Instant Star

{{Infobox television

| image = Instantstarlogo.jpg

| caption =

| genre = {{plainlist|

Teen drama
comedy
musical

}}

| creator = Linda Schuyler

| developer =

| presenter =

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| voices =

| narrated =

| theme_music_composer = {{plainlist|

Jody Colero
Jim McGrath
Stephen Stohn

}}

| opentheme =

| endtheme =

| country = Canada

| location = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

| language = English

| num_seasons = 4

| num_episodes = 52

| list_episodes = List of Instant Star episodes

| producer = Stephen Stohn

| executive_producer = {{plainlist|

Linda Schuyler
Stephen Stohn

}}

| camera =

| runtime =

| company = Epitome Pictures

| network = {{plainlist|

CTV (Canada)
Noggin (The N block; U.S.)

}}

| first_aired = {{Start date|2004|9|15}}

| last_aired = {{End date|2008|7|28}}

| related =

}}

Instant Star is a Canadian musical comedy-drama television series which aired from 15 September 2004 to 26 June 2008. The series stars Alexz Johnson as teenage singing competition winner Jude Harrison. The show chronicles Harrison's experience in the recording industry whilst focusing on character development.{{Cite web |title=Instant Star |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/instant-star/cast/1030341218/ |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=TVGuide.com |language=en}}

Instant Star was created by Linda Schuyler, who also co-created Degrassi. In Canada, the show aired on CTV. In the United States, it aired on Noggin as part of its teen-oriented block, The N.{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jul-01-et-instant1-story.html | title=Soul and star searching for teens | website=Los Angeles Times | date=July 2005 }} Epitome Pictures produced the show, and both CTV and The N were involved in the production and financing.

Four seasons of the show (each with 13 episodes) were made. CTV and The N both pulled funding following the fourth season, despite plans by Epitome Pictures to continue with a fifth season.{{cite web | url=http://www.alexz-johnson.net/star/updates.php | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913171934/http://www.alexz-johnson.net/star/updates.php | archive-date=2008-09-13 | title=instantstar-online.net ... Your #1 source for all things Instant Star }} The fourth and final season ended on June 26, 2008 in the United States.

Overview

In each episode of the show, Jude Harrison must deal with the issues and challenges of both her musical career and her personal life, as one weaves into the other. She also faces dilemmas and choices in her relationships, dividing her feelings between the loves in her life, while also recording with G-Major Records. These people are important to her music – the one thread that ties her life together. Her best moments are when she is working with others in creating and performing her music. In addition to her music and her loves, there is much else going on in her personal life and in the lives of those around her.

Episodes

Cast

Image:Alexz Johnson and Other Cast Members of Instant Star.jpg

=Main=

Alexz Johnson as Judith "Jude" Harrison
Kristopher Turner as James "Jamie" Andrews
Tim Rozon as Thomas "Tom" Quincy
Laura Vandervoort as Sadie Harrison
Barbara Mamabolo as Katrina "Kat" Benton (season 1; recurring, season 2)
Tracy Waterhouse as Georgia Bevans (season 1)
Matthew Brown as Shay Mills (season 1)
Andrea Lui as EJ Li (season 1)

Wes Williams as Darius Mills

Tyler Kyte as Vincent Spiederman (recurring, season 1; main, seasons 2–4)
Cory Lee as Karma (seasons 3–4)
Zoie Palmer as Patsy Sewer (recurring, season 2; main season 3)
Mark Taylor as Kwest (recurring, seasons 1-2; main, seasons 3–4)
Christopher Gaudet as Wally Robbins (recurring, seasons 1–2; main, seasons 3–4)
Ian Blackwood as Kyle Bateman (recurring, season 2; main, seasons 3–4)
Craig Warnock as Paegan Smith (season 4)
Tatiana Maslany as Zeppelin (season 4){{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTRTOAKbzzg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/iTRTOAKbzzg |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Instant Star Season 4 Interview|last=dlsmodsquad|date=25 August 2007|access-date=24 December 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
Cassie Steele as Blu (season 4){{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwp2I87iwDc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Uwp2I87iwDc |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Instant Star Season 4 Interview|last=dlsmodsquad|date=25 August 2007|access-date=24 December 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
Kyle Riabko as Milo Keegan (season 4){{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tJ8bWcPQWI&search |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/4tJ8bWcPQWI |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Instant Star Season 4 Interview|last=dlsmodsquad|date=25 August 2007|access-date=24 December 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

