Good Luck Charlie

Not to be confused with Good Luck Chuck.

Good Luck Charlie
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Phil Baker Drew Vaupen
Starring	Bridgit Mendler Leigh-Allyn Baker Bradley Steven Perry Mia Talerico Eric Allan Kramer Jason Dolley
Theme music composer	Jeanne Lurie, Chen Neeman and Aris Archontis
Opening theme	"Hang In There Baby", performed by Bridgit Mendler
Composer(s)	Stephen R. Phillips & Tim P.
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	81 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Phil Baker Drew Vaupen Dan Staley
Camera setup	Videotape (filmized); Multi-camera
Running time	23–49 minutes
Production company(s)	It's a Laugh Productions Disney Channel Original Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	Disney Channel
Picture format	720p (HDTV)
Original run	April 4, 2010 (2010-04-04) – present
External links
Official website

Good Luck Charlie is an American television sitcom, which premiered on April 4, 2010, on Disney Channel. The series was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who wanted to create a program that would appeal to entire families, as opposed to children only. It revolves around a Denver family, the Duncans, as they try to adjust to the births of their fourth and fifth children, Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico) and Toby Duncan. In each episode, Teddy Duncan (Bridgit Mendler) creates a video diary containing advice for Charlie about their family and life as a teenager. Teddy tries to show Charlie what she might go through when she is older in the video diaries for future reference. Each video diary ends with Teddy (or someone else from the family, even Charlie) saying the eponymous phrase, "Good luck, Charlie".

Among other decisions, executives included adult-centric scenes and changed the series title from Oops to Love, Teddy and finally to Good Luck Charlie in order to ensure the series would appeal to all family members. Good Luck Charlie premiered on Disney Channel in the United States on April 4, 2010. It premiered in Canada on April 5, 2010, the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 14, 2010, and in Australia and New Zealand on July 23, 2010. Good Luck Charlie was renewed for a second season, with production beginning in August 2010 with a season premiere on February 20, 2011. A feature-length Christmas Disney Channel Original Movie based on the series entitled Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! began production in March 2011 for a December 2011 premiere.

On August 29, 2011, Disney Channel announced that they had renewed the series for a third season. The third season premiered on May 6, 2012 and concluded on January 20, 2013. On July 12, 2012, Disney Channel announced that they renewed the series for a fourth season. According to a Fuse interview, Mendler has stated that the fourth season will be its last season, as far as she knows. Season 4 premiered on April 28, 2013.

Premise

The series centers on the Duncan family, who are still adjusting to the birth of their fourth child, Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico). When parents Amy (Leigh-Allyn Baker), a nurse, and Bob (Eric Allan Kramer), an exterminator, return to work, they ask their three older children—PJ (Jason Dolley), Teddy (Bridgit Mendler), and Gabe (Bradley Steven Perry)—to help raise their little sister. At the same time, Teddy, PJ, and Gabe try to deal with school and typical social challenges in their life.

The events of each episode become material for a video diary Teddy is making for her younger sister. Teddy hopes the videos will provide useful advice for Charlie after they have both grown up and Teddy has moved out. Also at the end of each video, she (and/or other cast members) states, "Good luck, Charlie" or may even say it indirectly such as "Wish them good luck, Charlie." During the movie, Amy reveals to Teddy that she is pregnant with her fifth child, which Teddy is trying to adjust to but this story plot is not carried into the actual series until the third season. In the third season, Amy gives birth to a baby boy, Toby and just as Teddy, Gabe makes a video diary for Toby using "Good fortune, Toby" instead of "Good luck, Charlie."

Characters

Main characters

The season four cast of Good Luck Charlie (The Duncan family, from left to right), Mia Talerico as Charlie Duncan, Bradley Steven Perry as Gabe Duncan, Bridgit Mendler as Teddy Duncan, Leigh-Allyn Baker as Amy Duncan, Jason Dolley as PJ Duncan, Eric Allan Kramer as Bob Duncan and Logan Moreau as Toby Duncan

• Teddy Duncan

Teddy R. Duncan (Bridgit Mendler) is Charlie's older and only sister and the second oldest of the Duncan children. Feeling that she will not be around as much when Charlie is grown, she produces and directs video diaries for her, hoping that it will give her advice that will help her be successful as a teenager. She produces these video diaries at the end of every episode, and at the end of every video diary she says "Good luck Charlie". Her best friend is Ivy Wentz. It was mentioned in "Sun Show: Part 1", that her parents were expecting a boy, hence the generally masculine name "Teddy". She dated Spencer Walsh in season one, but they broke up after she caught him two-timing both her and a pretty, dim-witted brunette named Skyler, breaking her heart. She and Skyler later become friends. She and Spencer later get back together in season two. Throughout the show Teddy has had numerous boyfriends. Teddy shows a lot of care towards her brothers, as demonstrated when she saves PJ from falling out of a tree house window, on the condition of him needing to drive her where ever she wanted for a month, or when Gabe gets a black eye from Jo and Teddy offers to help him with his problem. Teddy is known as a "goody-goody" (G.G.) from her best friend Ivy. She and Spencer get back together in "Can You Keep A Secret?". In "All Fall Down" Teddy and Spencer have to break up because Spencer is going to go to the Boston Institute for Performing Arts (BIPA) and they don't want to be in a long-distance relationship.

