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Big Time Rush

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Big Time Rush
File:Th btr logo.png
Current Logo
GenreTeen sitcom / Musical
Created byScott Fellows
StarringKendall Schmidt
James Maslow
Carlos Pena Jr.
Logan Henderson
Stephen Kramer Glickman
Tanya Chisholm
Ciara Bravo
Challen Cates
Matt Riedy
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes12[1] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersScott Fellows
Marjorie Cohn
Camera setupFilm; Single-camera
Running timeapprox. 23 minutes
Production companiesJack Mackie Pictures
Nickelodeon Productions
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
ReleaseNovember 28, 2009 (2009-11-28) (as a special preview)
January 18, 2010 (as a regular series) –
present

Big Time Rush is an American television sitcom, airing on Nickelodeon, about four hockey-playing teenage boys from Minnesota who are suddenly brought to Hollywood by record producer Gustavo Rocque to become the next hit-making boy band. The hour-long pilot episode originally aired on November 28, 2009 as a "sneak preview", and the show began airing as a regular series on January 18, 2010, following the iCarly episode "iSaved Your Life". It has been announced in a Nick press conference on March 12, 2010, that the show was renewed for a 20 episode second season, which will begin production on May 10th.

Show synopsis

Four hockey friends from Minnesota — Kendall Knight (Kendall Schmidt), James Diamond (James Maslow), Carlos Garcia (Carlos Pena Jr.), and Logan Mitchell (Logan Henderson) — successfully try out to be the "next great boy band."[2] They move to Los Angeles, California, where they attend Palm Woods School, a special school just for actors, singers, and other performers. The boys routinely come into conflict with their overbearing, outrageous, hard-driving (but successful) boy band manager, Gustavo Rocque (Stephen Kramer Glickman), and his well-meaning assistant Kelly Wainwright (Tanya Chisholm), while trying to impress Gustavo's boss, Arthur Griffin (Matt Riedy), so that they can become successful, and so far, so good.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Knight (Challen Cates) helps keep the boys in line while trying to get her daughter, Katie (Ciara Bravo), an acting or singing career as well. The four teens are also regularly seen with and helping a young boy, Tyler (Tucker Albrizzi), who has a mother obsessed with his acting career, as they also have many incidents in which they impress or hang out with a rad teenager at the Palm Woods named Guitar Dude (Barnett O'Hara). They also repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempt to get dates with the large number of young women, including the Jennifers (Denyse Tontz, Spencer Locke, and Savannah Jayde), who also attend their school. The show is on Nickelodeon, and new episodes premiere usually every Friday night at 8/7c.

Episodes

Main article: List of Big Time Rush episodes
Seasons Episodes First air date Last air date
1 20[3] November 28, 2009 Fall 2010
2 20 TBA TBA

Singles

Year Song Peak
chart
positions 		Album
U.S.
2009 "Big Time Rush" 116 Big Time Rush
2010 "Any Kind of Guy" 124
"Halfway There" 93
"Famous" 103

Other songs

  • "The City Is Ours"
  • "Famous"
  • "Stuck"
  • "Shot In The Dark"

The song "Halfway There" was released on iTunes and everywhere else on April 27th.[4] So far, it's peaked on the iTunes top 100 songs list at #36 and peaked at #93 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's first song to peak on the latter chart. Big Time Rush's first album (mostly compiled of songs from season 1) will be released this Summer, via Sony/Columbia records.[5]

