Back in 2010, Nickelodeon audiences were invited to the Hollywood Arts performing school to follow aspiring singer Tori Vega (Victoria Justice) in the sitcom Victorious. Running for three years, Tori chased after her dreams alongside a variety of colorful characters, and getting into all manner of typical Nickelodeon hijinks. Now, in the hopes of courting those who loved Fuller House and Girl Meets World, Nickelodeon returns to the Victorious world with Hollywood Arts.
Hollywood Arts certainly feels like the typical Nickelodeon kids are getting today, heavily focused on performing arts jobs with a heavy emphasis on social media. There’s an overall confined feeling to the material, no doubt due to the limited budget, and an overemphasis on musical performances in lieu of storytelling. The young cast is solid, but no doubt the goal is to jump ship quickly on this and move on to better material.
Trina Vega (Danielle Monet) is the talentless older sister to Victorious star, Tori. With no job prospects on the horizon, Trina decides to be a substitute teacher at Hollywood Arts. Trina is initially intent on not doing any work, but becomes more involved when she discovers the untapped singing potential in Emmy (Alyssa Miles). Determined to help Emmy rise, Trina becomes more invested in being a proper teacher, and adult.
Hollywood Arts: Season 1. (L-R) Peyton Jackson as Qwest, Martin Kamm as Oscar, Emmy Liu-Wang as Pepper, Eric Lange as Sikowitz, Erika Swayze as Jen Z, Daniella Monet as Trina Vega, and Alyssa Miles as Emmy in Hollywood Arts: Season 1. Cr. Kailey Schwerman/Paramount+/Netflix
Hollywood Arts looks to try to appease two masters: those who grew up with Victorious, and those who have never heard of it. This means that much of this new series looks like an outright attempt to copy the original, right down to some of the casting choices looking similar to the original show. Everything feels abrupt on this series from its first episode (an interminably long two part premiere), when former Victorious teacher Erwin Sikowitz (Eric Lange) announces he’s leaving. Don’t worry, a very brief news reel at the opening lets you know his significance, as well as that of Hollywood Arts in general. From there, Trina is dropped into the middle of the storytelling, with a goal of just coasting on what she hopes will be a brief tenure as a teacher.
Monet’s comedy is incredibly broad, mostly relegated to waving her arms around. She’s a bizarre girl-woman with a messy life that’s heard about, but never seen. We know next to nothing about her family or friends outside of the school. A few stray phone calls to her sister, Tori (who’s never seen) are the few tangential connections to Monet’s past role on Victorious. She’s less Bad Teacher and more just incredibly dumb and thus worth pitying even less. At one point, Emmy enlists the help of Trina’s former girl band members, who proceed to up just to make fun of Trina. It’s a bit jarring to see forty year old women still acting like twelve-year-olds which makes you wonder who these adult narratives are actually aiming at?
Trina is put in numerous situations where she has to be the adult, whether that’s giving pep talks or wearing kooky disguises to inspire the kids. Some episodes focus on acting goals to learn while others are the prototypical life lessons. The acting-centric episodes certainly feel aimed at an older audience, with an entire episode taking place in a cattle call for someone to say “Mmm, pretzels.” It’s odd to watch this in a landscape where High School Musical: The Musical: The Series also did performing arts in a way that captured kids and adults. The use of songs in the series is particularly odd as there are stray covers to the likes of Kelly Clarkson and Chappell Roan that feel weird considering the majority of the series crafts original songs. (The Roan performance of “Pink Pony Club” is pure Kidz Bop.) The original songs are all cutesy, power pop songs that barely last long enough for a TikTok video.
Hollywood Arts: Season 1. Daniella Monet as Trina in Hollywood Arts: Season 1. Cr. Kailey Schwerman/Paramount+/Netflix
The teen cast certainly has a lot to offer and as we’ve seen with previous Nick stars, some go on to great careers. The most promising are Peyton Jackson as Qwest, an actor and singer who lies to his father about being on the football team. Jackson is so charming and charismatic, with some great comedic timing. The episode wherein he and fellow student Oscar (Martin Kamm) pull a stunt to fool Qwest’s dad into thinking Oscar’s the football coach is delightful. Emmy Liu-Wang as Pepper ends up the scene stealer. Though presented as a kooky dimwit – which is weird since every character on the show seems to be similar – Liu-Wang puts a smile on your face in every scene. Whether it’s being swathed in makeup as an old witch at a Ren Faire, one constantly sneezing in everyone’s face, or in a contest to win a magic locker, there’s nothing that feels false about Pepper.
The rest of the actors are decent. Kamm feels akin to Boy Meets World’s Will Friedle as Emmy’s vapid older brother Oscar. Erica Swayze’s Jen is a snobby elitist. Miles’s Emmy is our de facto co-lead alongside Monet and she definitely struggles. The character is overtly earnest and good, making many of her comedy moments very overwrought. She’s the straight man alongside the likes of Liu-Wang and Kamm, leaving her as the bland star. She’s meant to come alive singing or dancing, and while she can show off those talents that doesn’t make you want to watch her for 24 episodes.
Hollywood Arts is a struggle to get through, the comedy insipid and uninspired. The supporting cast certainly works hard but the hijinks feel so lifeless. Everything just has a sheen of dumb. If your kids are looking to watch something, it’s worth it to just revisit Victorious, Zoey 101 or any of the numerous “kids want to be performers” shows that have existed. Hollywood Arts is a Hollywood dud.