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CHANNELS SELL GLAMOROUS LIFE TO KIDS
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Published: November 28, 2009
In the middle of everything is a pool flanked by beach chairs under umbrellas, palm trees, actresses, publicists and hangers-on. Four good-looking young guys dressed in Hollywood wear -- skinny jeans, jackets with collars up -- are posing for photographers.
This isn't a scene out of HBO's Entourage.
This is Nickelodeon, a kids' channel best known for the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants, introducing the media to the stars of its new comedy Big Time Rush.
The show, which will have its premiere today at 8:30 p.m., revolves around a group of Minnesota teenagers, one of whom convinces a talent scout that he and his friends have the makings of a chart-topping boy band.
Right now, the actors are answering questions on set in the fictitious Palmwoods complex of Los Angeles.
Kendall Schmidt, wearing a beanie, is saying that the big difference between Entourage and Big Time Rush, aside from the latter's G rating, is that "everyone in the group is talented, not just one guy. Everyone becomes famous."
But Entourage -- even a G-rated Entourage -- for 11-year-olds?
Big Time Rush is just one example in a growing list of kid shows selling show-biz fantasies to children. Children's TV has long flirted with the competition for fame (The Mickey Mouse Club, anyone?) and the lure of achieving celebrity at a young age has juiced programming across the board in recent years, with American Idol, Gossip Girl, and reality hits The Hills and Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
But the genre is stronger than ever now and more fixated on the perks of the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle.
Disney airs Hannah Montana, Jonas (a comedy about rock trio the Jonas Brothers) and Sonny With a Chance, starring Demi Lovato as a budding actress and lead of her own TV series.
Now Nickelodeon is putting its spin on celebrity. After Big Time Rush, the channel early in 2010 will start Victorious, with 16-year-old Victoria Justice as a girl whose hidden talents for singing and dancing land her in a performing-arts school. Before that, Nickelodeon had some success with The Naked Brothers Band, a mockumentary about a young rock band.
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