The Fresh Beat Band (formerly called The JumpArounds) is a musical children's TV series created by Scott Kraft and Nadine van der Velde that aired on Nick Jr. from August 24, 2009 to December 7, 2013note . It focuses on the namesake band, consisting of four best friends named Kiki (guitar, violin, vocals), Shout (keyboards, vocals), Marina (drums, vocals) and Twist (turntables, beatbox, vocals) who go to music school together, love to sing and dance, and are determined to follow their dreams.
Episodes of the show generally follow the same structure. The band performs a song that foreshadows a problem they will have to solve that episode, work together to solve the problem once it arises, succeed in solving it, perform a song with the problem and solution incorporated into the lyrics, and finish the episode with a version of their closing song "Great Day".
An Animated Adaptation, Fresh Beat Band of Spies, aired from June 15, 2015 to February 24, 2016. All four band members lent their voices to their respective characters in the new series.
The series has examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Marina is a redhead/brunette in the live action series, but a blonde in the Animated Adaptation.
- Aerith and Bob: Marina and Kiki.....and Twist and Shout. They had fun with this when they covered
"Twist and Shout" by The Beatles. - Bad Vibrations: The Fresh Beats cause this when wearing the dinosaur suits in "Veloci-Rap Star". It's a direct parody of the iconic "shaking glass" from Jurassic Park.
- Bowdlerization: When they covered "Jai Ho" by The Pussycat Dolls, they removed some of the lyrics and also added new ones to make it kid-friendly.
- Character Catchphrase:
- There's this Once an Episode exchange between Twist and Marina.
- "Wouldn't it be cool if..." (Twist)
- "That would be cool, but..." (Marina)
- "Well that's fine, if you want to do it the easy way." (Twist)
- "Hip hop and pop!" (Marina)
- "Kickin'!" (Kiki)
- "Cool beans!" (Shout)
- There's this Once an Episode exchange between Twist and Marina.
- Clothing Switch: This happens at the beginning of "Mixed Up Musical" when the Fresh Beats wake up to find that they're wearing a different member's outfit.
- Color-Coded Characters: Each of the characters has their trademark color. This extends to the bedrooms and cell phones of the band members.:
- Blue for Marina
- Pink for Kiki
- Orange for Shout
- Yellow for Twist
- Couch Gag: Something funny related to the preceding episode is inserted into the dance break for "Great Day", which may be extended in order to accommodate it.
- Crossover: In August of 2012, The Gabba gang came over for a visit.
- Crowd Chant: "Fresh Beat Band! Fresh Beat Band! Fresh Beat Band!"
- Dance Sensation: "Loco Legs".
- Every Episode Ending: The song "Great Day" is used to cap off every show, usually alluded to with the line "What a great day!"
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Two guys (Twist and Shout) and two girls (Kiki and Marina) compose the band.
- Gonna Need More X: "We're gonna need a bigger rag!"
- Meaningful Name:
- A reed is a very important musical accessory. It is used to help certain woodwind instruments create the vibration that is necessary for sound.
- The name "Melody" is meaningful, too. It's a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying.
- For Ms. Piccolo, it comes from the instrument, a small flute sounding an octave higher than the ordinary one.
- Harper, the owner of the Singin' Pizza Cafe, gets his name from a harp.
- Rearrange the Song: "Great Day" is rearranged for one episode, so that the band can sing it around a campfire.
- Recurring Character: A few - notably Reed, Melody, Harper, and Ms. Piccolo.
- Recycled In Space: The cartoon spin-off, right in the name: "Fresh Beat Band OF SPIES!"
- Running Gag: Twist getting his foot stuck in a bucket.
- Shout-Out:
- In one episode, Marina says "We can always use more cowbell!"
- At one point in "Veloci-Rap Star", Bad Vibrations are used in almost the exact same way as the famous "shaking glass" from Jurassic Park. (It even uses a shaking glass, although held in someone's hand.)
- Theme Tune Roll Call: On Guitar... KIKI! On keyboard... SHOUT! On drums... MARINA! And the real MC... T-TW-TW-TW-TW-Twist in the house!
- The Power of Friendship: "Friends Give Friends a Hand".
- Token Minority: Shout is the only black member of the band.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Marina and Kiki, respectively.
- We had a great day
It was a super way
To spend some time together
We had a great day
The very best day
With friends it's always better
