MY DAD THE ROCK STAR TV Series

SYNOPSIS:
Follow the misadventures of Willy Zilla, a 12-year-old kid with a billionaire rock star father. Willy craves normality, and thinks his dreams have come true when his dad goes into semi-retirement in the suburbs. But life in a small town as the son of a famous celebrity is not without its unusual and unexpected challenges.

Based on the book MY DAD THE ROCK STAR: REBEL WITHOUT A NOSE RING, by Gene Simmons.

The series ran from September 1, 2003 to July 5, 2004.

Characters of the show

Rock Zilla (a billionaire rock star) - voiced by Lawrence Bayne
Crystal Zilla (his wife) - voiced by Kathleen Laskey
Willy Zilla (his son) - voiced by Joanne Vannicola
Serenity Zilla (his daughter) - voiced by Stephanie Anne Mills
Mosh (Family Pet)
Skunk (A Rodie) - voiced by Don Francks
Alissa (One of Willy's Best Pals) - voiced by Sarah Gadon
Quincy (One of Willy's Best Pals) - voiced by Martin Villafana
Bobby "Buzz" Sawchuck (Willy's Nemesis) - voiced by Rob Stefaniuk

Episode Guide

Pilot - Welcome to Silent Springs
After years on the road, Willy and the rest of the Zilla clan arrive in their new, adopted hometown of Silent Springs. Hoping to be accepted for who he is, rather than for being the son of a famous rock star, Willy hides his identity from his classmates…with comically complicated results.
The good news is Willy makes a couple of new best friends, Quincy and Alissa. The bad news is, he also comes to the attention of the school bully, Buzz, who forces Willy to “prove” himself by stealing a gold record from none other than Rock Zilla. Faking the theft of the gold record by sneaking it out of the house isn't a problem – but getting it out of Buzz's clutches when the bully fails to keep his end of the bargain is another story.
Zilla's House of Horrors
Still adjusting to life in the weird and wonderful Zilla mansion, Willy awakens one night to the wails of a ghost somewhere deep in the house. Willy's fears are cranked up a few notches the next day, when Buzz regales his classmates with a story about how the Zilla mansion is built atop an old graveyard and is haunted by the spirit of the local psychopath. Willy enlists the help of his new pals Alissa and Quincy to search out the ghost.
However, instead of finding an evil apparition, they discover the infamous paparazzi, Scoop, skulking about the house taking compromising photos of the Zillas. Willy uses a few tricks of his own to scare Scoop into handing over his film. Rock stumbles past them, yowling with pain with a toothache. Rock's moans turn out to be identical to the “ghost's” Inspired by Willy's bravery, Rock decides to conquer his own demons…by working up the courage to go to the dentist.
Mr. Zilla's Opus
Willy is just beginning to develop his talents in the brass section of the school band, when Principal Malfactor shuts down the Music Program, to divert money to buy the Football team new equipment. When Rock finds out, he offers to fund the Music Program himself, on one condition... that he teach the music class!
All the students are hyped about the cool new faculty member...except Willy, whose cover is blown by his Dad's presence at school. Meanwhile, when the parents hear that the infamous Rock Zilla is molding their children's impressionable minds they demand his resignation. Before the parents' protest can get too heated, Rock understands that as much as he wants to be a bigger part of Willy's life, he has to give his Son some space. So Dad quits, slyly telling the parents, “Who needs Music in school anyway? I didn't, and look how well I turned out!” That's all it takes for the parents to demand that the program be immediately reinstated!
Angela D'Angelo
When Willy spots the angelically beautiful Angela D'Angelo, it's love at first sight. And the feeling's mutual, as Angela asks Willy out on a “pre-date” -- an event, it transpires, that consists of an interrogation at the hands of Angela's neurotic parents. Meanwhile, Serenity is infatuated with a certain boy (Angela's older brother) because he's the only guy at school who takes no interest in her whatsoever.
Willy arrives at the D'Angelos' house for a “pre-date”, where he's grilled by Angela's stern, overprotective parents. Sensing they'd have a conniption fit if they knew he was Rock Zilla's son, Willy hides his identity…until the D'Angelos start ridiculing the “disgusting Rock Zilla” and his loser wife. Then Willy leaps to his parents' defence and gets himself hustled out the front door. The d'Angelos decide they can't even live in the same town as the Zillas, so they pack up and move away. And the narcissistic Serenity tries to adjust to the knowledge that there's actually one boy in the universe who wouldn't do anything to go on a date with her.
The Candidate
Willy decides to experience more of normal life by running for student council. But his rival, Buzz, tries to trip him up by accusing Willy of being incapable of representing the “common man” because of his privileged background. Determined to prove Buzz wrong Willy offers to hold a candidates party at his house. Meanwhile, events at the Zilla mansion are even weirder than usual: Mosh is inexplicably depressed, leading Crystal to hire a flakey “pet psychic” to go to bizarre lengths to find a “cure” for his emotional malaise. Naturally, the psychic shows up just in time for Willy's candidate's party, causing pandemonium to erupt..
