''6teen'' (originally titled ''The Mall'') is a Canadian

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

television series originally produced by

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

, with the final two seasons being produced by

Fresh TV Fresh TV Inc. (formerly Fresh Animation) is a Canadian production company specializing in family entertainment aimed at preteens and teenagers, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Shows that have been broadcast internationally include '' Stoked'' ...

. It began airing on November 7, 2004 until its final episode aired on February 11, 2010 on

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...

. In the U.S., the series was first aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

on December 18, 2005, and was removed from the schedule on May 13, 2006. The show was later aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

(along with ''

Total Drama Island ''Total Drama Island'' (sometimes shortened to ''TDI'') is the first season of ''Total Drama'', a Canadian animated comedy television series created by Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch. The series premiered in Canada on Teletoon on July 8, 2007 ...

and Stoked)'' on October 23, 2008 until June 21, 2010. With the first 78 episodes 15 September 2020 and both 45-minute-long specials produced by Nelvana, ''6teen'' ended with a total of four seasons of 93 22-minute-long episodes (including two one-hour specials).

Plot

''6teen'' is an animated comedy for older children, preteens, and teenagers. The plots take place almost entirely in a megaplex

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

known as the Galleria Mall. The Galleria Mall is a cross between the

Toronto Eaton Centre The Toronto Eaton Centre (corporately styled as the CF Toronto Eaton Centre since September 2015, and commonly referred to simply as the Eaton Centre) is a shopping mall and office complex in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is ...

and the

West Edmonton Mall West Edmonton Mall (WEM) is a shopping mall in Edmonton, Alberta, that is owned, managed, and operated by Triple Five Group. It is the second most visited mall in Canada, after the Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, followed by Metrotown Mall in B ...

. The series follows the cast of six 16-year-old friends in everyday lives, including their first part-time jobs. The show is rated

TV-PG The TV Parental Guidelines are a television content rating system in the United States that was first proposed on December 19, 1996, by the United States Congress, the television industry and the federal communication commission (FCC), and went ...

. ''6teen'' is focused on the common issues related to teenagers. The main characters are: Jude, Jen, Nikki, Jonesy, Caitlin, and Wyatt. They deal with first infatuations, first jobs, first bank accounts, and a sweet taste of freedom. Nikki finds herself stuck working at The Khaki Barn, a store where she would not shop herself, while Jen has found her dream job at a sporting goods store, but makes some mistakes. As a

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...

, Jonesy manages to get fired from a new store in almost every episode with a few exceptions. Wyatt falls hopelessly in love with his older co-worker. Jude works at the Food on a stick. Caitlin endures the daily humiliation of working at the lowest store in the mall's hierarchy of cool – The Big Squeeze, a lemonade stand shaped like a giant lemon, where she's required to wear a hat shaped like a lemon as a part of her uniform.

Production and revival

''6teen'' is created and directed through the use of a 2D digital software package known as "Harmony", which was developed by the

Toon Boom Animation Toon Boom Animation Inc. is a Canadian software company that specializes in animation production and storyboarding software. Founded in 1994 and based in Montreal, Quebec, Toon Boom develops animation and storyboarding software for film, televi ...

studio in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec. ''6teen'' (the original working title for the series being ''The Mall'') is scripted by a team of writers which includes the series' creators and directors

Tom McGillis Tom McGillis is a Canadian writer, producer, and the president of Fresh TV Inc. Early life McGillis is the son of Donald and Marguerite McGillis. Career Along with partner Jennifer Pertsch, he was the creator and executive producer of the animat ...

and

Jennifer Pertsch Jennifer Pertsch is a Canadian writer, producer, story editor, and one of the founding partners of Fresh TV, a Toronto-based production studio specializing in teen and family oriented television projects. She began her career as a writer for Nelvan ...

, along with

Sean Cullen Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglic ...

(''

The Sean Cullen Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''), and

George Westerholm George Westerholm is a Canadian musician, singer, comedian and writer. He has won three Canadian Comedy Awards for his work as a writer on ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' and ''The Toronto Show''. Comedy In the 1980s and early 1990s, Westerholm was ...

(''

This Hour Has 22 Minutes ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics w ...

