Kids TVInfluences

Waterloo RoadWaterloo road is a UK TV drama set in Rochdale about a secondary school and counters a multitude of issues. Waterloo road is shown on BBC 1 at 8 o clock and has a rating of 12, however the most recent series the rating was moved up to 15.Waterloo road is probably the most similar show to the one we are creating e.g. :Set in school, on before watershed, lots of teen characters e.c.t.

However there are some differences between our ideas and waterloo road, with our show being aimed specifically at tweens and not a wide audience. Another difference is that we are looking at basing our show around a specific social group and not a whole school. There is also the fact that Waterloo Road covers much more adult issues such as pregnancy, homophobia and racism that would be too strong for our show.

The Big Bang TheoryThe Big Bang theory is an American TV sitcom set in

Pasadena California about four socially awkward physicists and an attractive blonde women. The show is based around the lives of the four “geeks” and especially the chemistry between Leonard and Penny as well as the antics of Sheldon Cooper. It is a witty comedy and is shown in the UK on E4, but its American owners are CBS.

The Big Bang theory has both features that we want to use and some that wouldn’t be suitable. First of all the characters are much older than we want ours and obviously its American and not based in a school. However we liked the idea of basing the show around the “Geek” social group. We also liked the way the show was set up with a attractive girl as the contrasting dynamic. The show has a suitable 12 rating which is fine for our show.

InbetweenersThe Inbetweeners is a British TV sitcom set in a suburb outside of London. It is shown on E4 at 10 and is based around four outcast teenagers in a sixth form. The shows principles are nothing more than an laugh out loud comedy and the show is almost entirely based around the four lads.

The Inbetweeners has some features that we want to base our show around such as the fact the series is based mainly on four characters. The fact that the characters are social rejects is also a point of similarity. However the characters are in sixth form and are too old for our show. The show is on at 10 and rated 18 because of the adult nature of it, but although it is older than ours will be, we can still take things out of the show.

Ned’s Declassified School Survival GuideNed’s Declassified School Survival Guide was an

American children's TV program about three friends and their adventures around their school. The main character (Ned Bigby) formats the show by giving advice through his school survival guide. The show was based in James Polk middle school and was shown on Nickelodeon, this included some teen issues but was made for pre-teens and had a U rating.

The aspects of the show that we think we would like to incorporate into ours include the aspects of school life in the show, as well as the interesting format that the show is presented in. We also feel that the age of the show could also be suitable and match the show that we want to produce, meaning pre-teens would be our audience. This is American and the children do not wear uniform which will obviously differ from our show.

GleeGlee is a musical comedy drama aired on E4 and

Sky one in the UK and FOX in America. Glee is a unique program that combines a regular comedy drama with a musical element. It is based around the McKinley high “glee club” a bunch of outcast high school students who perform in show choir and are victimised by the rest of the school. Glee has a rating of 12 in the UK .

The idea of a marginalised social group is similar to our idea of a show based around outcasts. The show is also set in a school and has a rating of 12 which again match our ideas and target audience. Glee does have some adult content references although these are quite rare. The main difference is obviously the musicality of it with our show not including a cast of singers and dancers.

High School MusicalHigh School Musical is an American musical movie made by Disney Channel set in Salt lake city, Utah. It is often compared to a modern adaption of the musical “Greece” for young people. It’s popularity soared after its release and became a worldwide smash amongst young people, having two sequels and producing large amounts of merchandise. It’s well known for its gentle natured love story, with the main characters not even kissing during the film

We thought that there were plenty of ideas we could take out of the film, such as the way different cliques and groups interact and behave in high school. This is also an easily transferrable genre into Kids TV due to the gentle nature of the show. However the show again contains musical elements and is American in a school with no uniforms which again would differ from any idea we had.