Things were a bit confusing when Marina did the old “Darren switch” by having a new actress portray the same role beginning with the third season, but “The Fresh Beat Band” marched on. The band, which I see as a sort of Monkees for the preschool set, is more popular than ever, with the group on tour and the television series in heavy rotation on Nick Jr.
Now we get what is supposed to be the first commercial release of the show on DVD (apparently overlooking the manufacture on demand season 1 and 2 sets). Two episodes from the third season are presented here, but the centerpiece is the double-length (billed as a TV movie) episode “The Wizard Of Song” (yes, it’s an adaptation of the classic book turned movie).
Marina (the new one) is caught up in a storm and taken to a magical land and wants to get back home. Her journey initially begins with Sarah Chalke in the role of The Good Witch, with the rest of Marina’s bandmates filling out the roles of Scarecrow, Tin Man (Woman, in this case) and Lion. Jason Mraz is the titular figure, and while I wouldn’t have picked him, he does a decent enough job.
In this story Melody, the owner of the Groovy Smoothie shop the band frequents, is the bad witch – and more than Jason Mraz as The Wizard of Song, this bothered me, and I can’t put my finger on why.
Of course there are songs as well as some heavy-handed lessons along the way. Essentially this is a “souped up” episode, this time with a theme. It might not be the best introduction to the series, since it is atypical of how most episodes actually are, but it’s highly enjoyable. There are two episodes to fill out the disc a bit that are perhaps more representative of the series as a whole. “Ghost Band” has the gang encountering… wait for it… a ghost band while in a western town. It’s almost like an episode of “Scooby Doo” (at least that was what I thought of). “Chimps In Charge” has The Fresh Beats babysitting, along with a friend, watching over some chimpanzees, and of course mayhem ensues.
I would have liked to have some of the songs available as an MP3. There are no special features, which is a shame because this series could offer up a lot. If you have a young fan of “The Fresh Beat Band” you need this DVD.