• Amy Duncan

Amy B. Duncan – (née Blankenhooper) (Leigh-Allyn Baker) is the mother of Teddy, PJ, Gabe, Charlie, and Toby, and wife of Bob. She worked as a hospital nurse and is often portrayed as dutiful, protective and comedic. She is very fond and loving of her family, and does everything she can to care for and protect them. She appears to be somewhat uncomfortable when she is not taking care of her family, especially Charlie, but as the series progresses, she begins to feel assured that her youngest daughter and family are in good hands and now trusts that her husband and three eldest children can take care of Charlie. She is notoriously conceited and enjoys bragging about her accomplishments, admirable or otherwise. Amy used to be on the local news team and was also a poet in her high school days. A running joke on the show is that she mentions her tenure at Southwest Denver Community College, and apparently having been involved virtually every extracurricular activity that the school provided, and yet still earned a nursing degree. She lets special opportunities, such as being on TV or singing in front of a group, go to her head. She has a habit of taking any chance of any publicity that may shine on her family to focus onto her, but this never works out well; usually she ends up being cut from the project or tossed out of certain groups. Amy seldom accepts her children's misbehavior. It is revealed in the movie, that she is pregnant again with her fifth child. In the middle of the third season, Amy quit her nursing job to be a full-time mother to Charlie and Toby.

• Gabe Duncan

Gabriel "Gabe" Duncan (Bradley Steven Perry) is the middle child of the Duncan children, being both the younger brother of Teddy and PJ, and older brother of Charlie and Toby. It is demonstrated early in the series that Gabe does not approve of Charlie's arrival and takes the longest, of all the Duncans, to get used to her. However, he often reluctantly assists with taking care of Charlie and is gradually beginning to demonstrate more fondness of her. He is a prankster and troublemaker, often sarcastic and lazy, but can also be dutiful and determined at times. He is front-man when it comes to the Duncans' running rivalry with Mrs. Dabney, their neighbor, who is often the target of Gabe's pranks and cracks, which is the only time the family doesn't mind them. He and Toby are the only Duncans to have brown hair, unlike the rest of his family who all have blonde hair. A running gag in the show is that he insults Bob because of his weight and baldness, Amy's cooking, PJ being a goofball, Teddy being a "goody-goody," and occasionally Charlie. He also likes to harass and tease Mrs. Dabney, as he finds her annoying. He also won the baby naming contest and so his brother's name is Toby. In one episode to impress a girl he, like his sister Teddy, makes video diaries for Toby, ending with "Good Fortune, Toby!". Also, it was revealed that when Gabe was a baby he was a calm and easy child.

• Charlie Duncan

Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico) is the title character and the second youngest of the Duncan children. She is generally portrayed as being happy. Charlie appears as the least of the Duncans in the series as she is little. It sometimes takes a few tries to get her to do the right thing. Charlie can also be mischievous at times. Many of the Duncan family's adventures revolve around Charlie. Both her older brothers, PJ and Gabe, are often seen using Charlie for their own benefit, although PJ shows that he cares about her deeply. However, Gabe seems to dislike Charlie the most although, in some episodes, he is seen being quite fond of her. Amy thinks of Charlie as the perfect baby. It was revealed in "Charlie is 1", that it was Teddy's idea to nickname her Charlie. Charlie speaks more often in later episodes of season two and in season three. She shares a birthday with Toby and said, "I like this present" when Toby was born. In season three, her personality begins to develop, as she is seen as sneaky and mischievous, such as pretending to like a doll Amy bought for her to like Toby, but then throwing it away when she wasn't looking, and also telling Amy's "friends" what she really thinks of them, causing her to lose them all.

