‘All That’ and a Young Spears, Too

The goofy variety show “All That,” Nickelodeon’s version of “Saturday Night Live” for the 16-and-younger set, opens its fall season at 8 tonight with the kid sister of one of pop’s biggest stars joining the cast.

Eleven-year-old Jamie Spears, who appeared with sibling Britney in the recent theatrical release “Crossroads” as well as big sis’ HBO special, checks in as the eighth and youngest member of the talented ensemble cast. And judging from the response of the studio audience, who greeted her every twitch and turn with screams and applause, she’s already a favorite.

Of course, every skit in “All That” gets a big response, if not from the hyped-up crowd, then from the sweetening of an industrial-strength laugh track. The idea is to generate an atmosphere of frantic, fast-paced fun, yet the half-dozen skits and blackouts jammed around a song from the weekly musical act (boy group B2K tonight) are usually strong enough to carry the half hour on their own.

As might be expected, Jamie figures prominently in just about every bit tonight, and one wonders how the arrival of this pre-pubescent upstart will sit with the show’s reigning glamour queen, Chelsea Brummet, 16. (While the rest of the cast members are running amok and mugging over the closing credits, Jamie and Chelsea appear to be the only ones coolly dancing to the music.)

Like “SNL,” graduates from the “All That” franchise, now in its eighth season, have already been making a name for themselves, most notably Amanda Byrnes (currently in the WB’s “What I Like About You” and opposite Frankie Muniz in the movie “Big Fat Liar”) and Nick Cannon (in the upcoming films “Drumline” and the remake of “Can’t Buy Me Love”).

Don’t be surprised if the class of 2002 has some breakout performers of its own.