The Best Years
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (July 2007) |
| The Best Years | |
|---|---|
| File:TheBestYearsCast.jpg Cast of The Best Years | |
| Created by | Aaron Martin |
| Starring | Charity Shea Brandon Jay McLaren Jennifer Miller Athena Karkanis Niall Matter Randal Edwards |
| Opening theme | Infinite Possibility by Markattack |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 43 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Global/The N |
| Release | (Global) May 22, 2007 (The N) June 29, 2007 |
The Best Years is a teen drama series set in Boston, Massachusetts. The show revolves around Samantha Best, who receives a scholarship to attend the fictional ivy league Charles University, despite bouncing between foster homes for ten years. The series was created by Degrassi: The Next Generation producer and writer, Aaron Martin. It is produced by Global Television (a Canadian media organization), and can be seen on Global in Canada and The N in the United States.
Outdoor scenes from the show were filmed on the campus of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, and interior scenes of the campus were re-created at the Toronto Film Studios.[1]
Season One
In the pilot episode, we discover that Samantha Best grew up in foster care after her parents passed away ten years earlier. Her strong, outgoing personality makes it easy for her to make friends; Samantha almost immediately befriends the rest of the show's cast. Her new found friendships and her enrollment in the university become rocky after a drunken accident that causes another student's death, but with luck, honesty, loyalty, and determination, her status at the school was saved, yet her friendships remained rocky.
The subsequential episodes create strong character development, showing that each character has their own negative side as well as positive, while sticking to very realistic story lines. The Best Years has begun focusing on Cynthia, who seems to be mentally unstable because her father has molested her; Lee, the owner of Colony, the local bar at which Sam and Trent work at, who is HIV positive; and Dawn, who seems to know more about what's going on than anybody else, and thinks she is better because of her fame.
Ratings
Strong Start for The N’s The Best Years: The debut of scripted drama The Best Years was off and running on teen oriented cable net The N, with 323,250 total viewers on Friday, June 29 at 8:30 p.m. ET. Comparatively, that was more than double the time period average, with growth of as much as 288 percent among teens 12-17 from one year earlier.
Source: Mediaweek
Episodes
| Season | Ep # | Canadian First Airdate | US First Airdate | Canadian Last Airdate | US Last Airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 13 | May 22, 2007 | June 29, 2007 | August 14, 2007 | September 21, 2007 | the show has been renewed for a second season |
Characters
Major Characters
The following is a list of major or main characters featured in the opening credits:
| Samantha Best (played by Charity Shea): Samantha grew up mainly in the foster care system in one of Boston's roughest neighborhoods after her parents died within months of each other. Despite her hard life, she was able to graduate high school with excellent marks and receive a scholarship to Charles University, thanks to her benefactor, Dorothy O'Sullivan. While at Charles University, Samantha has begun to learn about friendship, love, and the choices we make in life, as well as getting a good, sturdy university education. Upon learning that she needed to buy a meal plan in order to remain a student, Samantha began working at Colony, a local night club owned by Lee Campbell. She once tried having a relationship with Noah, after Devon was over her for a while. They didn't feel right together, and stayed friends while she dated Devon. Sam's uncle, Patrick, shows up looking to reconnect, but Sam has a hard time letting him in. She soon finds out that her uncle needs a kidney transplant, and she agrees to give him one. Unfortunately, Sam is not blood-type compatable with Patrick, and won't be able to give him one. Sam has some trouble dealing with the fact that Trent likes her, and questions if she feels the same way. She starts to have a friendly relationship with Kathryn, and stops seeing Devon. |
| Devon Sylver (played by Brandon Jay McLaren): Devon is the star basketball player of Charles University, who also rides on a full scholarship. Unlike Samantha, he grew up in a secure background setting. His good looks, skills, and charm have made it easy for Devon to make friends. He dated Shannon for a while, and soon broke up with her, and then he moved on to Sam. His girlfriend has interestingly gained likings from some of his classmates, making it harder to keep the relationship with Sam going. He has encouraged Noah to go after his Film Professor, which did work out. After Trent kissed Sam, Devon reveals an overprotective side to him. Sam ends their relationship after he sent a message saying that she was slutting around. |
