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What I Like About You (TV series)

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What I Like About You
GenreTeen sitcom
Created byWil Calhoun
Dan Schneider
StarringAmanda Bynes
Jennie Garth
Wesley Jonathan
Simon Rex
Michael McMillian
Leslie Grossman
Nick Zano
Allison Munn
Dan Cortese
Theme music composerWally Palmar, Mike Skill, Rich Cole, and Jimmy Marinos (lyrics)
Philip Steir (seasons 2-4; remixed version of theme song)
Opening theme"What I Like About You", performed by Lillix
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes86 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersBrian Robbins
Mike Tollin
Joe Davola (all; entire run)
Wil Calhoun
Dan Schneider
(both; seasons 1–2)
Caryn Lucas (seasons 3–4)
ProducerDrew Brown
Production locationsLos Angeles, California
Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California
Camera setupFilm; Multi-camera
Running time22–24 minutes
Production companiesSchneider's Bakery
Tollin/Robbins Productions
Warner Bros. Television
Original release
NetworkThe WB
ReleaseSeptember 20, 2002 (2002-09-20) –
March 24, 2006 (2006-03-24)

What I Like About You is an American television sitcom set mainly in New York City, following the lives of two sisters, older sister Valerie Tyler (Jennie Garth) and teenaged sister Holly (Amanda Bynes). The series ran on The WB from September 20, 2002, to March 24, 2006, with a total of 86 episodes produced. With the exception of a brief period early in the second season, What I Like About You was a headline on The WB's Friday Night Comedy Lineup.[citation needed]

Cast and characters

Main article: List of What I Like About You characters

Throughout their time on the series, two main characters - Vince and Lauren - were never given last names. Jeff was also never given a last name, although in the artwork for the Season 1 DVDs he is listed as "Jeff Campbell".

Main characters

Actor Character Seasons
1 2 3 4
Amanda Bynes Holly Tyler Main
Jennie Garth Valerie "Val" Tyler Main
Wesley Jonathan Gary Thorpe Main
Simon Rex Jeff Campbell Main
Leslie Grossman Lauren Recurring Main
Michael McMillian Henry Gibson Recurring Main Recurring
Nick Zano Vince Main
Allison Munn Tina Haven Main

Recurring cast

Episodes

Main article: List of What I Like About You episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
122September 20, 2002May 9, 2003
222September 11, 2003May 7, 2004
324September 17, 2004May 20, 2005
418September 16, 2005March 24, 2006

Production

Theme song and opening sequences

The series takes its title from the song of the same name, which was originally released on a hit record by The Romantics in 1980; it was written by the group's members Wally Palmar, Mike Skill, Rich Cole, and Jimmy Marinos. A cover version of the song, performed by the Canadian all-female rock group Lillix, was used as the theme song for the show. Lillix's cover version was also heard on the soundtrack of the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday and the soundtrack of the film 13 Going on 30. The theme was remixed into a techno/dance style theme for the second season by Philip Steir (who composed all the music for remainder of the series).

The pilot episode had a short opening sequence and the cast members' names were only shown over the cold open. The title sequence used scenes of New York as a background, with an animation of the show's logo in which the letters "i" and "o" appeared first in a larger size than other characters, the word "what" slid in from the left side of the screen, the word "like" expanded and contracted, the "ab" and "ut" in "about" slid in from both sides of the screen to meet the "o", and the word "you" slid upward from the bottom of the screen, appearing to collide with the rest of the title before all the characters settled into place. This same animation was carried over to the season one opening titles.

The first season's opening sequence featured intercut scenes (as from home movies) of two girls portraying younger versions of Holly and Val, with shots of Bynes and Garth sticking their tongues out at the camera, mixed with footage excerpted from the first four episodes; each of these elements were framed in rounded rectangles that moved from right to left across the screen. After every two to five such rectangles, the headshot of each cast member would appear with its name. Newer footage excerpts were inserted in the sequence for the episode "Valentine's Day" and again for the episode "The Fix-Up", which replaced nearly all of the excerpts from the first four episodes.

The opening title sequence used for the rest of the series featured the show's cast in front of digitally inserted scenes of New York at night. Different versions of the sequence were used for SD and HD broadcasts: the SD version seen in The WB, TeenNick and until October 6, 2010 in ABC Family airings, featured a letterbox-style version with the cast and creators' names in a black bar below the sequence; HD broadcasts on The WB and in ABC Family airings since October 6, 2010, featured the cast and creators' names within the sequence itself. The sequence was modified twice; the first time was in the episode "The Incredible Shrinking Group" when Stephen Dunham's video headshots were removed and the second modification was in "The Longest Night of the Year" when all traces of Michael McMillian were removed from the sequence and a yellow streak of light was added to the sequence as well.

Syndication

From February to September 2006, the series aired as reruns in a new weekday afternoon block called "Daytime WB" on its home network, The WB alongside Reba. After the show was ended by The WB in 2006, reruns of the series aired in syndication in most markets until September 2008.

In 2008, the program moved over to ABC Family to air in various timeslots during the daytime, in a letterbox format. Secondary rights are also held by TeenNick which has aired the series since 2009 shortly before the network's rebrand from The N; that channel mainly aired episodes of the show in two-hour marathon form, until October 2010, when TeenNick began airing three one-hour blocks of the series in different timeslots. Canadian syndicated rights are held by YTV, broadcasting the series for the first time in High Definition when the network introduced an HD channel in 2011.

DVD release

DVD Name Release Date Ep # Additional Information
The Complete First Season May 1, 2007 22 Bonus features include a Gag Reel.

Awards and nominations

GLAAD Media Award

  • 2006 - Outstanding Individual Episode (In a Series Without a Regular Gay Character) for "Someone's In the Kitchen with Daddy" (Nominated)

Teen Choice Awards

Young Artist Awards

  • 2004 - Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama): Leading Young Actress for Amanda Bynes (Nominated)
  • 2003 - Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Guest Starring Young Actress for Chelsea Brummet (Nominated)

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to What I Like About You (TV series).
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