Celebrating weirdness: The heart of “Bizaardvark”

Earlier in the month, I shared about my set visit to Disney’s “Bizaardvark”. Today, I want to share a little more about the heart of the show, which the creators of the show Josh Lehrman and Kyle Stegina shared with our group.

As a recap, the show centers around two tween girls, Paige and Frankie, who are Vuuugle (like YouTube) stars, the creative music videos they create and a few other friends who also create online content. Their online channel is called Bizaardvark.

I thought it was awesome to hear Josh say that they were really dedicated to creating a different kind of show for Disney.

“When we were creating this show is we were trying to create a different type of girl for the Disney Channel. Throughout the episodes of the show, [you’ll see that] these are two girls who are very creative. Their focus is not on boys. When we showed this pilot to kids they really responded to the idea of these kids embracing their weirdness.”

The cast elaborated on this during our brief interview with them before their rehearsal. Madison Hu (“Frankie”) said, “I think the show shows kinds they can follow their dreams.”  Olivia Rodrigo (“Paige”) interjected, “you don’t need to do a tv show or go on Broadway to be able to express yourself.”

DeVore Ledridge (“Amelia”) added, “Especially your characters because in the first episode you didn’t fit in in. Even though you might not feel like you fit in in certain areas, there’s always something for you you just have to work hard to find your place.”

 

Here is a video I took while we were interviewing the cast.

Each of the “Bizaardvark” characters has their own set of unique gifts and creative outlets. I love how the show celebrates the kids’ different personalities! The videos the girls make, like the one below, are a lot fun, too.

“Bizaardvark” moves to its regular timeslot this Sunday, July 10 with the telecast of its second episode “Draw My Life,”  at 8:30 p.m. EDT on Disney Channel. In this new episode, Amelia gives Frankie and Paige tips to produce their next video, which has to tell the story of how the two met and created their channel. Meanwhile, Bernie tries to help Dirk overcome his worse fear.

Disclosure: I was invited by Disney on an all-expense paid trip to LA for a press trip. All thoughts are my own. Photos by Ruth of Viva Veltoro.