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Good Luck Charlie

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Good Luck Charlie
File:Good Luck Charlie - logo.PNG
Created byPhil Baker
Drew Vaupen
StarringBridgit Mendler
Leigh-Allyn Baker
Mia Talerico
Bradley Steven Perry
Eric Allan Kramer
Jason Dolley
Theme music composerJeanne Lurie, Chen Neeman
and Aris Archontis
Opening theme"Hang In There Baby",
performed by Bridgit Mendler
ComposerStephen R. Phillips & Tim P.
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes18 (aired) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersPhil Baker
Drew Vaupen
Dan Staley
Production locationsDenver, Colorado (setting)
Los Angeles Center Studios,
Los Angeles, California (taping location)
Camera setupVideotape (filmized);
Multi-camera
Running time23 minutes
Production companiesIt's a Laugh Productions
Disney Channel Original Productions
Original release
NetworkDisney Channel
ReleaseApril 4, 2010 (2010-04-04) –
present

Good Luck Charlie is an American television sitcom airing on Disney Channel in the United States. 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 birth of their fourth child, Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico). In each episode, Teddy Duncan (Bridgit Mendler) creates a video diary containing advice for Charlie about their family and life as a teenager.

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.[1] It premiered in Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 14, 2010, and in Australia and New Zealand on July 23, 2010.

On July 11, 2010, it was announced that Good Luck Charlie had been renewed for a second season, expected to begin production in August 2010. A feature-length Disney Channel Original Movie based on the series is also currently in the process of being developed.[2][3]

Premise

The series centers on the Duncan family, who are still adjusting to the birth of their fourth child, Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico).[4] 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)— for help raising their little sister. At the same time, Teddy, PJ, and Gabe try to deal with school and typical social challenges in their life.[5]

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 states good luck Charlie.[6]

To try to prevent chaos in the Duncan household, the family has a blackboard on the refrigerator door, which always has something about or from everyone in the family on it. There is something different on the board in each episode.

Cast and characters

Main characters

  • Teddy Duncan (Bridgit Mendler) is the main protagonist of the series and Charlie's eldest and only sister. She is a caring, intrusive and intelligent 15 year old girl and the second eldest of the Duncan children, after PJ and before Gabe. Feeling that she won't be around as much when her baby sister Charlie is grown, she makes video diaries for her, hoping that it will give her advice that will help her be successful as a teenager. Her best friend's name is Ivy Wentz, with whom she spends most of her time when she's not with Charlie. She is dating Spencer Walsh. She has always fought with PJ, though it is apparent she loves him. As for her younger brother Gabe, she sometimes finds herself accidentally ignoring him, although she often reassures him of her love for him and apologizes. Her catch phrase said at the end of most episodes is "Good Luck Charlie", referring to her baby sister.
  • PJ Duncan (Jason Dolley) is the eldest of the Duncan siblings, before Teddy, and is 17 years old. He and Teddy, often fight, although they care about each other, and he gets along extremely well with his younger and only brother Gabe. To some, he appears clueless but has shown on numerous occasions to be resourceful, creative and intelligent. He has his own band with his best friend Emmett, and is shown to have various attractions to different girls throughout the series. PJ, along with Gabe, was a witness to Charlie's first steps when he challenged Emmett and his baby nephew Mason to a "baby race". PJ cares about Charlie almost as much as Teddy does.
  • Gabriel "Gabe" B. Duncan (Bradley Steven Perry) is the 10 year-old younger brother of Teddy and PJ and older brother of Charlie. Early in the series, Gabe doesn't approve of Charlie's arrival and is so far taking the longest to get used to her, but he often, though usually reluctantly, assists with taking care of his younger sister and is gradually beginning to become more fond of her. He is known for being a trouble maker, sarcastic and apparently lazy, but can also be dutiful and a determined at times. He is the only Duncan that has short brown hair, unlike the rest of his family, who is blonde. He is a member of his school basketball team, which his father coaches, and despite his negative reputation, he was voted class president. He also has a running rivalry with Hugo, the grocery store manager, and Jo, a mean and manipulative girl in his class.
The cast of Good Luck Charlie (The Duncan family, from left to right), Eric Allan Kramer as Bob, Leigh-Allyn Baker as Amy, Mia Talerico as Charlie, Bridgit Mendler as Teddy, Bradley Steven Perry as Gabe and Jason Dolley as PJ.
  • Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico) is the title character and youngest of the Duncan siblings, after Gabe, and is currently one year old. She is mostly portrayed as being happy and seldom cries, although she does, though rarely, get upset for various reasons. Charlie is apparently closest to her older sister, Teddy, who is currently creating a video diary to assist Charlie as she progresses through life. Most of the Duncan family's adventures revolve around Charlie, and cause her three older siblings to be constantly taking care of her. Her older brothers, PJ and Gabe, are often seen using Charlie for their own benefit, although PJ cares about her deeply. However, Gabe seems to dislike Charlie the most although, in some episodes, he is seen being quite fond of her, along with his siblings and parents.
  • Amy Duncan (Leigh-Allyn Baker) is the mother of PJ, Teddy, Gabe and Charlie and wife of Bob Duncan. She works 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 feel somewhat uncomfortable when she is not taking care of her family and 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. Amy once replaced her husband as Gabe's basketball coach. She used to be on the local news team and was also a poet. She is somewhat airheaded, and lets special opportunities, such as being on TV or singing in front of a group, go to her head.
  • Bob Duncan (Eric Allan Kramer) is the father of PJ, Teddy, Gabe and Charlie and husband of Amy Duncan. As identified in the very first episode of the series, Bob owns his own extermination company, "Bob's Bugs Be Gone".In a later episode, P.J. writes the theme song for a commercial Bob made. He cares for his children and wife deeply and is a dutiful father, although he can sometimes be careless and unorthodox. Similar to his wife, he seldom finds time to be separated from his four children. Bob is the coach of Gabe's basketball team, but he was temporarily replaced by his wife.

