''The Famous Jett Jackson'' is a
coming-of-age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...
television series for the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
. The show is about a boy named Jett Jackson (
Lee Thompson Young
Lee Thompson Young (February 1, 1984 – August 19, 2013) was an American actor who began his career as a teenager, playing the titular character on the Disney Channel television series ''The Famous Jett Jackson'' (1998–2001). As an adult, ma ...
) who plays a teenage secret agent on a fictional
show-within-a-show
A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes ...
called ''Silverstone''.
Premise
Jett Jackson previously lived with his actress mother in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, but missed his home and his friends. Longing for a relatively normal life, Jett succeeds in getting the production of ''Silverstone'' moved to the fictional city of Wilsted,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, thus providing jobs to townspeople while affording Jett the chance to live with his father, Sheriff Woodrick "Wood" Jackson, and his great-grandmother, Miz Coretta (whom Jett calls Nana). Keeping in touch with his mother Jules by video link on his computer (though by the third season she also moved to Wilsted), Jett now spends part of his time with family, friends and school, and the rest living the life of a working actor and celebrity. In doing so, Jett often ends up in sticky situations, usually aided and abetted by his childhood friend, J.B., his not-quite girlfriend Kayla, and sometimes by Cubby, ''Silverstones wacky special effects wizard. In the second half of the series, Jett's new co-star, Riley Grant, is added to the mix.
The show within the show, ''Silverstone'', is about a spy who works for Mission Omega Matrix (the acronym being a pun on the word "Mom") in order to save the world from villains like Dr. Hypnoto and The Rat. In contrast to Jett, Silverstone has no family, only his mentor, Artemus, and eventually his partner "Hawk" (surname Hawkins) ("played" by Riley Grant). From the second season onward, the action sequences and Silverstone subplots became more prominent.
The relative realism of Jett's home life sometimes gave way to fantasy or
paranormal
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
elements, such as one episode in which Jett learns about a shameful incident in Wilsted's history with a little prodding from the ghost of a key figure in the buried scandal. Other episodes dealt with issues in a more realistic and contemporary way, such as when J.B.'s father's family-owned store is threatened by the arrival of high-powered, "big box" competition, and another in which Jett's English teacher, Mr. Dupree, runs afoul of local attempts at
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
of a class reading assignment. Other episodes dealt with such topics as
bulimia
Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eate ...
and the question of whether Jett, with his relatively sheltered and pampered home life, can truly understand or cope with the problems of other
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s.
The series was followed by a Disney Channel original movie in which Jett finds himself trapped in Silverstone's world, and vice versa. In that movie he takes on Silverstone's role for real and is able to muddle through while Silverstone does the same thing in Jett's world until Miz Coretta finds out the truth and he returns home and sends Jett back as well. The movie ends with Jett returning to Silverstone's world and helping him complete his mission by rescuing Silverstone from Kragg and then defeating Kragg alongside his hero alter-ego.
Episodes
Cast
Main
*
Lee Thompson Young
Lee Thompson Young (February 1, 1984 – August 19, 2013) was an American actor who began his career as a teenager, playing the titular character on the Disney Channel television series ''The Famous Jett Jackson'' (1998–2001). As an adult, ma ...
as Jett Jackson/Silverstone
* Ryan Sommers Baum as J.B. Halliburton
* Kerry Duff as Kayla West
* Gordon Greene as Woodrick Jackson
*
Montrose Hagins as Miz Coretta
*
Melanie Nicholls-King
Melanie Nicholls-King is a Canadian actress, perhaps best known for playing Cheryl in the drama series ''The Wire'', and for her portrayal of Officer Noelle Williams in the drama series ''Rookie Blue''.
