simpson, and Destiny's Child, well-known musical stars, ranging from Fred Schneider of The B-52's to then-newcomer Mary J. Blige, became guests. Around 1992, the show journeyed into more celebrity interviews, which now included actors from TV and films. The regional show became part of the national media tour, where celebrities would come on a TV show to pitch or promote their projects. The Sidewalks host would conduct interviews either in-person or from a satellite tour.

Some of the national guests who have appeared on the show:

• Actresses: Brittany Murphy, Doris Roberts, Melinda Clarke, Jennie Garth, Jamie-Lynn DiScala, Sela Ward, Vanessa Marcil, Debbie Reynolds, AnnaSophia Robb, Catherine Bell, Teri Garr, Rae Dawn Chong, and Nell Carter.
• Actors: Michael Madsen, Bill Paxton, Hank Azaria, Scott Bakula, Danny Glover, Bob Saget, Robert Englund, and Rob Schneider.
• Singers / bands: Green Day, Josh Groban, The Judds, Phil Collins, Bruce Hornsby, Kenny Loggins, David Ford, Teddy Geiger, LaToya London, Rick Springfield, John Hiatt, country performers Sara Evans and Deana Carter, rock band Barenaked Ladies, and Christian music stars Sandi Patty, Rachael Lampa, and Point of Grace.
• Sports stars: Wayne Gretzky, Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Bonnie Blair, Richard Petty, Jon Wood, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip, and Shaquille O'Neal.
• TV hosts: Meredith Vieira, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Joy Behar (from ABC's The View), Stephanie Miller, Melissa Rivers, and Donny and Marie Osmond.
• Authors: Judith Krantz, Sidney Sheldon, and Jackie Collins.

Sidewalks also took its production remotely to showcase a variety of events and conventions. Events such as KMEL radio's Summer Jam event, the nationwide Lollapalooza concert tour, Walt Disney's Aladdin ice show, The National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM), The Renaissance Pleasure Faire, the comic and fantasy convention WonderCon, behind-the-scenes at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and movie premieres were featured. The Bay Area Music Awards (Bammies) (later renamed as the California Music Awards) became one of the show's major annual events.

In 2003, the show's production went bi-coastal, thanks to returning on-air personality of Siegel, who conducted celebrity interviews on the East Coast. He had a number of prominent interviews with such stars as Wyclef Jean, Heather Headley, and Gang Starr.

The on-air personalities for Sidewalks have been a talented mix of newcomers, many of whom are getting their first opportunities in front of a camera.

The show's 17th season is currently hosted by Cindy Rhodes, Rafael Siegel and Richard R. Lee, with correspondents Natalie Manuel and Eve Galazin.

Host/producer Rhodes has been the longest mainstay to the program since 1993. She has interviewed a majority of the celebrity interviews and is producing the satellite media tours segments. Host/producer Siegel, who originally started with the stage name Rafael Hernandez, joined the show in 1994 as viewer-turned production crew member-turned host. Siegel returned to the show in 2003 as an East Coast correspondent. In 2005, he moved back to the West Coast where Sidewalks is taped and joined the current hosting team.

The first set of nine shows during season one was hosted by Robert Guarino, Rosie Sorenson and Mel Menefee. The older Menefee became the show's on-screen gimmick between 1988 through 1994. The Mel Menefee character was an ongoing feature as the producers used Menefee's zaniness to form comedic situations, while the other personalities were hosting the episodes. When the show returned after a year hiatus, Menefee was joined by other personalities, most notably Denise Yvonne (now using the name Dee Jones). Other personalities that appeared for a number of seasons were Marci Camacho, Sibyl Motley, Jennifer Parnoff, and Veronica Ornelas.

Sidewalks also gives college students their first on-air experience. Eboni Warnking, Shereelynn Manlangit, Monica Calzada, Oakland Raiderettes cheerleader Michelle Marquez, and Nadine Toren have been some of the interns.

In early 1988, San Francisco Bay Area resident Richard R. Lee got a chance to create and produce his first television show at Televents, a local El Cerrito, California cable station, after he helped and worked on various studio productions. That TV show became Sidewalks, which went before the cameras in May and debuted its first episode on September 1, 1988.

The production schedule of Sidewalks has been irregular (due to TV station and equipment availability), although the show has never left the air since 1988. Sidewalks produced nine shows during season one. Almost a year later, the production returned for several more years at the retitled cable company Bay Cablevision (later purchased by various cable companies including AT&T and Comcast).

In 1994, Lee brought the production to KCRT-TV, a non-commercial Richmond, California TV station, where Lee was already working at for a couple of years. Throughout the decade run, the TV show was an intermittent co-production between Lee and the station until 2004.

The show is now solely produced by Sidewalks Entertainment, Inc., a California corporation developed by Rhodes and Lee, to further the production.

The main producers / hosts and a new team are currently working on re-launching the original concept into a potential national broadcast TV series. They are calling the forthcoming version, Sidewalks: The Entertainment Project (a title that may change when the new show premieres).

In 2005, the team produced a new one-hour test pilot, which sports among things a new logo and theme music. In the pilot, the segments were interviews with American Idol's LaToya London, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Carson Kressley, young actress AnnaSophia Robb, the pop music group From The Desk of Sally, a Kelly Clarkson video, and a feature about finding a talent agent. The pilot is designed to showcase the new production to commercial stations and TV networks.

While the team is developing the new version, the producers and hosts are continuing their long-running Sidewalks Entertainment and Sidewalks: Video Nite series with brand new episodes. Parts of the test pilot were recycled into two episodes ("American Idols" and "Talent Agents") of Sidewalks Entertainment's 16th season.