How to Rock

Premise

Characters

Main

• Kacey Simon is the former queen of The Perfs, and is the lead singer of Gravity 5. Kacey is confident, bold, somewhat self-centered, and now on a constant campaign to take her new friends and bandmates to the top of the school social ladder. She can sing and dance and she's proving to Gravity 5 that she also knows how to be a true friend. In the pilot, Molly and Grace refer to her as "The Queen of Braces and Glasses." Although she ridicules the Gravity 5 band members at first, she soon joins them due to Zander's influence, has a much clearer view, and learns that she should just be herself and make friends that love her for who she is, not because of her popularity. Kacey is shown to be very feminine and fashionable and prefers to wear dresses and skirts and not T-shirts or jeans. But she still acts selfish to her friends, and she often gets them into trouble which she also gets them out of. Her and Molly's last names are references to 1960s singing duo Simon & Garfunkel. In "How to Rock a Part Time Job" her middle name is revealed to be Marie.
• Molly Garfunkel is the new Queen of the Perfs and the antagonist of the series. Molly is every bit as competitive, strong, popular, and radiant as Kacey, but she's also an evil mastermind plotting to bury Kacey once and for all, as demonstrated in the pilot episode when she humiliated Kacey in front of a particularly large crowd, only to be stopped by Zander, or when she texts Kacey's crush in front of Kacey, and unfortunately, Stevie, who shoots Molly down for harassing Kacey. Molly used to be Kacey's best friend, but after Kacey realizes Molly only liked her because she was perfect, Kacey quits the Perfs for good, which results in Molly hating her so much. Molly can be insecure in how she always trying to beat Kacey and prove herself to be the best queen bee to the school. It is possible that Molly was waiting for the perfect moment to get Kacey out of the picture so that she could be the most popular girl in school. Molly is an angel to her friends, showing her soft, sweet, warm and golden type of personality to fellow Perf Grace King, but she is extremely critical and snarky to the Gravity 5 band members. She also has a crush on Zander as seen in "High School Sensation" when she goes to stand next to Zander and when she says goodbye to Zander. She's also shown to care about her friendship with Grace in "How to Rock Cee Lo" and comes to realize how important Grace's friendship is after Grace temporarily leaves "The Perfs" after Molly pushed Grace too far with her snarkiness. Over the course of the series, she is seen to have a softer side for Gravity 5.
• Zander Robbins is the new kid in school and is the guitarist, keyboardist and DJ for Gravity 5. Zander is cool, handsome, sometimes vain, and naive of the cliquish behavior of The Perfs, but he is also confident, optimistic, loyal and is the one that holds the band together. A running gag in the show is that he can't stop staring at himself in the mirror and hitting on girls, however, he mostly puts his friends first before anything. It is hinted that he and Kacey share one of the closest friendships in the group, as demonstrated when he sees Kacey being humiliated by Molly and Grace, and despite being one of the victims of Kacey being mean and nasty to, Zander comes to her rescue and offers her a place in Gravity 4. Although he cares about Kacey and intends to help her with her problems, Zander is not afraid to refuse or tell Kacey what she does wrong, as demonstrated in the episode "How to Rock a Messy Bet" Zander, on all occasions, sticks up for his friends even though he could be easily distracted at times. He also plays the ukulele and knows how to be a team player, always treating everyone like an equal and never looking down on anybody, even the Perfs, which can sometimes make him a bit of a wuss. Zander might like Stevie, but he's also found in episode, "How to Rock a High School Sensation" to seem to have a crush on Molly. In "How to Rock a Yearbook", Zander is found to constantly take bad yearbook pictures and has a little sister.
• Stevie Baskara is Gravity 5's smart, strong-headed, tough bass player. The guys like her because she is attractive and cool, but they fear her because she can and will crush them to have them respect her. She's not afraid to be herself, even if it means being a sarcastic tomboy. In "How to Rock a Messy Bet" it is revealed that she has four older brothers and in "How to Rock a Secret Agent" the only clothes she gets offered are sweat pants and sweat socks and that her middle name is Raina, her favorite color is ocean blue, and her birthday is February 8. A running gag in the show is that The Perfs constantly refer to her as "Loserberry," much to her discomfort. Stevie is always more than willing to stick up for her friends even if it does mean being a little aggressive in behavior. She is said to have problems with "slamming" people, meaning that if you say something that will offend her, she will make a nasty come-back. Although usually fearless, Stevie could also be afraid of things as well, as demonstrated in "How to Rock a Messy Bet" when she practically jumped into Zander's arms after hearing something growl in the bands' practice room. Stevie's tough exterior also wilts whenever there is a new guy she is found to like. Then she gets really shy around the guy and Kacey usually does her best to help Stevie. Sometimes, Stevie's crushes will think Kacey's advances are meant from Kacey when she is really speaking for Stevie. She is also accomplished in playing the violin and the cello and on many occasions does so for many songs. Stevie is also said to have only two pairs of shoes, but one pair being completely destroyed by Kevin and Nelson in the episode "How to Rock a Prank". In "How to Rock a Lunch Table," it is revealed she hates being woken up a 6:30 a.m. because she claims that she should be "drooling on her pillow." She may have a crush on Zander, who is her best friend. However, both characters have usually been shown to like other classmates. She's found to hold a job at Danny Mango's in "How to Rock a Part-Time Job" and seems to have stopped working for the school lunch program from the earlier episodes.
• Grace King is queen bee Molly's gorgeous but naive sidekick, in the mean girl group The Perfs. Although she tries to follow Molly's evil lead, Grace just doesn't have it in her to be mean and in "How to Rock Cee Lo" Grace temporarily leaves "The Perfs" after Molly pushed her too far with her snarkiness. Whenever excited, Grace claps her hands together and squeals "Yeah!" which is possibly a catchphrase of hers. She has a big crush on Nelson. In the final aired episode, How to Rock Christmas, Nelson and Grace both kiss each other on the cheek. In the final production order episode, How to Rock a Tennis Ball, they end the episode with their arms around each other. In "How To Rock a Uniform" Grace is caught staring at Nelson, also in this episode they spend a lot of time with each other and in "High School Sensation" when she goes to stand next to him.
• Nelson Baxter is the tech-savvy, sci-fi loving keyboard player for Gravity 5, and also Kevin's best friend. Nelson is confident when talking about the ladies, but completely tongue-tied when he is face to face with them, which makes him extremely socially awkward. It is revealed in "How to Rock a Messy Bet," that he and Kevin are addicted to the game "Furious Pigeons," which is a parody of the game Angry Birds, so addicted that they catapulted classmate Andy Bartlet half-way across the school. He is treasurer of the science club with a love for video games. He has a big crush on Grace. When Grace wants something he does it. In the final aired episode, How to Rock Christmas, Nelson and Grace both kiss each other on the cheek. In the final production order episode, How to Rock a Tennis Ball, they end the episode with their arms around each other. In "How To Rock a Uniform" Grace is caught staring at Nelson, also in this episode they spend a lot of time with each other and in "High School Sensation" when she goes to stand next to him. In "How to Rock a Lunch Table," it is shown that he still sleeps with his baby blanket, Captain Blankie. In "How to Rock a Birthday Party", Kacey and Nelson are both found to share a birthday and to have known each other since grade school.
• Kevin Reed is the drummer for Gravity 5 and Nelson's best friend. He is food obsessed, awkward with the ladies and athletic enough to make every sports team, just not good enough to actually play, partly because of his laziness. When trying to talk to girls, he always passes out, which he gets pretty emotional over; in the pilot, he says, "I was gonna kiss Kim Davis after we won, but now, I kiss no one!" He is demonstrated as a terrible liar and a bit of a nervous wreck. He also has a crush on Kacey, as implied through his come-ons and numerous compliments towards her. In the episode "How to Rock an Election", he is shown to be somewhat of a skilled rapper, and is also very funny and random. In "How to Rock a Lunch Table," it is shown that he still sleeps with a stuffed animal, named "Mikey the Manatee."