• Bob Duncan

Bob William Duncan (Eric Allan Kramer) is the father of Teddy, PJ, Gabe, Charlie, and Toby, and husband of Amy. He owns his own pest control company, "Bob's Bugs Be Gone". He sometimes refers to his business as the "Triple B-G". He loves bugs and attends the bug convention every year. Bob is the coach of Gabe's basketball team, but he was temporarily replaced by his wife. It is also mentioned in "Snow Show: Part 1" that Bob and Amy are not legally married because they were scammed by a con man who impersonated a judge. Then they end up getting married legally with all four of their children present. His dream as a child was to be a professional wrestler named "Bobzilla", which he showed in his company's commercial. Bob gets made fun of a lot throughout the series because of his weight and baldness, usually by Gabe. He is very "cheap" and "tight" with his money. He wants his family to know him as a "fix-it" man, though his projects never seem to work out. He is slightly afraid of Amy, but he calls it a "strong respect". He has two positions of authority when it comes to the children: driving lessons and barbecuing. He can be lazy but is determined to spend quality time with his wife and children. He has issues with his mother-in-law, Petunia. It is revealed he has apologized to Amy at least 162 times. In "Baby Steps," it is revealed that he dropped all of his kids including Toby. In multiple episodes Bob brags about having his own band in high school, "The Bob Duncan Experience", which made a grand total of one record (an LP, no copies). He can still play bass guitar and occasionally sits in with P.J. & The Vibe. Late in the third season, Bob began exercising and dropped a massive amount of fat, replacing most of it with muscle. After Amy & the kids staged an intervention to stop his more revealing wardrobe choices, he admits the catalyst for his getting back in shape was someone in the park mistaking him for Toby's grandfather.

• PJ Duncan

PJ Duncan (Jason Dolley) is the eldest of the Duncan children. He and Teddy often fight, although they care about each other, and he usually gets along well with his younger brother, Gabe. He often appears awkward, somewhat careless and childish, but on numerous occasions has been known to be resourceful, creative and intelligent. Also, he has also been shown to be a good cook, and Bob once tricked Amy (who isn't a very good cook) into working later so that PJ would cook. He and his best friend, Emmett, have their own band entitled "PJ and the Vibe". PJ occasionally uses his younger sister, Charlie, for his personal gain, like when he uses her to make big tips while working for Kwikki Chikki by saying that his mother, Amy, was ill in the hospital when she actually she works there. He dated Teddy's friend and ex-girlfriend of Spencer Walsh, Skyler, who has the same type of scatterbrain he has, but they broke up in "PJ in the City", when Skyler had to move to New York City because of her father's new job which required him to relocate. When he dated Skyler, he became concerned when her former boyfriend kept texting her to get back together, he says to leave Skyler alone. He was originally intended to be named after his great-grandfather, Patrick John, but Bob was nervous as he was writing on his birth certificate, resulting in the legal name of "Potty John" instead of the intended "Patty John". Despite Bob trying to correct this in the season two episode "Can You Keep a Secret?", he accidentally changed the intended name to "PP Duncan" instead. In one episode, Amy called him PJ Darth Duncan, suggesting his middle name is Darth. In season three, PJ moves out of the Duncan house and into an apartment shared with Emmett, but is still in the Duncan house a lot.

Recurring characters

• Toby Duncan

Toby Duncan (uncredited season 3, Logan Moreau season 4) is the fifth and youngest of the Duncan siblings. He was born in the back of an ice cream truck. Bob and Amy were riding in on the way to the hospital and Teddy helped deliver him. He and Charlie share the same birthday but he is three years younger. Gabe came up with his name and Gabe started to make a video diary for him to impress a girl and at the end he says "Good Fortune Toby". In the episode he is born Amy said "Welcome to the World Toby Wan Kenobi Duncan.", suggesting his middle name Wan Kenobi. The July 12, 2012 Disney press release announcing season four stated that the role of Toby, by which time, he will be a toddler would be cast for that season. Logan Moreau (born January 27, 2012 in Los Angeles, California) was selected for the role and was credited as a guest star in the first season four episode.

• Ivy Wentz

Ivy Renee Wentz (Raven Goodwin) is Teddy's best friend, and is one of the major recurring characters in the series. She is seen spending most of her time with Teddy at the Duncan's residence and often accompanies her on her dutiful, or personal, excursions. Ivy is energetic, witty and humorous and has proven to be quite intuitive; although she does not receive the best grades in school. She is passionate, if not obsessed, about clothes, money, popularity, boys and texting; but on numerous occasions has proven to be a loyal and comforting friend. Ivy briefly dated Emmett when they were younger, and now never misses a chance to insult him, but went to the school dance with him so she and Teddy can have a ride in "Dance Off". It is revealed that she loves country music and animal print clothes. She is dating a classmate named Raymond (Daniel Curtis Lee), or her own nickname, Ray-Ray.