=Recurring=

Katrina Matthews as Eden Taylor (season 1)
Simon Reynolds as Stuart Harrison

=Supporting=

class="wikitable" border="1" \|+Supporting cast
Season !Actor !Character
rowspan=3\|1
Jane Sowerby \|Victoria Harrison
Miku Graham \|Portia Mills
rowspan=5\|2
Jane Sowerby \|Victoria Harrison
Miku Graham \|Portia Mills
Nicholas Rose \|Mason Fox
Vincent Walsh \|Liam Fenway
rowspan=2\|3
Miku Graham \|Portia Mills
rowspan=2\|4
Kristin Fairlie \|Megan

class="wikitable" border="1"

|+Supporting cast

Season

!Actor

!Character

rowspan=3|1

Jane Sowerby

|Victoria Harrison

Miku Graham

|Portia Mills

rowspan=5|2

Jane Sowerby

|Victoria Harrison

Miku Graham

|Portia Mills

Nicholas Rose

|Mason Fox

Vincent Walsh

|Liam Fenway

rowspan=2|3

Miku Graham

|Portia Mills

rowspan=2|4

Kristin Fairlie

|Megan

=Guest stars=

class="wikitable" border="1" \|+Guest stars
Actor !Character !Season !Episode number !Episode name
Stacey Farber \|Herself \|2 \|8 \|Personality Crisis
Drake \|Himself \|2 \|8 \|Personality Crisis
rowspan=2\|Christopher Ralph \|rowspan=2\|Chaz Blackburn \|1 \|11 \|All Apologies
2 \|5 \|Viciousness
rowspan=3\|Corey Sevier \|rowspan=3\|Hunter \|rowspan=3\|3 \|8 \|18 Part 1
10 \|Nowhere To Run
11 \|Celebrity Skin
Jordan Todosey \|Helen \|2 \| 10 \|Problem Child
rowspan=4\|John Ralston \|rowspan=4\|Don \|2 \|4 \|Miss World
2 \|5 \|Viciousness
2 \|7 \|Stranger In The House
2 \|11 \|Mother's Little Helper
rowspan=3\|Shawn Singleton \|rowspan=3\|T-Bone \|1 \|5 \|You Can't Always Get What You Want
1 \|7 \|I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
2 \|2 \|No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn: Part 2

class="wikitable" border="1"

|+Guest stars

Actor

!Character

!Season

!Episode number

!Episode name

Stacey Farber

|Herself

|Personality Crisis

Drake

|Himself

|Personality Crisis

rowspan=2|Christopher Ralph

|rowspan=2|Chaz Blackburn

|11

|All Apologies

|Viciousness

rowspan=3|Corey Sevier

|rowspan=3|Hunter

|rowspan=3|3

|18 Part 1

|Nowhere To Run

|Celebrity Skin

Jordan Todosey

|Helen

| 10

|Problem Child

rowspan=4|John Ralston

|rowspan=4|Don

|Miss World

|Viciousness

|Stranger In The House

|11

|Mother's Little Helper

rowspan=3|Shawn Singleton

|rowspan=3|T-Bone

|You Can't Always Get What You Want

|I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

|No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn: Part 2

=The Instant Stars=

class="wikitable" border="1" \|+Instant Stars
Season !Winner !Runner-Up
1 \|Jude Harrison \|Eden Taylor
2 \|Mason Fox \|
3 \|Karma \|Bobby
4 \|Milo Keegan \|Kadijah

class="wikitable" border="1"

|+Instant Stars

Season

!Winner

!Runner-Up

|Jude Harrison

|Eden Taylor

|Mason Fox

|Karma

|Bobby

|Milo Keegan

|Kadijah

Music

:Other article: Instant Star soundtracks

Each episode of the series features a new song performed by Alexz Johnson. Usually, the song is about something that occurs in the episode. However, in some episodes, there is no direct explanation to the lyrics; sometimes it's just a song. Some episodes can feature more than one song, but there is only one song per episode that is to be featured on the soundtrack for that season. For instance, there are 13 episodes per season, which means there are 13 main songs. One of the songs, "Perfect," was written by Canadian synth pop artist Lights.

Alexz Johnson recorded the vocals on the first and second soundtracks, while even co-writing some of the songs with her brother Brendan. For the third and fourth soundtracks, Alexz wasn't featured for all of the songs because of the release of her debut album and conflicts with prior record labels.

Just before the broadcast of the second season on The N, viewers had a chance to see Alexz Johnson in concert in a show called Instant Star: Backstage Pass, singing two of the songs from each season of the show and accompanied by her band from the show, Spiederman Mind Explosion.

