High School Musical: Get in the Picture on ABC

By Ally Matteodo

ABC’s delightful new game show, High School Musical: Get in the Picture, aired on July 20^th at 8:00 p.m. ET and has definitely earned the title Best of the Week. The movie High School Musical gained huge success when it first aired on Disney, and went on to sell record-breaking numbers of videos and related merchandise.  Now, ABC has developed a reality competition spin-off of the musical, in which six faculty members travel the country in search of talented individuals.  From these auditions the judges will choose 12 finalists who will attend a special musical high school in Utah where they will hone their talents in preparation for the final competition.  In the end, the winner will be chosen to perform as the lead in a music video that will appear in High School Musical 3. 

The entire High School Musical franchise is a delight.  The High School Musical original cast all represent ambitious, enthusiastic individuals who are filled with a vim and vigor for life.  In this program the franchise is continued, but this time those who attend the auditions aren’t actors, but are real people.  Everyone auditioning remains positive.  The people who are turned down smile through their tears and remain optimistic.  The judges are never cruel to those who sing for them, either.  Instead, they offer up genuinely helpful criticism and encouragement.  Those who are not selected aren’t told that they don’t have a future in entertainment, or that they simply don’t have what it takes.  Instead, they’re told that they need to work on developing their singing a bit more before they’re ready for this kind of competition.  So instead of leaving heartbroken, the majority of contestants can leave with newfound resolve.  The musical is a fun-filled genre that should not be allowed to wither away.  Some of the greatest movies ever made have been musicals, including such classics as Singin’ in the Rain, My Fair Lady, and The Sound of Music.  This competition bolsters up the musical genre.  There is something exhilarating about people bursting into song, dancing in the streets, and freely expressing themselves through music and dance.  The excitement of those who made it to the semi-finals infects everyone around them. One is compelled to smile and share in their success.  One of the judges told a very worried contestant to transform nervousness into adrenaline.  This is a valuable piece of advice from which all can benefit: when we feel fear rising up and self-doubt creeping in, that is the time when we must work to transmute such feelings into the kind of energy that will allow us to shine as individuals.  When the fear subsides, you are left with a performance that is genuine and strong, and no one can ever take that away from you.          

Best TV Show of the Week

The Parents Television Council - www.parentstv.org