• Spencer Walsh

Spencer Walsh (Shane Harper) is Teddy's boyfriend. At first, they started dating after they begin studying together. He cheated on her in the episode "Girl Bites Dog", and Teddy broke up with him. In "Snow Show", he goes to the lodge that the Duncan family is staying at to get back together with Teddy. They share a kiss on the ski lift. At the end, they just decide to stay friends. He and Emmett share similar dancing abilities that rival each other, and they eventually become friends. In the episode, "Can You Keep a Secret?", he and Teddy get back together but they break up in "All Fall Down" because Spencer goes to college in Boston.

• Emmett

Emmett (Micah Williams) is PJ's best friend. He is slender, comedic, and has a desperate, misguided & very one-sided attraction to Teddy, though Teddy constantly rejects him. Emmett accompanies PJ on the drums in his band "PJ and the Vibe", and sometimes assists PJ on his problematic excursions. Emmett has a nephew named Mason who, he claimed, was better than Charlie, until Charlie beat Mason in a "baby race" by learning to walk. Emmett is also an incredible dancer, with skills matched only by Spencer. He once went out with Ivy when they were younger. In his mind, he sees himself as being suave, sophisticated, and very attractive to girls.

• Mrs. Dabney

Mrs. Estelle Dabney (Patricia Belcher) is the Duncans' stern and irritable neighbor. In "The Curious Case of Mr. Dabney", she was mistakenly accused of killing her husband. In "Kit and Kaboodle", it is mentioned that Mrs. Dabney and her four sisters were born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1958. She wanted the Duncans' tree, which housed PJ and Teddy's tree house, cut down; but the family fought back. It is revealed that Estelle is one of quintuplets; her four sisters are played by Belcher via split screen. Mrs. Dabney is often suspicious of Gabe, because his pranks and troublemaking are often directed at her. She is often antagonistic towards the Duncans—Bob, PJ, and Gabe especially- but is fairly tolerant of Charlie. She was also a big fan of the fictional "Higgins and Zork" television show when she was younger. She loves her son and her cat more than her husband, and some wonder why she married Mr. Dabney if she hated him so much. In "It's A Charlie Duncan Thanksgiving", it is revealed that she and Mr. Dabney had recently divorced. In the same episode, she flirted with the Duncan kids' grandfather, but broke up with him not much later. It is revealed that in "Make Room for Baby" that she does not know the Internet.

• Jo

Jo Keener (G. Hannelius) is Gabe's tomboyish bully-turned-friend. She was introduced in "Boys Meets Girls", bullying Gabe before revealing she has a crush on him. Since that episode, she appears friendly with Gabe, assisting him with certain situations with an occasional wise-crack and insult at his expense. It is demonstrated that she is good with babies after taking care of Charlie. It is also revealed that Gabe also has a small crush on her but doesn't show it. In "Duncan's Got Talent", Jo played a trick on Gabe that almost ruined his chance of being class president. Earlier in that episode, Gabe revealed that he'd had a dream about Jo, but he stopped himself before he could say what she did in it. In season 2, Gabe and Jo settle their differences in "Duncan vs. Duncan". According to Jo, she and Gabe have a complicated relationship. Jo no longer appears in the series, since G. Hannelius is now playing Avery Jennings in another Disney Channel sitcom, Dog With a Blog.

• Mary Lou Wentz

Mary Lou Wentz (Ellia English) is Ivy Wentz's mother and Amy Duncan's friend. She first appears to be rather bland; but as the series progresses, she becomes more entertaining and vibrant. She is a skilled knitter; and, in "Gabe's 12-½ Birthday", she is shown to be a talented singer, performing the national anthem at a game. She has appeared in six episodes. In season 1, she appeared in "The Curious Case of Mr. Dabney" and "Butt Dialing Duncans;" and, in season 2, she has appeared in "Appy Days", "Gabe's 12-½ Birthday", "Amazing Gracie", and "Teddy on Ice". She is married to Harry Wentz (William Allen Young), and their highly conservative and traditional ways annoy Ivy and Teddy. In one episode, Teddy visits their home; and they invite her to participate in a family sing-a-long of Row, Row, Row Your Boat and eat liver and onions, leading Teddy to leave the house in the middle of a snowstorm. In "Amy Needs A Shower", she hosts Amy's baby shower. Amy Duncan describes her as too perky.

• Harry Wentz

Harry Wentz (William Allen Young) is the husband of Mary Lou Wentz and the father of Ivy Wentz, Teddy's best friend. Throughout the series, he has appeared in three episodes, all in Season Two: "Gabe's 12-1/2 Birthday", "Amazing Gracie", and "Teddy on Ice". Harry and Mary Lou do various annoying things to Teddy and Ivy such as singing rounds of Row, Row, Row Your Boat and eating liver and onions. It is shown in "Amazing Gracie" that he had a car named Gracie that he was extremely attached to. He reluctantly sold it to Teddy before she crashed it. It is also shown that he and Mary Lou own a small cabin by a lake in "Teddy on Ice." In Season 3, Harry quits his plumbing job and starts a weather themed restrauraunt.