''). On the subject of their work, McGillis explained, The series' main characters were designed by Brad Coombs and the music composed by Don Breithaupt and Anthony Vanderburgh. There are seven main cast members who voice ''6teen''.

Brooke D'Orsay Brooke D'Orsay (born February 17, 1982) is a Canadian actress, best known for voicing the character of Caitlin Cooke on the Teletoon animated series ''6teen'' (2004–2010) and Brooke Mayo in the 2005 movie '' King's Ransom''. For American audien ...

performs the voice of Caitlin, while Stacey DePass provides the voice of Nikki,

Megan Fahlenbock Megan Smith Fahlenbock (born June 30, 1971) is a Canadian actress. She has worked in animation and also had a few film roles. She is best known for her voice roles as Gwen on ''Total Drama'', Jen Masterson on ''6teen'', and Eva Kant in ''Diaboli ...

voices Jen, Jess Gibbons voices Wyatt,

Christian Potenza Christian Potenza (born December 23, 1972) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for voicing Jude Lizowski on ''6teen'' and Chris McLean in the ''Total Drama'' franchise. Career He has been on television since 1997, when he first ...

voices Jude, and

Terry McGurrin Terry McGurrin (born November 5, 1968) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and writer from Ottawa, Ontario. He was the story editor for the 2011 YTV show ''Scaredy Squirrel''. He has most recently been story editing and executive producer for th ...

voices Jonesy. Jamie Watson provides the voices of Coach Halder and Ron the Rent-a-Cop. With the first 78 episodes and both 45-minute-long specials produced by Nelvana, ''6teen'' ended with a total of four seasons of 93 22-minute-long episodes (including two one-hour specials). In the final episode ("Bye Bye Nikki?"), it included an acoustic version of the theme music by

Brian Melo Brian Melo (born August 15, 1982) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ontario who was the winner of the fifth season of ''Canadian Idol'' in 2007. His first studio album, ''Livin' It'', achieved Gold Status in Canada. His second albu ...

. A special reunion PSA titled "Vote, Dude!" was released on September 12, 2018, with the original voice cast reprising their respective roles to raise awareness for voting in the 2018 US midterm elections, though no plans to bring back the show have been announced.

Characters

Episodes

Canada

United States

Reception and honours

Throughout the show's run, ''6teen'' has received critical acclaim. In the winter/spring of 2005, the program ranked among Teletoon's Top 10 for children ages ten years old and up in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French-language markets in Canada. It was also the only Canadian production to be nominated for a Pulcinella Award in 2005 under "TV Series for All Audiences". Furthermore, on June 2, 2007, ''6teen'' received an award from the Alliance for Children and Television for being the best of children's television to fall under the age group of nine to fourteen years old that year. Wikinews:Wikinews Entertainment Shorts: June 2, 2007 Carole Bonneau, vice-president in charge of Teletoon's programming, has remarked about ''6teen'': In Canada, the show garners about 2.5 million viewers each episode. In the U.S., 6teen's ratings were around 1.8 million viewers each episode, and ratings held there and then even increased, making it one of Cartoon Network's top shows (October 2008September 2009). The highest rating 6teen received on Cartoon Network was 3.7 million viewers, on Thursday, June 11, 2009, immediately after the season premiere of ''

Total Drama Action ''Total Drama Action'' (abbreviated ''TDA'') is a Canadian animated television series. It is the second season of ''Total Drama''. The show premiered on Teletoon at 6:30pm ET/ PT on January 11, 2009. This season was also created by the makers of ...

''. As time went on (starting in October 2009), 6teen began a slow drop in ratings. 6teen's final episode, which aired on June 21, 2010, received a total of 1.6 million viewers, which is lower than the past 6teen episodes. In 2009, the show won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song (Main Title and Promo) for its theme song, "6teen", which was performed by Phil Naro.

Censorship

Because ''6teen'' was targeted towards a more mature audience ( preteens and

teenagers Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

), in certain episodes were considered too risque or inappropriate by the U.S. channels such as

and Paramount's

. This led to 24 episodes being censored or removed in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

With the Canadian legalization of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

occurring around the time of the series' release, many episodes of ''6teen'' included references and innuendos to

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

, most of which were censored in the U.S. Other censorships and bans in the U.S. included a plot line that focused on shoplifting, and nude images that were modified from the series' original blur-out to a full black bar.

References

External links