Cast

For the rest of the cast, see List of Big Time Rush characters.
  • Kendall Knight (Kendall Schmidt) - Kendall is the schemer of the group. According to Kelly, Kendall is tall, blonde, and all eyebrows. He is 16 years old. Gustavo chose Kendall as his singer in "Big Time Audition", but Kendall got Gustavo into letting James, Carlos, and Logan in to become a band. He was supposed to be the bad boy of the band, but refused. His sister is Katie Knight, who helps her brother sometimes. For example, when she found out Jo was lying about having a boyfriend she told him and helped him get a date.
  • James Diamond (James Maslow) - James is the one who originally wanted to be in a boy band. He is apparently obsessed with his hair and always keeps his lucky comb in his jacket and takes personal head shots of himself. According to Carlos, he always gets the girls and declares himself the "pretty one". He is upset when Mercedes Griffin picks everyone else in the band to be her boyfriend and not him at all. He also is a little obsessed with bandanas and always suggests to wear them. He also has a alter ego called Bandana Man which is him wrapped in several purple bandanas.
  • Carlos Garcia (Carlos Pena Jr.) - Carlos is the joker of the band and always likes to wear his hockey helmet. His dad is a cop who takes his job seriously and has gone through sensitivity training 9 times. He has never had a real girlfriend (besides Mercedes Griffin, the daughter of Griffin who forced him into the relationship) and thinks being carried by Freight Train, Gustavo's new bodyguard, is "kinda fun". He seems to be very easygoing, and whenever the others start to get into a fight, he suggests thinking "happy thoughts about kittens".
  • Logan Mitchell (Logan Henderson) - Logan is the genius of the group, but panics under pressure. Whenever the others are doing something bad and they tell him to join them, he always says "I've gotta get new friends", but still joins them afterwards. It is unsure if he knows about Camille's deep crush on him, but when she kissed him pretending it was for an audition for One Tree Hill, he said he was pleasantly surprised. It is implied that he is beginning to return her crush, Camille being quick to forgive him when he attempted to be with her and another girl at the same party. Remarking "you're really cool", the two shared a dance together. He has a learner's permit. He also always sees the downside to the other's schemes.
  • Katie Knight (Ciara Bravo)[6] - Katie is Kendall's little sister who is always shown to be a lot smarter than her mother. Katie is clever and tricky, which is a big help when getting involved in the boys' plans.
  • Gustavo Rocque (Stephen Kramer Glickman) - Gustavo is a worldwide record producer who meets the boys in Minnesota and offers Kendall a chance to come to Las Angeles with him, and Kendall convinces him to bring the others too. He hasn't had a hit in nine years, and the boys are his ticket back on top. He is cliche mean and always has a frown on his face while the boys are performing, even when he likes the song. In the episode Big Time Crib, he states that "All talent, are dogs". Even so, when he tells them the song wasn't as good as he wanted it to be, they always manage to call his bluff. He admits to liking the boys after dealing with an absolutely perfect boyband that he hated because they were so perfect. When the boys were house-sitting he told them they liked them after they wrecked the house, had Kendall's mom clean it up but not fully, and Gustavo accidentally wrecks his own house. He calls them "monkey dogs." He also is seen to have serious anger issues and his blood pressure can sky rocket. An example is in Big Time Audition he breaks a tea cup to pieces and destroying a few things outside after Kendall rejecting his first offer and he also causes a 3.1 earthquake after being really annoyed with Kendall.

Guest stars

  • Nicole Scherzinger as herself, who made a brief appearance in the middle of the pilot episode (1 episode)
  • Dee Bradley Baker as Mr. Smitty, one of the boys' teachers at the School of Rocque (1 episode)
  • Roz Witt as Mrs. Chisdak, another one of the boys' teachers at the School of Rocque (1 episode)
  • Chris Masters as himself, another one of the boys' teachers at the School of Rocque (1 episode)
  • Tara Strong as Miss Collins, the boys' current teacher at the Palm Woods school (1 episode)
  • Koji Kataoka as Fujisaki, the 200 year-old Japanese "super boss" of Big Time Rush (2 episodes)
  • Matt Angel as Wayne Wayne/Wally Dooley, a mean bad boy who is actually a nerdy comedian who tries to kick Kendall out of the band (2 episodes)
  • Daran Norris as Buddha Bob, the grounds keeper at the Palm Woods. Mrs. Knight thinks he is an axe/chainsaw maniac in "Big Time Bad Boy", but discovers that he is the grounds keeper at the end of the episode (3 episodes)
  • Stephen Keys as Freight Train, Gustavo's personal helper who is strong enough to lift the boys all at once (3 episodes)
  • Tiana Madry and Tiera Madry as the Simms Twins, two girls at the Palm Woods who the guys like (1 episode)
  • Katelyn Tarver as Jo, the boys' love interest (4 episodes)
  • Rachel DiPillo as Rachael, another new girl at the Palm Woods who the guys fall for after Jo turns them down (2 episodes)
  • Lorenzo Lamas as Dr. Hollywood, a cowardly doctor at the Palm Woods (1 episode)
  • Eric Nelsen, A.J. Mendoza and Kamen Edwards as the Windmills, a perfect band who Gustavo likes but then dislikes because of their perfectness (1 episode)
  • Curt Hansen as Dak Zevon, a teen hunk whose autograph Katie and Mrs. Knight demand (1 episode)
  • Carlos Alazraqui as Marcos, a photographer (1 episode)
  • Erik Estrada as Officer Garcia, Carlos's father (1 episode)
  • Parker Young as "Travis", Jo's fake boyfriend (1 episode)
  • Carlie Casey as Mercedes Griffin, Griffin's mean and pushy daughter (2 episodes)
  • James Arnold Taylor as Regional Manager Taylor, Mr. Bitters's boss (1 episode)
  • Tristin Mays as Stephanie, a new girl who frightens the boys by acting as a ghost and the boys fall for her (1 episode)

