Nickelodeon Plans 'Spectacular!' Presidents' Day

[TMC1982]

Is Nickelodeon so creatively bankrupt these days, that they have to copy what the Disney Channel is doing?

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-sp...,5033066.story

Kids going through "High School Musical" withdrawal can check out a different musical also set in high school on Presidents' Day.
Nickelodeon will premiere its original TV movie "Spectacular!" on Presidents' Day (Feb. 16) at 8 pm ET/PT. Nothing says patriotism and honoring our forefathers like doing jazz hands by our lockers.

"Spectacular!" stars scruffy-haired Nikko (Nolan Gerard Funk), who's hit the skids after he's been kicked out of his band and then summarily dumped by his girlfriend. What's a teenage rebel to do with all this passion and edgy creativity? Why, join show choir of course! Nikko gets pulled into the musical group Spectacular, led by preppy Courtney (Tammin Sursok) and mentored by the absent-minded Mr. Romano ( Greg Germann).

Naturally, the two musical worlds collide, causing both sides to eventually learn from each other in time to take a stand against rival group Ta-Da, headed by Spectacular defectee Royce (Simon Curtis), at a national musical championship.

"'Spectacular!' is a riveting story with heart, great music and tons of tween appeal," says Nickelodeon's exec VP of development and original programming, Marjorie Cohn. "It's uniquely Nickelodeon because it stays true to our tradition of great characters driving the story, but the edgy music gives it a contemporary twist."

"Spectacular!" features 10 original songs composed by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil. Gerrard has written hits for the likes of Hilary Duff, Kelly Clarkson and and "HSM," while Nevil's credits also include songs for "HSM," the, "Hannah Montana" and the '80s dance hit "C'est La Vie."
Madonna and Britney Spears choreographer R.J. Durell created the dance numbers.

[PC!]

Nick knows jumping on the musical bandwagon will bring in monster ratings. Can't really blame 'em, I guess.

[J. B. Warner]

"It's uniquely Nickelodeon..."

I'm sorry, I just bit my tongue so hard that I drew blood.

[Light Lucario]

Nick knows jumping on the musical bandwagon will bring in monster ratings. Can't really blame 'em, I guess.

That's what I thought when I first saw these commercials. They've really been promoting this movie for a couple of months now. I guess that they're just trying to get more ratings with a musical movie centering on kids, which makes sense because all networks want huge ratings.

[Old Guy]

It's not really a shocker. Nick already aired American Mall, even though it was an MTV Production originally.

[stephane dumas]

Nick knows jumping on the musical bandwagon will bring in monster ratings. Can't really blame 'em, I guess.

speaking of the musical bandwagon, the Wayman brothers will spoof the musical bandwagon with Dance Flick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Flick here the link to the trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG0FU43KZ9c

[VenerableViper]

speaking of the musical bandwagon, the Wayman brothers will spoof the musical bandwagon with Dance Flick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Flick here the link to the trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG0FU43KZ9c

So Marlon is writing and playing a part in this movie
and playing Ripcord in GI Joe, huh

fyi that trailer didn't mention musicals at all. After reading that wiki article I might change my mind on checking it out. Hopefully all references are about
dancing and not singing.

[J. B. Warner]

speaking of the musical bandwagon, the Wayman brothers will spoof the musical bandwagon with Dance Flick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Flick here the link to the trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG0FU43KZ9c

I don't know what's more pathetic - that these spoof movies are still being made, that they're spoofing Save the Last Dance eight years after the fact, or that they tried to disguise the fact that this is from the same franchise as Disaster Movie by changing the word "Movie" to "Flick".

Okay, got that off my chest. Do continue with the topic at hand.

[Aces 21]

Well this was kind of expected.
I too saw the commercial and video and thought, "What is this, a HSM clone?"
Oh well.

You can bet that when a new property comes along and gains high status, somehow there will be imitators and duplicators to try and horn in on the success of said property, and hope it will benefit them too.

It can't be too bad, right?
I'll reserve my judgment for the show.

[Bloody Marquis]

I don't know what's more pathetic - that these spoof movies are still being made, that they're spoofing Save the Last Dance eight years after the fact, or that they tried to disguise the fact that this is from the same franchise as Disaster Movie by changing the word "Movie" to "Flick".

Okay, got that off my chest. Do continue with the topic at hand.

At least it's not made by Friedberg and Seltzer.

But yeah, it looks completely awful.

[TMC1982]

Well this was kind of expected.
I too saw the commercial and video and thought, "What is this, a HSM clone?"
Oh well.

You can bet that when a new property comes along and gains high status, somehow there will be imitators and duplicators to try and horn in on the success of said property, and hope it will benefit them too.

It can't be too bad, right?
I'll reserve my judgment for the show.

Nickelodeon should realize that they already have their own "HSM" in the form of "SpongeBob". Like "HSM" for Disney, "SpongeBob" pretty much arrived without much fanfare (although "SpongeBob" did debut after the Kids' Choice Awards) and exceeded expectations to become a huge marketing machine for the network. Nickelodeon would be more concerned in what they can do best at instead of trying to beat the other guy at their game.

[Mikintosh]

"It's uniquely Nickelodeon..."

I'm sorry, I just bit my tongue so hard that I drew blood.

Seriously. What's uniquely Nickelodeon these days? Just the color orange, I think, and barely that.

[Old Guy]

Nickelodeon should realize that they already have their own "HSM" in the form of "SpongeBob".

