Drama in the Drama Club

"I gotta say, my first day as student director was a win; Fenton didn't die, I only tried to quit once, and now a football player is in the club. I think everything is gonna work just fine."

- Mack

"Drama in the Drama Club" (also known as "Pilot") is the first episode in Season 1 of Drama Club. It premiered on March 20, 2021, on Nickelodeon, to an audience of 0.38 million viewers.

Synopsis
Mack is excited to take over as student director of the Drama Club, and earn the new school principal’s support. When the club’s choreographer goes down with an injury, the Drama Club is forced to turn to a rival on the football team for help.

Plot
A football game featuring Tookus Middle School's football team takes place at the beginning of the episode. Mack narrates how powerful the team is and the drama club has no chance. Meanwhile, the club tries to recruit members. Unfortunately, Mack is hit with a football after attempting to do a touchdown and apologizes.

The first confessional is Mack explaining how it is being in a drama club in a school obsessed with football; it is upsetting and bad. But this year will have a breakthrough. Mack and Darcy are shown introducing the auditorium and how it seats 754 seats but has a history of poor productions. We meet Darcy and claims she is Mack's best friend and "soulmate". We meet Skip and he boasting he has one line in the musical. We meet Oliver Olivier, the lead actor. He repents at Mack telling her five more minutes. We meet Bianca Magic, the most influential person in the whole school. Mack reminds Bianca about the announcement after sending her a text but Bianca notifies Mack her phone is "dead" when she is on it. We meet Gertie, who is drumming throughout the scene and irritates Mack.

After calling everyone for the big announcement, Mack reveals that the musical is "Minnesota, The Musical". She also announces she is this year's student director, immediately causing a rift between her and Oliver as she was his co-star. His co-star was revealed to be Bianca, whom he is not happy about. After, she announces that Principal Shoemaker left, because he was very close to shutting down the Drama Club for using actual cats for last year's production of "Cats" (shown is a video of a cat attacking him). They now have a new principal: Greg Gibbons, who is confused with an actual Principal Greg Gibbons, and a professional dancer and coach from "Waltzing with the Stars". The dancer wanted to continue pursuing teaching. This gets the club very excited. But cutting the excitement he was going to come to rehearsal today. But Mack assumes, everything will be okay. Mack announces Fenton to teach the choreography. Fenton indicates the dance, but it full of acro tricks the club cannot perform. He does four back handsprings, but at the fourth one, he tragically falls on the instruments and breaks both his legs causing Mack to come up with another plan.

With hip-hop music playing in the background, Mack and Darcy consider stating their supervisor: Mr. Sniffet. We meet Clyde Sniffet, who is a teacher at the school and who used to believe in them. But after being dissed by Bianca, he makes a "comeback". He forms a social media account and tries to be a star. As he dances, Mack and Darcy barge in interrupting Clyde who falls and hurts himself. They explain what happened to Fenton and desperately need him. He first doesn't care but has to because he's their teacher. After convincing, he agrees, but they later reconsider. He later falls down the table.

Mack puts up a poster of the dancer, while Oliver walks in needing to talk. Oliver asks why are they in the prop closet, she answers by saying it's her office now. Annoyed, he presents his issue with Bianca. He says Mack has always been behind him. But it's her dream to direct. He deals with the issue himself while she gets an idea.

The cheerleader squad performs while Darcy and Mack are watching and hiding. Mack announces her plan to infiltrate the squad and get a dance captain. Meegan thinks they are real cheerleaders and puts them on a test. They desperately fail throughout.

Oliver is angry about his co-star and also reveals he acts in commercials about "Mattress Farm". So he decides to take issues into his own hands. He meets Kurtis, a very creepy boy who believes that the club needs him as he controls everything. Oliver states him issue to him, and he first declines but later accepts because there is money for it.

When Darcy's wig falls off, the squad begins noticing something. But they state their business with the squad ultimately declining. When Coach notice Darcy and Mack and hear they are recruiting, he recommends Bench. We lastly meet Bench, a football captain who was recruited out of New Jersey to play football at Tookus Middle School.

Coach, Bench, Darcy, and Mack barge in the auditorium and they reveal why Bench is there with Oliver not happy about it, Bianca is happy about it and Skip claims to set a friendship with him. Coach forces the club to let him in as he needs the club as an elective. Darcy almost gets up on Coach and Bench is soon confused about what "take 10" is (by doing 10 pushups).

