I'm in the Band
I'm in the Band is an American sitcom that originally aired on Disney XD in the United States and on Family Channel in Canada.[1] The first episode was taped on July 14, 2009, with a "sneak preview" airing on November 27, 2009; the show subsequently joined Disney XD's regular schedule on January 18, 2010, with the first episode being shown as a "sneak preview" in the United Kingdom on that same date. The show's January 18, 2010 premiere was watched by an estimated 860,000 viewers.[2]
| I'm in the Band | |
|---|---|
 The main characters of I'm in the Band (from the left to right), Burger, Derek, Tripp and Ash. | |
| Genre | Teen sitcom Slapstick Off-color |
| Created by | Michael B. Kaplan Ron Rappaport |
| Starring | Logan Miller Stephen Full Greg Baker Caitlyn Taylor Love Steve Valentine |
| Theme music composer | David Wilde Karl Cochran Michael B. Kaplan Ron Rappaport Stacy Wilde |
| Opening theme | "Weasel Rock You" (short version), performed by Chuck Duran |
| Ending theme | "Weasel Rock You" (short instrumental) |
| Composer(s) | Ken Lofkoll Eric Goldman Zed Kelley |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 41 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Michael B. Kaplan Ron Rappaport Richard Gurman |
| Camera setup | Videotape (filmized); Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company(s) | It's a Laugh Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | Disney XD |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) |
| Original release | November 27, 2009 – December 9, 2011 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
It was announced on April 26, 2010, that I'm in the Band had been renewed for a second season which premiered on January 17, 2011.[3] On March 15, 2011, Caitlyn Taylor Love and Greg Baker announced on their official Twitter accounts that the second season would be the show's last. On April 28, 2011, Disney XD officially announced the show's cancellation, with the remaining season 2 episodes to air for the remainder of the year. The final produced episode, "Raiders of the Lost Dad," aired on December 9, 2011.[4]
Premise
Fifteen-year-old Tripp Campbell who lives in Los Angeles, California dreams of being a part of his favorite vintage rock band Iron Weasel. When he wins a radio contest to have dinner with Iron Weasel, his dream comes true. He manages to impress them with his guitar playing and miraculously lands the lead guitarist role. Iron Weasel is made up of three middle-aged stooges – lead singer and occasional rhythm guitarist Derek Jupiter, bassist Burger Pitt, and drummer Ash (no last name). The bandmates initially scoff at the idea of having a child in the band, for fear of losing their cool, edgy appeal. But after Tripp offered the guest room and played very well at the school assembly that Tripp hijacked, they agree to let Tripp in the band.
Luckily, Tripp convinces his divorced mom, Beth, that the band members will be great role models for him. In their own wacky way, the band will try to mentor Tripp through his high school years with the goal of turning him into a bona fide rock star in the process. Along for the adventure is Tripp's best friend, Izzy Fuentes, an aspiring singer, who will try to keep him not grounded and out of trouble.
Tripp has high hopes for Iron Weasel and will do everything he can to help the band make an epic comeback, from booking concert tours, to getting a well-known music agent to listen to their music.
Unfortunately, the members of Iron Weasel always seem to find themselves in uncomfortable situations – from their nationwide concert tour which ends up being a three venue gig, to protesters boycotting their music because of a silly viral video that was intended to make them popular again. Regardless of their mishaps, Tripp and his bandmates always find a way to come together to resolve their issues and do what they love best – play rock n' roll.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 21 | November 27, 2009 | November 8, 2010 | ||
| 2 | 20 | January 17, 2011 | December 9, 2011 | ||
Characters
Main
- Tripp Campbell (Logan Miller) is the teenage lead guitarist of Iron Weasel who has always dreamed of joining a rock band. Despite his age, Tripp is the most mature of all the members of Iron Weasel and is determined to help the band make a comeback. Tripp is the only Iron Weasel member of the group that is still finishing school. He usually takes out his anger by playing the guitar, as seen in the episode "I Want to Punch Stuff". He has had many dates and crushes and is allergic to nuts. Tripp is the one who usually solves the band's problems. Throughout the series, Principal Strickland in Season 1 and Principal Jenkins in Season 2 give him detention if he does something by accident, mean, minor, etc. His idol is Derek Jupiter, whom Tripp helped in the episode "Pain Games" to regain his confidence.
- Derek Jupiter (Steve Valentine) is the British, usually selfish, cocky and charming singer. He is known to be a very good magician as shown in episode "Magic Tripp" and is multilingual. Tripp claims that Derek is the heart and soul of Iron Weasel while Vic Blaylock claims that Derek causes all the problems in the band. He is also the tallest of the band and seems to be a little smarter than Ash and Burger. He admits to have his very own dungeon when Ash found an unfamiliar set of keys in "What Happened?". He can also play guitar as seen in "Slap Goes the Weasel", "Road Tripp", etc. as well as key board, as seen in episode "Izzy Gonna Sing" and in several other episodes. He is afraid of snakes and on "Pain Games" he tells Tripp that he once lost confidence in himself after Metal Wolf stole a gig from them (this also sparked his animosity towards them). He usually makes fun of Burger and also tells stupid, boring stories from his family that nobody cares about. Chuck Duran provides Derek's singing voice.
- Burger Pitt (Greg Baker) is the food loving, rather dimwitted bass player of Iron Weasel. He has an electric rock star persona, and is shown to have much joy in physical acts, such as smashing his own bass or smashing his head into a wall. He is noticeably overweight and has disgusting habits, including eating worms. Burger is known to have a secret crush on Tripp's mother, Beth, and he often sports black nail polish on his fingers. He also won the first Weasel Prank as revealed in the episode "Prank Week". A recurring gag throughout the first season included Burger breaking wind on multiple occasions.
