In the four decades since The Monkees, TV networks have gone out of their way to constantly create comedies about bands that would appeal to kids. They dream of being able to sell tons of records while making syndication dollars off the series. There have been plenty of successes including The Wiggles, The Partridge Family and Josie and the Pussycats (amongst others).
In the last decade Disney has been a machine pumping out singing sitcoms including Hannah Montana and The Jonas Brothers. Big Time Rush was Nickelodeon’s break thru into the realm. This foursome of ex-hockey players from Minnesota have benched the Jonas Brothers from the walls of many tween girls. The second volume of the first season of Big Time Rush gives us the next six episodes and their concert film. Are they ready for stardom?
“Big Time Blogger” forces the boys to hang out with a Perez Hilton-like character. The point of the time is to prove they’re real people in order to pimp their upcoming album. Their producer Gustavo Rocque (Stephen Kramer Glickman) isn’t taking any chances. He hires a team to prep the boys into giving the right answers. It’s Star 80 moment. So much of the world of showbiz is cold calculations to maximize exposure. It’s all about selling your latest project and yourself for upcoming projects. The blogger guy has a laptop computer attached to him so he can blog live. It’s a world of instant hype. “Big Time Terror” makes Gustavo move in with his group since his mansion needs repairs. He’s not the only guest at the Palm Woods. An evil spirit has arrived. This leads to plenty of comedy moments from David Anthony Higgins as the Palm Woods manager. Viewers might remember him from Malcolm in the Middle, but to me he’ll always be remembered as Captain Lucky from The Higgins Boys and Gruber on The Comedy Channel. “Big Time Dance” invites them to plan a party and act as the headlines. Can they work both sides of the stage? “Big Time Sparks” ignites a visit from former American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. Things don’t got swimmingly when she gets knocked down a well. She doesn’t look too bad for a woman chucked down a well. Even that far down, she’s still not near Taylor Hick’s latest gig.
“Big Time Fever” launches James Maslow, Logan Henderson and Carlos Pena Jr. into the Hollywood lifestyle. They’re no longer satisfied being the sweet guys that haven’t changed. It’s up to Kendall Schmidt to snap his pals back into the Minnesota nice attitude. “Big Time Video” brings us closer to the record release party. They promise their pals at Palm Woods parts in their video so they can get showbiz breaks and not have to head back to their hometowns in tears. Gustavo has a major issue in losing control of casting. The highlight is Higgins doing his sexy car washing. The big time season finale is “Big Time Concert.” The major date is approaching when Big Time Rush can finally take their place in the record bins like Rush, the Canadian power trio and Mahogany Rush, the other Canadian power trio. They’re lined up with a huge concert to get the buzz going. And then the worst thing happens. The label wants to dump them and send them back to Minnesota. Is the dream over? Was it over for Clay Aiken when he lost American Idol? The boys and Gustavo scheme to regain their impending stardom. The “TV movie” is only 47 minutes long. Don’t microwave too much popcorn.
What makes this show interesting to me isn’t the band or their music. It’s Gustavo and Higgins getting to steal moments form the boys. They are the adult supporting characters that keep this series from turning into teen mush. Gustavo thinks big as the music impresario. He’s blissfully over the top which makes him normal in the world of music managers. He works his facial hair just right. Higgins enjoys his moments of stomping out the kiddie fun around his apartment building. They keep this from being torture when the tween grabs the remote. Big Time Rush: Season One, Volume Two keeps them on the fast track to success.
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. For some reason the show is letterboxed, but not anamorphic. Everything looks fine in the transfers. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo. The mix is good for the jokes and the musical numbers. The episodes are Closed Captioned.
Behind the Scenes (4:25) are short promos. “Throwing Cam” is a camera being tossed. “Ride to the Mansion” is their van going to a location. “Stairs” has them fake a basement. “Lorenzo Lamas” works the sunglasses and hair in the doctor role. Should these kids be exposed to Lamas?
House of Anubis (11:51) is the pilot of the latest Nick series. Egyptian weirdness at an English boarding school.
Big Time Rush: Season One, Volume Two lets the quartet from Minnesota get to the dream of getting their first album pressed. It’s a tough road in their speedy career. The show’s true treat is not the music, but the work of Stephen Kramer Glickman and David Anthony Higgins. Those two are worth enduring the screaming girls.
Paramount Home Entertainment presents Big Time Rush: Season One, Volume Two. Starring: Stephen Kramer Glickman and David Anthony Higgins. DVD Contents: 7 episodes on 2 DVDs. Released on DVD: June 21, 2011. Available at Amazon.com.