Personal life
Nicholls-King is from Toron ...
as Jules Jackson
Recurring
*
Jeffrey Douglas
Jeffrey Lloyd Douglas (born June 8, 1971) is a Canadian actor and broadcaster, best known as the cohost of CBC Radio One's daily news program '' As It Happens'' from 2011 to 2019. He has hosted the mainland Nova Scotia afternoon show "Mainstreet" ...
as Cubby
*
Lindy Booth
Lindy Booth (born April 2, 1979) is a Canadian actress. She played Riley Grant on the Disney Channel series ''The Famous Jett Jackson'' (and Agent Hawk in the show-within-a-show ''Silverstone'') and Claudia on ''Relic Hunter'' and A.J. Butterfie ...
as Riley Grant/Hawk
*
Nigel Shawn Williams
Nigel Shawn Williams is a Canadian actor and theatre director from Toronto, Ontario. as Nigel Essex/Artemus
* Andrew Tarbet as Deputy Booker Murray
*
Robert Bockstael as Mr. Dupree
History and related series
Show creator Fracaswell Hyman reportedly devised the character before casting Lee Thompson Young for the role. Like Jett, Young was raised in a single parent home in the South, and decided on an acting career at an early age. Young went on to write one of the episodes produced for the series.
The series included both young guest stars such as
Hayden Christensen
Hayden Christensen (; born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the ''Star Wars'' media franchise. He first appeared in the prequel trilogy films, '' Star Wars: Episode ...
,
Rachel McAdams
Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a theatre degree program at York University in 2001, she worked in Canadian television and film productions, such as the drama film ''Perfect Pie'' (200 ...
,
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
, and
Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...
and veteran stars such as
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...
, the latter of whom played the new coach of Wilsted's
minor league baseball team in one episode.
Although it was well-received and regarded as a success, the series ended on June 22, 2001, due to Disney's unstated policy of making only 65 episodes per series.
The show's end theme, "It's Not What You Think," was performed by
Youngstown
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...
in 1999; the full song includes lyrics from Lee Thompson Young himself. The song was used for show credits in seasons 2 and 3.
One of the producers,
Jim Steyer
James Pearson Steyer (born 1956) is an American children's advocate, civil rights attorney, professor and author. He founded Common Sense Media, an organization that "provides education and advocacy to families to promote safe technology and media ...
of company JP Kids, would go on to found
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. in 2003.
Film
''
Jett Jackson: The Movie'' premiered on Disney Channel on June 8, 2001.
Syndication
After the series ended in 2001, it continued to air in reruns. ''The Famous Jett Jackson'' was removed from the Disney Channel schedule in June 2004. The show briefly aired on
ABC Family
The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...
from December 2003 to January 2004. The show was briefly seen again on
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years ...
in 2009.
Critical reaction
Response to the show was generally positive. Laura Fries of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', the Hollywood
trade paper
A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...
, noted in her review of ''Jett Jackson: The Movie'' that "Young serves as an appealing role model, much like
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...
's ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'' --someone who can fulfill young, action craving audiences without the gratuitous violence. There's a sense of empowerment associated with these sort of roles, and handled correctly, they function as an excellent allegory for the confusing teenage years." Although she mentions "contrived plot devices", she also refers to the series as "clever" and "an extremely entertaining concept".
Awards and nominations
The series ''The Famous Jett Jackson'' and its young cast were nominated for
Young Artist Awards
The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...
, presented by the nonprofit Young Artist Foundation, in several categories in the course of the show's run:
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Famous Jett Jackson, The
1990s American comedy-drama television series
2000s American comedy-drama television series
1998 American television series debuts
2001 American television series endings
1990s Canadian comedy-drama television series
2000s Canadian comedy-drama television series
1998 Canadian television series debuts
2001 Canadian television series endings
Disney Channel original programming
Television series by Disney
Television series about teenagers
Television series about television
Television series by DHX Media
Television series by Alliance Atlantis
Television shows filmed in Toronto
Television shows set in North Carolina
American black sitcoms
Canadian black sitcoms
English-language television shows
Coming-of-age television shows