True Jackson, VP is an
American television series aimed at teenagers, which premiered on November 8, 2008 and is currently aired on
Nickelodeon. The theme song is written by
Toby Gad and
Keke Palmer and performed by Keke Palmer. The show premiered following the
iCarly TV movie
iGo to Japan. This show also premiered on YTV on March 5, 2009 and after shows every Thursday, but recently changed to Friday to accommodate with
iCarly & Big Fun Fridays. The show's second season premiered on November 14, 2009. The series is shot in front of a live
studio audience, which is mentioned at the start of each episode.
The series stars Keke Palmer as title character True Jackson, who becomes the vice president of youth apparel at the
fashion house MadStyle.
Ashley Argota and
Matt Shively play Lulu and Ryan, True's best friends.
Danielle Bisutti plays Amanda, the cranky vice president of women's wear, and often works against True. Many episodes include the ways she tries to get True fired, so she can once again shine at MadStyle (or use her office as a personal gym). As the series has progressed however her demeanor has lightened around True, though both remain competitive with each other.
The pilot episode garnered 4.8 million viewers on its first airing and set network records among kids 6-11, adolescents 9-14 and several other demos.
['ICARLY' BREAKS RECORDS] The show premiered on
Nickelodeon UK on May 25, 2009 and on
Nickelodeon Latin America on August 3, 2009.
Plot
Fifteen-year-old True Jackson was selling sandwiches with her friend Ryan in the fashion district in New York City. When she is complimented by fashion designer Max Madigan, founder and CEO of MadStyle, Max realizes the clothes True is wearing are his designs, but True had altered them to suit her own purposes. Max likes the altered design, and hires True to be the vice president of his fashion house's youth apparel division.
True hires her best (but extremely unfocused) friend, Lulu, to be her assistant. With Lulu's and Ryan's help, True works to be the best she can be despite various obstacles such as co-worker Amanda, who is less than enthusiastic to be working with a child.
Cast
| Character
| Actor/Actress
| Info
|
| True Jackson
| Keke Palmer
| True is the Vice President of youth fashion at MadStyle, where she works, and gets into mishaps and has a lot of fun with her friends. Also has a crush on Jimmy.
|
| Louise "Lulu" Johnson
| Ashley Argota
| Lulu is the best friend and secretary–assistant of True. She tends to be very crazy, loud, and clueless. She is easily distracted as seen in every episode. Although not many people believe it, she is very intelligent and loves math. She is very wealthy due to her stock investments (though she actually has no idea how economics works, and invests in companies because they have funny names, such as Glartock and Bickles)
|
| Ryan Laserbeam
| Matt Shively
| Ryan Laserbeam is another best friend of True. Though he does not have an official job at MadStyle, he always is there to hang out with True and Lulu. Until, he gets a job to work as their website designer (a person who designs and updates the MadStyle web site).
|
| Amanda Cantwell
| Danielle Bisutti
| Amanda is the Vice President of women's fashion. She's a frenemy of True and her friends. They are friends in real life, but enemies during fashion designs and competitions, usually trying to get True in trouble but rarely succeeding. Even though she hides it she thinks True is a fashion expert.
|
| Jimmy Madigan
| Robbie Amell
| Jimmy works the mail cart and is the love interest of True. He is the nephew of Max. Becomes main character in Season 2.
|
| Oscar
| Ron Butler
| Oscar is the main secretary and operator for MadStyle, and works in the lobby of the building. He tends to act and speak in a campy manner.
|
| Max Madigan
| Greg Proops
| Max is the boss and CEO of MadStyle and holds all the meetings and other social events, often glorifying True.
|
| Kopelman
| Dan Kopelman
| It is unknown what his position is at Mad Style, but it is hinted in the episode, Keeping Tabs, he's an executive and he is always thrown out of meetings and treated nastily by Max, whether what he is doing is bad or not. He does not talk on screen. His name is a reference to the show's writer, Dan Kopelman, who also plays the character. He has a nephew that shows a lot of similarities to Kopelman, and he is friends with True, Lulu, and Ryan.
|
Special guest stars
Episodes
DVD Releases
- 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, 13 episodes, plus one episode that never aired, and more.
Clothing Line
In August 2009, a line of clothing inspired by the show called
"MadStyle by True Jackson" was released. The line was aimed at children and teens, the department that True Jackson works in in True Jackson, VP. 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. It is unknown if Nickelodeon plans to release another line of clothing from True Jackson, VP.
Commercials, advertising the clothing line can be seen on
Nickelodeon and
TeenNick. Featured in the commercials, is an
instrumental version of the show's theme song.