Recurring characters

  • Ivy Wentz (Raven Goodwin) is Teddy's best friend. She is seen spending most of her time with Teddy at the Duncan's residence and often accompanies her on her dutiful excursions. Ivy is energetic, witty and humorous and has proven to be quite intuitive, although she doesn't 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. She is the ex-girlfriend of PJ's best friend, Emmett .
  • Emmett Heglin (Micah Stephen Williams) is PJ's best friend and the ex-boyfriend of Teddy's best friend, Ivy. He is slender and comedic, and seemingly has a desperate attraction to Teddy. Emmett accompanies PJ on the drums in his band "PJ and the Vibe", and sometimes assists PJ on his problematic excursions. Emmet 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.
  • Spencer Walsh (Shane Harper) is the love interest of Teddy. Eventually, they start dating after they begin studying together. He and Emmett share similar dancing abilities that rival each other, but they eventually become friends. Eventually, Spencer willingly kisses Teddy in order to let her know that he truly cares about her.
  • Estelle Dabney (Patricia Belcher) is the Duncans' strict neighbor. In the episode "The Curious Case of Mr. Dabney", she was accused of killing her husband, though she actually didn't. She wanted the Duncans' tree cut down which housed PJ and Teddy's tree house, but the family fought back. It is revealed that Estelle is one of quintuplets (having four other sisters), but in "Charlie is 1," she told that she had a little sister. and appears to be the strictest of them all in the episode "Kit and Kaboodle". Mrs. Dabney is often suspicious of her neighbor, Gabe, because it is known that he is a trouble maker.
  • Jo Keener (G. Hannelius) is Gabe's bully turned friend. She was introduced in the episode "Boys Meets Girls" bullying Gabe before revealing that she had a crush on him. Since that episode, it appears that she is friendly with Gabe assisting him with certain situations with an occasional wise crack at his expense.
  • Mary Lou Wentz (Ellia English) is Ivy Wentz's mother and Amy Duncan's apparent friend. She first appears as a rather unexciting and lifeless person, but as the series progresses, she gradually becomes considerably more entertaining and vibrant. She is apparently a skilled knitter.

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) —
2 TBA 2011 (2011) —

Creation

Development

"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.[7]

Good Luck Charlie was created by Drew Vaupen and Phil Baker, who have been writing together since 1993 on shows ranging from Suddenly Susan to Sonny With a Chance.[8] 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.[8] 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."[4] The writers also try to include jokes for adult viewers while remaining chaste enough for their young target audience.[4] Unlike some previous Disney Channel series like Sonny with a Chance, Hannah Montana, or Cory in the House, both parents are present 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."[9]

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."[4]

