Monthly Archives: May 2009

DVD Review: “iCarly Season 1, Volume 2”

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iCarly Season 1, Volume 2 (2009, Paramount)
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Amongst the many teen sitcoms that populate the airwaves, iCarly ranks as one of the best. With a winning cast and well written episodes, the show has plenty pf laughs for kids while rising above the typical sitcom trappings of so many of the other shows aimed at kids. Paramount Video has just released iCarly Season 1, Volume 2, which collects 12 episodes (on 2 DVD’s) from the smash hit series that airs on Nickelodeon. It’s worth your time and money, especially if you have any young girls living in your family. In fact, it was while watching iCarly with my daughter that I came to appreciate how well done the series is. Credit show creator Dan Schneider (The Amanda Show, Zoey 101) for once again assembling a crack team of writers and producers who know how to write for kids while not talking down to them. Having worked with iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove on Drake & Josh, he knew she could carry a show and built a sitcom around her charm, producing great kid friendly entertainment that won’t drive the parents up the wall.


Cosgrove stars as Carly Shay, a junior high teenager who lives with her manic older brother, Spencer (Jerry Trainor), in a Seattle loft apartment. Their father is in the Air Force and stationed overseas; it’s unclear where their mom resides. Spencer, an artist, and Carly have a loving relationship and support each other tirelessly. Spencer has the tough job of juggling the roles of big brother, parent and friend. Across the hall from Carly and Spencer is one her best friends, Freddie (Nathan Kress), an electronics whiz living with his mother. He harbors a not so secret crush on Carly, but she only wants to be friends. Carly’s other best friend is Sam (Jennette McCurdy), a tough, troublemaking tomboy who loves to torment Freddie and always has Carly’s back. Although this collection includes an episode when they have a bitter fight (“iDon’t Want to Fight”) Carly and Sam are as close as sisters, always finding a way to work out their differences. The three friends put on a regular web cam show (called “iCarly”) and it’s during these segments of iCarly that the real fun occurs. Cosgrove and McCurdy has real comic timing together and during the web cam segments they throw lines back and forth with no hesitation, playing off each other like seasoned television veterans.

 

The four principal characters take on specific roles: Carly is the straight man (but still allowed to be goofy), Sam is the smartass with a heart of gold, Freddie is the nerd and Spencer is the bundle of energy slapstick physical character that pops on screen when an instant laugh is needed. Despite this only being one half of the first season on DVD, the show is well formed and all four actors create a great comedy team. They make the show enjoyable and lift it up when some of the plotlines seem a little familiar. Then again, this is a series intended for kids 7 and older, unjaded from years of television viewing. When watching iCarly with my daughter I was able to see it through her eyes. I saw a main character that is kind and thoughtful, the kind of friend I hope my little girl becomes. All of the characters learn from their mistakes and none are so cynical that I want to shut off the TV when iCarly is on.

 

Highlights from this DVD set include “iHeart Art” (my daughter’s favorite) in which Spencer nearly gives up on being an artist when his idol doesn’t like his work. This one has a great message about sticking to your dreams. I also like “iPromote Tech-Foots.” The girls are asked to endorse a high tech sports shoe and all of Carly’s fans buy the shoes. When the footwear turns out to be a lemon, Spencer must pose as a lawyer to get them out of the shady deal. Finally, there is “iMight Switch Schools” in which Carly is offered a scholarship to an elite private school. In the end she chooses staying with her friends over the prestige.

 

Bonus features include behind the scenes extras as well as the pilot episode of True Jackson, VP, Schneider’s next big hit.


