Fandom Overview: Big Time Rush

[queenitsy.livejournal.com]

Hello! I'm possibly way too excited to have borrowed the van this month, to rec for Big Time Rush, aka Nickelodeon's delightful boyband/tv show/crosspromotional thing.

Every description of BTR is obligated to start like this: Big Time Rush is the story of four hockey playing best friends from Minnesota who get the chance of a lifetime when megaproducer Gustavo Rocque signs them as his newest boyband.

Which is to say, it's a Nickelodeon sitcom about a boy band, and, Monkees-style, the kids who play the band in the show then became a band in real life, with the same name, who tour singing music that is later featured on the show. The band's music is fun and poppy, while the show itself is genuinely clever and chocked full o' cartoon style hijinks as it both embraces and lovingly parodies boybands.

And come on, you want to see these four dudes on your TV, don't you? They're so dreamy!

The Characters:

KENDALL KNIGHT (played by Kendall Schmidt): The undisputed leader of the band, instigator of most of their shenanigans, and accidental bad boy, Kendall actually had no interest in being a pop star. His dream is to play for the Minnesota Wild. But Gustavo wanted him, and only him, to join his record label. Kendall made him a deal: he'd sign, but not as a solo artist. He'd only take the contract if Gustavo would also sign his three best friends and turn them into a boyband. (And now you know the plot of the pilot, "Big Time Audition.")

Kendall is canonically the most talented of the four, but he doesn't come without issues. Specifically, daddy issue and anger issues. Kendall's father has never actually been mentioned, nearly two full seasons into the show; Kendall and his sister were both raised by their mom, and oh boy, does Kendall have issues with authority figures. He's incredibly clever and a bit of a schemer, occasionally jealous but incredibly loyal, and he tends to give big, dramatic speeches, often involving hockey metaphors.


JAMES DIAMOND (James Maslow): James is the pretty one and knows it. He's always dreamed of being a popstar (literally, his first line in the pilot is, "I had my popstar dream again last night,") and is sure he's about to get his big break when he gets a chance to audition for Gustavo. Instead, the big break goes to Kendall, but when the boys form the band, James is the most dedicated and hardest working.

The thing is, James is generally shallow, not very bright, and completely full of himself -- but underneath that he's also really sweet. He has both a lucky comb and a lucky white V-neck, he carries headshots of himself everywhere, he once called the FBI with a very important hair crisis, and he does more dating than any other character. Also, he once turned himself bright orange with spray tan. It was magical.


LOGAN MITCHELL (Logan Henderson): the smart one. Of the four, Logan is the least natural fit for a boyband (the show makes repeated jokes about how he can't really sing or dance, especially early on when he, uh, actually couldn't sing or dance. Oh, Logan). He's someone who goes to math lectures and science exhibits for fun, and who ends up doing everyone else's homework. His goal in life is to be a doctor, and everyone generally refers to him as a genius.

Logan is not great with girls and yet as soon as they move to LA, he's the one who has a girl attach herself to him. He's fairly awkward, especially when girls are involved, and of the four boys, he's the most likely to show up in drag.


CARLOS GARCIA (Carlos Pena Jr): Carlos is the… other one. At first it seemed like the show couldn't quite make up its mind about what it wanted Carlos to do. Early on, he's more of a wacky tough guy, but as the show hit its stride, it discovered that above all things, Carlos is a sweetheart. He's not very bright, but he's incredibly sincere.

In his own words, Carlos loves summer breezes, winter snowstorms, and seeing cats get what's coming to them. He also loves corn dogs, fruit snacks, and shoe shopping. He's terrible with girls (of the four, he's the only one who's never had a girlfriend, and never been kissed) but he's completely girl crazy. And he always wears a helmet.


GUSTAVO ROCQUE AND KELY WAINRIGHT (Stephen Kramer Glickman, Tanya Chisholm): Gustavo Rocque was the 90s megahit producer behind successful bands like Boyquake, Boyz in the Attic, and Boyzcity; he has 29 platinum records, including such hits as "Girl to My Heart," "Girl Like You," "Hot Girl," "Cold Girl," "Yard Squirrel Christmas" (long story), "Girlzone," "Girlzone Remix," and "Girl, Girl, Girl," which sold three million copies and was #1 for five weeks. But that was the 90s, and he hasn't had a hit in a long time. His boss has given him one last chance to get back on top of the charts, and that chance is Big Time Rush. Gustavo has serious anger issues and is prone to rage blackouts and fits of screaming. He refers to the boys as his dogs and refuses to show them any affection, and he and Kendall are constantly at war. But it's a secretly loving kind of war.

