Hollywood Arts Review: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Hollywood Arts is a light, silly sitcom that copies the old Nickelodeon playbook very closely. It will not win over many grown-up viewers, but Daniella Monet and a talented young cast make it a sweet, easy watch for kids.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Platform: Netflix
Genre: Teen Comedy, Musical
Episodes: 12
Creators: Jake Farrow, Samantha Martin
Cast: Daniella Monet, Alyssa Miles, Emmy Liu-Wang
Thirteen years after Victorious took its final bow, Netflix is taking us back to the Los Angeles performing arts school with a new spinoff called Hollywood Arts. The idea is simple. If you can’t do, teach. And the one doing the teaching is Trina Vega, the loud, vain big sister from the original show.
Daniella Monet returns as Trina, who is now a struggling actress living in the shadow of her famous sister Tori. She has no acting jobs, and she is tired of taking handouts. So she goes back to Hollywood Arts as a substitute teacher, even though she is not qualified at all.
The series begins when the old teacher, Mr. Sikowitz, suddenly retires, and Principal Helen, played by Yvette Nicole Brown, introduces Trina to her new class in impractical high heels, holding a giant cup.
Her students are a lively bunch. Qwest, played by Peyton Jackson, is a musician who has lied to his parents about being at the school on a basketball scholarship. Oscar, played by Martin Kamm, is the school’s biggest star, and his sister Emmy, played by Alyssa Miles, works behind the scenes as the stage manager and runs the school’s social media.
Rounding out the group are two rivals, Jen, played by Erika Swayze, and Pepper, played by Emmy Liu-Wang. The kids are excited to hear about Tori, but they soon learn that Trina knows very little about the entertainment world.
Critics are split on this one. Variety called it a bland copy of shows from a past era, and honestly, that is a fair point. The jokes are hokey, the acting is over the top, and the dialogue can sound garbled. It is almost a carbon copy of Victorious, full of the usual crushes, silly plans, and school hijinks you would expect from a show aimed at kids. Adults looking for something new will not find much here.
But another review had a warmer take, and it makes a good point too. This version has more heart than the original, which cared more about jokes than feelings. Here, comedy and drama share the stage, and the show works to make Trina and her students feel like real people. That shift is what makes the series work.
Trina is the best example. She was the show’s worst character, and now she gets a real redemption story. She is still vain and still funny, but she is also more caring, and over the season she becomes less interested in chasing the spotlight and more interested in helping her students find theirs.
Monet gets to show a side of Trina we never saw before, balancing a hot mess with a wise mentor. It also helps that Trina is a thirtysomething who has not figured out her life but keeps trying. That is a rare and refreshing idea in kids’ TV.
The young cast is strong. Alyssa Miles brings quiet confidence as Emmy, the heart of the group, while Emmy Liu-Wang has a huge singing voice that steals scenes. Erika Swayze plays Jen as a sharp-tongued mean girl who is really hiding her fears. The group works well together, and the kids feel more like real teenagers than the original cast did, though the old Victorious cast still wins when it comes to music.
Hollywood Arts is not new or daring. It is a silly, colorful, idealized version of high school for a new group of kids who are too young for teen dramas. As a gentle, easy show for families, it does its job.
If you want something much more grown-up after this, our review of The Diplomat Season 4 covers a sharp political drama, and our review of The Storm looks at a wild Swedish dinner party comedy. If you are wondering about the premiere details, our Hollywood Arts release guide has them all.
Hollywood Arts is now streaming on Netflix.