View source for L.A. 7

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox television
| image              = L.A.7logo.jpg
| caption            = ''L.A. 7'' opening titles
| alt_name           = S Club 7 in L.A.
| genre              =
| director           =
| starring           = [[S Club|S Club 7]]<br /> [[Linda Blair]]
| opentheme          = "[[Reach (S Club 7 song)|Reach]]"
| country            = United Kingdom<br />United States
| language           = English
| num_series         = 1
| num_episodes       = 13
| executive_producer =
| runtime            = 25 mins (approx)
| company            = Initial
| network            = [[CBBC]] (on [[BBC One]])
| first_aired        = {{start date|2000|4|6|df=y}}
| last_aired         = {{end date|2000|7|6|df=y}}
| related            = ''[[Artistic Differences]]'',<br>''[[S Club 7: Christmas Special|Christmas Special]]''<br> ''[[Miami 7]]'' (1999)<br>''[[Hollywood 7]]'' (2001)<br>''[[Viva S Club]]'' (2002)
}}
'''''L.A. 7''''' (known as '''''S Club 7 in L.A.''''' in the United States) is the second series in the [[BBC]] television series starring British pop group [[S Club|S Club 7]]. The programme was shown every week on [[CBBC]], from 6 April 2000 to 6 July 2000<ref name="airdate">{{cite web | url=http://catalogue.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/series/L.A.7 | title=BBC Programme Catalogue – L.A. 7 | accessdate=20 October 2007 | publisher=[[BBC]] }}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and stars all seven members of the band as fictionalized versions of themselves. The series featured the star from ''[[The Exorcist (film)|The Exorcist]]'', [[Linda Blair]] as Joni, their landlord.
Like ''[[Miami 7]]'', the show was renamed ''S Club 7 in L.A.'', and was shown on [[Freeform (TV channel)|Fox Family]] in the United States, between 3 June 2000 and 30 September 2000.<ref name="USairdate">{{cite web | url=http://epguides.com/SClub7/ | title=L.A. 7 (A Titles & Air Dates Guide) | accessdate=20 October 2007 | publisher=EpGuides.com}}</ref> United Kingdom reruns of the show would occasionally aired, along with ''[[Miami 7]]'', on now defunct cable channel [[Play UK]].
==Plot==
The second series saw the group enter [[Los Angeles]] hoping to make it big. After leaving Howard and Marvin in [[Miami]], the group bump into Joni (''[[The Exorcist (film)|The Exorcist]]'' star [[Linda Blair]]) who offers to rent them an apartment after she accidentally runs over Bradley on her rollerblades.
Once in Los Angeles, the group have to quickly deal with some of the realities of trying to seek an existence in order to become a pop band. They also start to become more [[Americanization|Americanized]]. In the final episode, they decide to pack up and hit the road after their manager apparently fails to get them a record deal.
==Cast==
===Main===
* [[Tina Barrett]] as Tina
* [[Paul Cattermole]] as Paul
* [[Jon Lee (singer)|Jon Lee]] as Jon
* [[Bradley McIntosh]] as Bradley
* [[Jo O'Meara]] as Jo
* [[Hannah Spearritt]] as Hannah
* [[Rachel Stevens]] as Rachel
* [[Linda Blair]] as Joni Witherspoon
===Recurring===
* [[Paul Kreppel]] as Mr. Walters
==Episodes==
{| class="wikitable" style=width:98%;
|- bgcolor="#FFFFBF"
! width="350"|Title !! align="center"|Original airdate !! United States airdate !! align="center"|S Club sing !! align="center"| No.
