There are a couple shows on Nickelodeon that I'm a reasonably big fan of and - even though I'm sure the first thought that'll come into your mind is, "well Gay, don't you think you're a little old?" followed by "jeez, nothing better to watch?" - I honestly don't care.
I watch a lot of stuff. That's what I get paid to do. (Tough job, somebody's gotta do it, etc. etc.)
They're "iCarly" and "Drake & Josh;" humor is for kids, as are both shows, but they're very well made, and are are skillful reflections (though hardly copycats) of a vast body of classic TV shows, from "Cheers" to "Full House." I like 'em and kids LOVE 'em; "D&J" won the Kids' Choice best show award (semi-big deal - seriously) even though it's been in an endless repeat cycle for the last year and a half. The show's LONG been out of production.
The guy that created both is Dan Schneider. Memphis-born Schneider is both a hugely talented and hugely eclectic dude - a Harvard drop-out, lover of muscle cars, onetime pizza delivery boy, part time actor, and now the most important person at the most important network in the world for kids. He's created some of the network's most important shows - virtually all of the ones that don't have "sponge" or "Bob" in their title - and now he's got its other biggest hit, "iCarly."
Anyway, we had a nice chat a couple of weeks ago, and I lay on you here what he had to say about "D&J" - fresh in my mind after the Kids Choice:
"No," he says, there will NOT be a "D&J" movie set in New York; "I've been seeing that on IMDB [Internet Movie Database, the industry credit bible]. I don't know what they're talking about. Someone tricked someone. But I will tell you, there is talk, from everything I know, at Nickelodeon for another movie. They wrapped the show a year and a half ago, and we never did a last episode - I never asked the reason, but you don't want to disappoint kids - and the show really ISN'T over because they keep re-running it. But the buzz at the network is that they wanted to talk to the boys [Drake Bell and Josh Peck] about getting together to shoot a TV movie, like ['D&J Go To] Hollywood' but maybe something a little bigger." (Do we hear "theatrical" perhaps?)
"They're into the idea, Drake's into the idea," and probably Josh, and Miranda Cosgrove too.
So, what sort of movie? Christmas movie? That might be "one for TV; I realized that in the fifty episodes [produced from '04 to '07] we never ever touched on Christmas."
So Merry Christmas, fans - a little early.