DAY 155: Shake It Up

Series Run : 2010-2013

75 episodes

Network: Disney

Series Premise (as far as I can tell):

2 Tween-Age Girls are dancers on a popular Chicago dance show

Episode Watched: Hot Mess It Up (Season 2)

Episode Summary: Rocky and CeCe host a teen advice show, leading to CeCe having to date their arch nemesis, Gunter.

My Thoughts: This show isn’t particularly good, even for the lower expectations I have for Disney shows. However, watching this show was a revelation for me, as it brought to the forefront the eerie similarities these shows have with the WWE (professional wrestling). Each show tends to establish some weird characters, played by actors who have some other talent other than acting, (in this case the leads are dancers). They create conflict by developing strong villain/arch enemies, either in the form of family conflict, authority figures or foreigners. They usually resolve the conflict, not via dialogue, but by utilizing their skill set that has nothing to do with acting. And as with wrestling, the first time you watch the characters you get a felling about them and they aren’t very good at playing the character, but given time they grow into the role and you can either love them or hate them. You could even say, like WWE is a minor leagues to get the wrestlers into bigger parts of the media world, these youngsters in Disney shows are using the shows as a minor leagues for future adult ventures into the pop culture world. When looking at this show through that lens, it isn’t as bad as I thought. The villain played by Gunter is quite good, and I can see big things for him in the future. The dancing and singing leads still need some work, but isn’t that always the case? So my friends, come to this show for the inane plot device and goofy writing, stay for the comparison to the world of professional wrestling!

 Memorable Quotes:

“What about a puppet show about puppets going through teenage adolescence” -Gunter

“I can’t give you advice if you don’t write your hate mail in a form of a question” -CeCe

“Maybe next time you won’t give advice when your brain isn’t on speaking terms with your mouth” – Rocky

Acting Notables:

Bella Thorne- CeCe

Zendaya- Rocky

Tomorrow: A microcosm of what one thinks of when “Fox Sitcom” is uttered

DAY 148: Jonas

Series Run : 2009-2010

34 episodes

Network: Disney

Series Premise (as far as I can tell):

Life of a teenage rock band consisting of brothers

Episode Watched: Slice of Life (Season 1)

Episode Summary: All 3 brothers fall for the hot pizza delivery code, causing them to break one of the sacred laws of the Jonas brother code.

My Thoughts: I tried really hard to hate this show. I wanted to hate this show. Its silly, stupid, and has a ridiculous song performance midway through entitled “I fell in love with the pizza girl, now I eat pizza everyday”. Unfortunately, I kept laughing despite my best efforts. It’s not that the show is written well, it’s just so ridiculously stupid that it makes you laugh. It’s some kind of weird hybrid of the Monkees with Wiggles-like musical numbers included to break up the monotony of the narrative. I guess this would fall in a category of Awesomely Bad Shows, you laugh at the sheer insanity of what you are seeing on the screen, and I think they embraced it. Deciding early on, if its going to be goofy, let’s make it the most outrageously goofy thing we could. I am ashamed to say I am going to watch a few more of these shows when I just need some downtime from using my brain for anything remotely productive, just don’t expect this show to make any best or worst lists, its in a stratosphere all of its own.

 Memorable Quotes:

“If I keep having to make your jeans bigger, the world will have a denim shortage” -Stella

“Can’t a guy get dressed up for his evening snack?” -Nick

“All this attention is kinda flattering, but mostly its just weird” – Maria

Acting Notables:

Joe Jonas- Joe

Nick Jonas- Nick

Kevin Jonas- Kevin

Chelsea Stave- Stella

Tomorrow: The prequel show that begat one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen

DAY 141: Even Stevens

Series Run : 2000-2003

65 episodes

Network: Disney

Series Premise (as far as I can tell):

MisAdventures of Brother and Sister, Louis and Ren Stevens

Episode Watched: Dirty Work (Season 3)

Episode Summary: Ren stands up to Principal Wexler for making her do his job, while Louis forms the Lumberjack Club.

My Thoughts: I enjoy this show. It is brainless fun for tweens and teens. As such it may not be for everyone, but I think it strikes a cord with many. It follows the adventures of the straight A, conservative older sister Ren, and her out of control, crazy younger borther Louis. Many of the episodes revolve around some kind of scheme from Louis, and Ren either trying to stop it or inadvertently being affected by his scheme. The characters are all goofy, with some funy caricatures of authority figures at school and at home. In this entry, the main plot revolves around Ren quitting her job as the principal’s student assistant, only to become jealous of the student that takes her place. The secondary story involving the formation of a Lumberjack club, whose charter is to wear flannel and eat pancakes, is the funniest part of the episode. I suppose in hind sight we were seeing that Shia Laboeuf had a few screws loose, even at a young age, but in this show those crazy traits are played very well for laughs, and as a kid those traits arent nearly as disturbing as they are as he grew into an adult. This is a good teen escapism, but dont come looking for much more.

 

 Memorable Quotes:

“We talk about lumberjack topics and lumberjack lore” -Louis

“Pancakes and smooth jazz hit a lumberjack right in his core.”-Louis

“Hello sir, wlecome to Lumberjack Day, pancake on a stick?”– Louis

Acting Notables:

Shia Labeouf- Louis

Christy Carlson Romano- Ren

Margo Harshman- Tawny

Tomorrow: Another in the long line of military base sitcoms

DAY 123: Wizards of Waverly Place

Series Run : 2007-2012

106 episodes

Network: Disney

Series Premise (as far as I can tell):

Adventures of teenage siblings who are secretly wizards

Episode Watched: Wizards vs. Vampires on Waverly Place (Season 2)

Episode Summary: Vampires set up a competing sandwich shop, instead of helping to spy on them Justin falls for the vampire’s daughter.

My Thoughts: So maybe the biggest draw of this show wasn’t Dom Deluise’s son, David, but rather the vehicle for Selena Gomez’s rise to stardom. But as with other shows on the tween networks (Disney/Nick), this entry tried to at least give parents something to watch. This is a solid show as tween shows go, it gets points for having the female character be the schemer, screw-up, hell raiser, rather than as it traditionally is, the son. For that reason alone, its worth taking a look at, as it puts a unique spin on storylines that we have seen over time in other shows. In this entry, we get to see some pretty funny sight gags and funny jokes related to the vampires, and an ill-fated attempt by the main characters family to theme their own shop after a subway ride. The funniest parts have to do with a side story involving a bunch of horrible impressions being done by the youngest kid, Max, that are driving Alex crazy, to the point she is scheming to send him away to an underwater camp for seahorses. The show is very targeted towards that tween/teen audience, but it is well done, well acted, and handles that demographic quite well. Not a show for everyone, but if you fall in that age bracket, like Selena Gomez, or want a taste of the Deluise family, than you should give it a try.

 Memorable Quotes:

“Aha! They’re open 24 hours! I don’t know why I said ‘aha'” -Justin

“Discotheques? This could be the worst family meeting ever” -Alex

“Prepare to meet your doom! Oh look, Oprah!” – Alucard

Acting Notables:

Selena Gomez- Alex

David Deluise- Jerry

David Henrie- Justin

Jake T. Austin- Max

Tomorrow: Eva Gabor in all her glory