Today Disney+ launches with a bunch of new original series. This past Friday, a preview of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series aired on Disney, ABC and Freeform. Nini (Olivia Rodrigo, Bizaardvark) and Ricky (Joshua Bassett, Stuck in the Middle) have been dating for a year, and just finished their Sophomore year at East High. Nini is heading to theater camp for a month and expresses her love for Ricky. This scares Ricky off, and he suggests they take a break while she’s gone. But when Nini returns for junior year, Ricky discovers that Nini has found the Start of Something New, and is now dating senior EJ (Matt Cornett, Life in Pieces), who’s a jock and a theater star.

The school has a quirky new drama teacher, Miss Jenn (Kate Reinders, Work It), who announces that this year East High will be doing a production of High School Musical, based on the immensely popular Disney Channel Original Movie. Ricky realizes that he can no longer Stick to the Status Quo. He decides he’s got to Get’cha Head in the Game if he wants to win Nini back. So, despite his hatred of musicals, he auditions for the play to show Nini another side of him, in hopes she’ll see him as What I’ve Been Looking For.

I really enjoyed this premiere, which sets up some fun and interesting character dynamics, introducing some love triangles and potential rivalries. Each episode of the series will feature a different song from the musical, and in the premiere that’s fittingly “Start of Something New”. (I’m not sure if the songs will continue follow the chronological order of the film.) It’s been decades since I last saw High School Musical, but this made me want to go back and check it out again—all three of the films should also be available on Disney+ at launch as well!

In today’s premiere, “The Auditions”, Ricky decides to audition for East High’s fall musical in an effort to rekindle his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Nini.

Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording Encore!, Forky Asks a Question, The Mandalorian, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Bless This Mess, mixed-ish, black-ish, This Is Us, The Resident, The Purge, and Treadstone.

For additional suggestions on what to check out tonight, including the series premiere of Encore!, and a new episode of NCIS: New Orleans, check out the If We Controlled Your Remote… 11/12/19 post at TVisMyPacifier.com.