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I have a ton of TV shows that I watched when I was a kid that I’ve recently been revisiting to see if they still hold up. One of these TV shows is “Drake and Josh”, a show very near and dear to my heart.
If you also remember this show, you probably remember the show’s unique sense of humor that definitely appealed to teens of the time, with many instances of crude and edgy humor that not many kid-friendly TV shows of the time were willing to pursue.
The show’s humor was definitely ahead of its time, playing around with quite a bit of awkward humor as well as shock humor, which is much more prominent in many TV shows that have recently been released.
The writing of the show has held up really well—the characters all talk to each other as if they’re real. All of the jokes just kind of naturally happen, other than a few oddball out-of-nowhere jokes that happen every once in a while. The great writing of the show was done by Savage Steve Holland, Arthur Gradstein, and Andrew Hill Newman. These guys have also worked on other Nickelodeon shows like “Zoey 101,” “iCarly,” “Victorious,” and many more.
So the writing’s good, but what about the actors in the show? Well, basically every actor is extremely competent in the way they portray their characters. Drake is written as a cool teen that doesn’t really follow the rules, and the actor Drake Bell fits the role perfectly. With the character of Josh, a nerdy kid that always follows the rules, the actor Josh Peck is perfect for the role.
Most of the supporting cast members also do a great job of portraying their characters, especially the character “Crazy Steve,” who is played by Jerry Trainor.
The thing that sets the show in motion is when Drake’s mom meets Josh’s dad, they begin dating, and in the first episode they announce that they’re getting married, which makes Drake and Josh step brothers. The first episode, from then on, is just Drake and Josh getting acquainted with each other, and dealing with the quirks of having a brand new sibling in the house.
One of my favorite episodes of the show is called “The Demonator,” which centers around Drake and Josh, as well as their little sister Megan, waiting in line for a roller coaster called The Demonator. It accurately shows all of the sadness and boredom that comes with waiting in line for a roller coaster or any kind of amusement park ride.
There’s also a point in the episode where the mascot of the amusement park that Drake and Josh are in gets into a fight with Josh, which ends with Josh being taken to the back of the line. I find it incredible that the show can take a situation like waiting in line for something, turn it into a full episode of a show, and make it actually funny. That’s definitely one of the show’s biggest strengths, making ordinary things funny.
Overall, I think that “Drake and Josh” has stood the test of time. Usually sitcoms from a decade ago have tons of really dated jokes that don’t really work anymore in the context of modern society, but “Drake and Josh” episodes have a sense of humor that will always be funny, no matter what year it was.
I’m definitely glad that I got to watch the show while it was still on the air—it has always held a special place in my heart for being one of the first TV shows that I actually enjoyed watching.
If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a service and binge a few episodes. I guarantee you will find something to love about this show.
