Radio Free Roscoe

*Radio Free Roscoe*
Radio Free Roscoe
Genre	Teen drama; Comedy-drama
Created by	Will McRobb; Douglas McRobb
Starring	Nathan Carter; Ali Mukaddam; Nathan Stephenson; Kate Todd;
Theme music composer	Jono Grant
Opening theme	"Radio Free Roscoe Theme"
Ending theme	"Radio Free Roscoe Theme"; (Instrumental) (some episodes)
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	52 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Steven DeNure; Neil Court; Beth Stevenson
Producers	John A. Delmage; Brent Piaskoski
Production locations	Toronto, Ontario
Running time	20–22 minutes
Production company	Decode Entertainment
Original release
Network	Family Channel
Release	August 1, 2003 –; May 27, 2005

Radio Free Roscoe is a Canadian teen comedy-drama television series. The series was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, and produced by Decode Entertainment. It first aired on August 1, 2003, on Family Channel in Canada. It has also been dubbed in French (as required for Canadian federally funded TV shows) in the province of Quebec and aired on Vrak. The show was later aired on U.S. network Noggin's teen block, The N, where the show received funding for a second season. The series ended on May 27, 2005, because The N decided to stop funding the show, and Family, along with Decode Entertainment, could not fill the gap in the production budget. The show was shown on Family until 2007, when it was replaced. In early 2008, The N began rebroadcasting reruns. As of 2019, episodes could still be found on the Canadian station Family Chrgd.

The pilot was first filmed in New Jersey, with an entirely different cast. At that time, the show was going to be based in Nutley, New Jersey and was to be titled Radio Free Nutley. The show was never picked up. Decode Entertainment later decided to move production to Toronto and change the cast and title of the show, leading to the show's production and broadcasting. Despite the change in filming location, the show was still set in suburban New Jersey.

Premise

Four teens in the suburban New Jersey town of Roscoe start attending Henry Roscoe High School. There, they are fed up with their school's radio station, "Cougar Radio", dictating unto the masses how to live, plus the rather overbearing Principal Waller, who seems to favour the popular students, so they create their own pirate radio station called Radio Free Roscoe. Lily Randall, Ray Brennan and Robbie McGrath are old friends, and find a friend in Travis Strong when they form the radio station. Each of them assume a radio alias to conceal their identity.

In their time at Roscoe High, the four friends confront various challenges, such as when Ray ("Pronto") has a crush on Lily ("Shady Lane"), when Lily and Travis ("Smog") date briefly, and other relationships between the members of RFR and their schoolmates. Examples include Lily and River Pierce, Travis and Parker Haynes, and Ray and Grace. Life at Roscoe High gets especially complicated when Robbie ("Question Mark") falls for the Cougar Radio DJ, Kim Carlisle.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Note: each member of Radio Free Roscoe assumes a pseudonym for broadcasting the radio show, allowing them to remain anonymous and thus prevent the administration from shutting the show down (pseudonym given in quotation marks).

Ray "Pronto" Brennan – Al Mukadam
Robbie "Question Mark" McGrath – Nathan Stephenson
Lily "Shady Lane" Randall – Kate Todd
Travis "Smog" Strong / Miss Communication – Nathan Carter

Supporting cast

Kim Carlisle – Genelle Williams
Principal Daniel Waller – Hamish McEwan
Mickey Stone – Kenny Robinson
Audrey Quinlan – Ashley Newbrough
Ted – David Rendall
Ed – Garen Boyajian
Parker Haynes – Victoria Nestorowicz (season 2)
Megan – Hill Kourkoutis (season 2)
Bridget – Lara Amersey (season 2)
River Pierce – Steve Belford (season 2)
Grace Sutter – Julia Alexander (season 2)

The final two episodes of the series ("Dance Around the Truth" and "The Last Dance") included all of the main and supporting cast, excluding Bridget (although she is mentioned) and Audrey.

All members of RFR have been, at some point, part of Cougar Radio. Travis considered joining in Episode One. Ray joined Cougar Radio because he didn't like concealing himself behind his persona "Pronto". Kim Carlisle convinced Robbie to join. Lily joined River Pierce to get air time for her band. Regardless of the rational basis, none of the RFR members departs permanently.

Episodes

There are a total of 52 episodes. On Family, the episodes aired as two seasons, and on The N the episodes aired as four seasons, although both channels have aired all 52 episodes.

Media releases

There are two official Radio Free Roscoe products.

Radio Free Roscoe: Season One - Greatest Hits – DVD compilation, VSC Corporation (Video Services Corp.)
Radio Free Roscoe, Volume 1 – CD compilation

Awards and nominations

Awards

2004 New York Festivals:
- World Medal (Silver) for Television Programming & Promotion – Teen Programs (ages 13–17).
2005 Gemini Awards:
- Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series: Radio Free Roscoe (p. Steven Denure, Neil Court, John Delmage, Douglas McRobb, Will McRobb, Brent Piaskoski, Beth Stevenson. Decode Entertainment Inc.)

Nominations

2004 Young Artists Awards
- Nominated David Rendall (Radio Free Roscoe) for Best Performance in a Television Series, Recurring Young Actor.
2004 Parents' Foundation Parents' Choice Awards:
- Recommended Television Series Winner: Radio Free Roscoe.
2004 Gemini Awards Nominations:
- Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series: Radio Free Roscoe (p. Steven Denure, Neil Court, John Delmage, Douglas McRobb, Will McRobb, Brent Piaskoski, Beth Stevenson. Decode Entertainment Inc.)
- Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series: Ali Mukaddam (for "The Awful Truth").
- Best Sound in a Dramatic Series: Radio Free Roscoe – Justin Drury and Ric Jurgens (for "There Will Be No Encore Tonight")

International syndication

RFR is currently in syndication on these stations:

Country/Region	Channel
Australia	ABC (now moved to ABC2)
Latin America	Boomerang
United States	The N (block on Noggin)
Poland	TVP2
Russia	Teen TV
Italy	Rai Gulp and Rai 2
Canada	BBC Kids Family Channel Family Chrgd^[1]
Portugal	Panda Biggs

RFR was formerly syndicated on these stations:

Country/Region	Channel	Language
Canada	VRAK.TV	French
Brazil	Boomerang	Brazilian Portuguese
Poland	ZigZap	Polish
United Kingdom	Nickelodeon	English
France	France 2 and Canal J	French
Finland	YLE TV2	English (with Finnish subtitles)
Israel	Arutz HaYeladim	English (with Hebrew subtitles)

References

^ "Radio Free Roscoe". chrgd.ca. Retrieved January 29, 2019.

[1] "Radio Free Roscoe". chrgd.ca. Retrieved January 29, 2019.

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