Entertainment

‘Zoey’ pal gets own show

NEAR the end of what turned out to be the final season of “Zoey 101,” Victoria Justice — who was playing Jamie Lynn Spears’ sidekick, Lola — was summoned, with her mom, to a meeting with Dan Schneider.

Schneider — who created “The Amanda Show” for Amanda Bynes, “Drake & Josh,” “iCarly” and “Zoey”– is something of a star maker in the tight little world of ‘tween TV.

And he wanted to talk about building a show around Victoria.

“We sat at this dinner meeting and we were bouncing off ideas, and I said, ‘Well, I went to a perform arts middle school when I was younger, maybe we can do something with that?’

“Dan thought that was a great idea and from that we developed ‘Victorious,’ ” she says.

At 16, Victoria is on the verge of the kind of teen fame that makes middle schoolers go silent with awe.

In “Victorious,” a new half-hour comedy scheduled to start early next year on Nickelodoen, Victoria plays Tori Vega, a talented kid attending a performing arts high school in the Hollywood Hills.

In the age of “Glee,” it’s not an original idea. The story of kids who want to sing and dance in front of a worshipful audience of their peers never gets old, it seems.

But it’s pure Schneider. The former child actor (he played Dennis for five years on “Head of the Class“) actually talks to the people he writes for.

Miranda Cosgrove, the ‘tween superstar who plays Carly, says she gets text messages from him every day.

“He texted me the other day to ask, ‘Do kids still use phone books?’ He was in a story meeting,” Miranda said. “Yes!” she shot back.

The cast of “Victorious” includes the nerdy ventriloquist Robbie (Matthew Bennett), mean-girl Jade (Elizabeth Gillies), musical-prodigy Andre (Leon Thomas) and flighty Cat (Ariana Grande).

The show is built around a romantic triangle with Tori, school bad-boy Beck (played by Avan Jogia, one of Justice’s real-life best friends ) and his on-screen girlfriend, Jade.

Surprisingly, there are some quick kisses in the middle of the series’ first episode — a bit of intimacy that most ‘tween shows leave until a little later.

Also in the first episode is a big song-and-dance routine that thrusts Tori into the spotlight, replacing her sidelined older sister Trina (Daniella Monet) during the school’s showcase performance.

“It was actually my first time ever performing in front of people,” Justice admits. “which was pretty intense. But, like my character, once I got on stage, I just completely forgot about everything — I was so in the zone that I loved every second of it.”

Like “Glee” and “American Idol,” the original songs heard during the series will be available for download on iTunes right after each episode airs, thanks to a partnership with Sony Music.

Unlike “iCarly” and “Zoey,” where parents were mysteriously absent, Victoria will have an on-screen mom and dad.

“We have to make it realistic,” says Justice. “It’d be a little weird if we were always at home alone.

” ‘Like where are this child’s parents? We have to call child services right now, this is not okay,’ ” she laughs.