Zoey 101 to remain on air.

'ZOEY' FACES FINALS
BETTING YOU'LL FORGET HER DELICATE CONDITION
By DON KAPLAN
Jamie Lynn Spears

January 2, 2008 -- FRIDAY is judgment day for Nickelodeon when "Zoey 101" and its knocked-up teen star, Jamie Lynn Spears, return to the air.

But even with Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister pregnant with her on-again, off-again boyfriend's baby - the network has no plans to yank "Zoey" from its schedule, nor are officials there expecting trouble.

"If there hasn't been an outcry from advertisers and viewers yet, there probably won't be," an industry source said yesterday.

It is a strategy that might actually be sound, says Dr. Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.

He says that canceling "Zoey 101" would actually draw more attention to Spears' situation, especially with young children who are fans of the show and aren't aware of its star's personal life.

"They [Nickelodeon] have two options, they could keep it on the front burner and make people - who otherwise would not have noticed - pay attention," Thompson says.

"Or they could just make the assumption that some kids might of heard a little bit about it, but a lot of little kids don't read People magazine," he says.

Since Spears announced she was pregnant last month, Nickelodeon executives believe that the situation doesn't pose much of a threat to the network's "Zoey" franchise, which includes millions of dollars in merchandising and DVD sales.

The fourth season of the series is already filmed, so there will be no need to deal with Spears' pregnancy on the show.

"For the kids that are old enough to be following this thing and reading the tabloids, there is nothing that Nickelodeon is going to be able to do to stop that," Thompson says.

"There are other things besides Nickelodeon that are going to be teaching these kids about the birds and the bees, and if we're depending upon Jamie Lynn Spears' mistake to be the way we teach that to kids via Nickelodeon, then we've got some serious problems," he says.

Thompson points to the 2004 Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime show as an example of how many more people became aware of the story because of how it was handled: "It was unfortunate that it happened, but more kids got exposed to it as a result of the huge controversy that happened afterwards."

He says that while Spears may be a poor role model and the situation is "troublesome, it's not like she killed her boyfriend.

"This is, after all, a child," he says. "Not a brain tumor."

On Friday's double episode, "Goodbye Zoey," Zoey (Spears) finds herself wrestling the decision to relocate to London with her parents, or remain with her friends at the fictional school she attends, Pacific Coast Academy.

"Friendships are put to the test in this exciting TV movie, where the kids face the real-life challenges of making tough decisions and moving to new places," a Nickelodeon press release said last month when the program was added to the network's schedule. "We think the surprise ending will leave viewers riveted and looking forward to the new season of the show."

"Zoey 101" is a tween series that premiered in January 2005. It quickly became a hit among the tween demo and has been the most-watched show on television among kids aged 9-14.


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