Things get so out of hand that Willy is forced to rescue some of his classmates, and he figures he's lost the election. Willy's classmates are so impressed with his grace under pressure, that they elect him to council.
Willy Unplugged
Willy's excited about playing a cool acid jazz number on his trumpet at his school's talent night. But when Rock finds out, he tries to “help” by adding over-the-top theatrics to Willy's show. Then Q and Alissa try to get in on Willy's act – with less-than-musical results.
Fearing that his father will turn his show into an overblown spectacle, but not having the heart to say it, Willy tells his parents that the performance is the evening before the actual date of the show. When they arrive at Willy's school accompanied by an entourage that Rock has flown in from all over the country, they discover a “Talent Show Cancelled” sign (provided by Willy, of course). Unfortunately, the school janitor passes by and sets the record straight.
High Infidelity
When Crystal opens a Psychic Wellness Centre next to Willy's school, Willy is in for some ribbing from classmates wanting to tease him over his flakey Mom. But Willy is surprised when his old nemesis – Buzz – leaps to his defence. Buzz tells Willy he's turned over a new leaf, and wants to be pals. Quincy and Alissa aren't convinced, and try to warn Willy. But Willy's generous nature leads him to forgive Buzz and accept his friendship.
Buzz wangles a dinner invite to the Zillas, then mysteriously heads home halfway through dinner. Willy wonders what happened until the next day, when Willy discovers that Buzz used the friendship and dinner invite as a way of getting into Rock's home studio to download a pre-release copy of Rock's new CD, which he has sold to music bootleggers.
But with help from Alissa, Quincy and Skunk, Willy pulls the old switch-er-oo on the bootleggers – sneaking into their place, and switching the CD they're about to copy with a CD of boring New Age sounds from Crystal's Psychic Wellness Centre.
Dance Party
Willy is thrilled when he's put in charge of organizing the school dance – that is, until he discovers that Miss Equus intends on running the dance the way its always been run – with boring music and no atmosphere. But Willy thinks he has the answer when he discovers that the hippest video station around is running a contest offering to give a free dance party to the school that sends in a video showing it has the most school spirit. Willy figures he's got it in the bag, after getting great footage of his school's spirit week.
Meanwhile, Serenity, whose skin has broken out from wearing “school spirit” greasepaint, discovers some rather unflattering images of herself in Willy's video footage. Being too self centered to realize that she's looking at footage that has been edited out, she erases Willy's videotape. Willy doesn't discover what's happened till the tape is at the station, forcing him, Alissa and Q to don Ninja gear and try to replace the erased tape with a backup copy. They get found out, but in the end, thanks to Willy's persistence, his school is chosen as the one with most spirit, and wins the prize.
Psychic Convention
Willy is faced with having to pass a crucial math test that will determine whether he has to go to a “summer school” self-guided class that has just one other student, his nemesis, Buzz. Just as Willy tries to settle down and study, events conspire against him when Crystal insists on taking the family to psychic fair. There, a psychic predicts that Willy will lose something important, and fail at something important. Although freaked out by the weirdness of the psychic, Willy dismisses her predictions…until he arrives home and discovers that Mosh has apparently run away, allegedly after eating Mr. Kant's cat and dog.
Kant is up in arms, and has called in the Animal Control department, who have vowed to use deadly force on poor old Mosh. Finding it hard to concentrate under the circumstances, Willy does poorly with his homework. He grows ever more certain that the psychic is right, and seems resigned to failing his exam – until Q and Alissa step in, determined to help Willy find Mosh before the animal catchers do. Through sheer determination, Willy succeeds in finding his beloved reptile pal in the nick of time Realizing at last that his fate is in his own hands, Willy studies hard to the math exam – and aces it, leaving Buzz to his own devices in the remedial summer math program!
Call Of the Wild
When Willy asks to sign up for a camping trip with Quincy and Alissa, Rock and Crystal decide it would be a great opportunity to spend quality time with their son if they organized a trip for Willy and his pals instead. Willy is less than thrilled, but for Serenity, who opts to stay home, her parents' weekend trip with Willy provides just the chance she's been looking for to spend some time alone.