• Skyler

Skyler (Samantha Boscarino) is Teddy's friend and Spencer's ex-girlfriend. She first appears and was introduced in the episode "Girl Bites Dog", as a complete stranger to Teddy. Later Teddy finds out that she is Spencer's other girlfriend and they break up with him. She then appeared in "Teddy's Broken Heart Club Band", where she and Teddy record a mean song about Spencer to get back at him. Teddy and Skyler become good friends. She and PJ become a couple when she and Teddy enter a battle of the bands contest to compete against PJ and Emmett and also Spencer. She and PJ broke up in "PJ in the City", when Skyler moved to New York due to her father's new job. Skyler is a gifted guitarist and pianist, a talented singer, and is able to write incredible poems and songs. She has not appeared in season 3, but she was mentioned by P.J. in "All Fall Down".

• Jake

Jake (Tucker Albrizzi) is Gabe's friend. He first appeared in "Pushing Buttons", where he bought Gabe's bike from him for $10. He then appeared in "Baby's New Shoes", where he went to a movie theater with Gabe and Teddy to help her expose an employee selling children age-inappropriate movie tickets in exchange for money. He also appeared faking a broadcast with Gabe at the end of the episode. He made another appearance in "Termite Queen", where he helps Gabe shoot a monster movie, and "Special Delivery", where he convinces Gabe to buy a video game over a toy for Charlie.

• Vonnie

Vonnie (Cyrina Fiallo) is a girl who is friends with Teddy. She first appears in the Season 3 episode, "T. Wrecks", when Teddy joins the girls' volleyball team. She later appears in the episode "Team Mom", when the volleyball team is on a losing streak and Amy is their new Team Mom. She is also friends with Kelsey (Coco Jones). In "Nurse Blakenhooper", she teams up with Teddy to do a project because she knows Teddy can get them a good grade.

• Victor

Victor (Kevin Covais) first appears in the episode, "Baby's First Vacation" when he helps Teddy put video feed in the home security system so she can have a party while the family is on vacation. He reappears in "Teddy and the Bambino" to help Teddy win the Student U.N. Competition. Finally, in "Study Buddy", he preps Teddy for the SAT's since he got a perfect score. In "Baby's First Vacation" he is shown to have some dislike for Spencer, and also, Ivy does not get along with him.

• Linda Duncan

Linda Duncan (Shirley Jones) is Bob's despicable and overly perky mother, who regularly upstages Amy, and gives her son a great deal of attention and praise, two things Amy cannot stand (this could well explain Amy's disturbed need to steal the spotlight from all other family members). She has appeared twice, in the episode following Toby's birth and the third season Christmas episode, in which she brags about how she'll be singing the same carol at the family talent show as Amy (probably after eavesdropping from the front porch), even trying to silence Amy during their agreed duet. Her cruel tactics include faint praise by her favorite expression "and whatnot," and making fun of Amy's "Ba-Bam!" tagline.

Episodes

Main article: List of Good Luck Charlie episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired (U.S. dates)
			Season premiere	Season finale
	1	26	April 4, 2010 (2010-04-04)	January 30, 2011 (2011-01-30)
	2	30	February 20, 2011 (2011-02-20)	November 27, 2011 (2011-11-27)
	Film		December 2, 2011
	3	21	May 6, 2012 (2012-05-06)	January 20, 2013 (2013-01-20)
	4	TBA	April 28, 2013 (2013-04-28)	TBA

Shake It Up crossover

In Season 2, Good Luck Charlie released a crossover episode with Shake It Up titled Charlie Shakes It Up. It is about Teddy, Amy, and Charlie visiting Chicago to see Great Aunt Nell, but they mistake that they got a car rented by Nell that takes them to the set of Shake It Up, Chicago!, where they are mistaken for dancers. Meanwhile, PJ and Gabe have a yard sale out of stuff from the attic. They soon learn that they accidentally sold their cat jar to Mrs. Dabney which had $500 in it. In order to get it back they must entertain Mrs. Dabney.

Development and production

"A lot of the high-concept shows have kids in an extraordinary situation where the parent or adult takes a backseat, and sometimes the adult isn't as smart as the kid, or it's all about the kids putting one over on the adults. But we have a new show called "Good Luck Charlie" that has a very different kind of concept. It is very grounded, very relatable, and it's not about the parents being dumber than the kids. We try and mine as much comedy out of the parents as possible, but it doesn't mean the kids can't learn from the parents and get guidance from the parents".

Adam Bonnett, senior Vice President of original programming for Disney.

