Good Luck Charlie

Good Luck Charlie
File:Good Luck Charlie - logo.PNG
Created by	Phil Baker Drew Vaupen
Starring	Bridgit Mendler Leigh Allyn Baker Bradley Steven Perry Mia Talerico Eric Allan Kramer Jason Dolley
Theme music composer	Jeanne Lurie, Chen Neeman and Aris Archontis
Opening theme	"Hang In There Baby", performed by Bridgit Mendler
Composer	Stephen R. Phillips & Tim P.
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	25 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Phil Baker Drew Vaupen Dan Staley
Production locations	Denver, Colorado (setting) Sunset Bronson Studios, Los Angeles, California (taping location)
Camera setup	Videotape (filmized); Multi-camera
Running time	23 minutes
Production companies	It's a Laugh Productions Disney Channel Original Productions
Original release
Network	Disney Channel
Release	April 4, 2010 (2010-04-04) – present

Good Luck Charlie is an original Disney Channel television sitcom, which premiered April 4, 2010. 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. (Teddy Duncan) Bridgit Mendler tries to show (Charlie) Mia Talerico what she might go through in the video diary so she can always know how to figure things out when she get's older.

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

Good Luck Charlie was renewed for a second season, with production to begin in August 2010 with a season premiere on February 20, 2011. A feature-length Christmas Disney Channel Original Movie based on the series will begin production in March 2011 for a Winter 2011 premiere. Also announced for season two is a crossover episode with Shake It Up.

Premise

Main article: List of Good Luck Charlie episodes

The series centers on the Duncan family, who are still adjusting to the birth of their fourth child, Charlie Duncan (Mia Talerico). 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.

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."

Cast

Main characters

• Teddy R. 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 child, after PJ and before Gabe. Feeling that she won't be around as much when her baby sister Charlie is grown, she produces and directs 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 was dating Spencer Walsh, but gets her heart broken later in the series. She has always fought with PJ, though it is apparent she loves him. As for her younger brother Gabe, she sometimes finds herself unintentionally ignoring him, although she often reassures him of her love 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 usually gets along well with his younger brother, Gabe. To most, he appears clueless and absentminded, but has shown on numerous occasions to be resourceful, creative and intelligent. He is the founder of his own band entitled "PJ and the Vibe", along 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 occasionally uses Charlie for his personal gain, however, PJ cares about Charlie nearly as much as Teddy does.

• Gabriel "Gabe" Duncan (Bradley Steven Perry) is the 11 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 troublemaker, 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 are blondes. 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. Gabe is also known to sometimes take advantage of Charlie.

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 and a half years 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. Many 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.

• Amy Duncan - (nee Blankenhooper) (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, specifically 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 in her high school days. She is somewhat an airheaded, and lets special opportunities, such as being on TV or singing in front of a group, go to her head. Amy is apparently a slight disciplinarian, and seldom accepts misbehaviours from her children. It is revealed in the episode "Snow Show Part 2" that her maiden name is Blankenhooper.

• Robert "Bob" Duncan (Eric Allan Kramer) is the long-suffering, stern and kind 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. It is also shown in "Snow Show Part1" that Bob and Amy weren't actually married, they were scammed by the judge who said they were perfect for each other but they then legally got married with all four of their children present.

Recurring characters

• Ivy Renee 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. In "Dance Off", she went to the school dance with Emmett. Also in the episode "Girl Bites Dog" it is revealed that she loves country music. In the episode "Teddy's Broken Heart Club Band", her middle name is revealed to be Renee.

• Emmett Heglin (Micah Stephen Williams) is PJ's best friend. He is slender and comedic, and seemingly has a desperate attraction to Teddy, but Teddy rejects him because she already has a boyfriend in her life. 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, with skills matched only by Spencer. He once went out with Ivy when they were younger.

• Spencer Walsh (Shane Harper) is Teddy's ex-boyfriend. At first, they started 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. Later in the series Spencer cheats on Teddy and they break up. In the episode "Snow Show Part 2", He reveals he still has feelings for Teddy, but Teddy tells him that they should just stay friends.

• 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, all played by Belcher via split screen). Mrs. Dabney is often suspicious of 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.

• Alice Wartheimer (Hayley Holmes) is a sweet, but anxious and submissive girl from Teddy's French class. She suffers from asthma, so when she gets nervous or excited, Alice "wheezes", something she is known (and ridiculed) for. Alice met Teddy properly while working at the Reddi-Mart under a rude boss, but Teddy inspired her to stand up for herself, which left Alice fired but happy. As of late, Alice seems to be on friendlier terms with Teddy, such as helping her rehearse for the school play.

