NEWSWEEK was invited for an exclusive visit to the set, truly a kid’s paradise, complete with inflatable furniture, pinball machines and basketball hoops. “People would walk into our house,” says the boys’ real-life mom, Polly Draper, who played Ellyn in “Thirtysomething,” “and it’s always really loud and they would say, ‘Someone should do a TV show about your family’.’'
That someone turned out to be her. Draper created, writes and directs “The Naked Brothers Band”–making her the only mother in America who has to tell her boys to “keep the energy up.” Nat plays the introspective singer-songwriter straight man to Alex, his wisecracking brother and drummer. Yes, they play their own instruments and write their own songs. Their dad, Michael Wolff, is thebefuddled parent trying to horn in on his sons’ success with, for instance, an accordion solo.
Nickelodeon had been looking to get into music again, says executive VP Marjorie Cohn. “The show feels so genuine–and a lot of that comes from the relationship between the brothers and their friends. To have the show be completely driven by kids just feels so exciting.”
Sound exhausting for the director and mom? “I think this works so well because–” Draper says. But Nat pipes up before she can finish: “–because we love her!” Somewhere, Shirley Partridge is smiling.
