The demise of Hannah Montana left a vacuum in the world of tween TV sing action. Where would the kids go to see a young girl transform into a musical sensation? Nickelodeon quickly found their answer with Tori Vega (Victoria Justice). This isn’t clone programming. She’s not a secret superstar wearing a wig. Imagine a young Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls without the trampiness. Tori’s merely a girl who doesn’t grasp how talented she is. Instead of balancing her career and normal high school, she’s placed in an art school. Think of this as High School Musical without musical baseball moments. The show quickly gained a following. Victorious: Season One, Volume One gathers the first 10 episodes.
“Pilot” sets up the unexpected discovery of Tori. Her big sister Trini (Daniella Monet) attends Hollywood Arts. She’s supposedly the talented one of the family. Before the big show at the school, Trini can’t perform. Since Tori has endured her sister’s practices, she fills in. Instead of it being a disaster, Tori becomes a sensation. The faculty of the Hollywood Arts demands she attends. She takes up the offer and meets the quirky kids that dream of being tomorrow’s next big stars. Robbie (Matt Bennett) studies ventriloquism. His dummy Rex controls the flake. Jade (Elizabeth Gilles) is her antagonist. She dates Beck (Avan Jogia). Cat (Ariana Grande) is Tori’s only real girlfriend. She’s a bit ADD. The dynamics of the gang is quickly shown in Tori’s first day at school. The version of “Pilot” is the nearly 27 minute extended version.
“The Bird Scene” explains why art school is so frustrating. Tori wants to be in a play, but can’t audition till she masters a monologue that has nothing to do with the production. The boys show up for a ballet class to meet girls. This plan can work in real life, but only if you look good in tights. “Stage Fighting” brings out the girl fight between Tori and Jade. “The Birthweek Song” is about giving the gift of music. Oddly enough Trini isn’t impressed at an original composition. For a girl in art school, she sure is a snob. What’s better than a potential hit song for a gift? “Jade Dumps Beck” is just that. There’s weirdness when Robbie must write a nice review on the school’s website about Trini’s new show or she’ll bring down hell on him and his dummy.
“Tori the Zombie” has the usual make up disaster. Cat makes Tori look scary, but uses the wrong glue. This means Tori can’t clean up before her big audition. Can the producers overlook the undead face to find the beauty? “Robarzzi” is about Robbie using the school’s website to document his friend’s lives. This starts looking like an iCarly episode. (For the record, the series is produced by the guys who make iCarly.) “Survival of the Hottest” traps the kids inside an RV at the beach. They can’t get out and Cat doesn’t care cause she’s flirting with hot boys. The kids don’t resort to cannibalism. “Wi-Fi in the Sky” traps Tori in an airport so she must video chat with her classmates. Things get goofy as the kids get distracted. Once more, this seems like an iCarly episode. “Beck’s Big Break” gives the guy a small role in a major film. Tori screws up and gets him fired. She has to get him the gig back or she’ll be in major trouble.
Victorious comes off as Fame filtered through ABC’s TGIFriday sensibilities. Having attended a real art school, I can safely pronounce there’s very little reality to the show. None of the kids at Hollywood Arts are dealing with major addictions, severe psychological issues or drastic weight problems. The ventriloquist kid would be suffering from all of them. Victorious is light comic entertainment so it makes sense to keep it happy. This isn’t meant to scare small tweens from dreaming that an art school is a fun place with Tori and her friends. It’s a cute show with enough peppy tunes to have kids humming during the end credits.
The video is letterboxed 1.78:1 on a full frame. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo. The mix makes sure the laughs don’t knock out the jokes and dramatic pouts. The episodes are Closed Captioned.
Meet Tori Vega (0:32) is the quickie intro to the character and show.
Meet the Cast (0:45) is a blur about the various actors attending the school.
Music videos include “Freak the Freak Out” (2:19) and “Beggin’ on Your Knees” (3:15) are from the show’s soundtrack album. Both videos are not merely clips from the show.
Victorious: Season One, Volume One keeps it light when dealing with life at an art school. It’s a show safe enough for a tween audience that doesn’t want to be bogged down with the dirty nature of training for show business. Victoria Justice does seem like the kind of student you’d encounter at an art school.
Paramount Home Entertainment presents Victorious: Season One, Volume One. Starring: Victoria Justice, Daniella Monet, Matt Bennett, Elizabeth Gilles, Avan Jogia and Ariana Grande. Boxset Contents: 10 episodes on 2 DVDs. Released on DVD: July 5, 2011. Available at Amazon.com.