Spongebob is a kids franchise. Nick has Dora for pre-schoolers and Spongebob for kids. Yet their tween/pre-teen stuff is in the shadows of Disney. Which is why they're so desperate that they're ripping them off. The tween market is just as big as kids. If Nick could have Disney-like success in that market that's an additional BILLION dollars they'll be making every year.

[GrayGhost]

Spongebob is a kids franchise. Nick has Dora for pre-schoolers and Spongebob for kids. Yet their tween/pre-teen stuff is in the shadows of Disney. Which is why they're so desperate that they're ripping them off. The tween market is just as big as kids. If Nick could have Disney-like success in that market that's an additional BILLION dollars they'll be making every year.

I think Nick would do better if they searched for more appealing stars and learn how to market them like Disney does. Nick is sort of trying with Miranda Cosgrove, but you know that she will cut you if you run into her in a dark alley. Or in Target. Where as say Selena Gomez will just talk about you behind your back like normal people.

And when Nick does have a quality show (ie Ned's Declassified), they ignore it and pimp out Drake & Josh and Zoey 101 instead. It's like Disney understands that ok we can air Cory in the House, but best to push Hannah and Wizards of Waverly over it.

[NewcomerDC]

I think Nick would do better if they searched for more appealing stars and learn how to market them like Disney does. Nick is sort of trying with Miranda Cosgrove, but you know that she will cut you if you run into her in a dark alley. Or in Target. Where as say Selena Gomez will just talk about you behind your back like normal people.

And when Nick does have a quality show (ie Ned's Declassified), they ignore it and pimp out Drake & Josh and Zoey 101 instead. It's like Disney understands that ok we can air Cory in the House, but best to push Hannah and Wizards of Waverly over it.

Cosgrove might cut someone in the alley? LOL That's kinda harsh but seeing how mean she can be, I can see that to be true but I hope not.

Now Disney never said a word about the show but can we all say that Cory in the House is over?

[Old Guy]

And when Nick does have a quality show (ie Ned's Declassified), they ignore it and pimp out Drake & Josh and Zoey 101 instead.

Drake & Josh was awesome. Secondly, D&J as well as Ned were a bit ahead of their time. Sure, Disney had success with Lizzie, Even Stevens, and Raven but it's a whole new ballpark now. Hannah Montana is at like Ninja Turtles/Power Rangers/Pokemon/Spongebob success at the moment. It's a billion dollar money making machine. Now Nick is struggling to find shows as good as D&J and Ned. iCarly is doing well (even beating HM in certain age groups) but it's not making the billions Nick wants. Had D&J or Ned been made in 2006 rather than 2004, Nick would have approached things differently. Not only would they pimp the shows but Drake Bell would be releasing two albums per year, the show's soundtrack and his solo one.

[Darklordavaitor]

But yeah, it looks completely awful.

Eh, I think it looks about as good as the first couple of Scary Movies do; not necessarily GOOD, but at least it sticks to what they're spoofing.

[GrayGhost]

Cosgrove might cut someone in the alley? LOL That's kinda harsh but seeing how mean she can be, I can see that to be true but I hope not

Was just using an extreme example to illustrate the point.

Drake & Josh was awesome. Secondly, D&J as well as Ned were a bit ahead of their time.

Ned was ahead of its time, Drake & Josh was more of a modified Keenan & Kel with worse acting. Drake is a one note actor and Josh overacts. It is just filled with silliness. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the show, but let's not make it out to more than what it was. IMO it was as popular as it was just because guys wanted to be Drake and all the girls thought he was cute.

iCarly is doing well (even beating HM in certain age groups) but it's not making the billions Nick wants.

It goes back to the problem I think Nick has. They can't seem to employ stars that the kids can really relate to / doesn't know how to market anything past the actual show. Kids watch iCarly but don't care what else Miranda Cosgrove does like they follow Miley Cyrus around, etc.

Had D&J or Ned been made in 2006 rather than 2004, Nick would have approached things differently. Not only would they pimp the shows but Drake Bell would be releasing two albums per year, the show's soundtrack and his solo one.

He may be releasing more music but it would still be horribly and disjointed in promotion just like they are with Miranda Cosgrove. It was quite easy to see Disney = sitcom, music, marketing, money. All the Nick execs had to do was watch Disney for a day lol.

Hell, Drake Bell himself had to explain to them why they should be promoting "Makes Me Happy" since it was in the Big Shrimp movie. Something just isn't clicking at Nick yet.

[Master Toon]

Drake & Josh was awesome. Secondly, D&J as well as Ned were a bit ahead of their time. Sure, Disney had success with Lizzie, Even Stevens, and Raven but it's a whole new ballpark now. Hannah Montana is at like Ninja Turtles/Power Rangers/Pokemon/Spongebob success at the moment. It's a billion dollar money making machine. Now Nick is struggling to find shows as good as D&J and Ned. iCarly is doing well (even beating HM in certain age groups) but it's not making the billions Nick wants. Had D&J or Ned been made in 2006 rather than 2004, Nick would have approached things differently. Not only would they pimp the shows but Drake Bell would be releasing two albums per year, the show's soundtrack and his solo one.

Perhaps Nick needs a bit more maturity. Maybe I'm way off but it seems like Nick stopped being mature when The N was made. The last few shows (before The N) that weren't all comedy were Tainia, Caitlin's Way and 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd. But like I said, maybe I'm wrong.

As for Spectacular, it doesn't look too bad but it doesn't look like something I would be excited about.

[NewcomerDC]

As for Spectacular, it doesn't look too bad but it doesn't look like something I would be excited about.

The movie could've gotten a better name since this movie sounds like a elementary school production.