Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas, courtesy Disney Channel

CAMP ROCK 2: THE FINAL JAM

Friendly Rating: Your boys may scoff, but all ages can enjoy.

Safety Rating: It’s Disney Channel safe

Quality Rating: It feels like two movies.  First half slow and only okay.  Second half is pretty darned good.

Movie premieres tonight at 8 p.m., with the Rock Along version, a karaoke sing along, airing Saturday (9/4), then the Sunday Dance Jam version (9/5), with a look at the choreography (and hopefully an explanation of that cheerleading stuff), winding up with your basic encore presentation Monday night (9/6).  And probably as many repeats as they can wring out of it.

If you’ve got a tween girl in the house, chances are you already know this is the weekend Disney Channel is rolling out its sequel to the 2008 film starring Demi Lovato (Sonny With a Chance) and the Jonas Brothers, Joe, Kevin and Nick.

Lovato plays Mitchie, a talented musician who’s thrilled to be coming back to Camp Rock for the summer, and almost as eager to connect to star rocker Shane (Joe Jonas – the serious, straight-haired one) as she is to spend her summer making music.  Shane, and his Connect 3 band mates Jason (Kevin Jonas – the curly-haired one) and Nate (Nick Jonas – the one with the baby face and the straight hair), are coming to camp to help and just hang out.  Okay, Shane also wants to pick up with Mitchie where the two left off the summer before.  (Yes, we know it’s been two years since the film aired – artistic license, right?)

But all is not well.  A rival camp has set up across the lake, Camp Star, that has and is everything Camp Rock is not.  Hmm.  The owner of Camp Star Alex (Daniel Kash) has a grudge against Camp Rock owner Brown (Daniel Fathers) and is now out to put Brown out of business.  And he’s not just going to show Brown up – he’s going to poach all of Camp Rock’s counselors and as many of the campers as he can get with the promise of making his campers stars.

Naturally, Mitchie, Shane and the others decide to carry on, nonethelss, and challenge Camp Star to a Final Jam, which ends up getting televised, etc., etc.  Mitchie goes on a tear and ends up having issues with Shane, Jason ends up playing counselor to the junior rockers, and Nate falls in love with Dana (Chloe Bridges), evil Alex’s really nice daughter.

The first half of the film is almost trite and the music not that good.  But things do pick up to the point that you almost wonder whether two different people wrote each half.  Because the second half is quite good and the music is a lot better, including a really, really catchy tune that Nick Jonas sings called “Introducing Me.”  Okay, it’s a total ear worm that is still buzzing around my head and I saw the movie a couple months ago at a preview screening.

And, yeah, you’ve probably already heard many of the tunes – Disney appears to have been releasing them over the summer.  At least, I’m pretty sure I heard one while shopping last month.

The biggest problem for families will be the boys turning up their noses at their sisters.  And, yeah, the film will probably appeal more to middle school girls than it will to the boys.  That being said, this could be an exercise in learning to respect the tastes of others.    Or it could be one of those times you choose to do Girls’ Night Together, with Mom and daughters bonding.  Or Dad and daughters bonding, while the other parent spends time with the boys.  But scoffing must not be allowed.  Even if the movie, itself, brings on that intense temptation.    At least, in the first half of the flick.

Courtesy Discovery Networks

Roughly around 1 p.m. yesterday afternoon, Pacific Time, I got a call from my husband that a gunman had taken over the Discovery Communications HQ in Silver Spring, Maryland.  I was working on a project outside my office and couldn’t get to my internet connection for a few hours.  But,

Continue reading When the News is Scary, Thursday, Sept. 2

Pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii, courtesy PBS

A SURPRISE IN TEXAS: THE THIRTEENTH VAN CLIBURN INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION

Friendly Rating: Music-oriented middle schoolers and older.

Saftey Rating: Some references to drinking to reduce tension, but no drunkeness.

Quality Rating: Starts really slow.  Gets better in the end.

Airs tonight on PBS, check your local listings

Continue reading A Surprise in Texas: the Van Cliburn Piano Competition, Wednesday, Sept. 1

Driver Mackena Bell, Courtesy BET

CHANGING LANES

Friendly Rating: Early elementary and up.

Safety Rating: Some car crashes, but so far no bleeped language.

Quality Rating: Great, if you’re a racing addict.  Good, otherwise.

Documentary/competition series premieres on BET tonight at 8 p.m.

It would appear that even NASCAR, the stock car racing

Continue reading Changing Lanes Changing Faces, Wednesday, Sept. 1

For reasons we won’t get into here, all I can do today is feature this programming note on Wo Ai Ni, Mommy,  a film being aired by PBS POV series tonight, check your local listings for times.

Wo Ai Ni is Chinese for I love you, and the film is about cross-cultural adoption, focusing

Continue reading Wo Ai Ni Mommy, Tuesday, Aug. 31

Jimmy Fallon, courtesy NBC

As an awards show, I’ll say that last night’s broadcast of the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards was okay.  It has some fun moments, but by and large, it wasn’t the most interesting presentation we’ve seen.

On the plus side, the Glee-style opening number was good, even if Joel McHale

Continue reading Emmys Wrap Up – Well, It’s Usually Family-Friendly, Monday, Aug. 30

Les Stroud and Partners, courtesy of Discovery Networks

(Note – I’m posting this even though it’s late for those of you who will find it after the premiere has aired tonight because the show is that good.  Also, it’s cable, so it should repeat sometime this week)

BEYOND SURVIVAL

Friendly Rating: Middle school

Continue reading Beyond Survival. At Last. Friday, Aug. 27

FRONTLINE: LAW AND DISORDER

Friendly Rating: Teens and older.

Safety Rating: Some repeated pictures of shooting victims, including one corpse.

Quality Rating: Overall, pretty good.

Airing on PBS tonight, check your local listings for times.

Consider this an exercise in news literacy.  The doc is about the investigation into the shootings of several citizens

Continue reading Frontline: Law and Disorder, Wednesday, Aug. 25

I’m sure there’s something on amongst your regular line-up of shows.  Or maybe not.

So why not take a family walk together?  Take a soccer ball to the park and kick it around a while.  Make up a new game.

Or find a pool and play water games.  Swimming at night in the summer

Continue reading Slow Night Tonight, Tuesday, Aug. 24

Kari Byron, courtesy Discover Networks

HEAD RUSH

This is a programming note, but I am so going to be recording this one on my DVR.

Head Rush, premiering today at 4 p.m. on Science Channel, is basically re-purposed and re-edited episodes of Discovery Channel’s fave series Mythbusters, with Mythbuster Kari Byron doing experiments

Continue reading Head Rush Makes Science Fun, Monday, Aug.