How to Rock (2012) User Reviews

The Most Underrated Nickelodeon Show of All Time

[slimer8489 · 5/10 · 13 January 2015]

When this first premiered, I was like, "meh". I was in that stage where I wouldn't care what Nickelodeon pumped out, I would just watch it anyway. I gave it a watch, and I was surprised.

This show is actually pretty good. Unlike the shows that were on Nick at the time, which were lacking in any sort of humor (*cough* iCarly and Victorious *cough*), this show actually has humor, and it's pretty good. I think the actress who played Kacey really had potential, and it's a shame she didn't really go anywhere after this show (well, if she did, I certainly don't hear from her). I know that Noah and Chris went places. They hosted You Gotta See This (another underrated Nick show that had potential), and they acted together in the Nick TV movie, Swindle.

But of course, people had to hate it. I feel that people hate on this show is just because of the fact that it's modern and it's from Nick, the channel that supposedly "ruined their childhoods". Well, I say give this show a chance. It's not terrific, but it's at least good, and not an annoyance like iCarly and Victorious.

How to Rock..sort of

[lillianjuly24 · 2/10 · 1 October 2012]

Even though this television show portrays a positive message, the characters, however, are a bit flat and unoriginal. It is as though they are only 2 dimensional instead of 3. With characters as so, the actors can only go so far and ultimately, it is left dull. We lived or are living or will experience high school, but that doesn't mean that this show should remind us how the media believes of high schoolers. The stereotypes are shown too literally (a blonde who is dumber than a block of wood, a mean girl with no soul, a boy who looks more in the mirror more than Snow White's evil queen, a tomboy who is seen as as the good guy but instead teaches kids to rid of your problems the wrong way, etc.). The storyline is great, but if the characters do not find some original personalities soon, you might as well be watching the weather since it at least varies from place to place, day to day. In conclusion, add depth to the characters, bring something more to them.

The plot line was dumb, the whole show is a stereo- type and ill executed.

[better-together · 1/10 · 4 March 2012]

I am so disappointed. I was so excited for How To Rock! I even had a little countdown calendar "twenty more days until the premiere..." But I was so disappointed in the premiere. The acting was cringe-worthy and the singing was mediocre. The plot line was dumb, the whole show is a stereo- type and ill executed. Cymphonquice is just not ready to carry her own show. She is very pretty, as is the rest of the cast however the jokes are not funny and this show is just unbelievable. I'm sorry, but this show is not good and I can't believe I was so excited for it. Nickelodean needs to learn from the success of Big Time Rush, iCarly, and Victorious and save How To Rock because it truly does have potential.

Pretty decent

[sebweave14 · 7/10 · 11 February 2012]

I stumbled across "How to Rock" while channel surfing and I have to say that I found it pretty decent. The whole high school musicians thing is overdone, but a decent cast can make it work. It's still a bit early to judge, but I think the cast has the potential to grow.

The pilot has the protagonist, a girl named Kacey Simon (Cymphonique Miller) joining a band called "Gravity 4" (renamed "Gravity 5" after Kacey joins) after being exiled from the popular clique known as the "Perfs".

As far as Kacey's character goes, I do like the fact that she didn't start out nice. Once she herself was being ostracized, I think she finally saw that her attitude wasn't good and decided to make a change.

Next there's Molly Garfunkel(Samantha Boscarino), the new leader of the Perfs and the main antagonist. I think Samantha pulled off the villain role quite well and Molly is a character that people will love to hate.

Zander Robbins(Max Schneider) is the new guy. A guitarist who is slightly vain. I like Zander's character, but I think there's some room for him to grow.

Then there's Stevie Baskara (Lulu Antariksa), the snarky tomboy of the group. Stevie knows who she is and is proud of it. I like that about her character and I look forward to seeing where she goes.

Kevin Reed (Christopher O'Neal) and Nelson Baxter (Noah Crawford) are the plucky comedy duo and my personal favorites. They are entertaining and play off of one another very well, but I hope they're given their own personalities instead of being carbon copies of each other.

Lastly, there's Grace King (Halston Sage). She's Molly's right-hand Perf and the stereotypical "dumb blonde". She isn't as bad as Molly and seems to just go along with whatever she does. I don't know what exactly to think of Grace at this point.

