School will be very much in session this summer as part of Amazon’s kids pilot season (which, unfortunately, refers to television programming and not mini-Amelia Earharts). The online retail giant-turned-production studio has ordered a pilot for the musical sitcom A History Of Radness, written and executive produced by Hannah Montana’s Andrew Green and featuring music by The Thermals’ Hutch Harris and former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha. And because sometimes when God closes a cable window he opens a streaming door, Henry Rollins will guest star.
A History Of Radness will follow sibling kiddie rockers Jack and Tessie, who start a band with like-minded weirdos at their school when they fail to fit in. The show will look back at their middle-school beginnings from their seemingly vaulted position as subjects of a Behind the Music-like production. Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds and Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino will narrate, presumably as a grown-up Jack and Tessie.
Though not as provocatively named as Nickelodeon’s mock-rockumentary from the mid-aughts, The Naked Brothers Band, what A History of Radness does have going for it are original tunes for the made-up band courtesy of Harris and a score by Iha, who also wrote the music for the first season of Hulu’s Deadbeat series. Rollins will play Coach Carlucci, who will either inspire or hinder their dreams of stardom in between rope-climbing sessions in the gymnasium. The former Black Flag frontman has dabbled in kid-friendly programming, having done voiceover work for one of the bad guys on The Legend Of Korra.
A History of Radness is one of six kid-targeted pilots that Amazon Prime users will vote on this summer, including an animated show about some kind of magic recession in the Land of Oz and one about a bear who wears underwear.