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| Childrens' TV: Report Card |
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Childrens' TV: Report Card
> School-Age
> Drake & Josh
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Drake & Josh
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| NAME: | Drake & Josh
| | NETWORK: | Nickelodeon | | GENRE: | Sitcom | | SHOW DESCRIPTION: | Drake & Josh follows the lives of two very different teenage step-brothers, Drake and Josh. Josh is a buttoned-up, play-by-the-rules kid and Drake is a too-cool-for-school party-dude. They have nothing in common except their family, their room and their school.
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Appearance/Body Types | How characters are portrayed in terms of their bodies—weight, hair, breasts, muscles, etc. Is there a broad range of sizes or are all characters featured in similar, stereotypical ways? | |
Interpersonal/Emotional Style | How characters are portrayed in terms of their communication styles and interactions with other characters. Do they display characteristics such as assertiveness, confidence, sensitivity, kindness, adventurousness, etc.? | |
Leadership & Independence | How characters are portrayed as leaders or followers. Do they act independently, initiate conversations and actions, show respect for others, etc.? | |
Activities | How characters are portrayed in terms of their activities and physicality. Are characters portrayed doing only stereotypical activities (girls cheerleading and boys playing sports, for example) or are there a broad range of activities for each? | |
Self Image/Self Worth | How characters are portrayed in terms of valuing themselves. Are characters too focused on, or worried about, their appearance? Are characters overly concerned with attracting potential romantic partners or behaving differently when they're around? | |
Skills & Intelligence | How characters are portrayed in terms of their intelligence and abilities. Do they show aptitude with science, technology or math as well as art, dance or music? | |
TRUECHILD SAYS: While far from being at the top of our rankings, it is hard not to love Drake & Josh. The brothers are one of the great comedy teams and, for children's television, the show features clever storylines, real humor and a cast of characters that do have depth and dimension. So, we love it for all those reasons.
What disappoints us about the show are the constraints it suffers by relying upon very archetypal characters. While Josh is one of the more notable breakout characters for boys on television today, Drake is the complete opposite as a girl-chasing hottie who plays in a rock band and spends most of his time hanging out with his friends or figuring out how to avoid doing any school work or chores. Josh is sweet, funny, vulnerable, chubby and completely what we hope to see in a non-stereotypical male lead character. He provides boys with a role-model of a boy who can be both smart and funny, sensitive and strong.
And, while Miranda Cosgrove (who goes on to shine as Carly in iCarly), plays the archetypal little sister Megan, we cannot help but love her wit, brains and feistiness. Ultimately, her character is limited by the confines of the role as an antagonist. Nonetheless, we enjoy her and think she is a great, albeit underused, asset on the show. Girls, other than Megan, serve only one purpose on the show and that is to provide Drake with girlfriends, wannabe girlfriends or ex-girlfriends. It is one of the major flaws of the show that girls are completely marginalized in the show. One episode featured a group of girls who talked only about Drake's kissing skills.
Drake & Josh has ceased production but continues to be one of the top-rated shows on Nickelodeon. It will continue to run as one of its prime-time shows and, while we cannot give it a higher grade because of many of the areas in which it falls short, we will continue to enjoy all that makes the show a hit for us.
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