JONAS started out as a sitcom in which the bubblegum-rock Jonas Brothers trio—Joe, Kevin, and Nick—would play secret agents; the title of the show stood for "Junior Operatives Networking as Spies." But after shooting one episode, the spy concept was abandoned for a simpler premise in which the three siblings, renamed the Lucas brothers, would balance high school with the pressures of being world-famous rock stars. Jonas just happened to be the name of the street they lived on in this iteration of the show, though the acronym-like spelling of the title was retained. After a poorly received first season, JONAS was retooled and became JONAS L.A., with the brothers moving to southern California. Despite the change in scenery, the ratings didn't improve, and JONAS L.A. was canceled near the end of 2010.
JONAS is pretty airheaded, even for a Disney Channel tween show, and can't hold a candle to The Monkees, one of its TV inspirations, but it does teach kids the importance of looking out for one's siblings, not to mention lip-synching one of your own songs with a certain amount of accuracy so you don't look like a fool on camera. An educational tie-in could revolve around Kevin's song "I Left My Heart in Scandinavia": students would be asked to locate the region of Scandinavia on a map, then follow a teacher's made-up clues to find where exactly in the region—Denmark, Norway, or Sweden—Kevin left his heart, all the while learning interesting facts about those three countries. —Robert Cass
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