A mockumentary comedy about two brothers who are forced to co-exist in the same homeroom class. (Imdb.com)

When I first saw the commercials for Legendary Dudas, I thought it ticked all of the Nick boxes: middle school students, older sibling/younger sibling, apparently wacky friends, school setting.  I didn’t have high hopes for the show.  Turns out I was wrong – I was pleasantly surprised!

The show takes a mockumentary approach to the story of Sam and Tyler Duda.  Tyler’s in 7th grade, Sam is in 6th.  Sam has one very weird friend – Niederprum – who struggles to open his locker.  Tyler’s part of the 7th grade cool crowd.  But Sam has the worst best day ever when he throws paint on the 7th grade wall/mural.  But then surprise, surprise, Sam is instantly promoted to 7th grade (apparently no parental consultation is required).  Welcome back Kelly Perine as Principal Platt, who played Mr Pines on the Thundermans (Tyler’s impression of the principal is awesome).  And 2 thumbs up to Ms. Tolomeo, who actually is a homeroom teacher who is not an idiot, a goof-off or clueless.  (However, who gives homework in homeroom?)

Sam’s move to 7th grade sets up our fish out of water scenario.  We have a good stable of classmates for Tyler: Dallas, a photographer and environmentalist (who gets the line of the show award: “I don’t eat my friends”); Logan, Tyler’s best bud and partner in crime; Gigi, who didnt do enough in the episode to stand out; Sophia, Logan’s girlfriend; and Carter, who competes with Dallas for the most likes online.  No one here seems stereotypical but I worry how the writers will manage to create stories for all of them.

At the end, in order to redeem himself (even after getting his homeroom extra homework), Sam creates an awesome video from the photos and videos he took during his first day of school.  Its a great video – however, because everyone’s all happy at the end, that fish out of water theme may get lost going forward.

Overall, Legendary Dudas is a strong additional to the Nick lineup.  Its well acted, well written and well produced.