Unfabulous
| Unfabulous | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Sue Rose |
| Starring | Emma Roberts Malese Jow Jordan Calloway Tadhg Kelly Molly Hagan Markus Flanagan |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 26 episodes (as of 2006), one Made-for-TV movie |
| Production | |
| Running time | 20 min. (no commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nickelodeon |
| Release | September 12 2004 – present |
Unfabulous is an American children's television series on Nickelodeon about an "unfabulous" junior high school student, played by Emma Roberts. The show, which debuted in Autum 2004, is one of the most-watched programs in the United States among children between the age of 9 and 14[1] and was created by Sue Rose, who previously created the animated television series Pepper Ann and Angela Anaconda.
It has been claimed that the current season (season three) will be the series' final season,[2] although Roberts indicated in an MSN Live Celebrity Chat in November 2005 that there would be at least four seasons.[3] Also, both tv.com and imdb.com show a fourth season, listing an Episode entitled 'The End', where Addie and friends finish 8th Grade.[4][5]
The show's theme song is performed by Jill Sobule, who also writes the songs for the series.
Overview
Unfabulous' main character is 13-year-old seventh grader (eighth grader in 3rd season) Addie Singer (Emma Roberts), who writes songs about her life in junior high school. Her best friends are Geena Fabiano (Malese Jow), who is interested in fashion and designs her own clothes, and the environmentally-committed school basketball player Zach (Jordan Calloway). They all attend Rocky Road Middle School in an unspecified East Coast city. Addie's older brother Ben (Tadhg Kelly) works at Juice, a smoothie bar where Addie and her friends often hang out after school.
Throughout the first season, Addie obsesses about her crush on Jake Behari[6] (Raja Fenske), who already has a girlfriend. For the majority of the second season, however, Addie is dating Randy Klein (Evan Palmer). They break up towards the end of the season and Addie realizes that she still likes Jake. The made-for-TV movie Unfabulous: The Perfect Moment focused on Addie and Jake getting together although Jake will be gone for the rest of the summer in Canada.
All episodes from the first and the second season (including The Perfect Moment) have been available for download in the iTunes Store in the U.S. since fall 2006.
Cast
Main cast
- Emma Roberts as Addie Singer
- Malese Jow as Geena Fabiano
- Jordan Calloway as Zach Carter-Schwartz
- Emma Degerstedt as Maris[7]
- Tadhg Kelly as Ben Singer, Addie's older brother
- Molly Hagan as Sue Singer, Addie's mother
- Markus Flanagan as Jeff Singer, Addie's father
- Chelsea Tavares as Cranberry[7]
Recurring cast
- Dustin Ingram as Duane Oglivy
- Mary Lou as Mary Ferry
- Raja Fenske as Jake Behari[6]
- Bianca Collins as Patti Perez
- Sarah Hester as Jen
- Harry Perry III as Manager Mike
- Mildred Dumas as Principal Brandywine
- Evan Palmer as Randy Klein
- Sean Whalen as Coach Pearson
- Brandon Smith as Mario
- Miracle Vincent as Ellie
- Shawn McGill as Freddy
- Carter Jenkins as Eli Pataki
TV Movie
Unfabulous: The Perfect Moment is an hour-long television movie event that debuted on October 7, 2006 on Nickelodeon . It was originally a two-part season finale.
Addie has been thinking about Jake since the last day of seventh grade. She has been trying to call him and with the bad reception, Jake thought Addie said she hated him. She also tried putting a message in the newspaper, but instead of her name, it said Eddie. Later, Addie finds out Jake and Patti are back together, and they are going to Jake's cousin's wedding in Chinatown together. Addie plans to find Jake and tell him that she likes him, but she needs a ride. She asks Ben, but he is too busy watching his ex-girlfriend and co-worker Jen and her new boyfriend. She then leaves many fliers for the Peking Acrobats (who will be performing in Chinatown) and Jen's boyfriend asks Jen if she wants to go see them. Ben decides to follow them to Chinatown and gives Geena, Zack, and Addie a ride to Chinatown. Addie's parents leave for their anniversary night. Right after they leave, Addie, Geena, Zack, and Ben head out to Chinatown. They take their mom's car, but Ben can't drive stick shift so the car breaks down but starts back up again. They finally get there, and Ben heads out to find Jen. Addie, Geena, and Zack head to the wedding. However, Zack goes to save a lobster from being eaten. When Addie and Genna get to the wedding, they see Jake and Patti, and Geena sees a cute boy. At the same time, Ben gets Jen's new boyfriend and some Chinese acrobats arrested. Zack sees Addie's mom and dad at the restaurant where he is saving the lobster, which he names Dolores. Addie and Genna get kicked out of the wedding, but get right back in. Ben wants to get a tattoo to show Jen how mature he is, but is arrested for being underage. Addie bails him out with money from Zack, which he obtained from racing Dolores against a turtle. While in jail, Ben realizes Jen's boyfriend isn't so bad and asks Addie to bail him out too. She quickly returns to the wedding, but realizes the wedding is over. Because of a prophecy from a fortune-teller, she followed the sound of bells, coming from Jake's cellphone, which was in a garbage dump. She finds the cellphone and when she climbs out, Jake is standing right next to the dump. They talk for a little while, and Addie explains that she still likes him. Jake tells Addie that he likes her also, and that he and Patti aren't actually back together. He explains that her family was invited to the wedding and he was trying to avoid her. Jake has to leave, but first he and Addie kiss, after which Addie says "perfect." She quickly returns home, but when her parents return, they notice Dolores, whom Zack had put on the table so she could stretch her legs. Addie and Ben are punished by having to work in their dad's store, but she is too happy to let it bring her down.
Episodes
Main article: List of Unfabulous episodes
| Season | Ep # | First Airdate | Last Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 13 | September 12, 2004 | March 6, 2005 |
| Season 2 | 13 | September 10, 2005 | April 16, 2006 |
| Season 3 | 14 | August 10, 2007 | TBA 2008 |
Merchandise
Along with the start of the second season in September 2005, Nickelodeon also began selling different types of Unfabulous-related merchandise, beginning with the album Unfabulous and More: Emma Roberts (see Soundtrack below). In November 2005 the album was followed by two books tying into the show, Keepin' It Real (ISBN 0-439-79666-0) and Split Ends (ISBN 0-439-80179-6), both written by Robin Wasserman, and the first items in a line of clothes based on Addie's wardrobe on the show.[8] Two more books were released in February 2006, Starstruck (ISBN 0-439-83157-1) and Jinxed! (ISBN 0-439-83158-X).
Before the launch of the third season, a video game based on the show was released for the Game Boy Advance by THQ on September 25 2006.[9]
One episode of Unfabulous, season one's "The Little Sister", was released on DVD — on TEENick Picks 1, released in April 2006, together with episodes of Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and Romeo!. Plans are being made for the Complete First Season according to amazon.com.
Soundtrack
On September 27 2005, shortly after the premiere of the show's second season, Columbia Records and Nick Records released the album Unfabulous and More: Emma Roberts, which serves as both the show's soundtrack and as Emma Roberts' debut album.
The album includes several original songs (among them "Dummy" and "I Wanna Be", both of which were also released as music videos, "I Have Arrived", and "This Is Me", which was co-written by Roberts), as well as some of Addie's songs from the first season (however in newly recorded versions), including "Punch Rocker" and "New Shoes" (both from the episode "The Party"), "94 Weeks (Metal Mouth Freak)" (from "The Bar Mitzvah") and "Mexican Wrestler" (which had previously appeared on Jill Sobule's 2000 album Pink Pearl and in the Unfabulous episode "The 66th Day").
It was also one of the albums originally released by Columbia Records with the controversial Extended Copy Protection digital rights management scheme.[10]
The album peaked at #46 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers.[11]
See also
Notes and references
- ^ "For teens & tweens, 'Chris' is still cool". Media Life Magazine.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Unfabulous Season 3 Announced".
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "MSN Live chat transcript".
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ http:www.imdb.com/title/tt1006266/
- ^ http://www.tv.com/unfabulous/show/28220/episode_listings.html?season=4&tag=nav_bar;4
- ^ a b The character's last name is spelled both Behari and Bahari by Nickelodeon.
- ^ a b Added to the main cast at the beginning of the second season.
- ^ "TV fans can now dress the part". USA Today.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Unfabulous for Game Boy Advance". GameSpot.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/titles.html. URL accessed on November 24 2005.
- ^ "Emma Roberts: Artist Chart History". Billboard.
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