| Kathryn Klarner (played by Jennifer Miller): Samantha's roommate, Kathryn, is from a wealthy, farm-owning family in Minnesota. Unlike Devon and Samantha, Kathryn's admittance into Charles University was as easy as her parents writing a check, but she has no use for a college education; instead, her plan is to get with the right crowd, and find a man to fall in love with her. She has been dating Beau, who is Sloane's ex-boyfriend. She has a very selfish and shallow attitude, but sometimes shows that she isn't as mean as most people perceive. A major example of this is that she hoped Sam would convince Cynthia to not kill herself, both of which Kathryn usually show bitter dislike towards in public. She has trouble with what Beau's family is like, and his ex, Sloane. Beau's mother disapproves of their relationship after the tape of her stripping that she made for Beau is revealed at a party by Sloane. After this experience, she sees less of Beau and tries to avoid people. Soon, she comes to good terms with Sam and Noah. |
| Dawn Vargaz (played by Athena Karkanis): Dawn has lived in the limelight since she was a toddler, and is now known as the star of the fictional teen drama, "Bel-Air High". Feeling a bit lonely from her celebrity life, Dawn applies to Charles University and meets Samantha, who becomes her first real friend. When not in class, Dawn is usually found at Colony, the local night club, visiting with her friends, Lee and Trent or studying her lines for an upcoming school production of "Macbeth". She is disappointed that Trent never realizes how much she likes him. After she finds out that Trent really wanted Sam all along, she seemingly storms out of Colony, where she found the two kissing, and is hit by a car. After she comes back, she rampages towards her classmates. She feels appreciated again after she reads all the good reviews from her performance of Macbeth, after she had felt like she was being betrayed by everybody. |
| Trent Hamilton (played by Niall Matter): Trent is from one of the wealthiest families in Boston, and has his own unique outlook on life with his own moral code in tact. Trent is a charmer, and is often found with many different women when he is not on the clock at Colony; yet, he is much more caring towards his friends. Unbeknownst to Trent, Dawn has been crushing after him since day one. Trent seems to care more about Sam, and tends to neglect Dawn whenever she is around. This is revealed to be his way of telling Dawn that he is only interested in her for sex. Sam tries to get Trent to get together with Dawn, and he is overwhelmed by the fact that he was going to take Dawn's virginity. He is insecure about this, saying he isn't able to mean something to her, and would rather have a relationship with Sam. It is also revealed that his sister died of cancer but he seems to choose not to speak of it. He tells Lee that the first time he felt something for Sam was when he got her mother's ring back. Still, after being rejected he doesn't give up and continues to flirt with her, although she usually just brushes it off or changes the topic. |
| Noah Jensen (played by Randal Edwards): Noah moved in with Devon after his previous roommate's tragic death in the pilot episode. He became instant friends with Samantha, while he found a bond with Cynthia due to their mutual love for Bel-Air High. Noah is a very quirky, caring person, who states that his only real trauma is that he has had no trauma in his life to "draw inspiration" from for the Hollywood career he has planned. He has a relationship with his Film Professor, Elizabeth Grant, after a relationship with Sam ultimately never happens. He has had sex with her before, and Devon is the only one who knows about this student-teacher affair. He supports Kathryn after Dawn starts yelling at her, which leads to a mutual friendship between the two. |
Minor Characters
The following is a list of minor or supporting characters not featured in the opening credits:
| Lee Campbell (played by Alan Van Sprang): Lee owns Colony Night Club and is good friends with Dawn and Trent. It was recently aired that Lee is bisexual and contracted the HIV virus from an ex-boyfriend, which is what causes him to shy away from social events. |
| Dorothy O'Sullivan (played by Sherry Miller): Dorothy is the reason why Samantha is at Charles University, having given her a scholarship. She usually gives advice to Sam, or tries to help her out whenever they meet each other. She is the mother of Alicia O'Sullivan. |
| Shannon Biel (played by Ashley Morris): Shannon is Kathryn's cousin, and a member of the Charles University cheerleading squad; they are known for a very preppy, snobby attitude. She dated Devon for a short time, until his feelings for Samantha caused her to break up with him. Shannon comes off as stupid to most, but she has shown to have a bit of smarts in her. |
| Professor Fisher (played by Ron Lea): Professor Fisher is Sam and Noah's Business Proffesor, who is witty and shows signs of disliking Sam to a certain degree. |
| Beau Beecham (played by Chris Gallinger): Beau is Sloane's boyfriend, but began cheating on her with Kathryn when she was rushing in Sloane's sorority. He seemingly broke up with Sloane, and has been rather in up-and-down situations, such as confessing love, then ditching Kathryn, but at the end of the day, Kathryn always forgives him. Surprisingly, he has more depth than one would realize. |
