The news follows Nickelodeon acquiring the international broadcast rights to Just Add Magic and its upcoming spin-off series, Just Add Magic: Mystery City.
In Just Add Magic, Kelly Quinn and her two BFF's, Darbie and Hannah, stumble upon her grandmother's mysterious cookbook in the attic and discover some far from ordinary recipes. When the Shut'em Up Shortcake silences Kelly's pesky little brother and the Healing Hazelnut Tart heals Darbie's ankle, the girls discover they have the power of magic.
In the lively town of Saffron Falls, teenage girls Kelly, Darbie, and Hannah are best friends who love cooking. While making a cake for Kelly's grandma's (who has a mysterious illness and cannot talk) birthday, the girls use a magical recipe using an ancient cookbook that they found in the attic. The recipes they find inside have strange names like "Shut'em Up Shortcake" and "Hazelnut Healing Tart" and require unusual ingredients, such as "Cedronian vanilla" and "Taurian thyme". The girls go to Mama P.’s shop to get the ingredients for the “Shut ‘em Up Shortcake” and when no one has any idea what they need, Mama P. reveals that she knows what the ingredients are, and she gives them the Cedronian Vanilla. They bake the cake, but when Kelly's brother Buddy and Hannah eat a bite of the shortcake and find themselves unable to talk, the three friends realise they are dealing with magic spells. At the same time as Hannah and Buddy's silence, Darbie cannot stop talking. Because of this, they also realise the spells come with a consequence.
Throughout season one, Kelly, Darbie, and Hannah investigate the magical recipes and face the temptations of using magic to help overcome the everyday challenges of being middle school girls. They conclude that Mama P. knows about the magic because she appears to have extensive knowledge of magical ingredients. Furthermore, they discover that the creepy neighbour Ms. Silvers also has a connection to magic after she warns them to stay away from it, telling them that it is dangerous. The girls realise that they are the protectors of the magical cookbook and that there were many others before them, three of whom were Mama P., Ms. Silvers and Kelly's grandma Becky. Among all this, Kelly has one overriding goal: to find the magical recipe that will fix her grandmother's mysterious illness, even if it means crossing creepy Mama P. or scary Ms. Silvers. As the girls work together they find out that Kelly's grandma Becky is under a curse, and so are Mama P. (whose curse does not let her leave Saffron Falls) and Ms. Silvers (whose curse does not let her play the piano in public). The girls, while trying to free Grandma Quinn of her curse, uncover various mysteries of the past.
Just Add Magic stars: Olivia Sanabia (Nicky, Ricky, Dicky et Dawn, Sam et Cat, Coop and Cami Ask the World) as Kelly Quinn, Abby Donnelly (JoJo's Juice, Malibu Rescue) as Darbie, Aubrey K. Miller (Sam & Cat, The Fresh Beat Band, Nicky, Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, Fresh Off the Boat) as Hannah, Judah Bellamy as Jake, Catia Ojeda (La malédiction du temple Maya, Malibu Rescue) as Terri Quinn, Dee Wallace (The Twilight Zone, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) as Grandma, Amy Hill (La Legende De Korra, Kung Fu Panda: l’incroyable légende, The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie, American Dad!, Mom, Black-ish, King of the Hill, Max Keeble's Big Move) as Mama P, Andrew Burlinson (Parks and Recreation, Shear the Sheep) as Scott Quinn, Ellen Karsten as Ms. Silvers, Aiden Lovekamp (Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension) as Buddy Quinn, Zach Callison (Henry Danger, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Pizza Friday!, The Legend of Korra, The Goldbergs, Steven Universe, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? as Chuck, Laya DeLeon Hayes (Game Shakers, Santa Hunters, Les Thundermans, Hey Arnold !: Mission Jungle - Le film, Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, Mutt & Stuff) as Piper, and Tess Paras as Erin.
Just Add Magic (51 x 30-minute (approx) episodes over three seasons) made its debut on Amazon Video in January 2016. Amazon Studios renewed the series for a second season in June 2016 after it "set a record as the most successful Amazon Original Kids premiere weekend in terms of U.S. Prime Video streams and hours." Prior to the series, a pilot for the show was produced in 2015. The series is based on Cindy Callaghan’s YA book and adapted by Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco (Sullivan & Son). The single-camera live-action pilot was directed by Joe Nussbaum (George Lucas In Love).
Just Add Magic is produced by Amazon Studios, Pictures in a Row (Picrow; The Marvelous Mrs Maisel) and Grasshopper Lane Entertainment.
Online at nick.com.au, fans can find out more about the show and watch short-form video clips from the series. Fans can also like the official Nickelodeon Australia and New Zealand Facebook page and follow Nickelodeon on Twitter and Instagram for the latest Nick news, highlights and videos.
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Originally published: Tuesday, March 24, 2020.
Schedule source: The Official Foxtel Australia TV Guide.
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