Nickelodeon's Live Action

[Commode]

Figured this topic could go here, since I'm sure the other Nickelodeon forum is dedicated solely to the Nicktoons and other cartoons airing on the channel.

Anyways, this is a general all purpose topic for any live action Nick show, be it classics like Salute Your Shorts, or new stuff like iCarly.  Game shows like Legend of the Hidden Temple may or may not go here, that's up to you.

As for me, I love many of the shows from the 90's and recently been watching two of my favorite ones, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and Kenan and Kel.  Pete and Pete is this wonderful show about a teenager named Pete and his younger brother, also named Pete.  Both the brothers are really close to each other and do many things with each other, but there is also a sense of struggle between the two, since Big Pete is older and tries to stray away and do his own thing.  Still though, there's many adventures to be had, whether it be fighting a neighborhood bully, or trying to track down the local ice cream man after he disappears.  And Artie, the strongest man in all the world, and Little Pete's idle.  He's always good for a laugh, even though now he kind of comes off as a pedophile(Hey, it was the 90s, before the PC age really blossomed).

Kenan and Kel is about two teenage boys, Kenan and Kel, obviously, who live in Chicago and work in a grocery-type store.  Kel loves orange soda, and Kenan is always coming up with schemes, but can't keep the two out of trouble.  It's a pretty good show, but it does come off as repetitive at times(but what show isn't?).

Any thing you might want to say?  Avaitor, maybe you could share some feelings about Ned's Declassified?

[Neomysterion X. Prime]

For Nick's live-action, I liked watching their game shows (especially Nick Arcade). 
Also, All That and The Amanda Show were great kid-friendly alternatives to MADtv and Saturday Night Live. 

[Avaitor]

All That (I'd like to say all the classic seasons, but what I've seen of the last original cast one was pretty dreadful too, so I'll just say the first few seasons)
Kenan & Kel
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
The Adventures of Pete & Pete
Clarissa Explains It All
Salute Your Shorts

^Their best, and I still watch them every now and then.

I did watch a lot of their shows as a kid, but even then I didn't think they were all great. I mean, for every Pete & Pete there was a Journey of Allen Strange or something, and some of the ones I did like, such as Hey Dude, just don't hold up at all. Some of these I'll always love no matter how stupid, though.

As for the ones from today, eh. iCarly and Victorious have their moments and have some pretty good characters, but aren't very good at all. Big Time Rush is very mediocre, and I don't know or care about any of their other shows to tell you my opinion on them.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I think my big problem with the current stuff is that all of it feels like it's written by one person. They all have the same style of writing, the same characters, the same plots, and all have albums to sell.

Even BTR, by the creator of Ned, doesn't stick out as much as it should.

It's not really a nostalgia thing, as I was never exposed to Nick's live action stuff as a kid. But when I watch them now, I can clearly see that most of them simply have way more effort and variety in them to help stand out.

[Avaitor]

To me it seems like Nick is trying to ride on the success of Disney's stars by making so many of their actors do music careers, but it's just not working because they don't have the resources that Disney does.

Or the talent, even. I know I'm the only fan of Demi on here, but when comparing her and even Miley, Selena, and the Jo Bros to BTR, Victoria Justice, and the iCarly girls, it seems like the Disney side is more comfortable with juggling music and acting together, and even seem to enjoy it, while the Nick people are just doing albums because Nick told them to.

I think kids can tell that's the case as well. I have a little half-sister who's a big Jonas and Demi Lovato fan (she was also big on Miley before she dropped the Hannah wig), but doesn't give a fuck about the Nick stars. I also hear from some of my friend's little sisters and stuff (sometimes even themselves) that they're big Demi and Selena Gomez fans, but I don't think I've ever heard them refer to Miranda Cosgrove as anything other than Carly or the girl from School of Rock.

Nick should just let their actors stick to acting unless  they really give a damn about making music, but like any of them would do anything. They just take whatever their song writers give them, go to the recording studio once or twice, and let auto-tune do the rest. Just about all of this is crap that anyone over the age of 14 should know better than to buy.

As for the writing, yeah, it seems like ever since Lizzie McGuire, every live-action kids show follows the same trope- a good girl with bratty tendencies and her quirky friends go through eccentric adventures together. Add clueless parents, sneaky younger or stupid older siblings, and vapid middle/high school stereotypes for a supporting cast in and you have a kid's show. As well as plots and jokes you've heard 20 years ago in better sitcoms.

