It's a commonly accepted notion that TV shows containing characters the audience can relate to will determine the success or failure of a show. This isn't always the case, most notably with the early-1980's Britcom "The Young Ones." It's also known that fans of "Kickin' It" were disappointed when Olivia Holt left that sitcom to do this show, which has been unfairly panned by IMDb users and other critics. This is kind of sad. The show has a silly and fascinating main cast of characters. Yes, there are similarities to FRIENDS, but that's not really that bad, and for the record the "cafe with the couches" was named "Central Perk." This show's version of Central Perk is called "Rumble Juice," a smoothie joint under a Chicago "L" station in Evanston, Illinois. Interesting of It's a Laugh Productions to choose edge cities for locations, rather than big ones kids might be more familiar with. I await a sitcom taking place in Yonkers, Mount Vernon, or Long Beach, New York in the future.
The premise is fairly simple; Fraternal twins Lindy and Logan Watson (Olivia Holt and Austin North) enter high school with each other and their three friends, and get into all kinds of trouble along the way, especially as they try to break away from having to do things with each other. The fact that Lindy is book-smart and helpful while Logan is a slacker may help them distinguish themselves between each other. Besides the Watson twins, the three other kids that make up the "Fab 5" include smart fashionista Jasmine Kang (played by A.N.T. Farm's Piper Curda), High-strung germophobe Garrett Spenger (Peyton Clark), And last, but far from least, the quirk-alicious group weirdo Delia Delfano (Sarah Gilman).
A standard episode usually plays out like this; The kids end up in some kind of fiasco, and usually have to explain to adults how the big mess of the week came about in the first place. The rest of the episode is strictly a flashback until it gets to the big mess at the beginning of the episode. Routine as it may be, it's hardly boring. What's not routine are the kids themselves. For once, the usual trope of the smart kid of the group wearing the glasses isn't true here. Not that Delia doesn't have a brain in that head of hers, but honestly, the only thing she has in common with Daria Morgendorffer is that she's a brunette with glasses who prefers the natural look.
Of course, the show's not all about Miss Gilman's character. Typical of most Disney shows, it produces a romantic storyline between some of the characters, primarily Jasmine and Logan, which it gave subtle hints about until the episode "Lindy Nose Best," where it damn near served it to the viewers on a silver platter. Jasmine is also the reason Lindy learned to be a little more fashionable, according to some sources, and she's actually the brainiac of the group.
As another reviewer mentioned, this show is non-musical, which is also a departure for Disney... so far. Olivia Holt sings the theme song, as well as other Disney-related musical projects past and present, and Piper Curda plays the drums and has a musical side-career of her own. So there's always a chance that the producers might try to integrate these aspects of their personality into the series.
To the surprise of many, the show is getting a second season. It's good enough that it deserves a chance, but knowing how hard the critics have slammed this show, I'll be surprised if there's a third.