Broadcast

{{Unreferenced section|reason=Violates WP:TVINTL|date=July 2021}}

Instant Star was broadcast in over 120 countries.

class="wikitable" border="1"

|+Coverage

!Country

!Broadcaster

Australia

|Nickelodeon

Austria

|ORF

Belgium

|Ketnet

Brazil

|Multishow, Boomerang

Bosnia and Herzegovina

|FTV

Bulgaria

|NovaTV

rowspan=2|Canada

|CTV

MuchMusic

Croatia

|RTL Kockica

Estonia

|TV3

Finland

|Sub

rowspan=2|France

Germany

Hungary

Israel

Italy

Latvia

|TV3

Lithuania

|Tango TV

Malaysia

|8TV

Mexico

|MTV Latin America
Canal 4TV
Boomerang
Televisa Regional

Morocco

|2M TV

New Zealand

|TV2

Norway

|TVNorge

Peru

|Boomerang Latin America

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Federalna televizija|FTV

|Serbia

|RTS 2

South Africa

|GO

Spain

|MTV Spain, 8Neox

Sweden:

|TV2

United Kingdom:

|Nickelodeon

USA:

|Noggin (The N block), Primo TV

Ukraine:

|K1

Venezuela

|Televen

Vietnam

|HTV3

Home releases

Funimation Entertainment released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1 in 2007.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000MTOM8U|title=Instant Star: Season 1|date=22 May 2007|access-date=24 December 2017|via=Amazon}}{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Star-Season-Alexz-Johnson/dp/B000XJD3G6|title=Instant Star: Season 2|date=4 December 2007|access-date=24 December 2017|via=Amazon}}

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment acquired the rights to the series in 2010 and subsequently released the final two seasons on DVD, available in the US only.{{cite web |url=https://www.echobridgeentertainment.com/dvd/Instant_Star_73189 |title=Instant Star - Echo Bridge Entertainment |access-date=2011-05-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004000228/https://www.echobridgeentertainment.com/dvd/Instant_Star_73189 |archive-date=2011-10-04 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.echobridgeentertainment.com/dvd/Instant_Star_Season_4_94879 |title=Instant Star Season 4 - Echo Bridge Entertainment |access-date=2011-05-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004000242/https://www.echobridgeentertainment.com/dvd/Instant_Star_Season_4_94879 |archive-date=2011-10-04 }}

class="wikitable" border="1"

! DVD Name

! Ep#

! Release date

Season One

| align="center"|13

| May 22, 2007

Season Two

| align="center"|13

| December 4, 2007

Seasons One and Two

| align="center"|26

| April 7, 2009

Season Three

| align="center"|13

| January 19, 2010

Season Four

| align="center"|13

| July 27, 2010

Reception

In 2005, after its first season, Instant Star was nominated for three Gemini Awards in the category of Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series. Nominations included: (1) Best Series; (2) Best Performance (Alexz Johnson); and (3) Best Direction (Graeme Campbell). The show won the award for Best Direction for the episode You Can't Always Get What You Want.{{cite web

|url=http://academy.ca/hist/history.cfm?shownum=20&winonly=0&awards=2&rtype=3&curstep=4&submit.x=30&submit.y=8

|title=Canada's Awards Database

|publisher=The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television

|access-date=2006-11-13

|archive-date=2007-09-27

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927024320/http://academy.ca/hist/history.cfm?shownum=20&winonly=0&awards=2&rtype=3&curstep=4&submit.x=30&submit.y=8

|url-status=dead

}}

On August 28, 2007, the show received three more Gemini Award nominations in the category of Best Children's or Youth Program or series. Alexz Johnson was again nominated for Best Performance (for the episode, "I Fought the Law"), and there were two more nominations for Best Direction - Graeme Campbell (for "I Fought the Law"), and Pat Williams (for "Personality Crisis").

References

External links

{{IMDb title|0420416|Instant Star}}
[http://www.thegate.ca/news/04324/gallery-instant-star-set-visit/ Instant Star] On-set photo gallery @ TheGATE.ca

Category:2000s Canadian comedy-drama television series

Category:2000s Canadian music television series

Category:2000s Canadian teen drama television series

Category:2000s Canadian teen sitcoms

Category:2004 Canadian television series debuts

Category:2008 Canadian television series endings

Category:CTV Television Network original programming

Category:Television series about fictional musicians

Category:Television series by WildBrain

Category:Television series by Bell Media

Category:Canadian English-language television shows

Category:The N original programming

Category:Serial drama television series

Category:Funimation

Category:Television series by Alliance Atlantis

Category:Canadian television series about teenagers