Nickelodeon’s Latest Venture: Side Hustle
In a miraculous feat of creativity, Nickelodeon has greenlit 13 scintillating half-hour episodes of Side Hustle, a groundbreaking live-action multi-camera buddy comedy. The show features stars more used to social media than actual acting—Annie LeBlanc (of the uproariously successful Annie vs. Hayley) and Jayden Bartels (from the, uh, not-so legendary Coop & Cami Ask the World). Apparently, social clout is the new acting talent.
Created and executive produced by the wizard behind such classics as Henry Danger and Sam & Cat, Dave Malkoff, this show promises to be shot in front of an actual audience—because who wouldn’t want to gather in a studio for some live-action mishaps? Side Hustle revolves around two BFFs, Lex (LeBlanc) and Presley (Bartels), who suddenly become budding entrepreneurs after a slight oopsie-daisy: obliterating their neighbor’s car. Because nothing screams business savvy like paying off your mistakes, right?
Our protagonists, Lex and Presley, are joined by their eccentric pal Munchy (Isaiah Crews)—yes, Munchy, because why not? After they accidentally destroy the police cruiser belonging to Munchy’s dad, chaos ensues. In a stroke of genius, the trio thinks of a brilliant solution: creating an app humorously dubbed “Kid-DING.” This app’s sole purpose? Connecting with folks desperate enough to hire kids for small jobs, which undoubtedly leads to a series of increasingly absurd scenarios—as if the job market isn’t crazy enough already.
The gang won’t be diving into this adventure alone. They have the tech-savvy 10-year-old Fischer (Mitchell Berg) helping them out, proving once again that kids today are basically miniature geniuses—if you ignore the fact that they also can’t make a sandwich without adult supervision. Between Munchy’s overbearing older brother, Jaget (Jacques Chevelle), tracking their every expense and bizarre jobs popping up left and right, our young entrepreneurs are set for a wild ride that will leave viewers contemplating their life choices. Who needs a stable income when you have “crazy jobs” lined up?
Executive producers John Beck & Ron Hart of Fuller House and Liv and Maddie help steer this ship, or rather, they ensure this wreck doesn’t go completely off-course. Can we PTO this hilariously catastrophic journey into the realm of financial literacy? Probably not, but hey, it’s TV—anything’s possible!
“What can I say about Annie and Jayden? They’re like social media’s very own superheroes,” said Shauna Phelan, Senior VP, Live-Action Scripted Content. Obviously, she is suggesting that watching children bumble through entrepreneurship is *exactly* what kids want to see this year. With their knack for getting into “wild” and “hilarious” situations, this buddy comedy is sure to not just entertain but raise eyebrows—and maybe a bit of cash—along the way.
As we dive into the illustrious careers of our leads, let’s not overlook LeBlanc, who first graced our screens via her family’s YouTube channel “Bratayley.” With over 27 million followers, she’s the social media equivalent of a Kardashian, minus the reality show drama (or maybe not!). She has more hits on iTunes than I have in my entire life, a fact for which I’m completely envious. Then there’s Bartels, who’s basically a one-woman band, and has recently been opening for the pop rock band Echosmith because, let’s face it, no one ever really outgrows singing in their room, dreaming of stardom.