However, Rock's reliance on hi-tech gizmos, and Crystal's reliance on flakey New Age gets them into trouble out in the great outdoors. It's up to the Willy, Q and Alissa to use their smarts to save the day. This they do, and end up having a great wilderness adventure while they're at it. Ironically, the person having the worst survival problems is Serenity, who is learning the hard way that her pampered lifestyle has left her ill-equipped to handle weekend alone without anyone around to wait on her or show her how to operate the house.
Mr. Big
When Sally Raptor offers Willy a coveted spot in the “in crowd”, Willy gets a taste of what it's like to be extremely popular – and it rocks! But complications arise when Sally tries to get Willy to abandon his old friends Alissa and Quincy. Meanwhile, Serenity is terrorizing the neighborhood practicing to get her driver's license.

Willy finds out that Sally was only using him to get close to his Dad to raise her social status, and he's secretly thrilled.. Being “unpopular” is actually much more fun than hanging out with Sally's shallow clique. Willy and his friends give Sally a little payback – by unleashing the outrageous Rock Zilla and his entourage on Sally's Mom and her country club cronies.
Going for Broke
When Quincy's father, a buttoned-down government accountant, unwittingly strips the Zillas of their fortune through a bookkeeping error, they are forced to live in Quincy's garage.

Tension between the families grows, as the fastidious Nesrallahs try to contend with the outrageous behaviour of the Zilla family, who do everything from playing loud heavy metal music to remodelling the garage to look like a Gothic mansion.

Willy and Quincy realize they have to get their families back on friendly terms. This they succeed in doing, though a little grudgingly from Quincy's Dad – until Mr. Nesrallah discovers to his horror that it was himself who made the error that was responsible for the Zillas ending up in their garage. When Mr. Nesrallah explains his error to Rock, he expects to get reamed out – but is instead surprised to find that Rock is gracious and forgiving. For Quincy's Dad, it's a major lesson in humility – especially when the tables turn and they're forced to come bunk out at the Zilla mansion!
Meet the Zillas
When Rock notices that another heavy metal star has his own reality television show he calls his manager and demands a show about himself and his family. However, the cameras create anything but “reality” at the Zilla household. Everyone except Willy is constantly ‘on', performing extravagantly for the cameras. But though the rest of his family is thrilled by the publicity, Willy wishes the show and the attention would all go away. It's a total invasion of his privacy, and people follow him around like shadows, hoping to get their 15 minutes of fame.
Things get worse when the broadcaster's focus groups show that the audience likes Willy the best, identifying with his attempts at normality amid the insanity of the Zilla household – making the cameras follow Willy even more closely, and making the rest of the family a little jealous of Willy's fame. Desperate to get his life back to “normal”, Willy, Quincy and Alissa, come up with a plan; together they create an over-the-top character ‘Lil-A-Zilla. Willy lays on the faux urban attitude thick for the cameras. The audience is turned off, and smelling a contrived set-up, the TV people shut down the production.

Willy is thrilled, and, no longer tailed by hangers-on, celebrates the end of his fame with his two best friends, Alissa and Quincy.
Rebel Without a Nose Ring
When Quincy's father, a buttoned-down government accountant, unwittingly strips the Zillas of their fortune through a bookkeeping error, they are forced to live in Quincy's garage.