International release

Country/Region Channel Series Premiere
 United States Nickelodeon November 28, 2009 (Sneak Preview)
January 18, 2010
 Germany Nickelodeon Germany April, 24 2010 (Sneak Preview)
May, 29 2010
 Austria
 Switzerland
 United Kingdom Nickelodeon UK and Ireland May 3, 2010 (Sneak Preview)
June 2010
 Ireland
 Brazil Nickelodeon Brazil April 15, 2010 (Sneak Preview)
May 13, 2010
Southeast Asia Nickelodeon Southeast Asia April 16, 2010 (Sneak Preview)
May 31, 2010
 Netherlands Nickelodeon Netherlands May 1, 2010 (Sneak Preview)

May 29, 2010

 Poland Nickelodeon Poland May 29, 2010 (Sneak Preview)

TBA

 Indonesia Nickelodeon Indonesia TBA (Sneak Preview)
TBA

Production notes

The series was conceived and created by Scott Fellows, formerly the creator, executive producer and showrunner of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.[7][8][9] Fellows says his inspiration for the show was the 1960s musical comedy show, The Monkees[10]—a popular and culturally significant American television series about a group of four young male adults who form a rock band, become famous, and sing songs while having comedic adventures.[11] Although the show had a concept as early as 2007, the series had no actual title as late as August 2009.[12]

Nickelodeon partnered with Columbia/Epic Label Group to produce the show,[7] which will incorporate original music into the series.[13] Big Time Rush is one of three Nickelodeon shows (the others are iCarly and Victorious) on which the cable network is partnering with the music group to promote music as well as shows.[12] The four actors will sing in a band whose name will be "Big Time Rush."[2][14] The first single from the show, "Big Time Rush" (the series theme song), was released in November 2009.[2] Additional songs will be released throughout the show's first season.[2] The Los Angeles Times has been critical of the show's focus on music, noting:

There is a marketing angle, to be sure, the same crossing of the revenue streams that powers "Hannah Montana" and "American Idol" and "Glee," and whose conceptual forerunner was "The Monkees"—television shows that function as elaborate advertisements for music that in turn advertises the TV show. "Big Time Rush," which has more than a little of "The Monkees" in its makeup, was developed with Sony Music specifically to move units.[8]

A nationwide[12] casting effort began in 2007.[14][15][16] More than 1,500 teens and young adults auditioned for the four roles.[17] Kendall Schmidt was the last actor cast, and the most difficult role to cast.[17] Filming of the series began in August 2009.[17] Actor Carlos Pena Jr. previously worked with creator/producer Scott Fellows on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.[15] Although he was reluctant to do so (he had just entered the Boston Conservatory to study music), Pena submitted an audition tape and won the role a month later.[18] Executive Producer Scott Fellows was inspired to write each character by the personality of the actor playing him.[19]

The show incorporates cartoon-like noises, music, and editing cuts designed to make it more humorous[8], this was also a trademark of series creator Scott Fellows' previous Nickelodeon series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. It is targeted primarily at children age 6 to 18.[9]

Twenty episodes were ordered in August 2009 for the first season.[9][12] Nickelodeon airs Big Time Rush at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time on Fridays.[20]

Reception and ratings

A one-hour special preview (which serves as the series pilot and first episode) premiered on Nickelodeon on November 28, 2009.[7] That airing was watched by 3.5 million viewers.[9] The series officially debuted on on January 18, 2010. It was watched by 6.8 million total viewers, making it the most watched live-action show premiere in Nickelodeon history.[13][20] Approximately twice as many viewers watched Nickelodeon during that half-hour as did a year earlier.[20]

