I am Frankie: Nickelodeon’s new sci-fi drama

Can Nickelodeon’s latest original drama succeed on a network that has not done very well with live action dramas?

Nickelodeon is known for their numerous live action sitcoms, Nicktoons, and Power Rangers, but it has not been a good channel for live action dramas. Their last original drama was the short-lived anthology series Deadtime Stories in 2013. The network’s latest attempt at drama may not be very original but originates from an unexpected source.

I Am Frankie is a half-hour science fiction drama which centers around the titular character living as a normal teenage girl while hiding the fact that she is an android. She lives with the Gaines family which consists of her mother/creator Dr. Sigourney Gaines, who she refers to as “Dr. Mom”, father Will, and little sister Jenny. She goes to high school while a man named Mr. Kingston, the head of EGG, wants her back so the company can use her as a weapon.

The show is based on the Colombian telenovela Yo soy Franky, which originally aired on Nickelodeon’s Latin American networks and ran for two seasons consisting of 160 episodes from September 2015 to December 2016. Based on short clips available on the network’s YouTube channel, it appeared to have been a standard soap opera with some elements of science fiction.

Longtime Nickelodeon fans may at first consider both shows to be a rip-off of the Nicktoon My Life as a Teenage Robot, which was also about a female robot living as a teenager and going to school. However, there is a big difference between the Nicktoon and live action series. In Teenage Robot, the main character does nothing to hide the fact that she is a robot. In Frankie, the titular character tries her best to act like a normal human being.

This show’s first episode, which was recently made available on the network’s On Demand services and Nick.com, does a decent job of setting up the premise and characters but had terrible pacing.

It spends less than seven minutes introducing Frankie, Dr. Gaines, and EGG when it decides to show the rest of the Gaines family for most of the episode. The high school setting and its respective characters are barely introduced when the episode abruptly ends. Without giving away any spoilers, it ended on a really odd moment that jeopardizes the entire premise.

The episode could have fixed its pacing issues if it were an hour-long instead of a half-hour, but it was likely done to quickly introduce everything to viewers and make sure not to lose their attention. To compare it with The Loud House, one of the network’s Nicktoons, that show is able to present an entire story within a quarter-hour and not feel at all rushed.

The show’s cast mostly consists of actors who have only appeared in either bit parts or short films. Alex Hook, who plays the titular character, has only previously appeared in two TV documentaries and the TV film A Nutcracker Christmas. The show’s most notable actor is Nicole Alyse Nelson, who plays Dayton Reyes and previously appeared in the web series Mr. Student Body President.

I Am Frankie has the potential to be Nickelodeon’s next big hit. If the network does a good job promoting the show and it can resolve its pacing issues, it could be just as successful as their other shows.

The first episode is available to watch on the network’s On Demand services. The show will premiere on Nickelodeon on Monday, September 11.

What do you think about the show? If you have seen the original Yo soy Franky, do you think this remake will be just as good as the telenovela? Feel free to respond down in the comments section.