Tension between the families grows, as the fastidious Nesrallahs try to contend with the outrageous behaviour of the Zilla family, who do everything from playing loud heavy metal music to remodelling the garage to look like a Gothic mansion. Willy and Quincy realize they have to get their families back on friendly terms. This they succeed in doing, though a little grudgingly from Quincy's Dad - until Mr. Nesrallah discovers to his horror that it was himself who made the error that was responsible for the Zillas ending up in their garage. When Mr. Nesrallah explains his error to Rock, he expects to get reamed out - but is instead surprised to find that Rock is gracious and forgiving. For Quincy's Dad, it's a major lesson in humility - especially when the tables turn and they're forced to come bunk out at the Zilla mansion!
Rock is from Mars, Willy is from Venus
Willy realizes that he and Rock hardly spend any quality time together, so father and son plan a day of activities that will hopefully yield at least one thing that the two both enjoy doing. After a false start in the wrestling ring, a little remote control airplane mayhem, and some trouble that Rock would rather not mention at the ol' zoo; Rock and Willy finally crash a company's father-son picnic in desperation. But do Rock and Willy have enough father and son mojo to fit in?
The Sound of Zilla
With a Swiss exchange student en route to billet with the Zilla's for International Student Week, Willy does his best to make sure she'll feel at home. After all, not many people have lived with a seven-foot tall, fire-snorting, billionaire rock star of a dad! What Willy doesn't expect is that he's soon to feel like the stranger in a strange land! After a day of Maria's home-style cooking and practical lederhosen, Rock, Crystal and Skunk decide it's structure they've been lacking in their lives -- and before long the Zilla household has become one of rules, schedules, and curfews?! Just when the week is almost over, Willy discovers Rock has invited Maria's parents and their goat to move in -- leaving Willy and Serenity wondering if the Zilla family will ever be the same again. Meanwhile, as Maria leads the Zilla's in 'Sound of Music' sing-a-longs, Quincy and Alissa decide they're each much better suited for the other's foreign exchange student. However, after attempting to stage a trade, the two friends realize they're the one's who have been swapped.
Home for the Holly-Daze
When Willy and his Mom decide to get involved with the local Christmas Pageant, Rock is more than happy to embrace the holiday spirit in Silent Springs. Unfortunately, the pageant isn't everything it's cracked up to be. A famous Broadway director, Marty Blum, is hired to spice things up - but ends up turning the small town pageant into a full blown monstrosity, which leads to his eventual firing. Willy successfully takes over the directing reigns, but things take a turn when Marty gets his revenge by purchasing the theatre and canceling the pageant just hours before the curtain is due to rise. Thanks to a last minute Christmas miracle; in the form of Rock Zilla, a million Christmas lights, and enough electrical power to run a small country; the pageant gets a second chance - and is a rousing success. The Zilla's first Christmas at home is a memorable one to be sure!
What's the Scoop?
After being humiliated by Buzz one too many times, Willy comes up with the fiendish plan of hiring Scoop, the relentless paparazzi who's always spying on Rock, to rake up some dirt on his schoolhouse nemesis. But the only way that Scoop agrees to go through with the plan, is if Willy hands over a very embarrassing video of Rock! Soon Willy becomes Scoop's faithful apprentice, but when Scoop makes up a false story, just to embarrass Buzz, Willy wants nothing to do with the paparazzi lifestyle.
Rock Bottom
It's Rock's birthday -- and no one needs to know he's another year older but him. Then again, that would mean missing out on Willy's birthday present -- Rock's favorite old pair of leather chaps, restored, refurbished and ready to go! Awoooo! Nothing makes you feel younger than leather chaps! Until they're sitting in two halves around your backside. Feeling overweight and over the hill, soon Rock's drinking prune juice and playing bingo from his recliner. Feeling responsible for his dad's slump, Willy decides a little Rock(y) style training should do the trick. Meanwhile, with Rock and Skunk busy playing shuffleboard, Serenity finds herself behind the wheel of a car, driving herself to the emergency room of the nail salon after a manicure mishap. Parking her car in the first available spot (the lawn of the police station) with a glove compartment full of unpaid parking tickets, Serenity lands herself in the slammer instead of the salon -- and ends up serving community service at a senior's home, with Rock Zilla as her newest patient!
Saving Sawchuck
During a family trip to the beach, a quick thinking Willy saves his nemesis, Buzz, from drowning. Buzz insists on repaying the favor by hanging around Willy 24/7, waiting for his chance to rescue Willy from any life-threatening situations that may arise. However, having Buzz around is quickly messing up Willy's home and social life, so he takes matters into his own hands. It's not until he finally ditches Buzz, that he, along with Quincy and Alissa, finds himself in a position where he desperately needs a helping hand. Meanwhile, Serenity decides to get back at a lifeguard who she thinks only dates other lifeguards, by taking a course to become one herself..just so she can dump him when he finally takes an interest.
