All Rise...

Judge David Johnson had a great day. For realz.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of The Fresh Beat Band: Season One (published April 21st, 2012) and The Fresh Beat Band: Season Two (published April 21st, 2012) are also available.

The Charge

It goes a little something like this.

The Case

My daughter's absolute favorite show snags another DVD release, this time featuring a TV movie (well, sort of…it clocks in at 45 minutes) and two bonus episodes. An added plus: these episodes feature the newest generation of The Fresh Beat Band, where Shayna Rose replaces Tara Perry in the role of Marina. That's right. I know these things.

The headliner is "The Wizard of Song," the first Fresh Beat jumbo show that I know of. The story follows Marina as she gets swept up in a tornado and dropped into a magical land lorded over by the eponymous Wizard. On her adventure, Marina meets a good witch (Sarah Chalke, Scrubs), a brainless scarecrow (Twist), a cowardly lion (Shout), and a heartless tin woman (Kiki). Along the way, they are menaced by the evil witch (Melody, the owner and operator of the Groovy Smoothie). The biggest surprise awaits when The Wizard of Song turns out to be Jason Mraz.

There you go. Like Yo Gabba Gabba! before it, The Fresh Beat Band is turning some heads in celeb land and carving out a reputation as the kids show of choice for cameos. Beyond the star-power, "The Wizard of Song" supplies standard-issue Fresh Beat entertainment: a lot of singing (of songs that are strangely catchy), some blunt object lessons, and a refreshing earnestness that has made watching the show with the kiddo surprisingly non-taxing.

Two bonus episodes accompany to round out the set: "Ghost Band," a weirdo Western where the Fresh Beats confront a deceased musical band; and "Chimps in Charge," which features lots of monkeys running around getting into trouble, a.k.a. Toddler Meth.

No-frills DVD: standard definition 1.33:1 full frame (hey Nick, time to get into the HD world), Dolby 2.0 stereo, no extras.

The Verdict

Not Guilty. Put your hands in the air!

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