The Kitty Landers Show - Characters page

"By and large, I think the answer to most of life's problems is duct tape." - Kitty Landers

All of the characters in “The Kitty Landers Show” are filled with humor and heart, and can be seen as an extension of various creative forms. They are…

KITTY LANDERS
Kitty Kitty is a performer and artist at heart who embraces all different forms of expression to create with, whether it be through words or paint or sculptures or music or even duct tape. “Use Whatchya Got, Not Whatchya Not” is the motto that she lives each moment of her life by. She revels in fashioning everyday objects into works of art AND finding treasures in other people’s trash along the palm tree-lined streets of Venice, California. She digs trying new things and has a hard time sitting in one place for too long. Kitty sees the world in a vibrant, off-beat and unique way, which is probably why she is inspired by individuals who follow the beat of their own drum, including Andrew Wyeth, Nina Simone, Carol Burnett, Edward Gorey and Dolly Parton.

GRETCHEN

Gretchen is an up-and-coming filmmaker who, inspired by the carefree lifestyle and Bohemian spirit of Kitty Landers, has decided to film a show based on the day-to-day escapades of her extraordinary friend’s life. She soon discovers that her practical, straightforward, by-the-book mindset doesn’t always jive with Kitty’s highly excitable and unpredictable nature, but she does her best to keep up, as well as stay out of her enthusiastic star’s way. Gretchen’s artistic role models include: Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, Julie Taymor, and Woody Allen.

LUCY

Lucy is Kitty’s half-sister and a super-genius. Wise beyond her eight years of age, Lucy empowers young girls to be curious, articulate, and seekers of knowledge. She is a true Renaissance girl, with a wide range of interests that include astronomy, engineering, architecture, linguistics and meteorology. An avid inventor, (she’s invented the Samurai translation helmet and Flashback Glasses for Kitty) Lucy aims to continuously design ways to improve upon the way the world thinks and communicates. Some of her major influences include: Thomas Edison, Ayn Rand, Nikola Tesla, Amelia Earhart, Leonardo daVinci and architect Julia Morgan.

SERGIO, THE FORTUNE COOKIE TREE
Sergio

Sergio provides Kitty with her daily fortunes, which are hidden inside the crunchy cookies that hang from his leafy branches. Although Kitty ceremoniously proclaims his words of wisdom, she never heeds his perceptive advice and always ends up kicking herself for not taking his lyrical warnings to heart.

PHILIPPE

Philippe is a culinary wizard and Kitty’s next-door neighbor. He believes a good meal is a work of art, and strives to create new recipes that inspire and soothe the senses. He claims to be from all over the world and since his use of the English language is still a work in progress, he has a tendency to come up with some very original ways to turn a phrase. He is usually a bit jittery and cautious, especially when he’s exposed to new situations, but finds that some warm soup usually does the trick to ease his (as he likes to say) “nervousingness.” Antoine Careme (The King of Chefs), Cézanne (for his still life paintings of food) and Hank Williams (for his song “Jumbalya”) are a few people Philippe considers to be creative influences.

OLD MAN MACGRUDER
McGruder

Old Man MacGruder is a seasoned poet and storyteller who has meandered all over this vast country of ours, from Pittsburgh to Tacoma and every state, city and backwoods trading-post in between! He claims to be older than all the dirt that he has tread upon throughout his amazingly diverse life. Kitty and Lucy gets a real kick out of the tall tales of his travels, and in return, they make him a snack from recipes sent by viewers all around the US and beyond. At first, he can come off grumpy and gruff, but after chomping down a homemade snack, he loosens and lightens up while spinning yet another poetic yarn about his action-packed past. MacGruder looks up to such legendary storytellers and poets as: Ernest Hemingway, Joni Mitchell, Dr. Seuss, Leadbelly and Carl Sandburg.

THE BAND

The Band is an up-and-coming trio of musical dynamos who’s diverse styles and backgrounds, combine to create a contagious sound that their fans describe as “powerfully wowerful.” Being the starving artists that they are, they can’t afford to rent a place to practice, so they take Kitty up on her offer to use her bathroom as a rehearsal space, and in exchange for her generosity, promise to come up with a catchy theme song for her brand new show. Sly and The Family Stone, The Talking Heads, Thelonious Monk, Waylon Jennings, Blondie, Beck and The Kinks are just a few their musical idols.

FUMIKO
Fumiko

Fumiko is a high-stylin’ fashion designer and Kitty’s close friend. Inspired by the traditional Japanese kimono, which depicts scenes found in the natural world, Fumiko uses the human form as a canvas, using abstract angles and patterns to reflect her environment. When she was only six years old, she gazed at the snow-capped Mt. Fuji and said: “I’d like to make a skirt just like that mountain.” Fumiko’s grandfather promptly gave her material to make the skirt (which she called a “Fuji Wrap”) and later -- taught Fumi many traditional Japanese skills including Woodworking, Ikebana (flower arranging), and Calligraphy. She is inspired by such groundbreaking visionaries as: Bjork, Robert Wilson, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alexander Calder and Grace Kelly.

LAURETTE T. HINCH

She’s the host of the only TV show worth watching (besides “The Kitty Landers Show,” of course!). Laurette is articulate and inquisitive, and has made it her mission to showcase fresh-faced artists of every discipline at her roundtable. Her candid, no-nonsense style can sometimes rub her temperamental guests the wrong way, but despite all her quirks she still proceeds to illustrate to her loyal audience time and time again, that art, indeed, is everywhere.

MUFFY

Muffy is a natural born dancer and Kitty’s best friend. Kitty calls her the “Dancing Queen Machine,” because she finds a way to bust a move every chance she gets and can’t help but express her emotions and thoughts through physical movement. She love, love, loves to experiment and combine all forms of dance and movement, from break dancing to square dancing to acrobatics to ballet. She has even started her own workout routine combining gymnastics, yoga and aerobics called “Huffin’ n’ Puffin’ with The Muffin.” On Muffy’s bedroom wall she has pictures of dancers who inspire her to move including Fred Astaire, Michael Jackson, Martha Graham, Chita Rivera, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Sammy Davis Jr.

THE IDGE

The Idge is a freaky, fictitious creature that Kitty makes up to blame for her own mistakes. His outlandish appearance is constructed straight from Kitty’s wild imagination and sparked by various items found from inside of her own house. Kitty describes him as, “gray-ish, purple-ish, like a moldy eggplant” and as she continues to go along with the charade, her description of him becomes more and more bizarre, like having “wild and crazy feathers that stick out of his neck” (inspired by seeing her prized Dreamcatcher) and a horn made of loose pocket change (after spotting her jar of spare coins). Finally, fed up with Kitty’s continuous finger-pointing, The Idge bursts out from her closet and demands the she clear his name and take responsibility for her actions, or else he will smash and bite and crunch everything that comes across his path (including her vintage record collection). After all is said and done, will Kitty have the guts to confess her guilt to her friends proving once and for all that The Idge doesn’t really exist… Or does He?