''Fresh Beat Band of Spies'' is an animated children's television series originally airing on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

and the Nick Jr. Channel. It is a spin-off of Nickelodeon's live-action series ''

The Fresh Beat Band ''The Fresh Beat Band'' (originally known as ''The JumpArounds'') is an American live action musical children's television series created by Scott Kraft and Nadine van der Velde for Nickelodeon. The show stars the "Fresh Beats" (Kiki, Shout, M ...

''. The show was created by Nadine van der Velde and Scott Kraft, and it was produced by Jeannine Hodson. Production took place at

Nickelodeon Animation Studio Nickelodeon Animation Studio is an American animation studio owned by Paramount Global. It has created many original television programs for Nickelodeon, such as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', '' The Fairly OddParents'', '' Rugrats'' and '' Avatar: ...

and 6 Point Harness, both based in California. 20 episodes were made. The series first previewed on the Nick Jr. Channel on June 15, 2015, before premiering on the main Nickelodeon network on June 29.

Plot

The Fresh Beat Band, now a group of spies, solve wacky mysteries in their town using their individual talents and cool gadgets.

Characters

Main

* Twist (voiced by

Jon Beavers ''The Fresh Beat Band'' (originally known as ''The JumpArounds'') is an American live action musical children's television series created by Scott Kraft and Nadine van der Velde for Nickelodeon. The show stars the "Fresh Beats" (Kiki, Shout, M ...

) is the comedic

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

of the team whose day job is as the manager of the Pet Daycare Center. He uses a pogo stick as a vehicle. * Kiki (voiced by Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer) is the band's lead guitarist and lead singer who owns a local hair salon. She has a jetpack and a scooter. * Shout (voiced by

Thomas Hobson Thomas Hobson may refer to * Thomas Hobson (postal carrier) (c. 1544–1631), English postal carrier * Thomas Hobson (actor) (born 1982), American actor * Thomas Hobson (cricketer) (born 1994), South African cricketer {{hndis, name=Hobson, ...

) is the athletic keyboardist and leader of the spy team who is also the lifeguard at a nearby swimming pool. Whenever Reed sends the spies on a mission, Shout says "Time to spy it up!" * Marina (voiced by

Tara Perry ''The Fresh Beat Band'' (originally known as ''The JumpArounds'') is an American live action musical children's television series created by Scott Kraft and Nadine van der Velde for Nickelodeon. The show stars the "Fresh Beats" (Kiki, Shout, M ...

) is the brainy drummer of the spy team who is the chemist for a cupcake bakery. Her catchphrase is "Brainstorm!" which she says whenever she has an idea. * Bo Monkey (voiced by

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in '' ...

) is Twist's best friend, a monkey who helps him operate the pet center. He does not speak, but communicates through monkey noises that reflect his emotions. * Reed (voiced by Tom Kenny) is the team's "gadget guy" who wears glasses. He tends to suddenly appear out of nowhere, due to hiding in or behind various objects, which startles the other team members. He is the only recurring character from the original series to return. * Commissioner Goldstar (voiced by

Keith Silverstein Keith Silverstein is an American voice actor, known for lending his voice to English Versions of Japanese anime and video games, affiliated with Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Viz Media, Studiopolis and Funimation. He is best known for his roles as ...

) is the friendly but hapless chief of police. He appears after the spies complete their missions, usually to congratulate the team on their successes.

Recurring

* Lily (voiced by Heaven White) is Commissioner Goldstar's niece and a good friend of the Fresh Beats. She has a pet dog named Goldie and plays on Shout's baseball team. * Lil Piggie is a pig with a hot pink mohawk and one of the many animals living at Twist's pet center. He is a friend of the Fresh Beats. * Three Direction is a parody of the band One Direction.

Villains

* Champ Von Champ Von Winnerchamp (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a muscular recurring villain who steals and cheats for various objects, such as trophies, wrestling belts and party supplies. He speaks with a German accent and is assisted by his own cheer squad for stealing stuff. * Captain Arrrgh (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a singing pirate who steals treasure with the help of his chicken, Poulet, and his second-in-command, First Mate. * Yi-Haw (voiced by

Kate Higgins Catherine Davis Higgins is an American voice actress, singer and jazz pianist. Career Music career Higgins earned a degree in music from Auburn University in 1991. She is a trained pianist who studied with the jazz artist Bob Richardson. She rel ...