That's not to say that every live-action kids show post-Lizzie McGuire (which also kind of sucked) is completely awful. I think Ned is a sweet, sincere series about the trials and tribulations of middle school which didn't try to sell you anything but humor and heart. It could have fit in with Nick in the 90's. Drake & Josh was kind of funny when Megan wasn't around. iCarly the web show is annoying, but iCarly the TV show actually has some solid writing sometimes. Even on Disney Channel, Sonny With a Chance has decent character interactions with most of it's characters and doesn't try to force you tired morals like all the other Disney shows. It also kind of reminds me of All That sometimes with the So Random sketches

Ned aside, I wouldn't call any of them great (and even that was a stretch sometimes), and they all have the typical pratfalls of all the other kidcoms out there. Most of the shows from the 90's had more effort put into any of these and are probably a lot better than anything on either channel today.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Ned didn't try to sell you on music or anything, and kept the plots to the central theme. In many ways, you could run this next to Pete & Pete, early All That and whatnot, and it wouldn't stick out much. Just because it's merely a quality show with a good hook, and not a vehicle to sell something else.

[Avaitor]

There's a thread discussing the TeenNick block, but I just want to comment here about how happy I am about it.

I really like Pete & Pete and Clarissa, and since Nick never bothered finishing with their DVD releases, I'd love to take this chance to catch up on the rest. The latter is a girl-themed sitcom that doesn't feel too girly for guys and is cool enough for older viewers to watch and enjoy, while the former is just great period. I'll try to rewatch my DVDs before then.

All That is also a show I love. The first few seasons, at least, when Dan Schneider and Brian Robbins were both working on it. The last year or two of the original cast when Dan left wasn't very good, while when Dan came back and Brian left to work on the new cast... yeah.

The Amanda Show I liked a lot as a kid, but rewatching it now, it doesn't really hold up. It's more obnoxious than anything. Almost like if it got the leftover shorts that weren't good enough for All That. A few good sketches, but I won't be recording it as much.

Salute Your Shorts is also classic. I liked both Michael and Pinksy. To be honest, it's more about Budnick than anyone,  so it has that going for it.

Can't wait to see whatever live-action shows they have planned.

[Avaitor]

On another note, I just noticed that Nicktoons is airing Ned and Drake & Josh. Funny, since TeenNick is still airing them. Funny still is that Rugrats and Rocket Power are scheduled to air on the channel when the block starts.

Talk about an odd case of synergy. Whatever works for them, I guess.

[Kiddington]

The crossover mentality doesn't fit... or well, it really shouldn't. I guess it doesn't really matter, because Nicktoons has had The Troop on for ages, but still; keep the cartoons on one end, live-action on the other. Makes sense, you know?

...and speaking of The Troop, am I the only one that sees this show totally out of place in today's kids television climate? If it were made back in the 80's or 90's, it'd kinda fit, but now? It comes off as so corny, and it doesn't even have a sense nostalgia to back it up.

I really wanted to like this show (Tom Lynch made some cool stuff back in the 90's, so I was looking forward to it due to his involvement), but damn, I just can't get into it. It kinda sucks, really.

[Avaitor]

I think it's kind of cool that Nick is making a show like that again. I miss having stuff like Alex Mack and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, so in theory that would be a good substitute for them.

In theory. I haven't seen much of the show, but from what I've seen from previews and heard from people, it isn't much at all. Lame.

[Kiddington]

Yeah, I guess I should clarify; it's not the idea that bothers me, it's just the execution is all wrong. I think that's why its presence on Nicktoons gets to me so much, because it's such a mediocre show (with a timeslot that could just as easily go to a long-lost favorite; Angry Beavers, anyone?).

The plot (group of kids in a secret "monster hunting" organization) is alright, and definitely workable. They're just not doing it right at all. More than anything, the acting is really killing it. The one geeky kid (I think his name is Felix, if I remember correctly; haven't watched this in a while) is a really terrible actor, and the guy who plays the school principal/"troop" leader is even worse.

...and now that you mention Alex Mack, that was probably the biggest reason why I was so initially excited for this (his involvement with that series). That show was damn cool. I don't know how Tom Lynch lost his touch so badly over the years (he also created Romeo in the meantime, and I thought that sucked as well).

[Avaitor]

Didn't he also co-create Class of 3000 with Andre?

There's a lot that Nicktoons could air, but right now, they're building it to be a CN/XD competitor by airing a ton of action shows and random live-action series instead, and that doesn't really seem to work for it. But hey, apparently DB Kai gets pretty good ratings for them and it must have helped to give Avatar that new miniseries and comic book, so it must be good for them anyhow.

[Avaitor]

Looks like now Shout is skipping some of the Nicktoons and is going straight to live-action. Hey Dude is next on their Nick-related schedule.

Like I said elsewhere, I'll probably buy at least the first season out of nostalgia, but it's not a favorite. I would have preferred to get the last season of Pete & Pete, some more Clarissa, or something else like Kenan & Kel or Salute Your Shorts, but this will certainly please some fans.

[Spark Of Spirit]

As long as they get to finish them off, I'm good. Thankfully, Shout is one of the few companies that seem willing to go the whole nine yards with these releases.

[Avaitor]

They don't finish every release, it seems, but I'll give Shout the benefit of the doubt for now.

One another note, why do people think that All That is a possibility? The show has tons of musical performances that will probably cost a lot for them to buy the rights back to. AT isn't like SNL where it would be able to make back the costs it takes to buy back all the performances.