| Cynthia Song (played by Siu Ta): Cynthia lives on Samantha's floor, and becomes her first friend. Cynthia, at first, appeared very shy and nerdy, but has since shown that she has some sort of mental instability, which Samantha questions in an effort to show Cynthia that she truly cares for her well-being. She is also revealed to have had a crush on Noah, but believes that she doesn't have a chance with him. While she is at the hospital after an attempted suicide, she is diagnosed as having "clinical depression", while her father says she has ADD/ADHD. It is further revealed that her father has molested her when she was only a child, which could be the core of her actions. She has taken a whole semester off from school. |
| Patrick Ferrell (played by Gabriel Hogan): Patrick is Sam's uncle, who was found out to be an ex-con, and who served time in prison. He was rather jealous of Sam, and how she got to be in college amongst wealthy people. |
| Ms. Dymond (played by Yanna McIntosh): Ms. Dymond is the principal of Charles University. She introduces Sam to the school, and asks Ms. O'Sullivan why she has such an interest in Sam's education. She is also the reason why Dawn was cast as Lady Macbeth, hoping that she will recruit a large audience. |
| Professor Elizabeth Grant (played by Debora Odell): Professor Grant is a Film professor at Charles University who has a romantic relationship with Noah, who is a student of hers, and she has had a reputation of getting close with other students. |
| Darryl (played by Matt Steinberg): Daryll makes sure that the floor Sam and the other's live in is always in check, to prevent parties and dangerous situations. He decides to solve problems between roommates such as Sam and Kathryn. He is slightly unpredictable and has weird tendancies, such as hugging Sam after he falsely accuses her of throwing a party. |
| Brandon Zimmerman (played by Dillon Casey): Brandon is a student at Charles University who is rather shallow and manipulative, as he was with Cynthia when she was clearly unstable. He wants to get intimate with Professor Grant, and is somewhat battling over her with Noah. |
| Alicia o'Sullivan (played by Lauren Collins): Alicia is Mrs. Sullivan's daughter, who was emotionally neglected by her mother, yet Dorothy still bought her everything she wanted. At first glance, she has a strong distaste for Sam and how she is convinced her mother is a good person. She tells Sam that her mother will only disappoint her if she continues to rely on her. She dated Trent during high school, which ended badly. |
| Sloane McCarthy (played by Ashley Newbrough): Sloane is the president of the Gamma Kappa Nu sorority. She has continued her relationship with Beau Beecham all while knowing that he has started a separate relationship with Kathryn. She seemed to stop dating him, but still doesn't give up on trying to win him back. |
| Coach Gray (played by Michael Rawlins): Coach Gray is a strict coach of the basketball team, which Devon is part of. When Devon gets into trouble for throwing a party, Coach Gray gives him a loud lecture. |
| Professor Warren (played by Evan Buliung): Professor Warren is Dawn's Drama Professor, who at first seems to feel that she has no acting skills, but then begins to see her as an ambitious addition to the school's current play, "Macbeth". |
| Lucy Ramirez-Montoya (played by Cassie Steele): Lucy is Dawn's friend, who is also an actress from the popular teen drama, "Bel-Air High", in which she played Sahara Oasis. Sahara is a friend of Snaps, who turns out to be a lesbian. She seems to dislike Sam, since she thinks that she has been affecting Dawn negatively, and also has commented on how both Dawn and Sam make a big deal when there is nothing surprisingly interesting in their lives. |
| Mrs. Song (played by Jean Yoon): Cynthia's mother who seemingly looks out for her daughters, but is hesitant in dealing with her husband's problem, since she thinks it is somehow betraying him. |
| Kimmy Song (played by Chantelle Chung): Cynthia's kind younger sister, who has also been secretly molested by their father, something which Cynthia was not aware of. |
| Ilana Beecham (played by Julie Khaner): Ilana is Beau's mother, who would like him to continue dating Sloane, since she has been a family friend for a long time. |
| Professor Song (played by Jovanni Sy): Cynthia's father, who is revealed to have a problem, since he molests his daughters, and adds pressure on his family to keep it quiet. |
| Hillary Dunbar (played by Meredith Henderson): Hillary is a Drama classmate of Dawn's who shows signs of dislike towards Dawn after she got the role of Lady Macbeth in a school production of "Macbeth", whilst she got a role as one of the witches, and Dawn's understudy. Hillary claims that Dawn only got the part because she was on a television series. They come to good terms after Dawn asks Hillary to help her learn how to be less of a self-centered brat. |
| Handles MacPherson (played by Mike Lobel): Handles is a character in the fictional teen drama, "Bel-Air High", who is a rebel and bad boy that Snaps, the lead character, likes, and starts to have a romantic relationship with him. This relationship comes about after Snaps was seemingly rejected by him because she wouldn't sleep with him at a party. |
External Links
- Global TV Website - Canadian broadcaster
- The N website - American broadcaster
- Best Years Online Fansite - The First Best Years Fan-Site
- The Best Years Fansite - Another Fan-Site
- thespec.com interview via YouTube - Interview with series creator Aaron Martin
- The Best Years-Boards Message Board