Family Channel’s Bajillionaires is rich with laughs and creativity

The world is full of budding entrepreneurs looking to get a leg up and make a fortune, and some of them are pretty young. But Bajillionaires pushes the envelope in a new and charming way.

Debuting as a two-day television event on Saturday, March 2, and Sunday, March 3, at 10 a.m. ET/PT on Family Channel, Bajillionaires follows a group of neighbourhood friends who are looking to invent something amazing, change the world and possibly make a pantload of money in the process. Bajillionaires is created by Derek Harvie, whose credits include writing and executive producing Testees, The Tom Green Show and Freddy Got Fingered. While those were decidedly un-PG-rated, Bajillionaires is homespun fun thanks in large part to smart writing and a wonderful young cast.

“Charles Bishop at Six Eleven Media [Bajillionaires‘ production company] has developed tons of children’s shows … and he had an idea about kids inventing stuff and I had an idea about kids owning their own company,” Harvie says over the phone. “The invention thing seemed to tie in with that. Sometimes they’ll create an actual product or gadget and sometimes they might come up with a business idea.”

Ricky Ortiz is fantastic as Max Graham, a kid with big ideas and, in the first episode, hoping for a big loan from a bank. When he and Kaylyn French (Mya Singh, above left) get turned down, they opt to build a delivery drone, vibrating headband and super juicer to try to qualify for InventiveCon, an invention convention with a big cash prize to get their start-up off the ground. Max has great ideas, but they don’t always work out, as evidenced by flashbacks to a robot dogwalker, robot lawnmower and mechanical mechanic. Still, when he’s with Kaylyn and their buds Alicia Windsor (Arista Arhin), Noodles (Alec Dahmer, above right) and Zeke (Jadian Toros), hilarious—and sometimes good—things happen.

Part of the fun of Bajillionaires are the ideas the kids kick around. Sussing out how to create a drone that will deliver coffee to Sam’s sleep-deprived dad or a headband to gently wake someone from a nap shows ingenuity and something that could really be created. It’s entertaining and inspiring stuff.

“A lot of them are useless and a lot of them are funny,” Harvie says of the inventions. “But a lot of them are really smart and there are a lot of kids that have made money off of actual inventions. The popsicle was a kid invention.”

Bajillionaires‘ two-day event happens Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. ET/PT on Family Channel. Bajillionaires‘ regular timeslot is Sundays at 10 a.m ET/PT on Family Channel.

Images courtesy of DHX Media.

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