I first saw previews for this show a few months ago when I only watched Noggin because of Daria. The commercials sparked not just a curiosity but an actual hope that kids shows haven't gone down the toilet completely.
I must say that I think this may be one of the best kids shows ever created. Will McRobb, creator of Pete and Pete, is the brains behind this great show.
The best thing about this show is the plot. Four kids who attend Roscoe High School build a radio station to have their voices be heard, not to protest anything. They give advice to callers, talk about events at their school, and play music that isn't played on their local Top 40 station. No Nelly or 50 Cent on this station. (Thank God)
However, for the sake of the station's integrity they never say their real names on the air and never reveal their aliases to other people.
They express and defend their own opinions but don't come off as whiny, close-minded brats. When someone does something to compromise that right they love, they take action against it. The center of one episode was a protest against a rule banning headphone usage in school. (Which I relate to because CD players are banned on campus at my school)
As important as the station is to the show and the characters, it isn't an all-consuming factor. The characters go through the same crap that all teens have to go through like relationship trouble. Even though that idea has been done to death, this show tells kids that a broken heart is not the end of the world. And that is something so refreshing, I can't begin to tell you.
Radio Free Roscoe is a great blend of originality, empathy, and humor. There have only been four or five episodes so far but I've enjoyed all of them. I've laughed during each one, related to lots of the situations that the kids go through and it always ends with me being satisfied and wanting more.
I don't know if there are more episodes in the works or if the handful of episodes that air on Noggin are all there is. I honestly think that this is the best kids show that's come out since Hey Arnold! and Noggin has a real winner on their hands.
