Enough With the Famous-Kid Shows!

The Monkees and their eponymous sitcom were once funny. The way the props appeared out of nowhere. The way they tossed one another behind doors and sofas and pretended to fight. Then we saw it again, in Jonas. And then the skateboard star version with Zeke and Luther. And now we have Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush, starring four adorable young men of different types (brainy! sporty! hip!) taken to LA to be molded into a pop group. The lead doesn't want to go. His friends do. Theoretically, there are lessons to be learned. It's not all fun and games on the road to stardom. Except, of course, that it is. Every alleged "bump in the road" looks way more fun than high school. Your kids may eat this up, and if they do, so be it--it's no worse than what's all over Disney and the rest of Nick. In fact, it's pretty nearly identical, right down to the hip mom and the tagalong little sister (who's actually not bad). The boy actors are cute and appealing—-better than most, even. They may become big stars, but you'll want to wait and catch them in something else.

Fear Factor: (I’m afraid I’ll have to watch this again.)
Heart: (I have seen cute boys bond before.)
Attitude: (What show would be complete without the obnoxious, know-it-all fat kid? But the stars are all charm.)
Psst: It’s Entourage for the preteen set—only, well, not funny.
If you like this: Everything from iCarly to Hannah Montana is selling kids on stardom these days. Somebody make a show about hip schoolteachers, please?