High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 1 explained

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Num Episodes:10
Network:Disney+

The first season of , an American mockumentary musical drama streaming television created by Tim Federle, premiered on Disney Channel, ABC, and Freeform as a preview simulcast on November 8, 2019, ahead of its premiere on Disney+ on November 12. The season consisted of 10 episodes, which released weekly until January 10, 2020. The series itself is inspired by the High School Musical film series.

In this season, the East High drama club is formed and auditions begin for the school's production of High School Musical. As the students begin to build relationships with each other, they must learn to work together to succeed.

In October 2019, before the season premiered, Disney+ renewed the series for a second season.[1]

Episodes

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Guest

Production

Development

Federle pitched the documentary-style series in January 2018, joining the production in May, and would go on to draft the pilot together with Disney Channel, who contributed to the production of the series.[2] On September 6, Disney officially gave the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes.[3] Oliver Goldstick was expected to serve as showrunner and an additional executive producer while Julie Ashton would oversee the casting process. Alongside this announcement, it was also revealed that the show would be of the mockumentary genre and a list of character names and descriptions was released.[4] By May 2019, Goldstick had departed the series over "creative differences", having served as showrunner for the first four episodes.[5]

When talking about the inspiration for the series, Federle noted, "I was always thinking about the original fans, whose childhood I promise I’m not trying to ruin...it’s a fresh start and brand-new cast, and I want to tell stories that went totally outside the High School Musical universe and engage people in a new way." Federle noted his love for mockumentary series like The Office and Waiting for Guffman and spoke of the inspiration for his series, "It was right at the height of American Vandal, which I thought was incredible and brilliantly done. And I wanted to differentiate us from the original [movies] right away. I knew that camera-style-wise, if I could borrow some of the elements from The Office, with characters talking to the camera and whip pans and zooms, it would immediately announce it as not a copycat of the original, but a new way in. And the docu-style would allow me to revisit the original music but not feel like we’re doing direct karaoke covers."[6]

Casting

On October 17, 2018, it was announced that Joshua Bassett had been cast in a leading role.[7] The rest of the cast was announced on February 15, 2019, including Sofia Wylie, Kate Reinders, and Olivia Rodrigo.[8] [9] Federle confirmed in November 2019 that an unnamed cast member from the original film would make a cameo appearance through a fantasy sequence.[10] After being listed as a featured artist on the soundtrack, Lucas Grabeel, who played Ryan Evans, was confirmed to be making an appearance on the series.[11] [12]

Music

See main article: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Soundtrack. The soundtrack for the first season consists of original songs written for the series and new versions of songs from the film High School Musical. Olivia Rodrigo wrote a song for the season, "All I Want," and co-wrote a song with fellow cast member Joshua Bassett and producer Dan Book.[13] [14] The soundtrack was released to all music streaming services and physical media on January 10, 2020.[15] [16]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 75% approval rating for the first season with an average rating of 7.38/10 based on 32 ratings. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though fans may find what they've been looking for in its nostalgic stylings, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series follows a little too closely in its predecessors steps to truly be the start of something new."[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[18]

Accolades

AwardYearCategoryNominee(s)Result
Artios Awards2021Outstanding Achievement in Casting: Children's Pilot and Series (Live Action)data-sort-value="Ashton, Julie"Julie Ashton[19]
Directors Guild of America Award2021Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programsdata-sort-value="Akhtar, Kabir (for "Opening Night")"Kabir Akhtar (for "Opening Night")[20]
GLAAD Media Award2020Outstanding Kids & Family Programmingdata-sort-value="High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" High School Musical: The Musical: The Series[21]
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (United States)2020Favorite Male TV Stardata-sort-value="Bassett, Joshua"Joshua Bassett[22]
2021Favorite Female TV Stardata-sort-value="Wylie, Sofia"Sofia Wylie[23]
Favorite Kids TV Showdata-sort-value="High School Musical: The Musical: The Series"High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
Favorite Male TV Stardata-sort-value="Bassett, Joshua"Joshua Bassett