By comparison, relatively little is known about Kelly, and that includes her actual job title. Whatever her title is, her job is clearly Woman Who Gets Things Done. Kelly's the one who handles most of the boy wrangling, getting them to places on time (this often involves use of an airhorn). She also runs Rocque Records' finances and wields its checkbook. But despite being the responsible one, she also gets to partake in the hijinks and physical comedy.


KATIE KNIGHT AND MAMA KNIGHT (Ciara Bravo, Challen Cates): When the boys were offered the gig in Hollywood, Mama Knight (her first name is Jennifer, but it wasn't known for a long time and so most of the fandom still refers to her as Mama Knight) came along as their parent/guardian/stage mom. Katie got dragged along for the ride. And while Mama Knight is generally great (a loving authority figure, affectionate towards all the kids, not super smart but extremely competent at handling teenagers), honestly, Katie is the best. Nearly e very single person who watches the show agrees. Katie is 10 in the first season, but she's the smartest character on the show. She's obsessed with money and frequently comes up with get rich quick schemes -- which always work. (Mama Knight makes her put most of the money she makes away in a college fund.) She's frequently the one who saves her brother when he gets in over his head. She's the only one who's a match for Griffin, the evil (and probably sociopathic) CEO who owns Rocque Records. Katie plans to run Hollywood someday, and absolutely everyone on the show agrees that she's capable of it. (Seriously. Katie is amazing.)


JO TAYLOR (Katelyn Tarver): Jo is introduced early-ish in the first season, and though the boys all initially fight over her, after many shenanigans she ends up dating Kendall. She's an aspiring actress whose career takes off over the course of the show, which makes her relationship with Kendall pretty complicated. She's also a match for Kendall in almost every way. They don't have a lot in common (she doesn't even like hockey!) but they're both clever schemers. They bicker hilariously because they're so much alike, and they care about each other a lot. (The actress eventually left the show, sadly, and the episode where the character leaves is genuinely heartwrenching.)


CAMILLE (Erin Sanders): Camille is an over-the-top method actress who lives at the Palm Woods, the same temporary residence (motto: "home of the future famous") that the boys do. She's been around Hollywood for awhile and knows the industry ropes. She answers the boys' questions, helps them out with their schemes, and is hilarious and delightful as she does it. And although she's established early on as a love interest for Logan, she never functions primarily as his girlfriend -- she's shown as having friendships with all the guys, which includes episodes where her plotlines don't intersect with Logan's at all. (That's pretty rare for female characters on boy-centered shows, so I just wanted to note it -- Camille is awesome.)


There are a ton of other recurring characters on the show -- Griffin, the aforementioned menacing CEO; Guitar Dude, who lives at the Palm Woods and, well, plays guitar; the Jennifers, the Palm Woods' resident mean girls; Jett Stetson, Kendall's hilarious nemesis; Tyler, a kid actor who's constantly avoiding his stage mom; Mr. Bitters and Buddha Bob, the Palm Woods' manager and groundskeeper respectively; and plenty more. It's the kind of show where a character with one or two lines in an early episode might turn out to be crucial later on, or where a character who seems like a one-off guest star might turn up in a later episode. The Big Time Rush universe is dense and detailed, filled with not only hilarious characters, but lots of parodies (Pop Tiger magazine, the Varsity Vampire franchise starring Dak Zevon, Cuda Action Tan Man Spray, children's television stars The Ziggle Zaggles, reality shows like Rickshaw Cops, and on and on and on). It's just a fun universe to spend time in, which is part of why the show is so charming.

Overview

As was mentioned, the boys became a band and moved to LA after Kendall talked Gustavo into taking all four of them instead of just him. From there, the show takes the boys through the trials and tribulations of becoming a boyband. They learn to sing, they learn to dance, they record demos and then an album, they go on tour, and through it all they always, always, always have hijinks. While the show is full of callbacks to earlier episodes, there aren't a lot of really ongoing plots except the relationships. Sooo let us skip to that (mild spoilers included)…

The Ships

One of many great things about the show is that it's truly character driven. The boys have all been teamed up in every variation of twosomes at some point, and they all love each other a lot (a lot), so you can honestly pick your two favorites (or the two you find the most attractive) and smoosh 'em together, if slash is your thing. But first, let's look at the canon pairings.

KENADLL/JO
Jo is introduced in "Big Time Love Song," in which the boys all fight over her; to get them to stop she tells them she has a boyfriend already, but that's very much a lie. In the next episode, "Big Time Break," she and Kendall begin to hang out, he catches her in her lie, they bicker, and end up agreeing to see a movie together. Their relationship progresses, eventually becoming official, featuring a first kiss, etc, etc. As they show progresses, they deal with a lot of issues (jealousy, distance, being too busy to see each other regularly…) but stay together until "Big Time Break Up," in which Jo leaves the Palm Woods to accept the role of a lifetime -- in a movie franchise that's filming in New Zealand for the next three years. Kendall encourages her to go, even though they're both heartbroken, and Kendall misses her desperately through the next few episodes.