  Recurring

• Andy Bartlet is a student who goes to Brewster High School. He has a crush on Kacey and Stevie, and he often tries to flirt with them. He is also revealed to sometimes do things that disgust other people.
• Mr. March is the history teacher at Brewster High School. He often tries to talk like a "young person". His catch phrase is "What's up?!" In the pilot, Zander creates a diversion claiming that Mr. March got his head stuck in the faculty toilet in order to save Kacey from a crowd taking picture of her in her dorky glasses and braces.
• Dahlia is a student who goes to Brewster High School. She has an obsessive crush on Zander. She is otherwise very normal, doing things such as moderating the Class President debate and working on the school newspaper.
• Mall Cop is an ill-tempered mall cop. He is occasionally irritated by Gravity 5's antics. He was also a Security Guard for Cee Lo Green at his concert.

  Episodes

Music featured in each episode

• "Only You Can Be You" – Gravity 5
• "Rules for Being Popular" – The Perfs
• "I'll Be There" – Kacey Simon
• "Go With Gravity" – Gravity 5
• "Hey Now" – Gravity 5
• "Good Life" – Gravity 5
• "Music Sounds Better With U" – Big Time Rush
• "Today's School News/You Want News, Babe" – Gravity 5
• "Move With the Crowd" – Gravity 5
• "Last 1 Standing" – Gravity 5
• "War on the Dance Floor" – Kacey Simon
• "How You Do It" – Gravity 5
• "Lady" – Zander Robbins
• "All About Tonight" – Kacey Simon
• "Crazy" – Kacey and Cee Lo
• "Rock with Me" – Gravity 5
• "Just Do Me" – Gravity 5
• "Me, Myself and I" – Gravity 5, The Perfs and Trey Grant
• "Deck the Halls" – Gravity 5

  Broadcast