|-
| '''"Into the Unknown"''' || align="center"|6 April 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 3 June 2000 || align="center"|"I'll Be There" || align="center"| 14
|-
|colspan="5"| Having decided against returning to England, the group head to [[Los Angeles|L.A.]] On the way, Paul persuades the group to stop off at Ridgeback Woods to pay a visit to his long lost great uncle. The band decide to head into the woods, despite being told that a group of filmmakers had disappeared there previously. Then, the group run out of gas and are forced to stop the night in the woods. This episode parodies ''[[The Blair Witch Project]]'', where a group of filmmakers become lost in the woods.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Clever Camp"''' || align="center"|13 April 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 10 June 2000 || align="center"|"Love Train" || align="center"| 15
|-
|colspan="5"| The band realise that they need money and Paul convinces a professor to give them jobs at his summer camp. The camp happens to be for very intelligent kids, who believe fun involves five-hour astrophysics sessions. S Club 7 decide they need more fun and less study and so they liven up the lessons. The group end up singing around the pool, and have a food fight with the students.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Hello Hollywood"''' || align="center"|20 April 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 17 June 2000 || align="center"|"[[Natural (S Club 7 song)|Natural]]" || align="center"| 16
|-
|colspan="5"| After finally arriving in L.A. to try to find fame and fortune, the gang realise they will need to find an agent to represent them and a place to live. They check into a poor motel, from which they get evicted the following morning. As a last resort, the band decide to sell their beloved Chevy to raise some money. Bradley ends up saving the day, when he gets run over by a manic roller blading ex-hippie, Joni (played by [[Linda Blair]]), who, feeling bad about the accident, invites the band to stay in one of her apartments. The group find an agent who organises for the group to sing in the local café.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Misguided"''' || align="center"|27 April 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 24 June 2000 || align="center"|"I'll Keep Waiting" || align="center"| 17
|-
|colspan="5"| Hannah lands a job as a Hollywood tour guide showing off the mansions of Beverly Hills to tourists. The fact that she does not know whose house is whose is soon forgotten when she catches a burglar breaking into the home of Hollywood film star Tommy DeWitt. Tommy rewards Hannah by taking her out on a date, making the other girls extremely jealous. But she soon discovers that there is no way she could ever love Tommy as much as he loves himself. Meanwhile, Paul finds himself talked into going on a date with Joni to impress her best friend, in order to repay Joni for the rent they cannot afford.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"The News"''' || align="center"|4 May 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 8 July 2000 || align="center"|"Spiritual Love" || align="center"| 18
|-
|colspan="5"| Paul falls in love with Linda, a bossy television newsreader, who constantly talks as if she is reading the news. The rest of the group are not impressed with Paul's new girlfriend, especially when she tells him to leave the band, because "news-reading is the only option". Meanwhile, after Rachel organises a gig at a surfing party, Hannah and Tina try to impress a couple of surfers by pretending they are surfers themselves. Jo also has problems when she cannot get to sleep with others. Jo cannot sleep either with Paul due to his loud snoring, or with Tina and Jon due to their constant chatting, or with Rachel and Hannah due to their extremely messy bedroom, or even with Bradley due to his constant sleep talking, sleep singing, sleep dancing and sleep hoovering.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Prom"''' || align="center"|11 May 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 15 July 2000 || align="center"|"[[Two in a Million/You're My Number One|Two in a Million]]" || align="center"| 19
|-
|colspan="5"| The group decide that their current agent is not much good, so Joni recommends a better one. Their potential new agent decides that Rachel has to take his geeky son, Billy, to the prom in order to secure him as their agent. However, Rachel has already organised a date with the attractive Sam. Luckily Jo, Tina and Hannah are willing to step in and take Sam as their date. But he soon realises that these three girls on one date can be a bit of a handful. Meanwhile, Jon falls in love when he spots a glimpse of a mysterious girl.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"House-Sitting"''' || align="center"|18 May 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 22 July 2000 || align="center"|"Bring the House Down" || align="center"| 20
|-
|colspan="5"| When Joni demands the rent for the apartment, none of the group can afford to pay it. There's nothing to do but to go find work, and so Paul, Jo, and Rachel decide to sign up with a house sitting agency. Their first task is to look after a huge, [[Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California|Bel-Air]] Mansion. The three decide to invite the others over and have a party. It all seems like a great idea until a group of bikers, invited by Tina, show up. The house ends up being trashed and the house sitting agency boss goes absolutely ballistic, just as the house's owner rolls up.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Mr Muscle"''' || align="center"|25 May 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 5 August 2000 || align="center"|"[[Reach (S Club 7 song)|Reach]]" || align="center"| 21
|-
|colspan="5"| Tina gets a job as an exercise instructor down at Muscle Beach, where one of her pupils, Ryan, asks her out on a date. A little later on the same beach, Jon falls out with a bodybuilder type who tries to steal Jon's sunbed when he goes to get ice cream for himself and Rachel. The bodybuilder, who turns out to be Ryan, Tina's date, challenges Jon to an arm wrestle, which Jon agrees to. Tina has to try to persuade Ryan not to arm-wrestle with Jon, but Ryan does not want to look weak to his friends.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Fall Out"''' || align="center"|1 June 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 19 August 2000 || align="center"|"Stand by You" || align="center"| 22
