After my last post about Bizaardvark, you might have more questions about the show. Many people are wondering when it plays, what I thought of the show, who’s in the cast and of course, what Bizaardvark even means! Lucky for my readers, I had the opportunity to go behind the scenes with the cast and creators of Bizaardvark, so I have all your answers! But I won’t tell you what Bizaardvark means. You’ll have to watch to figure that one out!
Bizaardvark is a live-action comedy follows Paige and Frankie, quirky best friends who write funny songs and create music comedy videos for their online channel. Now with 10,000 subscribers, the girls are invited to produce videos at the influential Vuuugle Studios (think of Vuuugle as an alternative to YouTube.) In this cool environment — and with the help of their friend and aspiring agent Bernie and fellow Vuuugle stars Dirk (of “Dare Me Bro!”) and Amelia (of “Perfect Perfection with Amelia”) — the duo embark on comedic adventures in their quest to take the video blogging world by storm.
In the show, you will also see Olivia Rodrigo (American Girl’s “Grace Stirs Up Success”) as Paige Olvera, Madison Hu (“Best Friends Whenever”) as Frankie Wong, Jake Paul (YouTube Red’s “Dance Camp”) as the lovable and wild Dirk Mann, DeVore Ledridge as Southern DIY diva Amelia Duckworth, and Ethan Wacker (“Miles from Tomorrowland,” “K.C. Undercover”) as the overly-confident Bernard “Bernie” Schotz.
Bizaardvark creators Kyle Stegina and Josh Lehrman said they were creating a different type of character when creating the show. The duo was focused on the less popular kids: The ones who are different and the ones who stand out from the rest of the crowd. …and this caught my attention. Leherman said, “One of our goals, when we were creating this show, was to create a different type of girl for the Disney Channel. These are two girls who are very creative. Their focus is not on boys. When we showed this pilot to kids they really responded to the idea of these kids embracing their weirdness. And lots of kids were like, I’m weird too.”
The talented cast of Bizaardvark is enjoying their work, and you could feel their excitement about the series. Each of the cast members told us how they could relate to their character, and they shared the fact that they had no idea what it took to produce a video channel. Jake Paul gave us a few tips, then advised those who want to find online success should first find their niche and be consistent in it. He also gave tips on posting regularly and not giving up. It was great advise and even inspired Ethan Wacker, who plays “Bernie” on the show, to start his own video channel with some friends.
The cast told us how fun it was working together, and elaborated on the fact that children will be able to relate to the series because it’s current to today’s society and aspect of social media. I like that it teaches our youth that it’s okay not to be perfect.
You can read more about my behind the scenes tour of Bizaardvark and make sure you tune into the Disney Channel to see what it’s all about! After the show’s premier in June, Bizaardvark is now moving to a new time slot – Sundays at 8:30 PM EDT. “Draw My Life,” the second episode will air on July 10.
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