Andi Mack: My Review

“We’re doin’ the bone dance
Ya study the answers,
Again, and again ’til I get it right”
Hannah Montana

Andi Mack: My Review

I remember perfectly when I began watching the Disney Channel. It was 2006 and I was living in Los Angeles. It was 110 degrees in July, brutal heat, and I was staying indoors. I had a pint of Ben and Jerrys and was depressed. To wallow in my depression, I flipped on the Disney Channel. The show was Hannah Montana and I perked up, the show was good!

The Disney Channel model seems to be finding a kid who is loaded with charisma. Then surround that kid with actors who are loaded with talent. The main kid doesn’t have to really act or be funny. With HM, I loved how the adults were lunatics; like the old Charlie Brown cartoons in a way.

The Wizards of Waverly place followed the same model. Selena Gomez is a pretty girl with a ton of charisma. She can’t act very well but doesn’t have to. This show did the same “I’ve got a secret” plot as HM, which is compelling and we like that.

The Suite Life was good and so was Good Luck Charlie. Jessie was unwatchable and when Dog with a Blog came out, I gave up on Disney! With one exception, Phineas and Ferb is an excellent show for all ages and should win every award that a show like that can win; the first season was brilliant!

In my opinion, there are a lot of cringe-worthy shows on the Disney Channel. Austin and Ally was painful and KC Undercover is boring, I do like some of the videos from the Bizaardvark show.

And then, along comes something entirely new: Andi Mack.

This show is directed at the very young Disney audience. What I like is that it is truly episodic; each entry builds on the last and the cast is moving forward in time. Very daring and it works. I really want to know what happens.

Each episode is followed up by a group of kids discussing the show. They give their take on the reveals and their hopes for how the plot might turn out for the cast. This is some very honest stuff and I appreciate that.

The characters are all three-dimensional; they have their talents and fears and weaknesses, families and problems and more. It is a very rich field to work in for the writers. And, even more, each character has a story-line that we want to turn out well. We care about the kids and the adults.

We are in season two and I’ve only had one episode that made me grumpy. When the teachers put different colored wrist bands on the kids to teach them a lesson; I thought it was heinous! I hated the teachers and their pompous lesson. In the same episode Andi is upset that she might lose the Andi Shack; I felt that she looked spoiled and thought that every kid is not so lucky has to have that amazing personal privilege.

Finally, thank Mickey, no one is trying to push a music career or sell songs and merchandize to the kids. Ever since Hannah Montana (which made boat-loads of money with the music), Disney has tried to recapture that and put every show in a situation where the actors have to sing. It is miserable and I’m embarrassed for the actors and for Disney. Thankfully, Andi Mack has none of that.

I recommend the show. It may make some wrong turns (like the wrist bands) but I think it is a solid show with a mapped out plotline to take us forward — a very rare thing in television entertainment.

Okay, here’s a Bizaardvark video: