Even Stevens
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| Even Stevens | |
|---|---|
| File:Even Stevens.jpg A promotional poster for Even Stevens. | |
| Created by | Matt Dearborn |
| Starring | Shia LaBeouf Christy Carlson Romano Nick Spano Tom Virtue Donna Pescow A.J. Trauth Margo Harshman Fred Meyers |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 65 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | David Brookwell Sean McNamara (season 3) Dennis Rinsler & Marc Warren (episode 10+) Matt Dearborn (season 3) |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Disney Channel |
| Release | June 17, 2000 – June 2, 2003 |
Even Stevens is an American comedy television series that aired on Disney Channel. The show follows the life of the Stevens Family, who live in suburban Sacramento, California, often focusing on the clashing personalities of its two younger siblings, Ren and Louis. It premiered on June 17, 2000 and ended on June 2, 2003. The show was produced by Brookwell McNamara Entertainment. It is often credited for launching Shia LaBeouf's career as an actor. Re-runs currently air on Disney XD.
Characters
Main characters
- Louis Anthony Stevens (Shia LaBeouf) - Louis is in seventh grade, the youngest of the family. Unlike his perfect siblings and equally perfect parents, he can't seem to find his place. Consequently, he is often involved in practical jokes, get-rich-quick schemes, and finding ways to infuriate his sister. He is often viewed as crazy and causes many disasters. His best friends are Tawny Dean and Alan Twitty. Louis and Tawny Dean eventually become a couple.
- Ren Stevens (Christy Carlson Romano) - A perfectionistic and intelligent eighth grader. She is the classic over-achiever and is constantly running as Hall Monitor and Class President, while trying to keep Louis's schemes from becoming disasters. She is the head newscaster for her school's news show (The Wombat Report), as well as a member of her school cheerleading squad for a few weeks. Ren is also the highly valued assistant to Principal Wexler.
- Senator Eileen Stevens (Donna Pescow) - A successful state senator who launched a campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002 and was narrowly defeated. She is the mother of Donnie, Ren, and Louis.
- Steve Stevens (Tom Virtue) - The quirky lawyer father of the family. Played college football for Michigan State University with the nickname "Stiffie" Stevens. He used to be a wrestler for his school.
- Donnie Stevens (Nick Spano) - Ren and Louis's athletic older brother. Donnie is highly concerned with his appearance and a little bit of an airhead, although he excels in many sports.
- Alan Twitty (A.J. Trauth) - Louis's best friend who is similar to Louis but usually isn't as extreme and often has to get Louis out of situations. Usually referred to as "Twitty" by his friends.
- Tawny Dean (Margo Harshman) - Louis's friend, and eventually his girlfriend. Tawny at first has no friends and is an outsider, until she meets Louis. Tawny usually dresses in gothic clothing, unlike her classmates.
- Tom Gribalski (Fred Meyers) - Louis's semi-friend. When Louis cooks up a scheme, Tom usually tries to talk Louis out of it and usually doesn't play along. Also, Tom speaks with a scientific philosophy intelligent slang. He is commonly the victim of many pranks by Louis and Twitty.
Recurring characters
- Conrad Wexler (George Anthony Bell) - The principal of Lawrence Jr High, which he does not have very good control over (and often uses many inventive ways to get out of there). Ren is his student assistant, while Louis drives him crazy.
- Bernard "Beans" Aranguren (Steven Anthony Lawrence) - The bacon-loving neighbor of the Stevens who comes into their home uninvited, makes himself at home, and refuses to leave. He eventually turns into a sidekick for Louis's and Twitty's schemes. In one episode, Louis thinks he may be an alien, which, in a joke scene of that episode, proves true. He is the trouble-maker to the family (even more annoying than Louis) and may be a little Louis.
- Ruby Mendel (Lauren Frost) - Ren's best friend who loves to gossip about news that goes around in school, usually involving crushes and students who are dating. She once had a crush on Louis, which lasted one episode and in that same episode she had a crush on BBMak.
- Coach Terry Tugnut (Jim Wise) - The gym coach who is always tough on Louis but crazy about Donny - and food. He loves to eat. Once he weighed over 300 lbs. He is frequently the victim of one of Louis' pranks. Coach Tugnut often serves as Wexler's enforcer/sidekick. He is obsessed with dodgeball and with the three "major points" (arm, head, stomach).
- Monique Taylor (Kenya Williams) - Ren's cheerleading best friend. Is a very happy and perky person. She seems to be as popular as Ren, but takes many things to extreme limits. Monique has a Southern accent.
- Lawrence "Larry" Anthony Beale (Eric "Ty" Hodges) - Ren's nasty, popular, charismatic, know-it-all rival in school. Larry's an Army brat and he always seeks to destroy her reputation, but his schemes usually backfire. His favorite victim is Ren, But at times, would seek to ruin Louis as well, but finds that Louis is just as clever as Ren. Deep down Larry is jealous of Ren, but he'd never admit it.
- Ivan (Eric Jungmann) - Sidekick and yes-man for Larry Beale, although he occasionally serves as a yes-man for other popular kids, such as Blake Thompson in the episode Louis in the Middle.
- Nelson Minkler (Gary LeRoi Gray) - Ren's childhood friend who seems to be allergic to everything, as evident by his overprotection of himself when outside. Is fluent in French. Becomes a recurring character. He is usually with Ren, and at times Donny, but has only once even talked to Louis.
Production
The show was originally produced as a show called "Spivey's Kid Brother". A pilot was filmed in late 1997, and was later picked up by Disney Channel as "Even Stevens". In the first episode Disney had to dub out the name "Spivey" to "Stevens". In fact, in the gym class scene, a banner is visible in the background reading, "Home of Spivey and the Wild Wombats." In a possible coincidence, the character Louis Driscoll from the show The Secret World of Alex Mack had a best friend named Louis Spivey in the 1996 episode "Spivey", one year previous to the creation of the Even Stevens pilot.
In the theme song of the show, clay animations of Louis and Ren turn their remote controls into lightsabers, alluding to Star Wars. Prior to this, Ren reads a TV Guide with live-action photos of Christy Carlson Romano and Shia LaBeouf on the cover.
Although the show lasted three seasons, the timeline of the show is only one school year, since Louis and his friends remain in the 7th grade and Ren and her friends remain in the 8th grade. They all finally graduate in The Even Stevens Movie.
As of September 2008, Even Stevens airs on the new WGN America at 4:00 am on Wednesdays and Fridays, along with Lizzie McGuire during the week. On July 7, 2007, Disney Channel aired eight episodes as part of their "Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Louis" marathon to coincide with the July 2, 2007 release of Shia LaBeouf's film Transformers. This show no longer airs on Disney Channel as a part of the regular schedule but Disney has aired the holiday episodes occasionally. On Brazil's Jetix, airs on 10: 30 pm. On Jetix Latin America it airs every Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon. Even Stevens currently airs on Disney XD.
Episodes
| Season | Ep # | First Airdate | Last Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 21 | June 17, 2000 | February 23, 2001 |
| Season 2 | 22 | June 15, 2001 | February 15, 2002 |
| Season 3 | 22 | February 22, 2002 | June 2, 2003 |
Film
In the 2003 Disney Channel Original Movie, the Stevens family gets an all-expenses-paid trip to an island named Mandelino. The catch is that Mandelino isn't a real island and the family is unknowingly on a new reality show called Family Fakeout.
External links
Even Stevens on OpenStreetMap