The Epidemic of Teen Sitcoms About Pop Singers

In the not at all distant past, teen sitcoms were mostly about regular schmucks, from Clarissa Explains It All and Even Stevens to Unfabulous and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. You also had your share of relatively unique (often Sci-Fi) premises, like Phil of the Future or The Secret World of Alex Mack.

Teen idols making waves as temporary pop music stars was nothing new. But a few programs came around that changed the relationship between their music and their television fame. You can trace the concept back to earlier instances, such as Drake Bell's guitar-slinging persona in Drake & Josh. But the concept truly became formidable in 2006.

The TV film High School Musical became unfathomably successful upon its release in January of 2006. Shortly thereafter Hannah Montana premiered and took over the world, centering on a fictional pop singer posing as a regular kid. Next, a previously made mockumentary-style independent film was turned into a TV series by Nickelodeon, called the Naked Brothers Band. High School Musical proved beyond dispute that music from a kids-oriented program could garner A-list sales, while Hannah and the NBB showed how seamlessly the TV show and the pop music by the show's star could be integrated. It was a match made in synergy heaven, with the show and the music career effortlessly promoting each other to stunning new sales heights.

Somewhere around the time that the same concept stormed network TV in the form of likewise-ultra-successful Glee, the TV world began bubbling over with the same old idea from Hannah Montana & Victorious. It's just now reached a fever pitch where practically every sitcom on Nick and Disney follows this formula.

Current or recent shows based entirely around the premise of an aspiring young singer or singers, with ties to commercially released music:

Hannah Montana
The Naked Brothers Band
Jonas L.A.
Big Time Rush
Victorious
How to Rock
A.N.T. Farm
Austin & Ally


Current shows that have included a subplot about one of the characters attempting to become a professional musician or that have included a character singing an original song (in at least one episode):

iCarly
Good Luck Charlie
Shake It Up
Jessie
Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures


Together that comprises every single notable sitcom currently airing new episodes on Nick and Disney (granted, I don't consider Nick's B-List sitcoms notable, they are: Supah Ninjas and Fred: The Show).

Technically, is a bunch of shows about aspiring singers less original than a bunch of shows about regular kids? Not necessarily. But the 'regular kid' premise has a sort of universal appeal. Even as a diehard, rabid, foaming at the mouth lover of pop music, having every show be about singing is starting to drive me up the wall. And I say that even as a likewise rabid fan of the current stock of teen sitcoms!

I don't need to tell you that I consider iCarly and Victorious the greatest ever entries in the teen sitcom genre, nor that I watch and adore nearly all of Disney Channel's current live action programing. If you read this blog, you know this. But with the recent premieres of Austin & Ally, and How To Rock, I just can't handle this identical premise any longer. Throw us fans a bone and give us another show about regular kids, or super-powered kids, or fueding siblings ...or lobsters on the moon, I don't care as long as nobody sings any songs. Jennette McCurdy has her own show soon to be made. Jen happens to be one of the most technically proficient singers on Nick or Disney. But if you bastards stick her in the 15th Hannah Montana remake, I will fucking cut you.

Wizards of Waverly Place, we hardly knew ye.

Wizards of Waverly Place. October 12, 2007 – January 6, 2012 

Rest In Peace

Yesterday, the series finale of Wizards of Waverly Place aired. This is no time to be sad, it's the time to celebrate how good of a show it was. For any show to last this long is impressive, but especially in the kid & teen market where turnover can be markedly extreme. Yet I can't help but to feel a bit of regret, since I was really just beginning to get into this show. When I started watching Disney Channel again, WOWP was this modern legend, with a hefty and respected reputation -- and ironically, that turned me off from it, since I'm more interested in exploring exciting new things. With over a hundred episodes and a TV movie, I didn't know where to start, but the more I saw of it, the better and better it got. With fun plotlines and a handful of excellent recurring characters, it's not the first super-power themed sitcom but it may well be the best of its ilk. Disney doesn't release many DVDs of their shows, so if I want to continue exploring Wizards I'll have to do so on the computer. But it was a great show and I'm happy I was around to see it the curtain call.

When I returned to Disney Channel last year, they were just about finished showing Hannah Montana reruns. Which means we should have about 6 months left to enjoy Wizards before it's gone forever! Gone into our memories, that is. And... the internet. Bye, Wizards! <3

Goodbye, Wizards of Waverly Place! We will miss you.

New Horizons in Children's Television

I'm a proud Nickelodeon fan. Over the years, Nick and The Disney Channel have both had their share of decent shows. But over the last half-decade or so, what Nick brought to the table has been so transcendental that my friends and I have come to sort of shun Disney. iCarly, Victorious, and Avatar The Last Airbender are three of the finest programs ever to grace television, and Disney has never authored even one series that can compete.

