''The Fresh Beat Band'' (originally known as ''The JumpArounds'') is an American

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early eveni ...

created by

Scott Kraft Scott Kraft is an American television writer and executive producer. Early life and career Kraft obtained his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from Antioch University. Kraft co-wrote the 1992 action-drama ''The ...

and Nadine van der Velde for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

. The show stars the "Fresh Beats" (Kiki, Shout, Marina, and Twist), described as four best friends in a silly and jolly band who graduate together from music school and are determined to follow their dreams. The series premiered on

in the United States on August 24, 2009. In December 2013, it was announced that the series would not be renewed for a fourth season. In 2015, an animated television series, ''

Fresh Beat Band of Spies ''Fresh Beat Band of Spies'' is an animated children's television series originally airing on Nickelodeon and the Nick Jr. Channel. It is a spin-off of Nickelodeon's live-action series '' The Fresh Beat Band''. The show was created by Nadine va ...

'', premiered on

. All four members of the band lend their voices to their respective characters in the spin-off. The series returned on Nick Jr. on

Pluto TV Pluto TV is a free, ad-supported video streaming service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Co-founded by Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in Los Angeles, California, in the United S ...

on May 1, 2019.

Premise

All episodes follow the same basic structure: * Each episode begins with a song that foreshadows a problem that the band will solve. * The band works together to solve the problem. * When the problem is solved they perform a song with the problem and solution incorporated into the lyrics. * Each episode concludes with a version of The Fresh Beat Band's closing song, "Great Day". * The main characters dance to choreography by

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...

;

Sean Cheesman Sean Cheesman is a Canadian dancer and choreographer, best known as a judge and choreographer for television dance competitions such as ''So You Think You Can Dance'', ''So You Think You Can Dance Canada'' and '' Dirty Dancing: The Time of Your Lif ...

; Chuck Maldonado;

Scotty Nguyen Thuận B. "Scotty" Nguyễn (born October 28, 1962) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player who is a five-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, most notably as the winner of the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event and ...

; Dreya Weber; Mary Ann Kellogg; Nakul Mahajan; Mihran Kirakosian;

Susan Austin Susan M. Austin is an American politician from Maine. Austin earned an A.A. from Bliss College in Lewiston, Maine. She and her husband have four children. A Republican, Austin has represented the town of Gray, in the Maine House of Represe ...

, and Fred Tallaksen. Also, they appeared in the Nickelodeon Mega Music Fest.

Characters

Main

Recurring

* Harper the Pizza Maker – owner of the Pizza Café, played by Shane Blades * Melody the Smoothie Maker – owner of the Groovy Smoothie Shop, played by Dioni Michelle Collins * Ms. Piccolo the Teacher – music school teacher, played by

Monica Lee Gradischek Monica Lee Gradischek, a 1994 graduate of New York University (NYU) is an American voice actress in animation, commercials, and video games as well as performing arts. Monica starred in the Lifetime Television reality series "Off the Leash" i ...

* Reed the Guitar Player – occasional guitar player and supplier of the Fresh Beats' instruments, played by

Hadley Fraser Robert Hugh "Hadley" Fraser (born 21 April 1980) is an English actor and singer. He made his West End debut as Marius in ''Les Misérables''. He also originated the role of Tiernan in the Broadway show ''The Pirate Queen''. Life and career ...

(season 1) and

Patrick Levis Patrick Cannon Levis (born January 23, 1982) is an American actor, best known for playing Peter in the Disney Channel Original Movie '' Brink!'', Jack Phillips on the Disney Channel series '' So Weird'', and Reed on '' The Fresh Beat Band''. ...

(season 2–3) There are also four children known as "The Junior Beats" who are essentially the child equivalent of their grown-up counterparts. They sing, dance, and dress as a corresponding character.

Episodes

During the buildup to the show's debut, the band was initially advertised as The JumpArounds. Commercials promoting the band under that name were in heavy rotation on Nickelodeon prior to the series debut. The change occurred approximately in mid July 2009. The name was revealed on the Nick Jr. website, then made its debut on television.

Nominations and awards

* 26th Annual Imagen Awards Nomination for Best Young Actress/Television : Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer in The Fresh Beat Band * Parents Choice 2011 Award: The Fresh Beat Band – Fun Stuff (Ages: 2 – 5 years)

Music

''The Fresh Beat Band: Music From the Hit TV Show'' was released on January 31, 2012. The album sold 189,000 copies in the US in 2012. A second collection, ''Vol 2.0: More Music From The Hit TV Show'' was released on October 9, 2012.

Singles

Four singles were released to iTunes; "Great Day" was released on February 2, 2010, "Here We Go" was released on June 28, 2011, "A Friend Like You" was released on September 13, 2011, and "Just Like a Rockstar" was released on November 29, 2011.

Track list

Channel

On November 8, 2012, it announced that the all new Fresh Beat Band channel has launched and its now available on

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV ...

channel 601 and VOD on demand. The channel has UPSR, PT3 and SPM subjects plus The Fresh Beat Band music videos and episodes, broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Home releases

Retail releases

Manufacture on-demand releases

Episodes on Nick Jr. compilation DVDs

Episodes on Nick Jr. iTunes compilations

Critical reception

Drew Magary Andrew Schuyler Magary (born 7 October 1976) is an American Deadspin ''Deadspin'' is a sports blog founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and based in Chicago. Previously owned by Gawker Media and Univision Communications, it is currently owned by G/O Media. ''Deadspin'' posted daily previews, recaps, and commentaries o ...

describes the show as "pure evil, as much as an innocent and friendly show about good friends can be pure evil".

Mobile streaming

On November 7, 2018, the first season of the series was added to the Noggin SVOD service, making it the first time in two years that the show has been broadcast on the Viacom cable and mobile networks. In January 2021, the third season was added to

Paramount+ Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Med ...

(at the time CBS All Access).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fresh Beat Band 2000s American children's comedy television series 2000s American musical comedy television series 2000s Nickelodeon original programming 2000s preschool education television series 2009 American television series debuts 2010s American children's comedy television series 2010s American musical comedy television series 2010s Nickelodeon original programming 2010s preschool education television series 2013 American television series endings American children's musical television series American preschool education television series Nick Jr. original programming Treehouse TV original programming English-language television shows