I'm in the Band

I'm in the Band, is a live-action sitcom airing on Disney XD in the United States and on Family Channel in Canada. The first episode's taping was on July 14, 2009, with a "sneak preview" airing on November 27, 2009; the show subsequently joined the Disney XD network's regular schedule on February 20, 2010, with the first episode being shown as a "sneak preview" in the United Kingdom on that same date. The show's January 18, 2010 premiere was watched by an estimated 863,000 viewers. It was announced on April 26, 2010, that I'm in the Band has been renewed for a second season.

Premise
15-year-old Tripp Campbell dreams of showing off his Hendrix-esque guitar skills by becoming part of a rock band. When he wins a radio contest to have dinner with his favorite band, Iron Weasel, his dream comes true. He manages to impress them with his musical skills and miraculously lands the lead guitar role. Iron Weasel is made up of three middle-aged stooges – cocky lead singer, Derek Jupiter, ever cheerful and rambunctious bassist, Burger Pitt and the lovable but simple-minded drummer, Ash. The band mates initially scoff at the idea of having a kid in the band, for fear of losing their cool, edgy appeal. But, tired of living in their cramped van, they succumb when Tripp offers the guest room at his mom's house. Luckily, Tripp convinces his divorced mom, Beth, that the band members will be great role models for him. In their own wacky way, the band will try to mentor Tripp through his high school years with the goal of turning him into a bona fide rock star in the process. Along for the adventure is Tripp's best friend, Izzy Fuentes, an aspiring singer, who will try to keep him grounded and out of trouble. Tripp has high hopes for Iron Weasel and will do everything he can to help the band make an epic comeback…from booking concert tours, to getting a well-known music agent to listen to their music. Unfortunately, the members of Iron Weasel always seem to find themselves in uncomfortable situations – from their nationwide concert tour which ends up being a three venue gig, to protestors boycotting their music because of a silly viral video that was intended to make them popular again. Regardless of their mishaps, Tripp and his band mates always find a way to come together to resolve their issues and do what they love best – play rock n' roll.

Main characters

 * Tripp Ryan Campbell (Logan Miller) is the 15-year-old lead guitarist of Iron Weasel who has always dreamed of joining a rock band. Despite his age, Tripp is the most mature of all the members of Iron Weasel and is determined to help the band make a comeback. He usually takes out his anger by playing the guitar, as seen in "I Wanna Punch Stuff".
 * Derek Jupiter (Steve Valentine) is Iron Weasel's cocky, but fairly charming lead singer. He is known to be a very good magician as shown in "Magic Tripp" and can speak spanish in "Annoying Arlene".
 * Burger Pitt (Greg Baker) is the food loving, slightly dim bass player of Iron Weasel. He has a very electrified personality as a rock star, and is shown to have a lot of joy in physical acts, such as smashing his own bass or running his head into a wall. He has a crush on Tripp's mom.
 * Ash (Stephen Full) is the band's amiable drummer, who is often depicted as being the dumbest one out of the members of Iron Weasel. He used to have a pet fish named Sushi, which got killed after Burger's shorted-out bass zapped it.
 * Isabella "Izzy" Fuentes (Caitlyn Taylor Love) is one of Tripp's best friends who is also a huge fan of Iron Weasel among other rock bands. She is also an aspiring singer and has attempted many times to become Iron Weasel's back-up singer.

Recurring characters

 * Beth Campbell (Beth Littleford) is Tripp's loving and supporting mother. She regrets having Iron Weasel living in her house.
 * Jared (Aaron Albert) is Tripp's nerdy, exceptionally smart, and odd friend.
 * "Annoying" Arlene Roca (Raini Rodriguez) is an annoying classmate at Tripp's school, who has a major, yet somewhat creepy crush on Tripp. She used to have cat named Hip Hop and has turtle named Jazz. She is of Spanish descent.
 * Cornelius Strickland (Reginald VelJohnson) is Tripp's hot-tempered principal who deals with a lot of shenanigans at the school, especially involving Iron Weasel, which he loathes.
 * Barry Roca (Carlos Alazraqui) is Arlene's record producer father, who Iron Weasel has often attempted (but failed) to get a record deal with. He likes Iron Weasel despite their record deal loss.

Episodes
Main article: Episodes

Critical reception
The series’ premiere earned mixed reviews. Emily Ashby of DisneyFamily.com stated that “while it’s [the show] lighthearted, the show isn’t exactly realistic when it comes to portraying adult responsibility.” In addition she claimed that “there’s no shortage of laughs in I’m in the Band and “none of this is likely to be new to tweens familiar with the likes of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Brian Lowry of Variety described the series “the fertile premise evaporates amid bad puns, slapstick and fart jokes.” Also stated by Lowry, “content to blandly play the band as overgrown children turning Tripp into their unlikely babysitter.”

Viewership
The series premiered to an estimated 863,000 proving to be the networks highest-rated series premiere for a Disney XD Original Series, including the Toon Disney phase.