) is a cowgirl and outlaw who hopes to surpass her outlaw ancestor by stealing buildings from all over town. * Squee Z. Dumpkins (voiced by

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as '' The New Batman Adventure ...

) is a famous internet celebrity known for her cuteness.

Production

The series was first announced in March 2014. In August of the same year, it was announced that Nickelodeon was currently in production on the show and it was slated for a 2015 release. From November 2014 until February 2015, several songs from ''Fresh Beat Band of Spies'' episodes were performed as part of "The Fresh Beat Band: Greatest Hits Live" tour; products such as posters and T-shirts featuring the cartoon Fresh Beat characters were sold at these concerts.

Episodes

{{ Episode list , EpisodeNumber = 21 , Title = Throw Dunk

Broadcast

''Fresh Beat Band of Spies'' aired on both

and the Nick Jr. Channel in the United States. It previewed on the Nick Jr. Channel on June 15, 2015, before premiering on Nickelodeon on June 29. The first eleven episodes were put on Nickelodeon's schedule throughout late July 2015, but only the first four episodes ended up airing on the main network. Internationally, the series was first shown on

Nickelodeon Canada Nickelodeon is a Canadian English language specialty channel based on the American cable network of the same name owned by Corus Entertainment under a brand licensing agreement with Paramount. As with all of its sister networks throughout the ...

on September 1, 2015. It also aired on

Treehouse TV Treehouse TV is a Canadian English-language specialty channel for preschoolers aged 2 to 5 that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from YTV's former preschool block, " The Treehouse". The channel is owned by YTV Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of ...

. The series debuted on Nick Jr. in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and Switzerland on January 11, 2016, in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on January 18, 2016, in the Middle East and North Africa on January 25, 2016, and in Australia on February 1, 2016. The series premiered on Nick Jr. UK on February 6, 2016.

Reception

Critical response

The series has received generally positive reviews from critics.

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

reviewer Emily Ashby gave the show four out of five stars, praising the show's use of "quirky villains" rather than "real scares." In October 2015,

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

listed the series as one of the twenty-five best family programs of the year.{{cite web, url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/10/06/best-tv-programs-kids-teens-amazon-netflix-youtube/73405600/, title=Best TV programs for kids, teens and families include Amazon, Netflix shows, date=6 October 2018, work=USA TODAY

Accolades

The episode "Singing Pirate" was nominated for "Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production" in the

43rd Annie Awards The 43rd Annual Annie Awards honoring excellence in the field of animation of 2015 was held on February 6, 2016, at the University of California, Los Angeles's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California, presenting in 36 categories. This year, a new c ...

.{{cite web, url=http://annieawards.org/nominees/#21 , title="Fresh Beat Band of Spies: Singing Pirate" – 43rd Annual Annie Awards , work=AnnieAwards.org , access-date=3 December 2018 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203205228/http://annieawards.org/nominees/#21 , archive-date=December 3, 2015 The series was also the recipient of a 2019

Parents' Choice Award The Parents' Choice Award was an award presented by the non-profit Parents' Choice Foundation to recognize "the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels." It was considered a "prest ...

.{{cite web, url=http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=34066&StepNum=1&award=aw, title="Fresh Beat Band of Spies" on Parents-Choice.org, work=Parents-Choice.org, access-date=7 March 2019 {, class="wikitable" , + Awards and nominations , - ! Year ! Award ! Category ! Nominee ! Result ! Refs , - , 2016 ,

, Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production , Ernie Gilbert
{{small, (for "Singing Pirate") , {{nominated , style="text-align:center;" , , - , 2016 , style="white-space:nowrap;" ,

Parents' Choice Awards The Parents' Choice Award was an award presented by the non-profit Parents' Choice Foundation to recognize "the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels." It was considered a "prest ...

, "Fun Stuff" Award , Nickelodeon , {{won , style="text-align:center;" ,

References

{{Reflist

External links