Even though the show does have its flaws, it's pretty decent overall. Future episodes will determine if it stays that way.

Oh Nickelodeon! What Happened?!!?

[relious · 1/10 · 12 February 2012]

I have been a huge fan of Nickelodeon my whole life, I've watched every episode of iCarly since it was new. I have also watched shows like Big Time Rush, Victorious, Tuff Puppy. Sometimes when I see a new show being advertised I predict it's going to stink, but I'm usually wrong. I predicted that How To Rock was going to stink. I couldn't be more right, the plot is dull and predictable, the jokes are flat and unfunny. It seems like every show now a days has to have a blonde girl who is dumber than a bag of rocks, it gets old very fast. I seriously feel very let down by Nick. I seriously hope Nickelodeon is done making stupid shows because I don't know what they were thinking when they made this. If you want to watch this show, let me help you. You won't laugh, you won't be having fun. Instead you'll be wishing you were in prison! Yes, It's that bad! Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

10/10 for sure a great show!

[breezykersey · 10/10 · 22 August 2020]

I saw the first 2 episodes when it first came out in 2012 and loved the show instantly but I never really watched it after that. I remembered and thought about the show again this year and decided to binge watch the whole show and it's super amazing just like I remember. I love every single character. The music is bomb. I still jam to it all the time. Cymphonique deserves a lot more! She is a talented beauty indeed.

Not bad at all

[SanteeFats · 7/10 · 15 October 2013]

Wow got some serious haters on this series. I like it. It reminds me of my really old school days. Although I was on the outside of all the cliques. I admit some of the plot points you can see coming but I still think a lot of them are funny. I do support one point some one made. That is about the blonde's being idiots. How To Rock and A.N.T. Farm both feature really stupid blonde characters. A.N.T. Farm does have Olive Doyle as a blonde who is a smarty but that seems to primarily come from her eidetic memory, what would the character be with out the memory, just another dumb blonde? The band scenes are not very well done but are usually funny or cute. I like Stevie as she won't take guff from anyone. I also enjoy Kirk Fox as the teacher. I have seen him doing stand up and he is pretty good. I was sorry to see this series get axed after just one season.

And another one of these cheesy shows

[brent-8692 · 1/10 · 7 February 2012]

Ugh, I'm sorry, but this show made me want to break my television. I'm sitting here watching it with my sister for a second and may I just say: MY GOODNESS! Even she didn't like it. Basically the show is about a girl that sings (Doesn't sound new does it?) and the plot is very unforgettable. It's more like a Disney show more than a Nick show. It has the scene where she sings in front of all her friends and they are cheering. And of course, you get that one adult that dancing like a complete moron. I find the jokes very unfunny, and not very witty. They say the show is recorded in front of a live studio audience. They need to correct that and say the show was recorded in front of recorded laughs. I do not recommend this to neither children nor adults.

YES!

[AnnaPagrati · 10/10 · 25 August 2021]

One of my favorite shows ever! Really nostalgic & such good music!

WHY DO THEY CANCEL GREAT SHOWS?!?!!!!

[theenigma129 · 7/10 · 20 October 2019]

This was one of the greatest shows, nickelodeon ever made!!!. It still one of my favorite shows. Kevin (Chris O'Neal) and nelson (Noah Crawford) are still my most favorite characters. Seriously, I would hang out with Kevin and nelson and have fun with them almost every day!!!. Also,. Still wish I can have a CD of the gang's music. Was hopin' that the series would last for like more then 4 or 5 seasons! Because that's good it was to me. I love to see a family reunion of the whole gang. Because they know "how to rock" and "hold it down".

Terrible, terrible show. One of the worst Nick sitcoms.

[PopcornSugar33 · 16 September 2015]

Another crappy and unfunny Nickelodeon sitcom like Fred: The Show, Bucket & Skinner, Marvin, Marvin and many others. Dear God...This show is beyond horrible.

The only reason this show was made was sell itunes music singles and CDs to cash in on the music/singing show era of Nick and Disney. This show came too late when that era started to die out. I also felt like this show was trying to the next Victorious and it failed miserably.

The lead actress can't act and her character is annoying and unlikable and only has guest appearances and a starring role show on Nickelodeon because a few years earlier her older brother Lil Romeo had his own Nickelodeon show "The Romeo Show" which was god awful too. Nepotism much? Neither have acting or singing talent.