The Good Luck Charlie pilot, entitled "Study Date", was shot in February 2009, at Sunset Bronson Studios (where Hannah Montana was taped) and the series was picked up later that year. The show's production occurs at Sunset Bronson Studios in Los Angeles even though the show is set in Denver, Colorado. Starting with the 2nd season, the series is taped at Los Angeles Center Studios, where Shake It Up is also taped. The show operates on a weekly schedule. Scripts for a new episode are issued on Monday before a read-through, Wednesdays are rehearsal and network run-through day, final scripts are issued on Thursday, and the episode is shot in front of a live studio audience on Friday night. According to Mendler, occasionally "episodes are too big to handle with a live audience [and are] taped without an audience, but mostly they're live".

Good Luck Charlie was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who have been writing together since 1993 on shows ranging from Suddenly Susan to Sonny with a Chance. The pair aspired to create a program that would appeal to entire families rather than simply kids. Inspired by the success of reruns of shows such as Full House and George Lopez with young audiences, Vaupen and Baker turned to family sitcoms. "We wanted to do a show about a family, to bring back a family sitcom and make it about a real family, not wizards, nobody's a pop star, nobody has a TV show", said Vaupen, referring to Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana, and Sonny with a Chance.

Veteran writer-producer Dan Staley (Cheers) later joined the show as executive producer. Disney’s Gary Marsh said "because most network television abandoned the traditional sitcom, Disney has been able to snatch up a lot of experienced talent for behind the camera, including executive producer Dan Staley…"

Good Luck Charlie's central family, the Duncans from Denver, Colorado, was carefully crafted for broad appeal. While the series is still told primarily through the view point of the Duncan children, the children's parents, Amy and Bob, are less on the periphery and writers attempt to add scenes that adult viewers can relate to. For example, in one scene in the pilot episode Amy confesses to Bob that she is overwhelmed with becoming a working new mother again. "She's not sure she can pull this off", says Bonnet. "And just playing that scene the way we did, a very real scene between husband and wife, kind of makes this show different". The writers also try to include jokes for adult viewers while remaining chaste enough for their young target audience. Unlike most previous Disney Channel series such as Sonny with a Chance, Hannah Montana, or Cory in the House, both parents are seen in the Duncan family. "It felt like the right time to have a show with two parents, to debunk the myth that Disney never has the mom in the picture", says Adam Bonnett, Senior Vice President of original programming for Disney Channel. "Because it is a myth".

Because a series about the rich and famous might alienate viewers in a troubled economy, the Duncans were made middle-class. According to Gary Marsh, Entertainment President of Disney Channel Worldwide, "We want[ed] to do is acknowledge the reality of the times in which we live, where two parents work, where kids are expected to help out around the house in meaningful ways. Real-life issues happen. Everyone isn't living The Life of Riley all the time".

Naming

Broadening Disney Channel's appeal was a concern when choosing the names of the characters and the title of the program. "You want a title that says, a) this is a sitcom and, b) this is something that will interest the main demographic but also we're trying to expand the Disney brand beyond just girls", Vaupen commented. The series' title was originally "Love, Teddy", the phrase Teddy had used to end her video diary entries during development. However, "Love, Teddy" immediately felt feminized and almost excludes boys", Vaupen said. "We also didn't want to have the word 'Baby' in the title because that would exclude certain people". The Duncan baby was originally named "Daisy" during development, but producers thought that "Charlie", which is generally a masculine name, would attract more boys.

Casting

As Good Luck Charlie is low concept and character-driven, "the actors not only had to carry the show, they also had to have "pitch-perfect" chemistry with each other to make the family dynamic believable". Bonnet says Disney Channel executives "just fell in love with" Bridgit Mendler, who stars as teenaged Teddy Duncan. "She has all the attributes of a Disney star", said Bonnet. Mendler first heard about Good Luck Charlie in late November 2008. After several rounds of auditions and cast reads, she finally secured the part in January 2009. Both Mendler and Jason Dolley, who plays Teddy's older brother PJ, have starred in early Disney Channel series and movies prior to being cast in Good Luck Charlie; Mendler had a recurring role on Wizards of Waverly Place and Dolley starred in Cory in the House and other Disney Channel television movies. Variety magazine's Brian Lowry says their careers "[reflect] the Disney Channel's knack for identifying young performers and rolling them from one project to the next, in a fashion reminiscent of the old studio system". Both Eric Allan Kramer, who plays Bob Duncan, and Leigh-Allyn Baker, who plays Amy Duncan, have also guest starred on other Disney Channel shows, and both Baker and Allen had respectively guest starred in one episode each of the NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl, where Charlie writers Erika Kaestle & Patrick McCarthy had served as writers and supervising producers. Both Baker and Kramer were in the same episode of the NBC sitcom Will and Grace, entitled "Sour Balls". Baker says Disney had been "courting [her] for awhile to play a mom", but she had always felt too young. "I kind of feel like hey, you know what? When I'm done with this stint, I'll actually be the age everyone thinks I am to be able to play the part". Baker, who was a new mother herself, was nine months pregnant at the time she was auditioning for the role.