Naming

Broadening Disney Channel's appeal was also a concern while choosing the character's names and the show's title. "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.[8] The series' title was originally "Love, Teddy", the phrase Teddy had used to end her video diary entries during development. However, "[Love, Teddy]'" feels immediately 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."[8] The Duncan baby was originally named "Daisy" during development, but executives thought "Charlie", usually a boy's name, might attract more boys. In addition, the family's surname changed from "Holliday" to "Duncan" and the elder brother's name changed from "Casey" to "PJ".[9]

Casting

Because 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."[10] Bonnet says Disney Channel executives "just fell in love with" Bridgit Mendler, who stars as the series' protagonist, fifteen-year-old Teddy Duncan.[9] "She has all the attributes of a Disney star," said Bonnet.[9] Mendler first heard about Good Luck Charlie in late November 2008. After several rounds of auditions and cast reads, she secured the part in January 2009.[11] Both Mendler and Jason Dolley, who plays Teddy's older brother PJ, have starred in previous Disney Channel series; Mendler had a recurring role on Wizards of Waverly Place while Dolley starred in Cory in the House and several 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."[5] Eric Allan Kramer, who plays Bob Duncan, and Leigh-Allyn Baker, who plays Amy Duncan, have also guest starred on other Disney Channel shows. 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."[12] Baker, a new mother herself, was nine months pregnant when she auditioned for the role.[13]

Like most series involving baby actors, producers of Good Luck Charlie had originally searched for twins to play Charlie Duncan, the title character and the Duncans' new baby.[8] 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 an appropriate set of twins and decided to cast Mia Talerico.[8] Marsh says hiring Talerico, who was ten months old when she was cast, was their biggest 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."[10]

Production

The Good Luck Charlie pilot, entitled "Study Date", was shot in February 2009,[11] and the series was picked up later that year.[14] The show's production takes place at Los Angeles Center Film Studios in Los Angeles, California, although the show takes place in Denver, Colorado. The show operates on a weekly schedule.[15] On Mondays, the cast goes through the script as a table read. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they rehearse before the series' producers and executives.[11] On Thursdays and Fridays, the series is shot using a multi-camera set-up before a live studio audience.[13] 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."[16]

Each episode involves Teddy, as played by Mendler, speaking into her camera while recording her video diary.[5] The show's theme song is titled "Hang in There, Baby" and is performed by Mendler.[17] It was written by Jeanne Lurie, Chen Neeman and Aristedis "Aris" Archontis.[18] The music cues, which signal scene changes and commercial breaks, were composed by Stephen R. Phillips and Tim P.[18]

Film

On July 11, 2010, Disney Channel announced that a Disney Channel Original Movie based on the series is currently in development. The plot of this film is unknown.[19]

there is a film in 2011

Awards

Awards
Year Result Award Category Won
2010 Nominated Teen Choice Awards TV Breakout Star Female Bridgit Mendler
2010 Won Popstar! Magazine Female Newcomer Bridgit Mendler

International release

Country / Region Channel Series premiere Title in country
 United States Disney Channel[1] April 4, 2010 Good Luck Charlie
 Canada Family Channel[20] April 5, 2010 (Sneak Peek)
May 14, 2010 (Premiere)
 Australia Disney Channel Australia May 14, 2010 (Sneak Peek)
July 23, 2010 (Premiere)
 New Zealand
 United Kingdom Disney Channel UK and Ireland May 14, 2010 (Sneak Peek)
June 12, 2010 (Premiere)
 Ireland
 Germany Disney Channel Germany[21] May 7, 2010 (Sneak Peak)
November 7, 2010 (Premiere) 		Meine Schwester Charlie (My Sister Charlie)
Super RTL[22] TBA
 Austria Disney Channel Germany[21] May 7, 2010 (Sneak Peak)
November 7, 2010 (Premiere)
 Poland Disney Channel Poland[23] June 5, 2010 Powodzenia Charlie!
 Greece Disney Channel Greece[24] Καλή Τύχη Τσάρλι
 Czech Republic Disney Channel CEE Hodně štěstí, Charlie
 Slovakia Veľa šťastia, Charlie
 Bulgaria Късмет, Чарли
 Hungary Sok sikert, Charlie!
 Romania Baftă,Charlie!
 France Disney Channel France June 9, 2010 (Sneak Peak)
September 1, 2010 (Premiere) 		Bonne Chance Charlie
 Argentina Disney Channel Latin America July 10, 2010 (Sneak Peak)
July 12, 2010 (Premiere) 		¡Buena Suerte, Charlie!
 Mexico
 Chile
 Venezuela
 Colombia
 Brazil Boa Sorte, Charlie!
 Spain Disney Channel Spain September 19, 2010 (Sneak Peak)
October 8, 2010 (Premiere) 		¡Buena Suerte, Charlie!
 Portugal Disney Channel Portugal Boa Sorte, Charlie!
 Italy Disney Channel Italy July 12, 2010 (Sneak Peak)
October 1, 2010 (Premiere) 		Buona fortuna, Charlie!
 Turkey Disney Channel Turkey June 19, 2010 İyi Şanslar Charlie
 Israel Disney Channel Israel October 17, 2010 גוד לאק צ'ארלי
 Japan Disney Channel Japan July 19, 2010 (Sneak Peak)
September 10, 2010 (Premiere) 		グッドラック・チャーリー
 Hong Kong Disney Channel Asia June 24, 2010 我愛夏莉 (I Love Charlie)
 Cambodia August 9, 2010 (Sneak Peak)
August 14, 2010 (Premiere) 		Good Luck Charlie
 Brunei
 Indonesia
 Malaysia
 Philippines
 Singapore
 Thailand
 Vietnam
 South Korea 찰리야 부탁해 (Please Charlie)
 Belgium Disney Channel The Netherlands & Belgium January 2011 Good Luck Charlie
 Netherlands
 Russia Disney Channel Russia November, 2010 Удачи, Чарли!