LOGAN/CAMILLE
Camille is introduced in the pilot as an over-the-top method actress with a flair for the dramatic and a love of slapping people soap opera-style, and within the next few episodes she makes it clear she likes Logan. (Mostly she makes that clear by grabbing him and kissing him, leaving him stunned but pleased.) It takes awhile, but eventually he returns her feelings, with an entire episode ("Big Time Dance") centered around his inability to ask her out without it blowing up in his face in increasingly hilarious ways.

They stay together for awhile, but early in the second season ("Big Time Girlfriends," one of my very favorite episodes) Camille accidentally kisses James while preparing for an audition. Logan is, understandably, really upset when they 'fess up, which leads to him a) dueling with James (yes, you read that right, dueling); and b) breaking up with Camille, even though he still likes her. The rest of the second season has them in an awkward, on-again, off-again limbo where they seem to have feelings for each other but can't quite get their acts together about it.


Not Quite Canon, But…

JAMES/CAMILLE (I include them largely because they're my OTP. What? They did kiss once, canonically!)
Early in the first season, James asks Camille to be his acting coach, and when they audition for a show together, he gets cast and she doesn't -- but he passes on the role without telling her, because he doesn't want her to be upset. Then, as mentioned, they accidentally kiss early in the second season, leading to her breakup with Logan. They get paired up together platonically on occasion after that, and are always fun when they play off each other. They're both a little ridiculous and over the top, and they have fantastic chemistry. (Episodes for this pairing: "Big Time Break," "Big Time Girlfriends," "Big Time Beach Party.")


The Slash. Oh, The Slash…

(This is an outline to all the permutations between the boys -- obviously some pairings are more popular than others, and some are my personal favorites, but the truth is that you honestly can point to canon and find moments for every single pairing here.)

KENDALL/JAMES
This is probably the pairing with the most natural, internal conflict to it -- Kendall is handed James' dream in the pilot, after all. And in the season one finale they get into an enormous fight over it, which actually breaks up the band (spoiler: they get back together). It isn't just that, though. Kendall and James are hypercompetitive with each other, fighting about anything and everything (who will get the girl? who can write a better song? who will be prom king???) while remaining best friends who share a lot of personal space. (Episodes to watch for this pairing: "Big Time Audition," "Big Time Terror," "Big Time Concert," "Big Time Song Writers," "Big Time Prom Kings.")


KENDALL/LOGAN
Kendall is the band's clever, people-smart, loud, confident leader. Logan is book-smart, indecisive, panics under pressure, and is a bit risk averse. When you toss them together, Logan can ground Kendall and keep him from going totally overboard, and Kendall can push Logan out of his comfort zone and help him relax. They were particularly paired together early on and throughout the first season of the show. (Episodes for this pairing: "Big Time Crib," "Big Time Demos," "Big Time Jobs.")


KENALL/CARLOS
Kendall is the leader of the band, and Carlos is absolutely, 100% loyal to him. Carlos will follow Kendall anywhere, and Kendall is perfectly happy to take responsibility for Carlos' general life and happiness. (Episodes for this pairing: "Big Time Fans," "Big Time Song Writers.")


JAMES/LOGAN
Logan is an uptight genius who's not very good with girls; James is shallow and kinda dumb but very good with girls. They're first written together because of that whole girl thing, by the way, with James attempting to coach Logan through asking out Camille in the first season. Early in the second, starting with "Girlfriends," they get pushed together by the show a lot -- and hilariously. There's that time they have to duel, and that time Mama Knight keeps walking in on them rolling around on top of each other, and that time Logan inspires James' love song, and that time Logan accidentally steals James' swagger and James gets so flustered by Logan's newfound hotness that he passes out, or that whole incident with the prom… As of now, they're probably the twosome that gets pushed together the most in episodes, and also probably the most popular pairing in the fandom. (Episodes for this pairing: "Big Time Dance," "Big Time Girlfriends," "Big Time Sneakers," "Big Time Guru," "Big Time Song Writers," "Big Time Prom Kings.")


JAMES/CARLOS
James and Carlos have the most fun together. They're both people persons (people people?) who like to hang out and party. And while they aren't the brightest boys in the group, man, they really can throw a good party. In fact, they dub themselves The Hollywood Super Party Kings of Hollywood. They are lovable goofballs who can go completely over the top together and have a great time doing it. (Episodes for this pairing: "Big Time Party," "Welcome Back Big Time," "Green Time Rush," "Big Time Rocker," "Big Time Contest.")