- Ash (Stephen Full) is the band's amiable drummer, who is often depicted as being the most childish and simple-minded one out of the members of Iron Weasel. He used to have a pet fish named Sushi (and Sushi 2); both of them were killed after Burger's shorted-out bass zapped it. It is shown that he knows random bits of trivia. Ash's catchphrase is "Aw Yeah". In the episode "Slap Goes the Weasel", it is revealed that his real name is Ashley. If someone called him that (like Izzy in that episode), he would go into wild tantrums, in a manner similar to Charles after someone calls him "Chucky". In the episode "Road Tripp" he reveals that he uses four kinds of hair gel. In the episode "What Happened", he reveals that his great-great-grandfather wore a pickle suit during the battle at Gettysburg. He seems to be slightly smarter in the second season. His last name is never mentioned.
- Izzy Fuentes (Caitlyn Taylor Love) is one of Tripp's best friends and also a huge fan of Iron Weasel among other rock bands. She is also an aspiring singer and has attempted many times to become Iron Weasel's back-up singer. She apparently doesn't know what a prank is according to the episode "Prank Week". In the episode "Izzy Gonna Sing?", she temporarily becomes the band's lead singer when Derek is sick and loses his voice. She was in a band with Tripp called Booger Smack in the third grade as seen also in "Izzy Gonna Sing?". Despite being a main character, she appears almost as a recurring character due to her being absent from many episodes. She is also known to have a crush on Iron Weasel's old lead guitarist (Bleed) in the episode "Bleed Guitarist".
Supporting
- Beth Campbell (Beth Littleford) is Tripp's loving and supporting mother. She is 41 years old in Season 1, and 42 years old in Season 2. She has custody of Tripp after divorcing her husband. She regrets having Iron Weasel living in her house. It is revealed in the episode "Weasels vs. Robots" that she is a dental hygienist and also has a large set of plastic teeth.
- Principal Cornelius Strickland (Reginald VelJohnson) is Tripp's hot-tempered former principal who deals with many shenanigans at the school, especially involving Iron Weasel, which he really loathes. He is featured in the first season but reappears as the Superintendent in the episode "Iron Weasel Gets Schooled". His name may be based on Principal Strickland from the Back to the Future. He was promoted to superintendent and was replaced by Principal Maurice Jenkins (Mark Teich) in the second season.
- Jared (Aaron Albert) is Tripp's nerdy, exceptionally smart, and odd friend and uses charts a lot. He is 15 years old. He screams like a girl when he gets freaked out. He also has been to a bird calling camp, has a crush on the lunch lady and has a father who builds robots. Jared only appears in the first season of the series.
- Ernesto the Besto[5] (Hollywood Yates) is Iron Weasel's former roadie who is now a mixed martial artist. He's gotten pantsed by Iron Weasel numerous times (including when he was proposing to his girlfriend at a concert and was even arrested for attempting to attack the band after they pantsed him). He eventually returns to get revenge on Iron Weasel for pantsing him, Ernesto and the band eventually makes up, but he gets arrested (and pantsed) again at the end, swearing revenge on the band once more.
- Charles "Chucky" Albertson (Zayne Emory) is the 12-year-old (13 years old in Season 2) kid who got injured because of the Weasel Slap. He is Simon Craig's new stepson who is mean and disrespectful to the Iron Weasel. He hates being called Chucky because it rhymes with "Sucky" and even goes into wild tantrums after someone calls him that. He also once had a crush on Izzy. He first appears in the episode "Slap Goes the Weasel," and did not appear again until "Chucky's Revenge." He has since appeared in some season 2 episodes.
- Simon Craig (Alan Thicke) is Iron Weasel's manager and Charles' stepfather introduced in Season 2.
- Principal Maurice Jenkins (Mark Teich) is Tripp's principal who took the spot Cornelius Strickland had in the first season and dislikes Strickland becoming superintendent. He was introduced in the second season. He is easily agitated by Tripp's behavior and is bothered by Tripp flirting with his daughter Gia.
- Bryce Johnson (Spencer Boldman) is a rich, smart, and handsome jock. He stole Tripp's first crush in kindergarten and he stole Lana from Tripp twice. He really dislikes Tripp and made his first appearance in the episode "Money Bags".
Broadcast
The series airs worldwide on Disney XD. It premiered on March 5, 2010 in Australia and New Zealand, on March 6, 2010 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, on April 10, 2010 in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, on October 13, 2010 in India, on May 17, 2011 in South Africa, and on June 1, 2011 in Canada.
Reception
Critical reception
Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the show a mixed review. She stated that "while it's lighthearted, the show isn't exactly realistic when it comes to portraying adult responsibility," also noting that "there’s no shortage of laughs in I’m in the Band."[6]
Viewership
The series premiered to an estimated 863,000 viewers[2] proving to be the network's highest-rated series premiere for a Disney XD Original Series, including the Toon Disney phase.[7]
References
- Press Release Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine
- Disney XD Celebrates 1st Anniversary with Record Viewing Levels
- I'm in the Band renewed for second season. - tvbythenumbers.com
- I'm in the Band: "Raiders of the Lost Dad". MSN TV
- TV fan
- Ashby, Emily. "I'm in the Band TV Review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
- Original Series "I'm in the Band" is Disney XD's No. 1 Original Series Debut Ever in Total Viewers Archived 2014-08-08 at the Wayback Machine Written By The Cancel Bear, January 20th , 2010
External links
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