MTV's boy band parody gets a little serious
IRVINE, Calif. -- Opening for teen singing sensation Britney Spears, the boys were
halfway through their musical number -- complete with synchronized dance steps --
when the microphones went dead.
For most boy bands, it might have spelled disaster.
But for 2gether, it couldn't have been more fitting.
First created to spoof boy groups in an MTV made-for-television movie, 2gether has
crossed into the twilight zone from faux musical act to the real thing.
Well, sort of.
MTV is putting the group back on television beginning at 9 tonight in "2gether: The
Series" -- a "Making the Band" meets "Spinal Tap" with a little bit of soap opera
thrown in.
The show follows the fictional trials and tribulations of five boys who were
handpicked by a man with an eye for good looks and semi-talent to create a boy
group. (Read: boy-band guru Lou Pearlman and the creation of 'N Sync.)
"It was intended as nothing more than a good story," said series co-creator Brian
Gunn. "But the boy-band phenomenon that we thought was going to go away a year
ago is still around ... and young girls are still buying all of it up."
It's a joke that's not lost on the group members, four relative unknowns and Kevin
Farley, the brother of late comedian Chris Farley.
To promote the new show, the band joined Spears at her recent concert in Irvine,
where throngs of screaming adolescent girls surrounded the stage.
"It's a wild thing to watch, to witness. I want to tell these girls, `Listen, you're
staring at a 35-year-old man,' " Farley said in an interview before the performance.
"But I believe most people get the joke."
But to further the joke along, 2gether plays to the humor of the situation.
When their microphones died, their acting skills took over. They improvised their
way through a series of member introductions.
Each of the group's members fills a role in the band similar to those other boy
groups.
Michael Cuccione plays the youngster, dewy-eyed Jason "QT" McKnight. Evan
Farmer takes on the role of leader and all-around hunk, Jerry O'Keefe.
Alex Solowitz plays Mickey Parke, the loudmouthed troublemaker, and Noah Bastian
is the sweet-but-not-too-smart Chad Linus.
Farley was cast as the big brother to the group, Doug Linus -- a chubby, balding guy
who never got over his high school glory days.
And, of course, they all really sing.
Their lyrics, however, are testimony to the parody.
The new album "2Gether Again" -- the first was released after the TV movie --
includes: "The Hardest Part of Breaking Up (Is Getting Back Your Stuff)" and "I
Gave My 24-7 to You."
"The easiest thing to do is point to the Monkees or point to Spinal Tap to try to
explain it," Farmer said. "I guess we're kind of crossing the reality bridge. The big
difference is that we do it a little more comically and a little more frenetically."
Maintaining their own identity may be the biggest problem the members of the group
face.
During the Britney Spears tour, girls screamed for Farmer, Bastian and Cuccione by
their characters' names.
"We're just acting. When I'm on the stage I'm Chad, not Noah," Bastian said.
Farmer, who once toured with a boy group in Russia before switching to acting, says
of what's portrayed in the show, "a lot of this stuff is dead on."
But for those who still question the group's ability, Solowitz simply says: "We fooled
you."
"If they are talking about us not being a real group, the joke's on them," he said.
"We got enough attention for them to be seeing us.
"By CHELSEA J. CARTER - The Associated Press
All content © 2000 The Kansas City Star