LOGAN/CARLOS
Again, let me say, Logan is smart and uptight; Carlos is not so smart and definitely not uptight. It isn't just that opposites attract, though -- Carlos very much brings out Logan's fun side. When they bicker, it's delightful, and when they team up, it's hilarious. Carlos is the one who drags Logan away from his otherwise rational thought process, making it seem like a perfectly feasible, great idea to hunt ghosts or search for buried treasure. (Episodes for this pairing: "Big Time Photoshoot," for the desert island running gag, "Big Time Terror," "Big Time Sparks," "Big Time Beach Party.")

OT4
It's like this: these are four guys who love each other. Love each other. They've been best friends since at least third grade. They do everything together. They live together. They sing and dance with each other. They have no sense of personal space or boundaries with one another. Heck, when Kendall realizes he forgot to give Jo a goodbye kiss in "Big Time Break Up," every other member of the band panics on his behalf, all of them declaring, "We've got to go kiss Jo!" They're always there for each other, no matter what, and oh yeah, they're all super attractive and they touch each other all the time. Just sayin'. (Episodes that focus on them as a foursome, rather than broken into groups: "Big Time Mansion," "Big Time Blogger," "Big Time Live." Episodes where the moral of the story is that they all need to stick together: "Big Time Bad Boy," "Big Time Terror," "Big Time Concert" (AND HOW), "Big Time Crush," "Big Time Reality," "Big Time Moms" … and on and on. This is a show is about four guys who adore each other, so if you like more than two in your romance, this might be for you.)

The Femmeslash

While they're rarely the focus of the show in and of themselves, every female character on Big Time Rush is great, and they get paired up plenty, too.

JO/CAMILLE
Jo and Camille become friends almost immediately after Jo moves in to the Palm Woods, and they're occasionally spotted hanging out together without the boys around. They're both very focused on their careers, Camille with her constant string of auditions and Jo with her exciting big break. They're both a little bit scheming (Jo to get things accomplished, Camille mostly because it's fun), and while they both love the guys, they're also both fully aware that the guys can be ridiculous.


LUCY/CAMILLE
Lucy was introduced late in season two, after Jo left, and as of now she's only appeared in two episodes (but seems likely to come back for more). There isn't much for this pairing fic-wise yet, but it seems like it's up and coming, since fans have been discussing it a lot. Lucy is a rockstar who seems to have no use for the boys -- and she's the only character who has her own apartment. She and Camille seem to hit it off immediately, and the final shot of Lucy's first episode as the two of them falling on top of each other, which caused a lot of watchers to take notice. ("Big Time Rocker.") In Lucy's second episode, she thinks Camille and Kendall are dating, and it's not much of a stretch to think she's a bit jealous. Of Kendall. ("Big Time Secrets.")

MERCEDES/CAMILLE and MERCEDES/JO
Mercedes is the daughter of the sociopathic CEO who runs Rocque Records. In her very own words, she's "a spoiled, rich bully who dresses hot," and she loves manipulating people for fun -- and she's also extremely intelligent. And when she shows up in fic, she's paired off with Camille or Jo much more often than she's paired with any of the boys (even though she briefly dates three of the four of them. Well, dates-ish). (Episodes: "Big Time Demos," "Big Time Party.")

And there are plenty, plenty more pairings that I didn't mention here, a lot of them involving the peripheral characters. (Logan/Guitar Dude! Kendal/Jett Stetson! Carlos/Stephanie King! Etc! Etc!) They are all also totally fun and entertaining, there are simply too many for me to cover.

Fandom Resources

Have I convinced you? Well, if I haven't, hopefully the actual recs I share this month will, but if you're curious in the mean time…

ON LJ:
bigtimerush: the main LJ community for the show, the band, fandom, etc.
palmwoods: a slash fic community.
btr_kink: kink meme!
logan_james: a community for all things James/Logan.

OTHER:
There's plenty on tumblr but I am not really hip enough to understand other people's tumbln' ways. But I do enjoy Big Time Gifs and one shippy tumblr, Kames to the Rescue (Kendall/James and Logan/Carlos).

I haven't spent much time there, but there are nearly 9,000 fics at FFnet's section and a handful over at AO3.

Aaaaand I have a fairly lengthy personal recs list, though it skews heavily towards my favorite pairings, and of course, I'll be culling from it for the rest of the month. But there it is.

SO IN SHORT…

Big Time Rush is hilarious and fun, cleverly written, well acted. The music is toe-tappingly catchy, the characters are delightful, and the actors/band members are pretty endearing. The fandom is small but full of awesomeness, and I hope you'll come play with us.

Character images and a few others are caps by sweetestorture; promo pics are from bigtimerushtv.com.