High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, JONAS, and more
By the time you’re reading this article, my Disney+ free trial will have expired. In fact, as I’m typing these words, the minutes are ticking down to 9:45 pm, at which point I have to either cancel my account or begin paying for the service. I have a decision to make.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’m all in. There’s no chance I’m cancelling my Disney+ account. The excitement is just beginning. I got to watch brand new shows, like High School Musical: The Musical: The Series; rewatch favourite shows from my childhood, like JONAS; and finally enjoy all the classic shows I missed out on, like Lizzie McGuire. Here’s a little recap of my first week with Disney+.
JONAS
I was never a big Jonas Brothers fan growing up. I couldn’t name any of their songs, and I never watched Camp Rock. I do, however, remember liking their sitcom, JONAS. But was it actually that good? Despite the Jonas Brothers’ popularity, JONAS only aired for one and a half seasons and never reached the same level of popularity as shows like Wizards of Waverly Place or Hannah Montana. Did I really like JONAS, or did I just convince myself that I was watching it “for the jokes” because I was repressing the real reason I was watching the show (Joe’s hair)? Well, after binging my way through more of the first season than I’d care to admit, I can officially confirm that JONAS is, like, actually good. The show primarily focuses on jokes, rather than character development or storyline, and the jokes are pretty solid. Plus, Joe, Nick, and Kevin all have pretty good comedic timing. It’s also far more absurdist and ridiculous than I would have expected a Disney show to be. Oh, and almost every episode features a Jonas Brothers performance. What’s not to like?
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
Let’s be real, this show is the true reason I signed up for Disney+. This show has a perfect concept, and my only concern was that it tries too hard to be something more than a gimmick. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a problem. Only two episodes are out right now, but so far, it’s buying all the way into the gimmick. The show absolutely feeds off High School Musical nostalgia, as it should. It does this directly by using the set and the songs from the original movie, indirectly through all the parallels between the plots of the movie and the series, and at a meta-level by frequently mentioning the movie itself. To top it all off, the young actors are all pretty talented, and the actor who plays the teacher, Kate Reinders, is hysterical. HSM:TM:TS is all it should be and more.
Lizzie McGuire
Man, if I had a nickel for every time I heard someone reminisce about watching Lizzie McGuire… For some reason, I never watched Lizzie McGuire as a kid. But I’ve always been curious about this show. Phil of the Future</i> had time travel, That’s So Raven had psychic powers. What did Lizzie McGuire have? Truth is, I can’t tell you yet. I don’t really see the appeal. It certainly isn’t a bad show, but it just feels to me more like an after-school special than a sitcom. Should I take this as a sign that none of my favourite shows from childhood were really that good, and I just like them for the nostalgia? Maybe, but I don’t like to think about that.
What I’ll Be Watching Next Week
Original Content: The Mandalorian
Nostalgia Content: Hannah Montana
Classic Show I Missed Out On: Kim Possible
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