Nickelodeon and Lay Lay

Nickelodeon and Lay Lay

One day during June 2020, Nickelodeon announced that they were signing a contract with rapper Alaya High (who was 13 years old at the time), better known as her stage name, That Girl Lay Lay. She became the youngest female rapper to sign a record deal. This journal is going to focus on her deal with Nick as well as a review of the sitcom she starred in. It was supposed to be written back in February but I slacked off so think of this as a late Juneteenth journal.

Before today’s kids know her as the new golden girl from Nickelodeon, growing up she wanted to be on Nick and a rapper and now she’s living her dream. She was in a few Nick projects before they finally decide it was time to make a sitcom for her. On March 2021, during the annual upfront, a show revolving on her was officially greenlit by the network. This paragraph will be dedicated to a review of the first season of the sitcom (though I won’t review every episode, just recapping and putting my thoughts on the show in general). David A. Arnold, best known for working on Tyler Perry’s productions, created this show, while Will Packer, John D Beck and Ron Hart executive produce alongside him. Ok, so the show revolves on a teenage girl named Sadie Alexander, who is having a hard time fitting in at school. One night, she wishes that her app girl (an exaggerated version of Lay Lay) would comes to life, and her wish came true. The show may be realistic at first glance, but due to how Lay Lay is portrayed, they add a fantastic fare to it. It turns out Lay Lay in this show has magical powers, such as freezing time, and disappearing. Think of her like a black Alex Mack, or Nickelodeon’s answer to Raven Baxter. This aspect made the show a tad interesting in my opinion and it prevents itself from being a typical black sitcom. On another interesting factoid, this show is nowhere to be found on international Nickelodeon feeds and is instead can be only played on Netflix (which is why it shows up on the service nearly two months after its season finale). And I appreciate that, because Paramount+ insists we wait for a long-ass time to stream a modern Nick/MTV/VH1/Comedy Centra program. Back on topic, the first season consists of crazy stories such as go-karting across the school, doing magical tricks while already having magical powers, sneaking in school to see if a Halloween myth is real, dressing up like clowns, having a friend dress up as a grandmother, the list goes on.  I can say that the show is actually worth watching, despite being rather flawed (not as much as Danger Force). The creator of the show is African American like Young Dylan, which is a start as Nick needs more diverse creators. But there are a few white writers as well, and they might not understand that they’re writing AAVE words. The show could get a bit cringey with the slang, but that’s how today’s kids talk, so I let it slide. In typical sitcom fare, it had predictable moments which is to be expected. The main/recurring characters (outside of Jeremy) are all distinguishable in their own way. Lay Lay is a carefree girl with magical powers (and yes, it’s another kidcom with a secret identity). Sadie was just your ordinary girl until Lay Lay came out the app and she became more confident than ever. Marky, Sadie’s little brother, just want to be a rich boy. Their parents, Bryce and Trish, aren’t written as stereotypes like in many kidcoms and are written like actual parents. And Jeremy is just your typical token white main character (every ethnic show needs one), and no offense to Caleb Brown, but he’s not memorable to the slightest. I always forget he exists, because he’s been absent more than the parents. The MVP of this show, depending on the episode, is either Lay Lay herself or Gabrielle Nevah Green. Lay Lay had a bunch of great line delivery, but Gaby isn’t too far behind (since I enjoyed her on the All That revival) as she can pull off impressions that are just as enjoyable as she was in 2019 (other than one voice that she tried to pull off in the hair episode which was too nasal). The actresses who play the principal and the Alpha Bitch character are probably my favorite recurring cast members because of how they pulled their role (as their previous main/recurring roles were different). I normally can’t stand those type of characters, but Tiffany is actually funny due to her one liners. There’s not a character I can’t stand other than maybe Graydon, who is too old-fashioned and snobby. My favorite episodes of the shows were a crossover with fellow black sitcom Young Dylan and the Halloween episode. Other than Dylan finally working with better writers (sorry Tyler Perry), I felt like the comedy in those episodes were a lot stronger. The writing in the second half of season 1 also felt like the writers were finally finding their footing and now I think season 2 has potential to be even better. The heart is there (like in most modern Nick sitcoms), and while they can be ruined by jokes at the wrong moment, they provide some good message. Like the hair episode, which is very important for black girls to keep their hair clean. The burger bop episode shows that you have to improve a flawed art and turn it into something different. While I wish the Christmas episode should’ve been done a little better, it also had a good message on doing the right thing at delivering a gift. As usual for modern Nickcom standards, the mean-spirited moments are almost nowhere to be found which is another plus for the show. So if you have doubts that their sitcoms have improved, watch the entire first season on Netflix and you’ll know what I mean. My least favorite episode isn’t because of cruelty, but it’s because it’s one of those sitcom episodes that primary revolving on lying and I just couldn’t stand watching 22 minutes of Lay Lay trying her best to be honest. It’s the only “bad” episode so far, but even it’s not offensively unwatchable. Other episodes are still watchable, but they are held back for contrived writing and occasional jokes that will make you cringe.

RANKING THE EPISODES

That Dude Dylan (9/10)

Ha-Lay-Lay-Ween (9/10)

Boombox Burger Bop (8/10)

Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-Lay-Lay (8/10)

Granny Fae Fae & Lay Lay (8/10)

You Go Girl Kart (8/10)

Lay Lay & Sadie’s Big Hair Adventure (7/10)

Make Room for Lay Lay (7/10)

Out the App (7/10)

Ha-Lay-Lay-Lujah (7/10)

Lay Lay the Legendary (6/10)

Mozzarella Heads (6/10)

Lay Lay Lies Lies (5/10)

All in all, That Girl Lay Lay is a good background noise for young black viewers. It struggled to find an audience at first due to Nick’s declining ratings, but it was able to grow on its own thanks to a crossover episode. And it gained an even bigger audience on Netflix (which helps a lot due to being distributed by them internationally). While I don’t like it as much as Side Hustle and Warped!, which sadly didn’t another season, I’ll continue to support a good black show for kids which will help Nick improve at finding diverse creators. After all, I think this one have more charm than say, Young Dylan. You do not need a profitable creator to make a show watchable, just bring in a standup comedian and it’ll be a hit.

NOTE: Despite originally being intended for Black History Month, this journal is now dedicated in memory to the show creator, David A. Arnold (1968-2022).