The rest of the characters suck too. We got the bitchy mean girl and her idiot blonde sidekick, the bland pretty boy/love interest, the sensible tomboy, the two comic reliefs one a goofy looking white kid and a token black guy. Neither are funny, just cringe-worthy.

Every episode was the same and repetitive. Molly and Kacey continue rivaling each other, Kacey becomes selfish and self centered in some way, her friends get mad at her, she apologizes and then Kacey learns her lesson in the end and they friends again. Yawn....

Overall, it's unfunny, terrible acting, cheap sets, lame plots ( a whole episode about fighting over a lunch table spot, seriously?), the songs suck, its boring and just generic and cliché. Glad this garbage got canceled after one season. Good riddance!

Waist of time

[funnyfrankie · 1/10 · 3 February 2014]

I am a 30 year old entrepreneur who was browsing though the rubbish that our youth waists there time with today. One of those shows was how to rock. I viewed a few episodes on my Christmas holiday and I have come up with a respectful conclusion. This show sucks. It features a thug based girl named Casey or something like that and her adventures of writing music that sounds like a demon shouting in your ear. It is utterly horrible. Also it's all about trying her trying to beat some lady named Molly in all of the stupid antics that they do. Also I have noticed that all of the characters are poorly scripted and everyone refers to them as "nerds". For once I agree. It is also very stereotypical towards blonde women, referring to them as "mentally slow" I think that blonde women are very smart indeed. In conclusion do not view this television program because it is a waist of time and cable bill. Also do not watch this show if you don't want to be referred as a " common dandy"

Victorious rip-off

[pinkpegasus-70629 · 1/10 · 17 November 2020]

You guys know the old show Victorious, well, this is like a rip-off of that show, the jokes are to boring, lame & very unfunny. DO NOT WATCH IT! I REPEAT! DO NOT WATCH IT!, to stereotypical, & annoying.

It ain't that bad

[kirko1664 · 7/10 · 21 April 2023]

I remember watching this show when I was a kid and decided to watch it again and there are a few problems.

The lead character is so unlikeable. Every episode is her fighting with her ex best friend Molly. She is so over dramatic and only cares about herself but she does seem to learn her lesson at the end of every episode.

Kevin and Nelson Stevie and Zander are the best characters. But of course it would be a sitcom without a dumb character.

I must admit the theme song is catchy and I usually skip when they start to sing. Although it was canceled after one season I think it definitely should of lasted more than one season.

I Love The Show

[movie_fan23 · 10/10 · 26 March 2014]

Its funny. I feel better after I watch it. No one dies, gets pregnant, does drugs or is gay. Which disqualifies it for prime time network rubbish. So I like it.

It does not address bullying. So what? Here we have seven kids who are friends (the actors, not the characters) and obviously enjoy doing this show. You have two strikingly beautiful women and (Take note Disney) their equally attractive side-kicks. The guys well not so much, but someone has to be outlandish. And they're all having fun.

It had around 3 million viewers in the first half and then it went down which maybe why they canceled it. I miss it.

The actors carried this show

[modesiresoneye · 7/10 · 19 November 2021]

Alright so I suddenly remembered this show and watched it a few weeks ago. The writing was mostly okay but subpar in a lot of places, the characters never really evolved through the season (apart from Kacey saying she learnt her lesson but making the same mistakes multiple times, if you can count that), many of the jokes didn't land well and a lot of plot points could be seen from a mile away. The music performances often felt awkward and smushed into the plot but the songs were mostly good "Last one standing" and "Only you can be you" being standouts for me and Chris' raps were also very enjoyable, my favourite episodes were the ones that showcased the friendships of Gravity 5 more like "HTR a messy bet", "HTR camping", "HTR a tennis ball", "HTR an election", "HTR a lunchtable", "HTR a yearbook" and "HTR Christmas".

My main attraction then and now were the actors, you could really see and feel the IRL friendships bleeding into the show and giving it more substance. I really enjoyed everyone's performances especially Lulu, Chris and Noah's. The writing and Nick itself failed the actors, they deserved a better show.

Fun

[jasonmichaeldickinson · 10/10 · 11 April 2021]

This was a fun show I Really did enjoy it it was very funny.