If you're a parent with kids between 8 and 13, plan on surrendering the TV on Friday night, when the Disney Channel debuts High School Musical 2.

Unless you've been living in a rest home for the past 18 months, you'll know the original 2006 movie was a phenomenon, garnering the Disney Channel its best ratings ever and launching a best-selling album, nationwide concert tour, video game and much more.

It was a cute show about a couple of young lovers in high school who compete in the school's annual talent show. Against all odds (well, Disney odds), they win.

High School Musical 2 finds the gang transported from East High School to Lava Springs Country Club, where hunky basketball team captain Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) lands jobs for his sweetheart Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) and seemingly half of the student body.

This sits none-to-well with drama diva Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale), sort of a wicked witch in training. Her daddy runs the club and she got Troy a job in order to steal him from Gabriella. To this end she tries to monopolize his time, alienating him from his girl and his friends by dangling a possible basketball scholarship at the local university.

In a moment of weakness, he even agrees to sing with Sharpay instead of Gabriella in the club's annual talent show. Oh, the humanity!

Lest we forget, this is a musical, so at every opportunity the kids burst into sappy romantic ballads or elaborate dance numbers. The music is pedestrian at best, but the energy is infectious.

High School Musical had a certain earnest charm, like an updated Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney "Let's put on a show" saga. High School 2 is more like a Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello movie; the plot serves the music, not the other way around.

Truth be told, there is no plot, just a series of juvenile encounters. Will Sharpay be able to lure Troy into her clutches? Will Troy's buds be able to keep his feet down on the ground while wealth is dangled before his eyes? Will Gabriella fight for her boy?

Will anyone over the age of 13 care? Doubtful.

For all its energy, High School Musical 2 has a curious lack of soul. It's as if someone animated a bunch of mannequins to a disco backbeat.

Efron is engaging enough, although his hair has inexplicably gotten five shades darker since the first film. Because he was the breakout star in the original, much of the sequel is built around him. Poor Hudgens is given almost nothing to do in these two hours except pout. And the supporting kids (Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel and Monique Coleman) are little more than scenery.

This sequel is blatantly opportunistic. (When has TV not been about money?) The original theme of shedding stereotypes has been watered down. I could tell you what happens here, but I still haven't a clue what it's about.

No matter. If you're a tweener, High School Musical 2 will still be cool beans.

High School Musical 2

• When and where: 9 p.m. Friday, Disney Channel (Repeats at 9 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Aug. 23)

• What: Sequel to the hugely successful 2006 musical about high school kids with a dream to sing and dance

• The Verdict: Not even half as entertaining as the original

High notes

Just how big a success was High School Musical for the Disney Channel? Consider:

• 7.8 million viewers on its premiere broadcast on Jan. 20, 2006

• 160 million viewers in 100 countries

• 7 million CDs sold

• 7.8 million DVDs sold

• 2,000 school productions of High School Musical: On Stage

• 2 Emmy awards

• 42 sold-out concerts in the U.S.

• A board game based on High School Musical. It's creators describe it as "a cross between Name That Tune and Dance Revolution and Karaoke."

• Disney's High School Musical: The Ice Tour will open Aug. 31 in Lakeland, Fla., and travel to at least 100 cities in the next year.

• A High School Musical: Sing it! game for Wii and Playstation 2.

pearsonm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2592.

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