‘School of Rock’ TV Series Coming To Nickelodeon

Jack Black’s 2003 comedy School of Rock is coming to Nickelodeon as a TV series, Huffington Post is reporting.

Production is scheduled to begin this fall, according to E! Online, and will premiere Spring 2015. As of this post, Jack Black is not attached to the project, although he may appear in a guest role at some point. There is also no word on whether or not any of the original School of Rock cast members, including Nickelodeon’s own Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly), will be in the show. The movie’s director, Richard Linklater, and executive producer, Scott Rudin, will be back to executive-produce the TV series.

School of Rock, the 2003 film, stars Jack Black as Dewey Finn, a comically-ridiculous and down-on-his-luck rock star who lies his way into a teaching job at a snooty prep school. At first, he ignores the school’s over-achieving kids, but eventually befriends them and teaches them the ways of Rock & Roll. The TV series is expected to follow the same format, according to Huffington Post. As Paramount TV president Amy Powell states:

“With Dewey’s outrageous personality and rock star sensibilities taking center stage, ‘School of Rock’ will be an irresistibly fun show for the whole family.”

The film was a box-office success in the fall of 2003, opening at #1 and eventually earning back four times its original budget, according to Box Office Mojo. It was also a critical success, scoring 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. A decade later, the film is considered something of a classic, and is known for its awesome quotes (mostly coming from Dewey), including this prayer (quoted in Smays):

“God of Rock, thank you for this chance to kick ass.
We are your humble servants. Please give us the power to blow people’s minds with our high-voltage rock.
In your name we pray.
Amen.”

The film also garnered a PG-13 rating for some decidedly not-kid-friendly elements; in particular, Dewey appointing some of the girls as “groupies.” Hopefully Nickelodeon will re-consider the idea of preadolescent girls imitating rock groupies.

The idea of movies being re-booted as TV shows is common in the industry, according to the Huffington Post. Some are classics, like M*A*S*H; some are currently popular, like NBC’s Parenthood; most, however, are long forgotten like Working Girl or A League of Their Own.

Do you think Nickelodeon will give School of Rock the respect it deserves and keep it kid-friendly? Let us know what you think in the Comments.

Image courtesy of: Abstract Fonts