Hey, she's old enough to get this reference!

I know they're doing updated re-releases of The Baby-Sitters Club and all...



...so I assume from this picture that Tiffany Thornton is hoping they'll do a spin-off about the girls in their late 20s and she's really, really hoping for a role as Stacey McGill.

Actually, I think she looks quite pretty and I want her jacket, but that's not really the point, is it? Source.

In fairness, it really was so random.

So a few days ago, I watched the Sonny With a Chance Halloween special. Which, for some reason, was just an extended episode of "So Random" which... I don't know why that was. Anyway, I wasn't paying a lot of attention because there wasn't much Chad Dylan Cooper in the episode, but I looked up when I saw what appeared to be a music video of Brandon Smith at the end.

My first reaction was glee! Because I've become really fond of him. He does a fine job on SWAC and was the only non-terrible thing about Starstruck, and I would love for Disney to decide to break him out as one of their more highly-promoted stars. Though as it turned out, that wasn't happening at all, alas.

When I actually watched the video and had two more thoughts:



1) I grudgingly acknowledge that autotune is here to stay, at least for awhile, and will be used to fix, or at least drown out, weak voices. (I don't like it, but for some reason, no one asked my opinion.) But usually at least you can tell a human sang the lyrics at some point. Here, I'm not so sure. There is no voice behind that robot at all.

2) SWAC writers, I know Lonely Island is great and all, but there's no way to do a tween-friendly version of Dick in a Box. Possibly it would have been less embarrassing over all if you hadn't tried.

The Most Dramatic Drama of All Time

I've been half-heartedly planning an epic post for awhile now, but haven't bothered because it can be boiled down to this: OH MY GOD YOU GUYS, I LOVE STERLING KNIGHT. In all caps. Just like that. But now I have an excuse!

When I very grudgingly admitted that I enjoyed Sonny With a Chance, I somehow skipped over mentioning Sterling's character, Chad Dylan Cooper.* If Demi is the weakest link on the show (look, writers, she's just not as funny as you think she is, talking in a silly voice ≠ comedy genius, and she's not even that good at silly voices), then Sterling is by far the strongest one. In an episode I accidentally watched recently (because I do not actually seek out this show, surprisingly) he had a gag in the background and, without delivering a single line of dialogue, was funnier than the entire rest of the cast in the entire rest of the episode. And while his dialogue is generally the best on the show, that isn't saying much (it's akin to being the most talented Jonas brother, for example), and a lot of it is squarely thanks to Sterling.

What Sterling does well is actually, you know… act. Chad Dylan Cooper is an archetype I'm already fond of -- the smug but charming jackass. For all intents and purposes, he's the same character as Hannah Montana's Jake Ryan, who I also enjoy. But unlike Jake (or, if you're being technical, Cody Linley) who only has to pull that off in small doses, Sterling has to do it in almost every episode, consistently keeping Chad on the fine line between obnoxious and appealing, and, let's face it, he's got act for two in any scene where he's playing against Demi. Which is most of his scenes. But he not only pulls it off, he does it well -- and he's ultimately hilarious because he plays the character without a single hint of irony. There's no wink to the fact that Sterling knows how ridiculous his character is; there's no overacting (except, of course, for when Chad-the-character is on the set of Mackenzie Falls, on which he plays the eponymous Mackenzie). He's just straight-up funny. Let's get this kid a real role!

Wait, that would be where 17 Again comes in. Obviously 17 Again was, above all else, a Zac Efron vehicle; it wasn't what I would call a good movie, and there were some moments that were outright infuriating, but it was incredibly entertaining, and Zef managed to carry it along well. (It was interesting to see him in a role where he had to convey thoughts and emotions beyond "confused" and "my girlfriend has awesome boobs," which is about all we saw from Troy in the HSM franchise, but I digress.) Sterling Knight, as Zef's son Alex, was only a supporting role, though an important one, and Sterling was actually quite good in it. He was awkward without going into Television Nerd mode, he was quietly funny, and his subplot with the cheerleader was pretty cute. But what's really notable is that it means Sterling Knight can pull of what relatively few Disney kids** have attempted: he can play at least two distinctly different characters. And play both of them well. Who knows what he could do besides comedy? Period pieces? Space opera?

Dare I suggest... Drama?

