The Fresh Beat Band (originally known as The JumpArounds) is an American live-action musical children's television series created by Scott Kraft and Nadine van der Velde for Nickelodeon. The series stars Yvette González-Nacer, Thomas Hobson, Shayna Rose (later Tara Perry), and Jon Beavers as the "Fresh Beats" (Kiki, Shout, Marina, and Twist), described as four best friends in a band who are determined to follow their dreams. The series aired from August 24, 2009, to December 7, 2013. In 2015, an animated television series, Fresh Beat Band of Spies, premiered on Nickelodeon. All four members of the band lend their voices to their respective characters in the spin-off.

Premise

All episodes follow the same basic structure: Also, they appeared in the Nickelodeon Mega Music Fest.

Episodes

During the buildup to the show's debut, the band was initially advertised as The JumpArounds. Commercials promoting the band under that name were in heavy rotation on Nickelodeon prior to the series debut. The change occurred approximately in mid July 2009. The name was revealed on the Nick Jr. website, then made its debut on television.

Characters

Main

Recurring

There are also four children known as "The Junior Beats" who are essentially the child equivalent of their grown-up counterparts. They sing, dance, and dress as a corresponding character.

Music

The Fresh Beat Band: Music From the Hit TV Show was released on January 31, 2012. The album sold 189,000 copies in the US in 2012. A second collection, Vol 2.0: More Music From The Hit TV Show, was released later that year on October 9, 2012. The soundtracks contain songs from multiple episodes of the series, as well as songs that did not get performed in the episodes. Most of these songs, including the opening and closing themes, were written by the series' creators and executive producers Scott Kraft and Nadine van der Velde, as well as the trio of Ric Markmann, Dan Pinnella, and Christopher Wagner (collectively known as Matter Music). Other composers and producers included Matthew Gerrard, Elizabeth Ashley Saunig-Gerrard, Chip Whitewood, Peter Zizzo, Adam Schlesinger, Shelley Rosenberg, Michael Smith, Matthew Tishler, and Phil Galdston.

Singles

Four singles were released to iTunes; "Great Day" was released on February 2, 2010, "Here We Go" was released on June 28, 2011, "A Friend Like You" was released on September 13, 2011, and "Just Like a Rockstar" was released on November 29, 2011.

Track listing

Home media

Retail releases

Manufacture on-demand releases

Episodes on Nick Jr. compilation DVDs

Episodes on Nick Jr. iTunes compilations

Reception

Critical response

Drew Magary of Deadspin describes the show as "pure evil, as much as an innocent and friendly show about good friends can be pure evil".

Nominations and awards