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CBBC’s new musical comedy My Almost Famous Family
Aug 21, 2009 Author: admin | Filed under: About
My Almost Famous Family is a brand new all-singing, all-dancing comedy series set to strike a chord on CBBC this September.
Singing, dancing and doing the chores – it’s all in a day’s work for the Swann family, stars of the new 11-part high-energy, musical comedy series.
By day the Swanns perform as TV pop group We’re In Perfect Harmony; by night they’re a big, blended and sometimes harmonious step-family.
When English musician Gary Swann (Andrew Clover) stepped on stage with African-American soul singer Sholandra (Rakie Ayola) in Las Vegas it was love at first verse.
Now their families have come together, moved back to the UK and landed the best gig in TV – house band on everyone’s favourite tea-time chat-show, The Totally Annabelle Show, hosted by the nation’s top teen presenter.
In front of the TV screens Annabelle is a darling and adored by all but, once the cameras stop rolling, the Swanns soon discover her real persona – she’s a nightmare!
But with five children/pop stars living, singing and schooling under one roof, viewers can expect tears, tantrums – and the occasional spontaneous musical number!
First there are Gary’s two children: 16-year-old self-styled bad boy of rock and secret softie Hadley (Angus Harrison); and 15-year-old quick-witted, musical genius Toyah (Naomi Battrick).
Then there are Sholandra’s children: 15-year-old fame hungry diva-in-the-making Aretha (Dominique Moore); and 14-year-old family joker Isaac (Matt Morgan).
Completing the family is Gary and Sholandra’s cheeky, entrepreneur in the making, eight-year-old Martha (Rachel Brady), who is deaf.
“It’s a big melodious comedy with a huge heart,” reveals series producer Paul McKenzie.
“The Swann family are almost famous but the parents are determined to keep the kids grounded – which is pretty difficult when they’ve got five million viewers watching them every week.”
My Almost Famous Family follows the very funny ups and downs of life in a big, raucous family and the craziness that comes with fame. From stolen pigs and rock star grandads to make-or-break maths tests and crazy teen TV presenters, life with the Swanns may look glamorous on the surface, but there’s a lot of frantic paddling going on underneath!
The series is a CBBC production produced by Paul McKenzie with Steven Andrew as executive producer.
Before the series begins, viewers can get an early taster in Backstage, a new series that goes behind the scenes of up-and-coming CBBC shows. Each glossy, bespoke, making-of half-hour combines key interviews from the main cast and crew, with exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and clips from the main show.
The programme introduces viewers to the story of My Almost Famous Family, setting up the main characters and exploring how the series has been made – from building the sets to creating the music and filming a food fight.
Backstage airs on Bank Holiday Monday 31 August 2009 on CBBC. My Almost Famous Family starts on Saturday 12 September on BBC Two.
CBBC’s new musical comedy My Almost Famous Family: producer Paul McKenzie
Aug 21, 2009 Author: admin | Filed under: About
CBBC wanted to create a fun comedy series with music at its heart and which also examined the effects fame can have on a family.
Producer Paul McKenzie explains how the series came about and the challenges he faced:
“Knowing our audience’s love of music, entertainment talent shows and famous faces, we decided it would be fun to make a show about a musical family on the treadmill trying to hit the big time. The notion of a family on the verges of fame who have one foot in the door and one foot grounded in reality was created. They might just make it, they might be famous… one day.
“However, parents Gary and Shalondra, who have been in the business before, are determined to make sure that they’re all grounded (or they’re grounded!) – the kids have got to do their school work and their chores. They’re trying to make sure they’re just regular kids.”
With the idea for the series taking shape the next challenge was to work out how the music should work within the series. The team knew that they wanted to have music at the heart of the show but also wanted the series to stand out.
“By creating comedy songs as the musical element in a show we have created a fresh and funny way of embedding music within the series. So Toyah will sing about not being able to dance, whilst Isaac will rap about his ability to glue things back together that he’s secretly broken.
“The comedic element gave us a licence to add some fun dance routines to add to the overall humour. When We’re In Perfect Harmony play as the house band they will cover big pop numbers from The Ting Tings to The Noisettes’ Don’t Upset The Rhythm, so hopefully we have covered all the bases that our audience will enjoy.
“Our musical director Richie Webb, who worked on That Mitchell And Webb Look, Radio 4’s Fifteen Minute Musicals and Horrible Histories, came up trumps with some fantastic numbers which are really catchy and very funny.”
In addition to humour and music, the team also spent a lot of time searching for the right person to play Martha. She is a funny, independent mixed-race deaf child. As Gary and Shalondra’s only child together she is the link gelling the family together.
After a long search across more than 200 people and organisations the team discovered eight-year-old Rachel through her deaf unit at school. Although able to hear herself, Rachel’s parents are deaf and her first language was BSL (British Sign Language).
“She was pefect to play Martha – combining the comedy timing to bring her to life as well as a personal empathy of the issues facing deaf people.”
To ensure Martha’s character was a realistic representation the production team employed an interpreter on set, who also taught the cast how to sign, and employed Daryl Jackson, a deaf actor/signer, to look and advise on the scripts and episodes.
Paul was also so impressed by one young deaf actor from the auditions for the role, Mikey Riddington-Smith, that he created a guest part especially for him.
My Almost Famous Family is an 11 x 28′ laugh-a-minute musical comedy series about the Swanns, a large musical family who sing together as a television pop group, We’re In Perfect Harmony. The step-kids range from teenagers Aretha, a trainee diva and wannabe Beyonce, to smart-cookie Toyah, bass player who despises fame and wants be a cellist at The Royal College of Music.
Their parents Gary and Shalondra Swann are an unusual couple – Gary is a musician from Hatfield, and Shalondra is an African-American soul singer from LA. Between them they have five children, and they all live together just outside London.
Their first rung on the ladder of fame is as the house band on the TV show The Totally Annabelle Show, fronted by the nation’s sweetheart Annabelle … although in reality, she is an evil, vile, manipulative girl. The Swann family may be the envy of children up and down the country, but fame isn’t quite what it’s cut out to be, especially when you’re forced to have a squeaky clean image!
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