• 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.

Development and production

"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.

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

Good Luck Charlie was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who have been writing together since 1993 on shows ranging from Suddenly Susan to Sonny With a Chance. 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. 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." The writers also try to include jokes for adult viewers while remaining chaste enough for their young target audience. 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."

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."

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. 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." 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 "Bremer" "Holliday" to "Duncan" and the elder brother's name changed from "Casey" to "PJ", which could be a reference to the characters P.J. & Duncan from the show Byker Grove.

Casting

As 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." Bonnet says Disney Channel executives "just fell in love with" Bridgit Mendler, who stars as the series' protagonist, fifteen-year-old Teddy Duncan. "She has all the attributes of a Disney star," said Bonnet. 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. 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." 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." Baker, a new mother herself, was nine months pregnant when she auditioned for the role.

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. 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. 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."

Reception

Critical reception

The series's premiere earned positive reviews. Also currently holds an 7.9 making "Good" rating on TV.com. Robert Lloyd of The Los Angeles Times described it as a "professional sitcom from sitcom professionals" with efficient jokes and typical sitcom characters, and situations which are "willfully arranged". However, Lloyd praised the series for offering a "contextually novel picture of a teenage girl taking care of her baby sister with a persuasive nonchalance and practical ease that transcends the strenous comedy that surrounds it." Neal Justin of the Star Tribune said the "slapstick heavy, laugh-track fueled sitcom" had no redeeming qualities other than "keeping your 11-year-old sedated for a half hour". Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Good Luck Charlie would appeal to kids, but not adults. "Parents have seen the same sort of show done before and better in ABC's 1980s-era TGIF lineup," wrote Owen. Contrarily, Brian Lowry of Variety magazine said Good Luck Charlie was "a surprisingly refreshing throwback to ABC's "TGIF"-style sitcoms". He commented that while the series did not "push sitcom boundaries", it was "sprightly" and "pleasantly handled".

Viewership

The series premiered to 4.6 million viewers, making it the highest-rated series premiere for a Disney Channel Original Series since The Suite Life on Deck in 2008, and the week's highest-rated cable program. Maclean's reported that overall, the first season "has been doing about as well as Disney’s more successful shows – The Suite Life and so on."

On January 16, 2011, the episode "Snow Show (Part 1)" became the most watched episode of Good Luck Charlie thus far, earning 6.7 million viewers exceeding the 5 million average of the episode "Kit and Kaboodle", as well 4.6 million average for the show's premiere. These high ratings came with the season 3 The Suite Life on Deck episode "Twister: Part III" serving the show's lead-in.

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

Film

On July 11, 2010 Disney Channel announced that a Disney Channel Original Movie based on the series is currently in development. Disney Channel and Salty Pictures are in pre-production of the movie. In the movie, Teddy Duncan's middle-class family embarks on a road trip from their home in Denver to visit Mrs. Duncan's Parents, the Blankenhoopers, in Palm Springs. When they find themselves stranded between Denver and Utah, they try to hitch a ride to Las Vegas with a seemingly normal older couple in a station wagon from Roswell, New Mexico. It turns out that the couple believes they are the victims of an alien abduction. The Duncan's must resort to purchasing a clunker Yugo to get to Utah, have their luggage stolen in Las Vegas, and survive a zany Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Blankenhooper. Additional casting is being held. Filming will begin in late February, 2011 in Utah.

The film will be written by Geoff Rodkey and directed by Arlene Sanford.

International broadcasting

Country / Region	Channel	Series premiere	Title in country
United States	Disney Channel	April 4, 2010	Good Luck Charlie
Canada	Family Channel	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	May 7, 2010 (Sneak Peak) November 7, 2010 (Premiere)	Meine Schwester Charlie (My Sister Charlie)
	Super RTL	TBA
Austria	Disney Channel Germany	May 7, 2010 (Sneak Peak) November 7, 2010 (Premiere)
Poland	Disney Channel Poland	June 5, 2010	Powodzenia Charlie!
Greece	Disney Channel Greece		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
Ecuador
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 7, 2011	Good Luck Charlie
Netherlands
Russia	Disney Channel Russia	January 2, 2011 (Sneak Peek),January 29, 2011	Держись, Чарли!
Norway	Disney Channel Scandinavia	January 28, 2011 (Sneak Peek),January 29, 2011	Lykke til Charlie

External links

• Official website
• Good Luck Charlie at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com