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Gene Simmons' My Dad the Rock Star

© Nicholas Moreau

Basic facts

MY DAD THE ROCK STAR
The premise: The son of rock star has a tough time leading a normal life.
Target Age: 6-12 years old
Where? Teletoon

Review

Think of history's greatest TV dads.

My Three Son's Steve Douglas. Sanford and Son's Fred G. Sanford. The Waltons' John Walton. Ponderosa's Ben Cartwright. American Dream's Jack Pryor. Little House on the Prairie's Charles Ingalls. The Andy Griffith Show's Andy Taylor. Leave it To Beaver's Ward Cleaver.

Strange, isn't it, that none of them have green hair.

Welcome to the neighbourhood of Silent Springs one of TV's best ever dads. Rock Zilla is a newly retired superstar rocker. Seven-foot-tall, fire breathing, billionaire, that sort of rock star. A household name, he's decided to go into semi-retirement, and settle down in the quiet suburbs. His son Willy is relieved-- finally he won't have to live life as he has for the past twelve years of his existance.

Not exactly. This new whole world take a lot of adjusting to. The Zillas just kinda stick out in the small town, with their black mansion, tourbus and limousine. The road ahead for Willy proves to be bumpy as a rural route, as he tries desperately to fit in.

In the premiere, Willy tried to keep his identity a secret from the school, registering in as Willy Zillowski. Luckly, he quickly makes the friends of Alissa and Quincy.

Before I continue, does Rock Zilla of the new Teletoon cartoon "My Dad the Rock Star" remind you of any real-life rock stars? The character was created around the essence of the larger-than-life Gene Simmons of heavy-metal KISS fame. Gene himself is a father, and was inspired to conceive this great cartoon, based on his own family life.

"Everybody's got a family they think are weird, but the real truth is that my son Nick has a mom and dad who are especially weird," laughed Simmons. "His mom's a [Playboy] Playmate, that's Shannon Tweed, my own Canadian content, and his dad is seven feet tall with Godzilla boots who sticks out his tongue for a living."

Simmons had actually once approached the then president of Nelvana, Toper Taylor, about the idea of doing a KISS cartoon. "We couldn't come to terms on that concept, but Toper Taylor and I liked each other, and we started discussing my peculiar home life, and the funny stuff that's always happening."

Gene Simmons is much nicer than you'd likely expect from a shock rocker/multi-millionaire, but behind the make-up, Gene remains at heart a hard-working immigrant kid who just wants to make his mom happy. This proud spirit, as well as the extreme, zany anti-normalness of Gene Simmons that you can see in Rock Zilla.

The copyright of the article Gene Simmons' My Dad the Rock Star in Family Entertainment is owned by Nicholas Moreau. Permission to republish Gene Simmons' My Dad the Rock Star in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.