'Jonas' sitcom: Cute move by Disney
Saturday, May 2nd 2009, 4:00 AM
In fact, there's almost nothing there at all. But in the happy, colorful world that Disney has created for its tween audience, that's not an issue. In half an hour, that audience gets a couple of pop songs and an extended snapshot of some funny things that could happen if three pop stars attended high school just like regular kids.
No, we're not talking realism here. We're not even talking real time, because almost all real high-school students will immediately see that the characters in "Jonas," like their clean-cut cousins in "High School Musical," behave more like sixth-graders.
But that's not a problem. That's the plan. If you want a show that looks cool to kids ages 9 to 11, set it in the world of kids ages 14 to 17, because that's where 10-year-olds fantasize themselves.
So the characters in "Jonas," starting with Jonas Brothers Nick, Joe and Kevin, all talk in fast, cool, snappy dialogue. They fall into dramas that are universal, like developing a crush, but always harmless and solvable.
Everybody's clean, no one swears, no one dresses strangely, there's no sign of disrespect to parents or teachers or other authority figures. In fact, there's almost no sign of adults at all.
Like a hundred tween shows before it, and a few dozen that surround it, "Jonas" weaves a couple of simple plots around a batch of banter that snugly fits the audience's image of the characters.
The central plot Friday night has Nick falling for a girl, again. Joe and Kevin warn him against falling too hard, again, but of course he doesn't listen. He writes a song and she thinks it's for her to sing. So they all go to hear her sing it, and she dedicates it to her boyfriend, who isn't Nick.
Top that, Shakespeare.
The Jonas Brothers have had a long life by Disney-star standards, and this should stretch it out a while longer. Couldn't happen to nicer guys.