First, I would just like to say that, in the tradition of "Pete and Pete," Will McRobb has truly made an intelligent, entertaining, relatable show for children and young teenagers. I thought the pilot was rather lackluster. (Let's be honest. The pilot was horrible.) But every episode since has been excellent and earnest. However, my only complaint about the show is that you have to suspend your disbelief to watch it.
Why do you have to suspend your disbelief? Not because four intelligent teenagers couldn't run a pirate radio station, but because of the inconsistencies on the show. First, I understand that the show is produced in Canada, so there is no FCC. However, Canada is a civilized, Western nation with its own system of radio regulation, so you can't just set up an antenna and start broadcasting without a license. In one episode, Ray (Pronto) even admits on the air that they are unlicensed. So, in theory, if one were running an illegal radio station, one wouldn't want to make it easy to be caught. So how can you run a pirate radio station with a call-in line?! Even if the number is unlisted, it would be extraordinarily easy for the police or any other techno-savvy person to trace it. In the episode where Principal Waller was having the graffiti investigated by the police, or at least was about to, don't you think the first thing the police would do would be to trace the phone number? In addition, if Waller really wanted RFR off the air that badly, he could just report them to Canada's equivalent of the FCC, and they would trace the phone number. And even if they were illegally tapping into a phone number that wasn't theirs, it would still be an easy matter for the police to trace where these taps were coming from, especially if RFR uses the same phone number each time.
Again, I love Radio Free Roscoe. I think it's an excellent, well-written show, and that the entire cast has talent, (especially Kate Todd, who I hope will really be going places). However, the show just doesn't make any sense. Though, I suppose you can write it off to Will McRobb's penchant for abstraction, a la Pete and Pete.
Why do you have to suspend your disbelief? Not because four intelligent teenagers couldn't run a pirate radio station, but because of the inconsistencies on the show. First, I understand that the show is produced in Canada, so there is no FCC. However, Canada is a civilized, Western nation with its own system of radio regulation, so you can't just set up an antenna and start broadcasting without a license. In one episode, Ray (Pronto) even admits on the air that they are unlicensed. So, in theory, if one were running an illegal radio station, one wouldn't want to make it easy to be caught. So how can you run a pirate radio station with a call-in line?! Even if the number is unlisted, it would be extraordinarily easy for the police or any other techno-savvy person to trace it. In the episode where Principal Waller was having the graffiti investigated by the police, or at least was about to, don't you think the first thing the police would do would be to trace the phone number? In addition, if Waller really wanted RFR off the air that badly, he could just report them to Canada's equivalent of the FCC, and they would trace the phone number. And even if they were illegally tapping into a phone number that wasn't theirs, it would still be an easy matter for the police to trace where these taps were coming from, especially if RFR uses the same phone number each time.
Again, I love Radio Free Roscoe. I think it's an excellent, well-written show, and that the entire cast has talent, (especially Kate Todd, who I hope will really be going places). However, the show just doesn't make any sense. Though, I suppose you can write it off to Will McRobb's penchant for abstraction, a la Pete and Pete.