Mia Talerico – Like most series featuring baby actors, producers of Good Luck Charlie had originally intended to have twins play Charlie Duncan, the title character and the Duncans' new baby. Hiring two babies would allow for longer work days without violating child labor laws as well as the ability to substitute one child for the other if one was unavailable. However, the show makers were unsuccessful in finding the proper set of twins and decided to cast Mia Talerico instead. Marsh says hiring Talerico, who was ten months old at the time she was cast, was their highest risk while creating the show: "It's like flying without a net. She may have a bad day and we can't shoot and it'll cost us tens of thousands of dollars. But so far, so good. She's the most obedient actor I've ever worked with".

Reception

The series's premiere earned positive reviews. Robert Lloyd of The Los Angeles Times described it as a "professional sitcom from sitcom professionals" with efficient jokes and typical sitcom characters, and situations which are "willfully arranged". However, Lloyd praised the series for offering a "contextually novel picture of a teenage girl taking care of her baby sister with a persuasive nonchalance and practical ease that transcends the strenuous comedy that surrounds it". Neal Justin of the Star Tribune said the "slapstick heavy, laugh-track fueled sitcom" had no redeeming qualities other than "keeping your 11-year-old sedated for a half hour". Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Good Luck Charlie would appeal to kids, but not adults. "Parents have seen the same sort of show done before and better in ABC's 1980s-era TGIF lineup", wrote Owen. Contrarily, Brian Lowry of Variety magazine said Good Luck Charlie was "a surprisingly refreshing throwback to ABC's "TGIF"-style sitcoms". He commented that while the series did not "push sitcom boundaries", it was "sprightly" and "pleasantly handled".

Viewership

The series premiered to 4.6 million viewers, making it the highest-rated series premiere for a Disney Channel Original Series since The Suite Life on Deck in 2008, and the week's highest-rated cable program. Maclean's reported that overall, the first season "has been doing about as well as Disney’s more successful shows – The Suite Life and so on".

On June 24, 2012, the episode "Special Delivery" became the most-watched episode ever of Good Luck Charlie, earning 7.48 million viewers, surpassing the episode "Snow Show (Part 1)" which had 7.24 million viewers as well as the episode "Kit and Kaboodle" that garnered 5.03 million viewers and the series' pilot episode "Study Date" which had 4.68 million viewers.

Currently the most watched episode of the series is "Special Delivery" with 7.5 million viewers. The least watched episode is "Catch Me If You Can" with 2.5 million viewers.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV: Female Breakout Star	Bridgit Mendler	Nominated
	Hollywood Teen TV Awards	Teen Pick Actor: Comedy	Jason Dolley	Nominated
		Teen Show Pick: Comedy	Good Luck Charlie	Nominated
2011	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Supporting Young Actor	Bradley Steven Perry	Nominated
		Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor Ten and Under	Tucker Albrizzi	Won
		Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 11-15	Ryan Newman	Nominated
	British Academy Children's Awards	BAFTA Kid's Vote: TV	Good Luck Charlie	Won
2012	2012 Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite TV Show		Nominated
		Favorite TV Actress	Bridgit Mendler	Nominated
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in s TV Series - Supporting Young Actor	Bradley Steven Perry	Nominated
		Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 18-21	Booboo Stewart	Nominated
	British Academy Children's Awards	BAFTA Kid's Vote: TV	Good Luck Charlie	Won
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Children's Program		Nominated
2013	Producers Guild Awards	Outstanding Children's Program		Nominated
	2013 Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite TV Show		Nominated
		Favorite TV Actress	Bridgit Mendler	Nominated
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress 14-16	Isabella Palmieri	Won
		Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress Ten and Under	Gianna Gomez	Nominated

Music

The series theme song is "Hang in There Baby". "I'm Gonna Run to You", which was co-written by Bridgit Mendler, was featured in the telemovie, Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas!. It was released on iTunes on November 12, 2011,^{[citation needed]} and peaked at number 15 on Radio Disney's Top 30 Countdown on January 23, 2012.^{[citation needed]} "You're Something Beautiful" was featured in the 1-hour special episode, "Special Delivery", and "My Song for You" was featured in the Season 3 Christmas episode "A Duncan Christmas". The first three songs are sung by Bridgit Mendler alone, while the fourth is a duet sung by Mendler and Shane Harper.

Film

Main article: Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas!

Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! also known as "Good Luck Charlie: The Road Trip Movie" is a 2011 Christmas film based on the series. The film premiered December 2, 2011 on the Disney Channel. The film was directed by Arlene Sanford and written by Geoff Rodkey. The Disney Channel Original Movie follows the Duncan family on their road trip to Amy Duncan's parents' house for Christmas.

Indian adaptation

An Indian adaptation of the show, titled Best of Luck Nikki, premiered on Disney Channel India on April 3, 2011. Sheena Bajaj plays Dolly Singh, a character similar to that of Teddy Duncan.

International broadcasting

Country / Region	Channel	Series premiere		Title in country
		Preview	Premiere date
United States	Disney Channel	NONE	April 4, 2010	Good Luck Charlie
Arab World	Disney Channel Middle East	NONE	April 19, 2010	تشارلي أختي (My Sister Charlie)
Canada	Family Channel	April 5, 2010	May 14, 2010	Good Luck Charlie
Australia	Disney Channel Australia	May 14, 2010	July 23, 2010
New Zealand
United Kingdom	Disney Channel UK and Ireland	May 14, 2010	June 12, 2010
Ireland
Germany	Disney Channel Germany	May 7, 2010	November 7, 2010	Meine Schwester Charlie (My Sister Charlie)
	Super RTL	NONE
Austria	Disney Channel Germany	May 7, 2010
Poland	Disney Channel Poland	NONE	June 5, 2010	Powodzenia Charlie!
Greece	Disney Channel Greece	NONE		Καλή Τύχη Τσάρλι
Czech Republic	Disney Channel Czech Republic & Slovakia	NONE		Hodně štěstí, Charlie
Slovakia		NONE		Veľa šťastia, Charlie
Hungary	Disney Channel Hungary	NONE		Sok sikert, Charlie!
Romania	Disney Channel Romania	NONE		Baftă,Charlie!
Bulgaria		NONE		Късмет, Чарли
Ukraine		NONE	August 10, 2010	Щасти, Чарлі
France	Disney Channel France	June 9, 2010	September 1, 2010	Bonne Chance Charlie
Quebec	VRAK.TV	NONE	December 28, 2010	Bonne Chance Charlie
Argentina	Disney Channel Latin America	July 10, 2010	July 12, 2010	¡Buena Suerte, Charlie!
Mexico
Venezuela
Ecuador
Colombia
Brazil	Disney Channel Brazil	NONE	July 10, 2010	Boa Sorte, Charlie!
Chile	Disney Channel Latin America	NONE		¡Buena Suerte, Charlie!
	Canal 13 (Chile)	NONE	January 7, 2011
Spain	Disney Channel Spain	September 19, 2010	October 8, 2010	¡Buena Suerte, Charlie!
Portugal	Disney Channel Portugal			Boa Sorte, Charlie!
Italy	Disney Channel Italy	July 12, 2010	October 1, 2010	Buona fortuna, Charlie!
	Italia 1		NONE
	Boing		NONE
Turkey	Disney Channel Turkey	April 19, 2011	June 19, 2010	İyi Şanslar Charlie
Israel	Disney Channel Israel	NONE	October 17, 2010	גוד לאק צ'ארלי
Japan	Disney Channel Japan	July 19, 2010	September 10, 2010	グッドラック・チャーリー
Taiwan	Disney Channel Taiwan	NONE	June 24, 2010	我愛夏莉 (I Love Charlie)
Hong Kong	Disney Channel Asia	NONE	June 24, 2010	我愛夏莉 (I Love Charlie)
	TVB Pearl	NONE	November 11, 2012	吾家查莉 (Our Charlie)
Cambodia	Disney Channel Asia	August 9, 2010	S1: August 14, 2010 S2: November 6, 2011	Good Luck Charlie
Brunei
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam
South Korea				찰리야 부탁해 (I'm Counting on You, Charlie)
Singapore			S1: August 14, 2010 S2: November 6, 2011 S3: August 5, 2012	Good Luck Charlie
Belgium	Disney Channel The Netherlands & Belgium	NONE	January 7, 2011
Netherlands		NONE
Russia	Disney Channel Russia	January 2, 2011	January 29, 2011	Держись, Чарли!
Denmark	Disney Channel Scandinavia	NONE	December 25, 2010	Held og lykke Charlie!
Norway		NONE		Lykke til Charlie!
Sweden		NONE		Lycka till Charlie!
Finland		NONE		Onnea matkaan, Charlie!
Iceland	RÚV	NONE	unknown	Óskabarnið (Wish Baby)

External links

• Official website
• Good Luck Charlie at the Internet Movie Database
• Good Luck Charlie at TV.com
• Good Luck Charlie at TVGuide.com
• Good Luck Charlie wiki