And THAT is why I am writing this blog entry. As I said, Sterling plays Chad Dylan Cooper with nary a trace of irony, which is great. And the script gives it to him that way, if only because it's very, very rare that anything written for Disney has the self-awareness needed to be ironic. But someone on the writing staff knows what's going on, knows irony, and perhaps knows that Sterling Knight is the funniest guy they've got on set. And whoever that is, he or she also, clearly, loves me personally. Because Disney has seen fit to give me Mackenzie Falls minisodes, starring, of course, Chad Dylan Cooper, at his Chad Dylan Cooper-iest. All we have is an opening sequence at the moment -- boo! -- but the character profiles alone amuse me greatly. It's Gossip Girl's bitchy rich kids meets Dawson's Creek teen angst, with, for reasons I don't entirely understand, a score ripped off of Harry Potter; I don't think it would work long-form -- few jokes really do, and obviously Mackenzie Falls is an extended gag -- but if they keep the minisodes to a minute or two each, there is some potential for actual good parody here. And you know who would totally be able to pull that off? Hint: he's got the most awesome name of anyone, ever.

You guys, I really, really love Sterling Knight!


* They did a good job with that character name, but frankly, his real name would have worked even better. Oh, Sterling. Your parents were either crazy geniuses or they really, really hated you.

** "Disney kids" meaning "people who play kids on the Disney channel" as Sterling actually 20. Though by that definition, Jason Earles is also a Disney kid. And he's what, 75?

Ready yet? Get set! It's... Not All That?

Um. I have a confession. *cough*

Frequent readers will know that we here at Tweenage seriously dislike Demi Lovato -- and we really, really hated Camp Rock. And, well, you know how hard it was for me to admit that I kind of enjoyed Wizards of Waverly Place?

I. Um.

I actually enjoyed Sonny With a Chance, Disney's new Demi vehicle.

In fact, of all the various Disney sitcoms I've seen, Sonny has the most coherent pilot, and is surprisingly decent overall. Like, enough so that I almost mistook it for a show on Nickelodian, a network that actually understands how sitcom plots work! But then, that could be because it's really clear that someone at Disney sat down, watched a crapload of Dan Schneider programming, and stole blatantly.

So Sonny, the protagonist, is the new girl on a weekly kids' sketch comedy show called "So Random." And it seems like every episode of the sitcom about said show opens with a "So Random" sketch. Both of the sketches we've seen so far were probably supposed to be parodies, but actually just seemed like they could have been real -- albeit short -- sketches directly from Schneider's All That. And one of them was genuinely funny! Though that was only because the whole premise consisted of throwing food at Demi Lovato.

Speaking of Demi: she is definitely the weakest link. This is not exactly a surprise. But Sonny as a character is pretty much exactly Demi's public persona: she is desperate for people to really, really like her! And maybe if she smiles enough, we will! Which would be fine for a character but, unfortunately, Demi sucks as much at playing that character as she does at living that persona, because every line she squeaked (all but a few, which were yelled) was grating and irritating. She was supposed to be the sympathetic nice girl, compared to the standard cliche blond mean girl on the show, but... Well, the mean girl was better acted, with better comedic timing, so (even though she was probably the second-weakest actor on the show) I was kind of rooting for her. But in the few moments where Sonny was angry and not actively trying to befriend the whole wide world -- and also when she was covered in ketchup -- she was mildly tolerable. Almost.

The rest of the cast was pretty decent! I could easily picture this show suffering from Hannah Montana Syndrome: the main character is horrible (poorly acted, poorly written, and obnoxious) but the peripheral cast is quite amusing. The writing itself was a bit of a mixed bag; there were plenty of elements that didn't make sense -- well, that's standard on a kids' show, and triply-so on a Disney sitcom -- and a lot of really flat "laugh" lines. And there were a few obvious punchlines they just somehow missed. (When you have a protagonist who puns, who's writing a sketch about bees, who's been told she should leave something alone, her line should be, "I guess that's none of my BEESWAX," not "None of my bees-ness!" because BEESWAX IS ALREADY A THING PEOPLE SAY, zomg, punchline: ur doin it wrong.) But there were also a few decent laugh lines throughout, both within the parody sketches and the show at large.

Conclusion? To my surprise, I will probably watch this show in spite of its star. Of course, while I'm watching, I'll keep thinking it really would be a better show if it had a different star, a different writer, and was on a different network... But for Disney's original sitcoms, that's actually a step up in terms of quality.

Now excuse me. I need to go look for my sense of shame; I think I've lost it somewhere.

E-T-Freaking-A: Following trackbacks to our blog -- hi! thank you, we also think Ryan Evans is gay and the Jonas Brothers suck! -- I found a thread about Sonny over at TWoP, which points out that, while Schneider isn't involved, Sonny's executive producer Brian Robbins also produced All That. So there you go then. My gut instinct: pretty darned close!