But Nick has been running on empty for some time now. Airbender is long gone, and for an entire year iCarly has been subjected to mammoth two or three month gaps separating new episodes. Now even Victorious's progression has slowed to a crawl. I've been so desperate for new light-hearted television that I began checking out what Disney has to offer. And to my surprise, it's really good.

The convenient thing about Disney Channel is, they play their decent material pretty much all the time. 2am, 11am, 10pm, you're liable to catch Disney's best show. This is a huge breath of fresh air compared to Nickelodeon, whose best material maddeningly runs strictly in a 5 or so hour block during the afternoon & evening. Nickelodeon's time is segmented by a lengthy "Nick Jr." toddler block in the morning and a lengthy "Nick @ Nite" syndicated sitcom block at night. And during the brief period where Nick runs their A-material, you're just as liable to run into Big Time Rush or Supah Ninjas as you are to stumble upon iCarly or Victorious.

Disney's shows aren't as well-written or legitimate as Nick's greatest work, but they're funny and genuinely better than everything on Nick's unfortunately prominent list of b-material. Shake It Up, ANT Farm, Good Luck Charlie, Wizards of Waverly Place, My Baby Sitter's a Vampire, Hannah Montana reruns.... even Phineas & Ferb is alright, almost everything Disney has is pretty decent, and they air new episodes in a timely manner. By far my early favorite is the hip dance-themed show Shake It Up. Sort of ironic because it's the show Kelley once tricked me into thinking she loved. I think she might secretly dig it. ;)

Nick Versus Disney

Been watching "Hannah Montana Forever" on Youtube all day. I was crazy about this show... riiiight up until I discovered iCarly. And yeah, it's still fuckin' l33t.

I never realized until very recently just how much a connoisseur of kid's television I am. I mean, fuck it, I'm pretty familiar with this shit. I despised Nickelodeon and Disney when I was a kid, but I still watched them 24/7... 'cause it was better than Cartoon Network. And what else was there for me to watch? So I grinned and bore most of the shows that now constitute my generation's favored nostalgia. *shrug* Buncha kooks if you ask me, that shit was decent at best.

As a youth I was fond of sitting in a pitch black room watching Noir... I was obsessed with being grim, because my life WAS grim. And it was a beautiful synergy, just what I needed. But like Neil Young going from 60 to zero, the older I got, the more I was able to relax, and the more I appreciated the kids stuff. Quite obviously... this trend has yet to ebb!

NICK v DISNEY

Overall I'd say Nick brings a much higher level to the game than Disney. Disney's programming frequently relies on slapstick comedy and ultra-typical sitcom fare. Nickelodeon, on the other hand, seems to craft a unique identity for itself and employ genuine absurdist humor that rarely seems too childish or contrived. Comparing Nick to Disney is a lot like comparing Seinfeld to Two and a Half Men, or Futurama to Ugly Americans. I wouldn't mind watching any of those shows, but the vast distinction in quality and craft between them is obvious.

Nickelodeon wins the battle hands down just by its three greatest shows, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Victorious, and iCarly, each of which being some of the finest television I've yet had the pleasure of viewing. However, beyond that, I would definitely say that Disney & Nick are about even. They both have a few watchable cartoons (though nothing to write home a bout), and a handful of decent teen sitcoms.

I might put 90s Disney above 90s Nick. Nick had some decent shows like The Secret World of Alex Mack and Clarissa Explains It All. But at this point, Disney was in a more "adult" mindset, with live action shows featuring cute girls and serious plots. While researching for this post, I reviewed some of my old favorites, and... In an otherwise uninteresting episode of Disney's The Famous Jet Jackson, I stumbled upon this interchange:

Person 1: I was just thinking... you guys ever think about your life as you live it? I was listening to my parents talk the other night. They were remembering what it was like to be our age, all the fun they had, all the things they did. They were talking about it in a way that made me think they hadn't really appreciated it while they were having it.

Person 2: I know what you mean. What if we're all having these amazing lives, and we don't really realize until we look back on it when we're old, like our parents?

Maybe it's not Socrates (or maybe it is). But I'm afraid it may (or may not) touch on how or why I'm a 22 year old man who as of late has spent most of his time watching TV shows aimed at 13 year olds. Youth is a LOT more beautiful in hindsight than it'll ever be the first time around. And as much as older people want to tell you how great it is -- it'll never work. Not because kids are stubborn, but because we need all that life experience between then and now before this shit starts to seem poetic.

Now, in the 2000s, both stations stepped up their game. Disney had a lot of shows I dig such as Phil of the Future, Lizzie McGuire, The Jersey, Life With Derek (acquired programming), and Hannah Montana. Nick, in addition to its almighty triumverate, had great fare with Unfabulous, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and Zoey 101.

Nick wins, but... why choose? You can have 'em both.