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CD Review: Ziggy Marley, “Family Time”

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Ziggy Marley – Family Time (2009, Tuff Gong)
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I didn’t have much use for Ziggy Marley when he was riding high (ahem) on the charts 20 years ago, with the hacky sack anthem “Tomorrow People,” and nothing I’ve heard from him since then has changed my mind — until now, that is: for his new children’s album, Family Time, Marley has pulled out all the stops, assembling an Ocean’s Eleven-style dream team including some major names both within kids’ entertainment (Elizabeth Mitchell, Jamie Lee Curtis, the dreaded Laurie Berkner) and without (Jack Johnson, Toots Hibbert, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon). The result is a wonderfully easy listen that’s a lot more cohesive than you might think, given the succession of cameos — and if you, like me, have never given Marley much thought, it proves unexpectedly entertaining as well.

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The record strikes a sunny, bucolic vibe right off the bat — the title track, which opens the album, begins with the words “Lift up your hearts with a smile / Life up your feet with a dance / Lift up your spirits with a song” — and holds it steady throughout the first 11 songs. (The last two tracks, brief spoken word snippets narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis, aren’t awful, but neither do they seem terribly necessary.

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) Taken together, the songs form something like a set of training wheels for young would-be reggae fans — not only simply by virtue of Marley’s presence (and those of family members Judah, Rita, and Cedella), but through some savvy choices of material to cover (“Hold ‘Em Low,” “This Train”) or reinterpret (“Wings of an Eagle” spins “If I Had the Wings of a Dove”; “ABC” does the same for “Bend Down Low”), mixed in with some thoroughly enjoyable originals. The guests generally tend to fade sensibly into the framework of whichever songs they appear on, too, with the possible exception of Willie Nelson, who sounds like he thought his bus pass was taking him to a different studio. (Best guest appearance: Paul Simon proving he hasn’t lost his affinity for reggae phrasing on “Walk Tall,” where he trades lines seamlessly with Marley.

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Ultimately, the album is a rather slight affair, but then, you get the feeling that’s exactly what Marley was aiming for — an amiable, uncomplicated good time for children of all ages. Call it an unqualified success, then, and prepare for Family Time to last a good, long while in your household.

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CD Review: Recess Monkey, “Field Trip”

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Recess Monkey – Field Trip (2009, Recess Monkey)
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When I was a kid, Seattle was the place with nifty architecture where the SuperSonics and the Seahawks played (no reason to care about the Mariners, as ours was a Yankees household). When a got a little older, it was the place where flannel-clad heroin addicts made sad, loud music that the world went crazy for. These days, folks my age tend to think of coffee and economic summits when they think of Seattle — but for my daughter, and a not-inconsiderable number of her peers, it’s the place Recess Monkey comes from.

The band — made up of teachers Drew Holloway, Jack Forman, and Daron Henry — returns in June with its fifth album, Field Trip, fittingly recorded in the music room of the school where they met (and where two of them still teach). Trip continues the absurd one-record-a-year pace Recess Monkey has maintained since debuting with Welcome to Monkey Town in 2005, a work ethic made even more impressive by the fact that each of these songs is a delicious nugget of kidpop goodness that sounds nothing like the work of a group of insanely prolific part-time moonlighters. The album is, in other words, just the right kind of awesome for little ears — as my wife recently discovered, much to her eventual chagrin, during a three-hour drive in which Field Trip, per my daughter’s repeated requests, played on an endless loop.

Still, even after experiencing drivetime burnout, my wife has to admit this is one of the best records we’ve heard all year; she’s particularly enthusiastic about the clever, poppy “L.

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I.C.E.” (it stands for “little insects crawling everywhere”) and the cleverly arranged backing vocals on “Sack Lunch” the lilting “Tiny Telephone.” As for me? Well, I wasn’t on that drive, so I’ve got nothing but love for these songs, especially after blasting them all morning and watching my kids dance and sing along.

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They’re a pleasantly eclectic bunch, with room for everything from the new wave groove of “Hot Chocolate” to the Latin flair of “Ice Pack,” and they’re filled with an infectious sense of fun (example: the velcro solo during “New Shoes”). Whether you’re already a Recess Monkey fan, or just a parent in need of some great new family music, you’ll want to pre-order your copy of Field Trip today.

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