The First Season

Zoey 101 is a television sitcom geared towards a young audience. It airs on Nickelodeon channel and made its first debut in January 2005. The show's first season is made up of thirteen episodes. The storylines are about a girl named Zoey and what life is like at a boarding school that recently opened its doors to female students. The sitcom plays out like many others in its caliber. The storylines are over-the-top--typically dealing with the various issues teenagers face in life and end with some kind of moral lesson. On that note, I did not find anything exceptional about the show. It was fun for a couple episodes, but I quickly lost interest. However, I can see how someone in their pre-teen or early teenage years might enjoy it.

The first season begins with the main character Zoey Brooks, who is played musical pop star Britney Spears' younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, about to start her first day of boarding school. Zoey and her genius younger brother Dustin arrive at Pacific Coast Academy (PCA), a state-of-the-art boarding school that overlooks the fine beaches of California. In the past, PCA has not permitted girls into their ranks. This year is the first time that girls have ever been allowed to attend. In the show's first episode, the male-female tension is the primary issue, but later episodes focus on the daily lives of Zoey and her friends and the (somewhat) common issues kids of their age face.

The series attempts to be comical by having several eccentric and over-the-top characters. For instance, one of Zoey's roommates Nicole has a quirky personality. She is constantly worried about her looks and she is portrayed as a silly character. Her personality clashes with their other roommate Dana and their relationship is supposed to make for a few laughs. Then there is the geeky nerd Quinn. She is anti-social and spends most of her time with her crazy inventions. This character's weirdness is supposed to be a fun, humorous aspect.

On the flipside, the show keeps a somewhat serious tone with its storylines. Generally, Zoey has to work out one issue or another. For instance in one episode, she tries to defend her little brother Dustin from a big bully who is making him to his homework. It is a tough issue that ends on a happy note. There are also romantic subtexts with Zoey and her good friend Chase. Chase has the hots for her and he is too scared to act on it. But on more than one occasion, he tries to manipulate a situation to bring them closer.

Overall, Zoey 101 proves to be a decent show. The general premise is not much different than most children-oriented sitcoms, which its biggest drawback. The show fails to offer anything really special. However, despite my lack of enthusiasm for the show, I can see how it would be well received by a young audience. It is clearly geared towards pre-teens and young teenagers, and those within that audience should appreciate the one-dimensional characters and limited storylines.

Episode Guide

1. Welcome to P.C.A.: Zoey Brooks arrives a P.C.A. and encounters her first challenge: a five-on-five b-ball game against the guys!
2. New Roomies: What do you get when you combine a tough girl from the city with an overly-excited cheery cheerleader? Roommates who are totally at odds!
3. Defending Dustin: Dustin likes having his big sister, Zoey, at P.C.A. But when she starts intervening in his life too much, he'll need to show her he can fend for himself!
4. The Play: Chase writes an original script for this year's school play. He immediately casts Zoey as the female lead but is forced to cast an unlikely male opposite her--Logan!
5. Webcam: Someone's spying on the girls' lounge! Watch out, the P.C.A. girls are banding together to bring the culprit down!
6. Jet-X: It's boys versus girls in a competition to create the best commercial for a new scooter. Will the boys luck out with Logan's riches? Or will Zoey's idea claim the victory for the girls?
7. Spring Fling: Zoey, Dana, and Nicole join the Spring Fling planning committee in hopes of revamping the traditionally lame event.
8. Prank Week: It's Prank Week at P.C.A.! But when a prank goes wrong, Zoey takes the sole blame and risks getting expelled from P.C.A.!
9. Quinn's Date: Zoey plays matchmaker and sets up a date between Quinn and her oblivious crush, Mark Del Figgalo. Everything is perfect until an unexpected guest arrives... Mark's girlfriend!
10. Backpack: Zoey comes up with an awesome backpack idea, only to have it stolen by Stacy, an upperclassman. Now Zoey must find a way to claim what is rightfully hers!
11. School Dance: Chase figures out a way to ensure that he gets matched up with Zoey for this year's school dance. But of course, his plan totally backfires!
12. Disc Golf: To get out of gym class, the group organizes a sports team. But to be recognized, they'll have to win one official event against a team they totally did NOT expect!
13. Little Beach Party: Everyone's ready for the end-of-semester party. But one of Quinn's inventions causes the group to miss the party and they end up stranded on a beach!

The DVD

Video:
This release is given in a widescreen letterbox color format*. The picture quality is very good, providing a clear and clean picture with minor color distortions and compression artifacts. Both dark and bright colors are generally represented well.

*Please note that the DVD box cover incorrectly states the video format is full frame color.

Audio:
The audio track in this release is given in English Dolby digital stereo sound. The audio sounds pretty clean and is very flat. It is as basic as TV on DVD releases get. This release also supports closed captioning.

Extras:
For extras there are three different items included. The first is "Before They Were Cast Mates" (6:01). It is casting tape footage with Jamie Lynn Spears, Sean Flynn, Christopher Massey, Erin Sanders, and Paul Butcher. "Season One Bloopers" (5:01) is behind the scenes footage of the cast messing up during filming. The last item is a bonus episode. The season three episode "Quarantine" is included.

Final Thoughts:
Zoey 101 is a children-oriented sitcom that is about the life of one Zoey Brooks as she embarks on that crazy thing called life at a boarding school that recently opened its doors to female students. The series feels much like other shows of this caliber and fails to bring anything real new or special to the table. For most, Zoey 101 will have little appeal. It is best reserved for those in their pre-teen and early teenage years.