True Jackson, VP is an American teen sitcom created by Andy Gordon that aired on Nickelodeon from November 8, 2008, to August 20, 2011. The series stars Keke Palmer, Ashley Argota, Matt Shively, Danielle Bisutti, Greg Proops, Robbie Amell, and Ron Butler. The theme song was written by Toby Gad and Keke Palmer and is performed by Palmer. The series was shot before a live audience, although a laugh track was used for sweetening. The pilot episode garnered 4.8 million viewers on its first airing and set network records among kids 6–11, tweens 9–14, and several other demographics. On May 5, 2009, Nickelodeon renewed the series for a second season. The season consisted of 31 episodes, and premiered on November 14, 2009. This season was later split into two, thus making a third season. In August 2011, Palmer posted a video on her YouTube account and posted on her blog, confirming that "Mystery in Peru" is the series' finale. After the series ended, Palmer renewed her contract with Nickelodeon; she did voiceover work for Winx Club and starred in the television film Rags.

Premise

Fifteen-year-old True Jackson is selling sandwiches and lemonade with her friend Ryan in the fashion district of New York City when she is complimented by fashion designer Max Madigan, founder and CEO of Mad Style. Max realizes the clothes True is wearing are his designs, but True had altered them to suit her own purposes. Max likes the modified design and hires True as Vice President of his fashion company's youth apparel division. True hires her best friend Lulu to be her assistant after firing Cricket, her former assistant, who was upset and bitter about being surpassed in the business world by a child. True must juggle teenage antics with her new role as VP, aided by her friends and coworkers.

Episodes

Cast

Main

Recurring

Guest stars

Production

The series was shot on stage 25 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, California. This is the same stage where series The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, Cheers, and Frasier were shot.

Filming locations

Gallery

Broadcast

The series has aired on-and-off on TeenNick in the United States since 2008, with the most recent airing in 2023. BET also briefly aired episodes of the series in 2009. The show also premiered on the Canadian network YTV on March 5, 2009, and every Thursday since, but was changed to Friday to accommodate with iCarly & Big Fun Fridays. Then, the show moved again to Mondays at 6:30pm. As of 2010, the series no longer airs on YTV. The series continues to air regularly on Nickelodeon networks around the world. The show ended in Australia and New Zealand on 17 December 2011. The last two remaining episodes premiered in the UK on Wednesday 4 January 2012 and Thursday 5 January 2012 and with "Mystery in Peru" premiering on Friday 6 January 2012. The series is currently shown in Jamaica on one of the national stations TVJ (Television Jamaica) at 4:30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On May 1, 2019, the series began airing on Nick Pluto. In Italy, the series began airing on the ''Super! Girl Power'' Pluto TV channel on January 18, 2023, and it was previously aired on Nickelodeon, Italia 1 and VH1 in that country.

Home media

True Jackson, VP: Season 1, Vol. 1 was released in a 2 disc set on September 8, 2009. Running time is 321 minutes, presented in full screen video, and English stereo audio. The set also includes behind-the-scenes, cast member's screen tests, bloopers and the first 13 episodes of season 1. Even though there is Season 1 Volume 1, for unknown reasons, a Volume 2 was never released. On March 24, 2021, the series was added to Paramount+.

Awards and nominations

Merchandise and in other media

Clothing line

In August 2009, a line of clothing inspired by the show called "Mad Style by True Jackson" was released. The line was available exclusively at Walmart and is aimed at children and teens. This was the first line of clothing for the show and was a first for Nickelodeon releasing a line of clothing from one of their television shows. Commercials advertising the clothing line could be seen on Nickelodeon and TeenNick. Featured in the show and commercials is an instrumental version of the show's theme song.

Book series

A set of novels based on the show were released, via Amazon.