Rock Zilla, King of the Desert
Rather than cancel the band field trip to a Jazz festival when the school bus falls apart, Willy convinces Rock and Skunk to chaperone the trip on the Zilla tour bus. When the tour bus breaks down in the middle of the desert, the band class separates into two warring factions -- one led by Rock, the other by Coach Fettle. When a mysterious stranger arrives to help rescue our heroes, things quickly turn sour, and Willy and his bandmates learn that teamwork may be their only chance. Back at the Zilla mansion, Serenity and Crystal use Rock's absence as an excuse to discard an offensive lucky concert shirt - a feat that turns out to be much harder than expected.
Big Willy on Campus
Rock is due to receive an honorary doctorate from his old alma mater, Cerebellum U. Willy, Serenity, Quincy and Alissa come along for the ride to the ultra-exclusive island school, that looks like a college student's dream come true. But the image is soon tarnished by the school Dean, who seems to have it in for Rock. It's up to Willy and his friends to figure out the Dean's secret, before it's too late. Meanwhile, Rock takes a wrong turn, and finds himself in an underground cavern, where a secret society based on the legend of Rock Zilla is holding an initiation ceremony. Unrecognized, and thinking it's the doctorate ceremony, Rock is quick to join in the festivities.
Metamorphic Rock
When Willy, Quincy and Alissa are assigned a group project in Science class, Willy's worst subject, Willy knows his mom's the one to help. Her organic lunches alone could be classified a topic of scientific study! Unfortunately, by the time the kids make it home from school, Crystal's on a surprise road trip to Vegas with a friend, and Rock's planning the party of the century. When Skunk falls ill, Willy manages to convince his dad to step up to the dirty plates, helping his father make sense of the mysterious piles of clothes on his floor, and the whereabouts of all the missing food in the fridge! Now if only Willy could stop his dad from accidentally sabotaging every one of his scienceprojects as he attempts to take care of the house. When the new Mr. Mom tries to help out a little too much, landing the kids in hot lava with their science project at school, Rock learns that sometimes less is more. Meanwhile, a homesick Crystal learns that while Vegas is fun, there's no place like home -- and everyone at home learns there's no mom like Crystal.
Kant Buy Me Love
Living next to the Zilla family isn't easy! Just ask poor Mr. Kant, the next-door neighbour who's been through all of Rock's crazy ups and downs. Now Willy is trying to make amends by keeping Rock away from Mr. K. while a garden magazine comes to snap pics of Kant's rosebushes! Of course, Rock slips by Willy's radar and ruins the shoot, and now Mr. Kant has truly had it. He tries to sell his house, but who'd want to live next to the Zillas anyway!? That's when Mr. Kant finds a centuries old loophole in the town charter that might make Silent Springs Zilla-free.forever!
Chip of the Old Rock
When Grandpa and Grandma Zilla show up for a surprise visit, Rock is less than thrilled about spending the next couple of days with his father. The complete opposite of Rock, Grandpa Zilla is all formality and class, he feels Rock should be the same. With the help of Willy, Rock sets out to make his father proud with hilariously disastrous results. Serenity, meanwhile, risking what she thinks will be "social suicide", agrees to take Grandma Zilla out to the mall for a new shawl. Much to her surprise, Gran proceeds to take Serenity on a wild adventure that includes pink hair, tattoos, motorcycle races, and a bonfire with bikers. Realizing her assumption of what little old ladies are like may not hold true for all of them, Serenity finally must enlist the help of Crystal to subdue her wild granny, and bring them both home. After a terrible evening out on the town embarrassing himself and his father, Rock abandons all hope of ever making his Dad proud. But when Grampa Zilla stumbles into a musical moment in Rock's life, he realizes there is a tie uniting these opposing personalities. Grandpa Zilla understands that Rock is his own person and that he has a lot to offer, just the way he is.
Blind Date
When Serenity informs Willy that his plan to hook up with Alissa at the carnival is a date, Willy's a wreck. Panicked about going out with a girl who's not only smart and pretty, but also one of his best friends -- a desperate Willy turns to Serenity for help. Loaded with insane advice from his sister, Willy is pleasantly surprised when his date actually starts off rather well! That is until Quincy shows up. Secretly horrified at the prospect of losing his two best friends and being left alone for all of eternity, Quincy lies, and blurts to Willy in a moment of weakness that he's not on a date at all. Alissa thinks the two of them are just pals! Willy changes into buddy, buddy mode -- only to have an upset Alissa take off with Buzz! Meanwhile, Rock is having girl problems of his own, as he attempts to romance Crystal for their twentieth wedding anniversary with bowling and corn dogs. While chasing after Alissa and Crystal -- father and son cross paths in the Tunnel of Love, learning how to paddle a swan boat -- and a thing or two about women!