References

  1. ^ a b "Disney Channel, Disney XD Present Programming Plans for 2010-11". Disney Channels Worldwide. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  2. ^ 'Good Luck Charlie' gets renewed, movie By James Hibberd July 11, 2010, 11:00 PM ET - The Hollywood Reporter
  3. ^ ‘Good Luck Charlie’ Renewed By Disney For A Second Season Posted on 11 July 2010 by Bill Gorman - tvbythenumbers.com
  4. ^ a b c d Chmielewski, Dawn C. (31 December 2009). "A new Disney Channel niche: adults". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  5. ^ a b c Lowry, Brian (4 April 2010). "Good Luck Charlie". Variety. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  6. ^ "Good Luck Charlie - Disney Channel". Tv.disney.go.com. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  7. ^ Bond, Paul (30 March 2010). "Q&A: Adam Bonnett". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 April 2010. [dead link‍]
  8. ^ a b c d e f Owen, Rob (4 April 2010). "Tuned In: Disney Channel hopes "Good Luck Charlie" will appeal to both kids and parents". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d Bond, Paul (14 July 2009). "Disney eyes another teen star". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 April 2010. [dead link‍]
  10. ^ a b Kinon, Cristina (3 April 2010). "Disney Channel's 'Good Luck Charlie' harks back to traditional family sitcoms". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  11. ^ a b c Rosenberg, Alex (March 2010). "Former Tam student turned starlet". Tamalpais High School. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  12. ^ Arbios, Traci (4 April 2010). "Interview with TV Mom Leigh-Allyn Baker". News & Observer. Retrieved 7 April 2010. [dead link‍]
  13. ^ a b Bergstrom, Elaine (31 March 2010). "'Good Luck Charlie': Leigh-Allyn Baker stars in a family-friendly winner". Zap2it. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  14. ^ Gonzalez, Maria (16 July 2009). "Bridgit Mendler Bites Back on 'Wizards of Waverly Place'". BuddyTV. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  15. ^ "TV Pilot Production Listings". Backstage.com. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  16. ^ Weinman, Jaime (2010-05-21). "Disney Channel News, In Which The Name "Jonas" Is Rarely Mentioned - TV Guidance, Uncategorized". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  17. ^ "Good Luck Charlie A Sitcom For Everyone In The House, Premieres April 4 On Disney Channel - TV Ratings, Nielsen Ratings, Television Show Ratings". TVbytheNumbers.com. 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  18. ^ a b Episode 1
  19. ^ Hibberd, James (July 11, 2010). gets renewed, movie". The Hollywood Reporter.
  20. ^ "FAMILY CHANNEL | Family Channel welcomes its newest addition: Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie". Newswire.ca. 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  21. ^ a b "Meine Schwester Charlie: Infos zur TV-Serie". Fernsehserien.de. 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  22. ^ http://www.wunschliste.de/news/9055
  23. ^ "Disney Channel". Disney.pl. Retrieved 2010-06-05.
  24. ^ "Nova.gr". Nova.gr. 2010-01-27. Retrieved 2010-06-05.


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