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ng. Philiana. 'High School Musical' TV Series Gets Season 2 Renewal by Disney+. October 18, 2019. November 2, 2022. etonline.com. en.
  2. Web site: Clement. Olivia. Tim Federle Signs on to Executive Produce Disney's High School Musical Series. May 31, 2018. November 3, 2022. playbill.com. en.
  3. Web site: Petski . Denise . September 6, 2018 . High School Musical TV Series Reveals Plot, Character Details . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190826195713/https://deadline.com/2018/09/high-school-musical-series-disney-streaming-service-begins-casting-1202457929/ . August 26, 2019 . November 8, 2018 . Deadline Hollywood.
  4. Web site: Goldberg . Lesley . September 6, 2018 . High School Musical TV Series Details Revealed . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201109005321/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/high-school-musical-tv-series-details-revealed-1140262 . November 9, 2020 . November 9, 2018 . The Hollywood Reporter.
  5. Web site: Andreeva . Nellie . May 7, 2019 . Disney+ Series Sulphur Springs Becomes Disney Channel Pilot; High School Musical Showrunner Exits . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210225110158/https://deadline.com/2019/05/disney-sulphur-springs-disney-plus-series-disney-channel-pilot-high-school-musical-the-musical-the-series-showrunner-exits-1202607440/ . February 25, 2021 . May 9, 2019 . Deadline Hollywood.
  6. Web site: Bucksbaum. Sydney. Disney+'s High School Musical series showrunner on honoring the franchise with a fresh take. November 8, 2019. November 3, 2022. ew.com. en.
  7. Web site: Petski . Denise . October 17, 2018 . High School Musical: Joshua Bassett To Star In Disney Streaming Series Reboot . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210204124449/https://deadline.com/2018/10/high-school-musical-the-musical-joshua-bassett-star-ricky-disney-series-1202484645/ . February 4, 2021 . November 9, 2018 . Deadline Hollywood.
  8. Web site: Petski . Denise . February 15, 2019 . High School Musical: Disney+ Sets Cast, Starts Production On Streaming Series Reboot . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201108011310/https://deadline.com/2019/02/high-school-musical-disney-cast-starts-production-streaming-series-reboot-1202558398/ . November 8, 2020 . February 15, 2019 . Deadline Hollywood.
  9. Harnick . Chris . February 15, 2019 . Meet the Cast of Disney's High School Musical: The Musical: The Series . live . E! News . https://web.archive.org/web/20210109045205/https://www.eonline.com/news/1015582/meet-the-cast-of-disney-s-high-school-musical-the-musical-the-series . January 9, 2021 . February 15, 2019.
  10. Web site: Wang. Jessica. An OG 'High School Musical' Cast Member Will Show Up In The New Series. November 8, 2019. November 3, 2022. bustle.com. en.
  11. Web site: Sorren . Martha . November 13, 2019 . Who Is The HSM Alum Cameo On High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Going To Be? . November 14, 2019 . Refinery . "The series' soundtrack contains a listing for Lucas Grabeel".
  12. Web site: Ng . Philiana . December 26, 2019 . High School Musical Alum Lucas Grabeel Returns for Disney Plus Series: First Look (Exclusive) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200212135947/https://www.etonline.com/high-school-musical-alum-lucas-grabeel-returns-for-disney-plus-series-first-look-exclusive-138405 . February 12, 2020 . December 29, 2019 . Entertainment Tonight.
  13. Web site: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Soundtrack, Out in January, to Feature HSM Classics and New Tunes . Gans . Andrew . November 7, 2019. Playbill. November 9, 2019.
  14. Web site: Olivia Rodrigo From High School Musical Wrote Her Own Songs For The Show . Sorren . Martha . November 13, 2019 . Bustle. Bustle Digital Group. November 14, 2019.
  15. Web site: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (Music from the Disney+ Original Series). January 10, 2020. November 3, 2022.
  16. Web site: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Amazon . January 10, 2020. November 3, 2022.
  17. high_school_musical_the_musical_the_series . tv . 1 . High School Musical: The Musical: The Series . April 13, 2021. January 5, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210105112511/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/high_school_musical_the_musical_the_series/s01. live.
  18. high-school-musical-the-musical-the-series . tv . High School Musical: The Musical: The Series . April 13, 2021. November 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115022339/https://www.metacritic.com/tv/high-school-musical-the-musical-the-series. live.
  19. Web site: Hipes . Patrick . January 8, 2021 . Casting Society's Artios Awards Sets TV And Theater Nominations; Netflix, HBO Top List . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210319212746/https://deadline.com/2021/01/artios-awards-tv-nominations-theater-short-films-nominees-list-1234667397/ . March 19, 2021 . April 17, 2021 . Deadline Hollywood.
  20. Web site: Hipes . Patrick . March 8, 2021 . DGA Awards TV Noms Include Ted Lasso, The Mandalorian, Bridgerton And Curb Your Enthusiasm Helmers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210312034725/https://deadline.com/2021/03/directors-guild-tv-nominations-2021-documentary-commercial-nominees-1234709240/ . March 12, 2021 . March 10, 2021 . Deadline Hollywood.
  21. Daw . Stephen . July 30, 2020 . Here Are All the Winners From the 2020 GLAAD Media Awards . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210409231637/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/9427494/2020-glaad-media-awards-winners/ . April 9, 2021 . August 1, 2020 . Billboard.
  22. Web site: Gennis . Sadie . May 3, 2020 . Kids Choice Awards 2020: Full Winners List . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210221133810/https://www.tvguide.com/news/kids-choice-awards-2020-full-winners-list/ . February 21, 2021 . October 25, 2022 . TV Guide.
  23. Huff . Lauren . February 2, 2021 . Justin Bieber, Stranger Things, and Ariana Grande top 2021 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards nominees . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210203205941/https://ew.com/awards/2021-nickelodeon-kids-choice-awards-nominees/ . February 3, 2021 . February 3, 2021 . Entertainment Weekly.

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