Mack reveals that the new principal will arrive soon and she has nothing to present. And decides to retire. Skip and Bench meet each other and the meeting does not start right but goes along well. Skip reveals that he sings and dances too and later does a short duet with Skip and spinning him around. They are interrupted by Mack who nearly announces she is retiring but is shocked by Bench's ability to dance. He confesses he is a classically trained (ballet) dancer and has good form. They later get to work to impress the principal.

Darcy approaches Mack who is in a good mood yet brings her down by how the principal will feel about the performance. She is brung in the spotlight on the stage with Mr. Sniffet dramatically beating the timpani. She announces the club. The performance starts and by the end, Oliver cues Kurtis to drop the light on Bianca, but the plan fails with Oliver being mad.

Out of the dark, he announces himself with the club being shocked by him not being a professional dancer. He reveals he was going to cancel the club, but Bench saved the day with his good form. He leaves insulting Mack.

The club later gathers and discuss the performance— the light that was going to be dropped on Bianca. Mack announces Bench is now the dance captain. After the huddle fails, Mack says they are a club. Mack reveals that she did not expect anything that happened, but thinks they are going to be alright. The episode ends with Bench pouring a large tub of energy drink/water on Mack in her confessional.

Main

 * Telci Huynh as Mack Farth
 * Kensington Tallman as Bianca Magic
 * Nathan Janak as Oliver Olivier
 * Lili Brennan as Darcy Jarvis
 * Chase Vacnin as Bench Logan
 * Artyon Celestine as Skip

Recurring

 * John Milhiser as Clyde Sniffet
 * Neska Rose as Gertie
 * Reyn Doi as Kurtis Edwards

Guests

 * Ithmar Enriquez as Principal Gibbins
 * Brady Amaya as Fenton
 * Marcus Folmar as Coach Cobbler
 * Dallas Oliver as Meegan
 * Greg Barnett as Principal Shoemaker

Trivia

 * Oliver works in "Mattress Farm" commercials.
 * Bench is a quarterback yet a professionally trained dancer.
 * Bianca's last name is actually shown during Clyde's live stream (bianca_is_magiccc).
 * Kurtis has caused accidents and stage them as "technical difficulties".
 * Bianca has a unrequited crush on Bench Logan.
 * Skip is determined to be Bench's best friend.
 * Farth Auditorium contains 754 seats.
 * Last year's production of "Cats" sold 14 tickets.
 * This is the first episode of the season and series.
 * We meet all the main and recurring characters in this episode and their confessionals.
 * The series is located in a fictional town called Tookus, Minnesota.
 * When Bianca searches "Greg Gibbons", looking closely, the app was "Safari" and the search engine was "Super Search".
 * The show might have took place in 2016.


 * Most TV Guides mistakenly put this episode as "Pilot".
 * Waltzing with the Stars is a parody of Dancing with the Stars.
 * Just Justin Jr. is a parody of Just Jared Jr..
 * Coach Cobbler called Mack and Darcy Olivia Newton-Johns for their wigs.
 * Coach Cobbler called the club Lame-Manuel Mirandas which is a reference to Lin-Manuel Miranda.
 * Wisconsin is a real state.

Running Gags

 * Skip reciting his one line ("Deborah, how dare you").

Goofs

 * When Mack and Darcy are on the stage, Gertie is not seen near the drum set.

Quotes
"Darcy Marie Jarvis, Mack's best friend slash stage manager slash soulmate."

- Darcy's introduction

"Deborah, how dare you! Such a sick line."

- Skip

"I am hands-down the most influential person at this school. My followers aren't just my fans; they're my family."

- Bianca's introduction

"Some of us have lives to livestream."

- Bianca

"Some people just hate the arts."

- Darcy

"Today? But that's today!"

- Skip

"I never read the cast list because I am always the lead. You know that. Amateur."

- Oliver

"Ooh, I don't wanna die!"

- Mack

"You're much shorter in person."

- Kurtis

"Without me, the actors on stage would be nothing! Scum with tap shoes, trash with stage makeup."

- Kurtis

"I have a problem, a tiny blonde problem named Bianca"

- Oliver

"Bench Logan is my best friend, or at least he will be; once we meet."

- Skip

"Lister up, Lame-Manuel Mirandas!"

- Coach Cobbler

"Son, I'm in sports; I have all the power."

- Coach Cobbler

"I paid creepy sunglass boy forty whole dollars to drop a light on her face. What. I didn't want to hurt her, I just wanted to scare her a little. Don't be so dramatic."

- Oliver to the viewers

"Wow, you've really let yourself go."

- Bianca

International Premieres

 * September 4, 2021 (UK & Ireland)
 * September 6, 2021 (Australia)