Julian Cook

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The source describes *The Naked Brothers Band* as a mockumentary depicting the daily lives of Polly Draper's sons leading a faux world-renowned children's rock band in New York City. The storyline is an embellished satire of their real lives, acknowledging the fictional presence of a camera. Nat Wolff serves as the lead singer-songwriter and Alex Wolff as the drummer. The show features other band members including Allie DiMeco, Thomas Batuello, David Levi, Cooper Pillot, and Qaasim Middleton, who had no prior acquaintance with the family. Michael Wolff plays their widowed accordion-playing father, and Jesse Draper portrays the babysitter. The series is a spin-off of Draper's film of the same name, which premiered in January 2007.

In Their Own Story

Development began when Nat and Alex came out of a bathtub stating, 'We're the naked brothers band!' Polly Draper later revived this title for the show after Nat had briefly changed it to The Silver Boulders. In mid-2004, Draper filmed an independent mockumentary movie, introducing the band as music icons like the Beatles, with interior scenes shot in the family's apartment and cameos from celebrity friends. Albie Hecht saw this film at the Hamptons International Film Festival in late 2005, where it received high applause. He sold it to Nickelodeon, leading to the series premiere on February 3, 2007, which garnered 3.7 million viewers and became the network's highest-rated premiere in seven years. The series concluded after three seasons because the network began placing high shooting demands that would interfere with the siblings' schooling.

Reader's Guide

Principal photography took place at Kidzhouse Entertainment in Brooklyn over the summer and early fall to allow the boys to attend private school. Polly Draper served as showrunner, head writer, and director alongside Melanie Mayron and Jonathan Judge. The show was noted for not using a laugh track. Nat's music, which he has been composing at the piano from the time he was 5, emboldens the scripts Draper writes for many of the episodes. Production included specific moments such as Nat mistakenly kissing Allie DiMeco during the filming of the first season's ninth episode 'First Kiss (On the Lips, That is)' due to confusion over instructions. The series aired on Nickelodeon from February 3, 2007, to June 13, 2009.

Did You Know?

• The series title derived from an incident when the brothers were very young: they came out of the bathtub and said, 'We're the naked brothers band!'
• The show's premiere on February 3, 2007, garnered 3.7 million viewers and delivered Nickelodeon's highest-rated premiere in seven years.
• Principal photography took place at Kidzhouse Entertainment in Brooklyn over the summer and early fall so the boys could attend private school.
• The show did not use a laugh track, which Draper acknowledges differs from other children's shows.
• Nat Wolff has been composing music at the piano from the time he was 5, and his music emboldens the scripts Draper writes for many episodes.