When School Of Rock was released in 2003, it was just a silly little Jack Black vehicle about elementary school kids who can play guitar. Though it was a box office success, grossing about $131 million worldwide, no one would have guessed it would have since grown into a reasonably sized marketing juggernaut, launching not only an Andrew Lloyd Webber-helmed Broadway adaptation, but also a documentary (Rock School) about The Paul Green School Of Rock, as well as a British reality series (also called Rock School) in which Gene Simmons, of all people, attempts to turn a class of school kids into a real-life rock band. And now, there’s even a live-action Nickelodeon series launching this very weekend.
In Nick’s School Of Rock, Tony Cavalero plays Dewey Finn, the character Black originated in the movie. (Actually, to be fair, Cavalero doesn’t so much play Finn as he plays Black playing Finn, aping everything about the Kung Fu Panda star, from his cadences to his wide-legged rock ’n’ roll stance.) A down-on-his-luck frozen yogurt salesman whose mom is a substitute teacher, Cavalero somehow stumbles into a temp job in a private school, where, over the course of the show’s first episode, he decides his middle school-aged students need to eschew boring stuff like history and math, instead learning about life through the virtues of rock ’n’ roll. The students, driven to madness by the donuts Finn has stolen from the teachers lounge, agree, even though a) they need to learn things to get jobs, or whatever, and b) at least one of their parents has already decided they will be attending Yale. The bumbling principal doesn’t seem to notice and, because of some nonsense about the intersection of life, learning, and rock—and, presumably, excellent soundproofing between classrooms—Finn’s plan seems to work out. The kids are going to form a band, all with the goal of winning the big Austin, Texas battle of the bands down the road.
Naturally, there are spanners in the works. In the show’s second episode, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz appears as a member of Finn’s old band, ultimately challenging the kiddie gang to a bet over who’ll win the whole battle of the bands. Finn’s prized guitar, Joan Jett, and his van, Van Halen, are now up for grabs, though—considering it’s Nickelodeon—it’s probably safe to say that the School Of Rock kids will emerge from the battle victorious.