The Jonas Brothers have been out on the press circuit recently, busy promoting their upcoming movie, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, as well as their new Disney Channel Series, J.O.N.A.S. Previously pretty tight-lipped about the new show, Nick, Joe, and Kevin are finally spilling about their namesake series, set to premiere in May. Originally envisioned as a spy series, producers recently announced that the concept took a different, more realistic turn over the past year as the brothers made a meteoric rise from Disney sidekicks to pop megastars.
“It is now about us being a band and balancing a normal life,” Nick Jonas told Access Hollywood. “They give us freedom to add our humor in it. We’re just honored to have the opportunity to try the acting thing. We’re musicians. … Acting is a new thing for us.”
But don’t fret: the music isn’t going anywhere. J.O.N.A.S. is being billed as a fusion between situation comedy and music video, a concept that should ring a bell for fans of classic teen pop sensations The Beatles, The Monkees, and The Partridge Family. Executive producer Roger Shulman says the connection is apt, and intentional.
A Hard Day’s Night, the Beatles’ 1964 big-screen musical, was “very much a template” for the new show, Shulman told reporters at a preview, as was the Fab Four’s 1965 follow-up, Help!
“It’s hard not to make parallel comparisons to the Beatles in 1962 and 1963 when you see the kind of response that the Jonas Brothers’ fans have to them. It’s a force of nature,” said Schulman.
Nick, Joe, and Kevin are also acutely aware of the classic inspiration for their show.
“We were actually on vacation one year, and were out by a beach when a storm came in, so it was just raining for three days. So the only thing on the TV was reruns of The Monkees for literally three days straight,” Kevin told the press. “It was amazing. And definitely watched The Partridge Family. Definitely of course we’ve seen the Beatles’ movies, a huge inspiration. I think for us we’re really excited to incorporate our music as well into this process, and that adds a whole other element for us because that’s where our original passion is, in our heart. To combine those two things is really, really exciting.”
Want a first look at the J.O.N.A.S. series? Check out our J.O.N.A.S. photo gallery!
The youngest, unknown Jonas brother, Frankie, 8, (nicknamed the “bonus Jonas”) will also appear on the series as himself, adding to the family feel.
“Any time you have a group of talented musicians who got along together, were kind of a family, and had a sort of air of being insubordinate and a little subversive, you can’t ignore that,” Schulman said.
As for the step into acting, the Brothers are excited, but anxious how they’ll measure up.
“We’re just honored to have the opportunity to try the acting thing,” said Nick. “We’re musicians. … Acting is a new thing for us.”
Want more Jonas on your TV? Check out Jonas Brothers to Rock ‘90210’ and ‘Privileged’
The boys also have three other big appearances lined up: they’ll be taking to the theater next month when they release Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience, which will give fans an even more realistic look at what it’s like to be a Jonas.
“It gets some really personal things in there,” Nick said of the film, which hits theaters February 27. “There’s one scene in particular where it captures all the things that we went through in Times Square in New York City on our album-release night, which was one of the craziest scenes. I think it’s the only footage in the world of it.”
The guys also announced that they will be giving America some Valentine’s Day love when they’ll pair up with host Alec Baldwin as the musical guests on Saturday Night Live, which airs on February 14.
The Jonas Brothers will also perform at the Grammy Awards this Sunday, February 8, where they will go up for the Best New Artist Award.
-Meghan Carlson, BuddyTV Staff Writer
Source: MTV News, Reuters
Image courtesy of Disney’
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Meghan hails from Walla Walla, WA, the proud home of the world’s best sweet onions and Adam West, the original Batman. An avid grammarian and over-analyzer, you can usually find her thinking too hard about plot devices in favorites like The Office, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and How I Met Your Mother. In her spare time, Meghan enjoys drawing, shopping, trying to be funny (and often failing), and not understanding the whole Twilight thing. She’s got a BA in English and Studio Art from Whitman College, which makes her a professional arguer, daydreamer, and doodler.