|-
|colspan="5"| Jon gets a job modelling for a catalogue and Rachel and Tina give him posing tips. Brad and Jo apply for the same job at Buddy's Burgers and have to dress up as a burger and a hot dog, but it all ends up in a big fight. Paul and Hannah play chess in order to find out which one of them will wash the dishes, but they also end up falling out over it. Jon's modelling job is a disaster and tempers are really frayed back at the flat, to such an extent that none of the band are talking to each other. However, when Joni returns, she shows the band Jon's advertisement for spot cream, and the gang cannot do anything but make up, and laugh together.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Game Boy"''' || align="center"|8 June 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 9 September 2000 || align="center"|"Cross My Heart" || align="center"| 23
|-
|colspan="5"| Bradley becomes addicted to playing video games. He refuses food, sleeping and puts off the toilet until he reaches the next level. Eventually, the rest of S Club 7 have enough and decide to track down the creator of the game, Spike Donahue, head of a multi-billion computer games empire. That way they hope they can get the cheat codes from him, so that Bradley can get to finish the game. Spike turns out to be an obnoxious thirteen year old, who demands to kiss Hannah or else he will not give them the cheat codes. Meanwhile, Rachel, Jo and Hannah all audition for the same role of Zelda, Warrior Princess, in another video game.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Making Movies"''' || align="center"|15 June 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 16 September 2000
|align="center"|"Someday, Someway"<br />"[[S Club Party]]" || align="center"| 24
|-
|colspan="5"| S Club 7's apartment is overrun by an ant infestation and Joni threatens to throw them out on the Streets. She happens to be emotional because her boyfriend has just dumped her, and is sensitive because of it. To escape from the ants, Joni's temper and the fact that this month's rent is due, Paul suggests that they make a movie. They decide to make a police movie and Jo and Rachel act as their thieves.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Working"''' || align="center"|22 June 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 23 September 2000 || align="center"|"All in Love is Fair" || align="center"| 25
|-
|colspan="5"| S Club 7 accidentally blow all the fuses in their apartment block and have to pay someone to sort it before Joni finds out about it. Luckily, an electrician called Ernie agrees to fix the problem for $200. The group decide to get jobs in order to pay for the bill. Paul gets a paper round, Hannah works as a courier, Tina teaches aerobics in an old people's home, Jon and Jo become DJs on a classical radio station, Rachel becomes a dog walker and Bradley strips off to become a nude model.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"Goodbye, Hollywood"''' || align="center"|6 July 2000<ref name="airdate"/> || 30 September 2000 || align="center"|"Best Friend" || align="center"| 26
|-
|colspan="5"| Joni decides to sell the apartment and so the band have to move out and move on. The group pack their bags and drive off, narrowly missing their agent who has come to tell them that he has gotten them a major record deal. After they miss him, the group drive off to wherever the road takes them.
|}
===Specials===
{| class="wikitable" style=width:98%;
|- bgcolor="#FFFFBF"
! Title !! align="center"|Original airdate !! align="center"|U.S. airdate !! align="center"|S Club sing !! align="center"| No.
|-
| '''"[[Artistic Differences]]"''' || align="center"| 9 September 2000 || align="center"| 11 February 2001 || "[[Reach (S Club 7 song)|Reach]]"<br />"Bring the House Down"<br />"[[Natural (S Club 7 song)|Natural]]"|| align="center"| 1
|-
|colspan="5"|Shortly into driving away from Los Angeles, the group's car breaks down and they are forced to find $2,000 to pay for it and move into a new house offered by Joni in the meantime. The gang hear of a Battle of the Bands concert and decide to enter. However, as Hannah suffers from recurring nightmares about the group splitting up, complications start to ensue, as Rachel becomes a waitress and falls in love with a waiter who wants her to move with him to Las Vegas and open a restaurant together, and Bradley joins a rival boyband competing in the contest, which greatly angers Paul, especially as he is also dealing with his visiting hometown former girlfriend suddenly getting noticed and becoming a model who is more famous than him.
|-
|colspan="5" bgcolor="FF5555"| <!-- Putting in a nice space between episodes -->
|-
| '''"[[S Club 7: Christmas Special|Christmas Special]]"''' || align="center"|24 December 2000 ([[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]) || align="center"| || "Boy Like You"<br />"Perfect Christmas"<br />"[[Two In A Million]]"|| align="center"| 2
|-
|colspan="5"| With the group feeling homesick for Christmas, they decide to try to raise enough money with jobs as a mall Santa and elves and a final gig in L.A. in order to fly back to England, blissfully unaware that a down on his luck music promoter is trying to find them to save his career. However, things go wrong as Hannah, Bradley and Paul are involved in a car crash, leaving the group with a dilemma on whether to stay in L.A. with an amnesiac Paul or return to England without him.
|}
==Video releases==
''L.A. 7'' was released on video in 2000. It was released both as three individual cassettes or in a "Complete Boxset" containing all thirteen episodes. Unlike ''[[Miami 7]]'', this series was never released in the United States on video, nor was it ever released on DVD in the United States or the United Kingdom.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0256572|L.A. 7}}
{{S Club 7}}
[[Category:2000s British children's television series]]
[[Category:2000 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:2000 British television series endings]]
[[Category:ABC Family original programming]]
[[Category:BBC children's television shows]]
[[Category:British children's musical television series]]
[[Category:Fox Family Channel original programming]]
[[Category:S Club 7 television series]]
[[Category:Seven Network original programming]]
[[Category:Television series based on singers and musicians]]
[[Category:Television series by Endemol]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Los Angeles]]