The show has received mixed reviews. Los Angeles Times television critic Robert Lloyd called the show "hyperactive and mostly charming," although he also did note that the "music is incidental" (which might disappoint a number of viewers).[8] The Associated Press said the show had "a comic-caper style, rousing spirit and snippets of music and dance," and concluded it was an "engaging romp that should tickle the network's core audience...plus many parents."[9] AP critic Frazier Moore also credited the show with "sharp writing and snappy pacing".[9] Reporter Maxine Shen of the New York Post declared, "The guys are adorable and full of a genuine camaraderie that comes across on the small screen and carries over to real life."[2]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was slightly less enthusiastic, concluding that the show was "Nick's attempt at building a Jonas Brothers-style pop band. It's Nick's answer to Disney Channel's "JONAS," albeit slightly less organic since "Rush" doesn't feature siblings."[21] The Hartford Courant was openly critical, calling the series a "copycat" show "with their own thin pop and unfunny comedies."[22] The Boston Globe criticized the show as "one example in a growing list of kid shows selling showbiz fantasies to children. The genre is stronger than ever now and more fixated on the perks of the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle ... wish fulfillment at a time when tabloid dreams are ubiquitous."[15]

References

  1. ^ "Big Time Rush: Episode Guide". MSN TV. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e Shen, Maxine. "Heir Guitar." New York Post. January 17, 2010.
  3. ^ "Big Time Rush: Episode Guide". MSN TV. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  4. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Halfway-There/dp/B003H37N0W
  5. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqUvGGtoR6A album release announced during interview
  6. ^ - Kiesewetter, John. "People to watch: Ciara Bravo." Cincinnati Post. January 3, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c "Nickelodeon and Columbia/Epic Label Group Partner on Big Time Rush, a New Comedy Series About Finding, Making and Breaking A Band." Press release. Nickelodeon. November 3, 2009. Accessed 2010-01-24.
  8. ^ a b c d Lloyd, Robert. "Reviews: 'Big Time Rush' and 'I'm in the Band'." Los Angeles Times. January 18, 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Moore, Frazier. "Life Is A 'Rush' For Pals in New Series." Associated Press. January 18, 2010.
  10. ^ Martin, Denise. "Child's Play." Los Angeles Times. November 22, 2009.
  11. ^ Baker, Glenn A. Monkeemania: The Story of the Monkees. Rev. ed. Medford, N.J.: Plexus Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0859652920; Lefcowitz, Eric. The Monkees Tale. Rev. ed. San Francisco, Calif.: Last Gasp, 1989. ISBN 0867193786; Sandoval, Andrew. The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the '60s TV Pop Sensation. Charlotte, N.C.: Thunder Bay Press. ISBN 1592233724
  12. ^ a b c d Weisman, Jon. "Nick, Sony Will Duet on Laffers." Daily Variety. August 26, 2009.
  13. ^ a b "Nickelodeon Scores Record-Breaking Night with Brand-New iCarly and Big Time Rush Debut." Press release. Nickelodeon. January 19, 2010. Accessed 2010-01-24.
  14. ^ a b Atlas, Darla. "Texas Actor Joins 'Big Time Rush' Debut." Dallas Morning News. January 18, 2010.
  15. ^ a b c Martin, Denise. "'Big Time Rush' Is A Little Bit 'Entourage,' A Little Bit 'Monkees'." Boston Globe. November 26, 2009.
  16. ^ Tillman, Adriane. "Local Teen Ready For a 'Big Time Rush' on Nickelodeon." La Jolla Village News. November 28, 2009.
  17. ^ a b c Moore, Frazier. "An Inside Look at a Boy Band on Nick's New Comedy." Associated Press. January 15, 2010.
  18. ^ Rentería, Melissa. "Plans Change as Pena Lands Co-Starring Role in Nickelodeon's 'Big Time Rush'." Conexión. November 26, 2009.
  19. ^ Blair, Iain. "Big Time Rush." Daily Variety. December 4, 2009.
  20. ^ a b c Weisman, Jon. "Nickelodeon Series Set Records." Variety. January 19, 2010.
  21. ^ Owen, Rob. "Producer of FX's 'Justified' Recalls 'Boom' Times Here." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. January 18, 2010.
  22. ^ Catlin, Rogert. "Also On Tonight: 'Buried Life,' 'American Pickers'." Hartford Courant. January 18, 2010.

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