So what’s the most important aspect of the Disney Channel’s ambitious promotional plan for “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” ? Was it Demi Lovato & the Jonas Brothers’ appearance on “Good Morning America” last month, where these tween favorites announced that tickets for the “Jonas Brothers 2010 World Tour / Camp Rock 2 Tour” would be going on sale on May 15th?
Or was it that “Camp Rock 2” iTouch and iPhone app which became available on May 11th? Which allows kids to watch videos from this TV movie, listen to music clips from the soundtrack and – of course – buy tickets to the Jonas Brothers / Camp Rock concert tour ?
Could it be the “Camp Rock 2” soundtrack
? Which goes on sale July 27th. Which – not-so-co-incidentally – is the exact same day that the concert tour kicks off in Dallas, TX. Or that the Blu-ray version of “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” will be available for purchase on Tuesday, September 7th? Which is just four days after this Disney Channel Original premiere on that cable network?
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The answer is … None of the above.
To hear the folks at the Disney Channel talk, the most important aspect of the promotional plan that this cable network put together for “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam” is which commercials will air during this highly anticipated TV movie. More importantly, what show will preview immediately after “Final Jam.”
Which may seem counter intuitive. But you have to remember that some 8.9 million viewers tuned in for the premiere of the original “Camp Rock” back in June of 2008 (which made this Disney Channel Original cable’s most-watched entertainment program of 2008). Which is why Mouse House officials are anticipating a viewing audience that’s at least this large if not larger for “Final Jam.”
And given what happened with “Phineas and Ferb” (i.e. a lot of folks at the Disney Channel genuinely believe that one of the main reasons this animated series became a tween favorite so quickly was due to all of the exposure that ” “P&F” got when this show was previewed directly after the premiere of “High School Musical 2” on August 17, 2007), the Mouse is anxious to capitalize on all those extra eyeballs that are sure to be tuning in on the evening of September 3rd.
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One thing’s certain. At some point during “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,” a commercial will run for what the Disney Channel hopes will be its big hit for the Summer of 2011. And that’s “Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure.”
This Disney Channel Original just began shooting in Toronto last week with Ashley Tisdale once reprising her role as “High School Musical’s” resident diva Sharpay Evans. Mind you, Ms. Tisdale is also acting as an executive producer on this TV movie.
Which features a script by Robert Horn, who’s probably best known for his work on the Broadway musical “13” as well as the long-running CBS sitcom “Designing Women.”
So what the storyline of this “High School Musical” spin-off. After a talent scout spots Sharpay and Boi performing at a charity gala, the diva and her dog head for the Big Apple with dreams of making it big on Broadway.
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Unfortunately, once Sharpay arrives in NYC, she discovers that the talent agent wasn’t actually interested in her. It was Boi, her dog, that he wanted to audition for a Broadway show. And then when Boi gets the part …
I’m not going to spoil the rest of the story for “Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure.” Other than to say that – as Ashley Tisdale was talking with MTV at the CW upfronts last month – she did reveal that at least one of her co-stars from the “High School Musical” series would be putting in a surprise appearance in “SFA.”
Which is kind of ironic. Given that – when “Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure” finally airs on the Disney Channel in 2011 – one of the ads that’s absolutely guaranteed to run during this Disney Channel Original is a commercial for the reboot of its “High School Musical” TV movie series. Which is expected to begin shooting sometime next year with a brand-new cast and then air on this cable network in 2012.
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