Either My Mind Is Mush...
...or this is a funny show.
It started as a mere distraction for Kid Lulu: Here, watch this show while the Old Man takes a nap. Then, peeking at the screen now and then, I started to chuckle: You know, the portly kid is kinda funny. And then, in a matter of days, it became appointment television for father and daughter: Hey, Lulu, Drake & Josh is on!
One of cable television’s highest-rated sitcoms, Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh is totally cookie-cutter in formula: total-opposite stepbrothers share a room, family dysfunction and related madcappery. The two leads, however, make the show addictively watchable. Chubby brunette Josh is played by Josh Peck, who's dropped a ton of weight over the show’s run, but has retained a prepubescent Jackie Gleason routine. Sometimes he overdoes it; sometimes he nails it just right.
Drake Bell is Drake, the cutie-pie ladies man, cool in every way that Josh is not. He’s also a bit dim, but Bell plays it with a subtle likability.
Alas, fictional Drake is also a pop star who lives at home but still manages a No. 1 hit. That cheeseball, Brady Bunch, marketing-manipulative subplot would be a deal-breaker for me if his songs weren’t so catchy, especially Makes Me Happy, which he’ll no doubt play Aug. 18 at Ford Amphitheatre on a teeny-popper bill with Corbin Bleu and Aly & AJ.
Kid Lulu and I won’t be at the show, but rest assured we’ll be supporting Drake back home in the front of the tube
Drake Bell, Aly & AJ and Corbin Bleu perform 6 p.m. August 18 at Ford Amphitheatre, Interstate 4 at U.S. 301 N, Tampa. $27.50-$39.75 each, $85 for four. (813) 740-2446.
Sean Daly is the pop music critic for the St. Petersburg Times. His CD collection -- from Journey to Dylan, Prince to U2, Public Enemy to Stan Getz -- is much bigger and better than yours.
I have to admit, I am 38 years old but (thanks to my 10 year old son with a major Drake and Josh habit)I randomly bust out with the chorus of "Makes Me Happy" way too often. Didja know that the show is produced by Dan Schneider, the chunky but brainy kid from "Head of the Class" back in the 80's? It's true.
Sherrie
Posted by: Sherrie | August 10, 2007 at 06:38 PM
The boys, and little girl, love Drake and Josh...at some point earlier this year our digital TV was completely full of only Drake and Josh episodes. We've watched "Big Shrimp" over and over again, and, like Sherrie, can't stop humming "Makes me Happy."
Posted by: Erin | August 10, 2007 at 06:43 PM