Life with Derek
| Life with Derek | |
|---|---|
| File:Lifewithdereklogo2.GIF | |
| Created by | Daphne Ballon |
| Developed by | Daphne Ballon Bernice Vanderlaan |
| Starring | Ashley Leggat Michael Seater Daniel Magder Jordan Todosey Ariel Waller Joy Tanner John Ralston |
| Opening theme | Performed by Unsensored |
| Country of origin |  Canada |
| No. of episodes | 31 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 0:22 (per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Family Channel Disney Channel |
Life with Derek is a Canadian sitcom that is currently being aired on the Family Channel in Canada (English), on VRAK.TV in Quebec (French), in Germany, Israel, France , Toonami in the UK, Disney Channel in the United States, Mexico, Italy, and South America, and Nickelodeon in Australia and Asia.
Over the first two seasons the show has been shown, 30 episodes in total have been produced. Life with Derek and Naturally Sadie both aired on Disney Channel at the same time. Now however, Naturally Sadie does not air on Disney anymore.
Synopsis
A divorced man named George Venturi who has custody of his two sons (Derek and Edwin) and daughter (Marti), marries a divorced woman (Nora) with two daughters, Casey and Lizzie. Up until that point, Casey MacDonald was perfectly content with her life. Growing up as the oldest child in a household with only her mother and sister had suited her well and brought her up as a self-sufficient and independent young woman.
With the addition of a father, two brothers, a sister, new school, new house and overall a whole new life, Casey struggles to find her place within the new family. The series is also based on Casey and Derek's rivalry.
The Rivalry
Prior to becoming members of a blended family, Casey and Derek were firmly comfortable in their roles as first-born children, including having a major influence on how family decisions were made. When their families blend, each strives for dominance: Casey by "sticking to the rules" and Derek by asserting himself with both force and manipulation. This is further complicated because Derek and Casey are in the same grade in high school; the situation is harder for Casey, who's making new friends. Both teens aren't afraid to speak their minds, especially when trying to recruit their respective parents to be on their side.
The sibling rivalry grows intense at times, and causes them to constantly try to one up the other in order to get their way, even if it involves them getting really sneaky and have to risk being grounded by the adults, and sometimes no matter who gets in the way, whether it's friends or family. In their struggle to find their place, both at home and at school, Casey learns to "loosen up" and break a rule or two, while Derek learns to occasionally "walk the straight and narrow" and put family interests ahead of his own gain, even if it means that Casey benefits. In the rivalry, Derek and Casey sometimes make deals with each other to prove that he or she is the better and smarter one. Also, Edwin often chooses to be on Derek's side, while Lizzie often chooses to be on Casey's side. Usually, Casey loses these bets because of her rule to always do the right thing. The show includes several cut-scenes, where various members of the family (usually the ones involved in a problem) interact with one another in a way that is symbolic of their current issue, performed in a nondescript setting with no background.
Despite Casey and Derek's constant bickering and disagreements, they have been known to come together to cooperate toward a common goal, or to use one another to further their own selfish agendas. Although the rivalry continues, they sometimes try to help each other in the series.
Cast
The MacDonalds
The Venturis
- John Ralston as George Venturi
- Michael Seater as Derek Venturi
- Daniel Magder as Edwin Venturi
- Ariel Waller as Marti Venturi
Friends
- Shadia Simmons as Emily Davis, Casey's best friend and has a crush on Derek. She is now dating Sheldon Shelpper.
- Arnold Pinnock as Paul, Casey's guidance counselor
- Kit Weyman as Sam, Derek's best friend and Casey's ex-boyfriend.
- Lauren Collins as Kendra, popular girl and Derek's ex-girlfriend
- Robbie Amell as Max, Casey's current boyfriend
- William Greenblatt as Sheldon Schlepper (Emily's current boyfriend)
Recurring Characters
- Shadia Simmons as Emily Davis
- Kit Weyman as Sam
- Lauren Collins as Kendra
Relatives of Casey and Lizzie
- Sarah Gadon as Vicki (Cousin of Casey and Lizzie)
- Tara Manuel Rigal as Fiona (Aunt)
- Rick Roberts as Dennis MacDonald (former husband of Nora/Father)
Relatives of Derek, Edwin, & Marti
- Abby Venturi (George's ex-wife/Derek, Edwin, and Marti's mom)
Guest Stars
- Ryan Cooley as Frank
- Shane Kippel as Ralph
- Alex House as Trevor
- Keir Gilchrist as Jamie
- Hannah Lochner as Michelle
- Kate Todd as Jennifer
- Kayla Mills as Amy
- Lara Amersey as Lucy
- Cameron Ansell as Teddy
- Cyrus Aazam as Clink
Episodes
School
Both Derek and Casey go to Sir John Sparrow Thompson High School. With a few exceptions, each episode contains at least one scene with Casey and Derek at their school. Casey makes frequent visits to Paul Greeby, the school counselor. School is also the place where popular Derek spends his time pulling scams, while perfectionist Casey strives for good grades and tries to "fit in" with the other children at school.
Theme song and Opening sequence
The theme song is performed by Unsensored.
As for the opening sequence, it shows Casey and the rest of the kids dancing around, with still images on the top of the screen at a very fast pace. It was re-done in season 3, to update the kids looks, with the major change being less still images and more live action scenes. This also serves as the bumper between scenes in the series.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (July 2007) |
- Michael Seater and Shadia Simmons have both starred in The Zack Files, while Ashley Leggat made a guest appearance.
- Michael Seater, Shadia Simmons, and John Ralston, were all stars of Canadian science show, Strange Days at Blake Holsey High A.K.A. Black Hole High.
- In the episode "The Venturian Candidate", the picture of Casey is a real picture of Ashley Leggat when she was 10.
- In the episode "The Venturian Candidate", the picture of Sheldon is a A-Studio-Made picture. They got a picture of Sheldon and stuck a bunny rabbit on his head.
- In the episode "Male Code Blue" Edwin says he has a crush on Lilly Mascovitz when George later says the name as Molly Mascovitz. Also, Lilly Moscovitz is Princess Mia's best friend in The Princess Diaries series.
- Some of the actors from the Canadian drama, Degrassi: The Next Generation have been featured on the show. Ryan Cooley was in the episode The Poxfather, Shane Kippel was in the episode Battle of the Bands, and Lauren Collins was in the episodes Mice and Men, Dinner Guest, Dating Game, Two Timing Derek, It's Our Party and Misadventures in Babysitting. Also, from the degrassi episode, Total Eclipse of The Heart, the boy who played Marco's boyfriend Tim, plays The punk boy who casey had a crush on, and who wanted to go out with Emily.
- In one episode, Casey dons a blonde wig in an effort to spy on Derek's date in disguise. Afterwards, she is told by her boyfriend that she would look cute as a blonde, to which she replies, "Don't get your hopes up." This is most likely an inside joke to the fact that the actress, Ashley Leggat, used to be a blonde.
- In the episode The Bet, Derek, Marti, Edwin, and Lizzie are watching a show and they bet on what episode it is going to be. Each plot they describe is actually the plot of other Life With Derek episodes.
- In the episode "Misadventures in Babysitting, Casey says "see ya, Max" when Max came to her table, and Emily left not Max.
- Derek, Edwin and Marti all have five letters in their names.(So does Casey, but the family link is between the Venturis)