It's not the worst show on Nickelodeon. That dubious honor goes to "Zoey 101" and "Naked Brothers Band". But this sitcom is still lacking quality in almost every aspect. The two stars (Parker and Nichols) are both graduates of the obnoxious sketch series "The Amanda Show" where they were lead to believe that in order to be funny all you have to do is over-act rather than master real comedic timing (something both boys are seriously lacking). The two leads are constantly out-shined by their supporting cast including Miranda Cosgrove, as their little sister, and Jerry Trainor, as a recurring character who works with Josh. Not surprisingly, both Miranda and Jerry would later star together in "iCarly" which is only slightly better than this show. In terms of writing, this show is completely unoriginal. A common trait amongst all of Dan Schneider's Nickelodeon shows. This man is a true hack. Literally all of his shows are nothing more than stolen "I Love Lucy" scripts reworked for kids. I'm not even trying to be mean. All of these shows regularly feature thinly disguised "Lucy" plots only without the expert staging and set-ups. And very rarely do the writers ever add their own unique spin. It's all dreadfully predictable. Sure, a lot of sitcoms recycle old stories but at least most of them can be forgiven thanks to witty dialogue and good casting. "Drake & Josh" is instead hampered down by crummy dialogue that thinks it's funnier than it actually is. Combine that with smug actors who think they're funnier than they actually are and you've got a bad show. Just to give you an idea of how bad the writing is on this show, I'll describe one episode I watched recently while babysitting (which is the only reason I'm even familiar with this series). The boys get in trouble because Josh is addicted to video games while Drake is addicted to junk food. In one scene Josh nags Drake for being so unhealthy. For those not familiar with the show, Josh is the morbidly obese one (at least when this episode was made) and Drake is the skinny, lanky one. So, yeah, they actually wrote an episode where the big fat kid scolds the skinny guy for eating too much junk. Seriously, they did that. Eventually the boys make a bet on which one of them can go longer without giving into their addiction. Sound familiar? Remember when Lucy bet Ricky that she can go longer without buying a new hat than he can without losing his temper? Same...exact...plot. So if you've never watched television before in your life, you might be amused by this pale imitation of a sitcom. Which is why it's so popular with children. They've haven't seen anything better yet. Others will most likely find the show aggravating.
Review of Drake & Josh
