Disney Channel Breaks the Mold With ‘Just Roll With It’
Disney Channel has ordered “Just Roll With It,” an innovative multi-camera sitcom from co-showrunners Adam Small and Trevor Moore (Disney XD’s “Walk the Prank”). The first-of-its-kind format is a hybrid of a scripted family comedy and an improvisational comedy, in which the studio audience members select the outcome of certain scenes while the cast just rolls with it.
“The multi-camera sitcom format has worked as a staple of TV for decades. So naturally, we aimed to totally upend it,” said Jonas Agin, vice president, Original Series, Disney Channels. “By introducing an element of audience interactivity that subverts the expectations of not only the viewers but also the cast, ‘Just Roll With It’ is a true step in the evolution of comedic storytelling.”
Filmed before a studio audience, the unique series is centered around the blended Bennett-Blatt family and features step-siblings Blair and Owen, who could not be more different. Blair, played by Kaylin Hayman (“One Day at a Time”), often a rebel without a cause, is the polar opposite of her strict, regimented, ex-military mom Rachel, played by Suzi Barrett (“Kirby Buckets”). Ramon Reed (Broadway musical “The Lion King”) plays Owen, a born athlete with a taste for scheduling and organization, who is always trying to clean up his creative and charismatic father and morning radio show host Byron, played by Tobie Windham (“Walk the Prank”). Despite their differences, the Bennett-Blatt clan, and the actors who play them, know how to take whatever life – and the studio audience – throws at them … and “Just Roll With It.”
At the sound of a horn, the actors break from the scene and go backstage while the audience decides which of three outrageous stunts will take place next. Once votes are cast electronically, the actors return to the stage to continue the scene, waiting for the next surprise, which could be anything from being asked to eat a disgusting sardine, grasshopper and ice cream burrito to a man falling through the roof of the Bennett-Blatt home.
“Just Roll With It” is a production of Kenwood TV Productions, Inc. Adam Small and Trevor Moore serve as Executive Producers.