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''Fifteen'' (known as ''Hillside'' in Canada) is a
teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
television series that aired on YTV in Canada and 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 ...
from 1991 to 1993. Created and produced by John T. Binkley, the series was Nickelodeon's only teenage
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
. The show was shot on videotape, similar to most
daytime drama A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored b ...
s. The series was first conceived as ''Hillside'' in an improvised form for
The Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...
, where a 13-episode pilot series was produced and tested in the United States. After Disney decided not to proceed with the project, Nickelodeon and Canadian partners joined Binkley in producing the series; which was known in its first and second seasons as ''Hillside'' in Canada, and throughout the 65-episode run as ''Fifteen'' in the United States. The show was subsequently syndicated around the world, with runs in Germany and Israel, among others. Rerun rights are held by the
Peter Rodgers Organization The Peter Rodgers Organization (PRO) is a television syndication company based in Hollywood, California. It distributes more than 2,000 films, and dozens of documentaries and off-network television series to global markets. History The company ...
, which has made the first season available for free on
Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service prim ...
. The series features a large
ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...
that underwent several changes over the show's four-season run. Notable cast members include
Laura Harris Laura Harris is a Canadian actress. Early life Harris is the daughter of schoolteachers. She began acting in radio dramas and animation series when she was five years old. As a child Harris was educated at Crofton House School and attended c ...
,
Enuka Okuma Enuka Vanessa Okuma (; born September 20, 1976) is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as detective Traci Nash in the Global/ ABC police drama series, ''Rookie Blue'' (2010–2015). Okuma is also known for her work on the Canadian televis ...
, and
Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over  billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...
(Reynolds later admitted to disliking working on the show so much that he briefly considered quitting acting altogether).


Plot

''Fifteen'' followed the students of fictional Hillside School and dealt with a variety of issues including dating,
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
,
alcohol abuse Alcohol abuse encompasses a spectrum of unhealthy alcohol drinking behaviors, ranging from binge drinking to alcohol dependence, in extreme cases resulting in health problems for individuals and large scale social problems such as alcohol-relat ...
, infidelity and friendship. The show played heavily into stereotypes, including two characters named Dylan and Chris, who wore leather jackets to show off their toughness, but which could not completely disguise their inner selves. At one point, they play a gig with their band Teenagers in Love at local eatery and hangout spot The Avalon.


Cast and characters

*
Laura Harris Laura Harris is a Canadian actress. Early life Harris is the daughter of schoolteachers. She began acting in radio dramas and animation series when she was five years old. As a child Harris was educated at Crofton House School and attended c ...
as Ashley Frasier – Ashley is a soft-spoken honor student who struggles to balance academic expectations with personal relationships. Though considered wholesome, she occasionally makes bad decisions to spite her image. She's the longtime on-again, off-again girlfriend of Matt Walker. * Todd Talbot as Matt Walker – The captain and star player of the school's basketball team, Matt struggles with substance abuse throughout the series which harms his relationships and school reputation. He loves Ashley, but he and her continue to break up. They finally break up for good and he moves away. *
Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over  billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...
as Billy Simpson – The younger brother of Courtney, Billy frequently hangs around Dylan and looks up to him. After facing family problems and personal betrayal (as well as numerous romantic rejections), Billy turns to bullying to mask his emotions. An intervention from Dylan finally gets through to Billy and he makes amends for his bullying streak. *
Chris William Martin Christopher William Martin (born January 17, 1975), also known as Corky Martin or Chris Martin, is a Canadian actor.Glen Schaefer, "Felicity's hair-raiser: Vancouver actor Chris Martin's job was to stir the pot and divert attention from star Keri ...
as Dylan Blackwell – The mysterious rebel of the school, Dylan aspires to become a musician. He's often stuck managing conflict within his band, has a troubled relationship with his parents and later drops out of school. He had a fractious rivalry with Matt at first, but they became friends as the series went on. He and Ashley have feelings for each other and finally explore them. *Robyn Ross as Brooke Morgan (seasons 1–3) – Brooke is the self-centered and mean-spirited antagonist who often inserts herself into other's business where it's not warranted. She is arrogant, spiteful, cruel and manipulative, but her self-centered ways came back to haunt her on more than one occasion. She's at odds with her sisters, whom their father seems to favor more than her. Brooke eventually leaves in the third season and moves to France. *Sarah Douglas as Courtney Simpson (seasons 1–3) – Courtney is the modest best friend of Ashley. She navigates a difficult relationship with her brother Billy during their parent's separation. She tends to be naive and meek at times. * Ken Angel as Jake Deosdade (seasons 1 and 3) – Jake is a good friend to many students at Hillside, but fancies Courtney in particular. He has feelings for Courtney and the two eventually start dating. Absent in China through season 2, Jake returns to Hillside for season 3. He is also Matt's best friend. *
Enuka Okuma Enuka Vanessa Okuma (; born September 20, 1976) is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as detective Traci Nash in the Global/ ABC police drama series, ''Rookie Blue'' (2010–2015). Okuma is also known for her work on the Canadian televis ...
as Kelly (season 1) – Brooke's equally cunning friend. Friction begins when Brooke has Kelly to take the blame for a scheme against Ashley they both conspired on. Kelly plots revenge on Brooke with the help of her sister, Theresa. Their friendship dissolves because of it. Kelly disappears without explanation after Season 1. * Janine Cox as Theresa Morgan (season 1) – Brooke's little sister. Unlike Brooke, Theresa is kind-hearted and sensitive. She begins to lose respect for her sibling after seeing how she uses people for her own ends. She has a crush on Dylan. She aids Kelly in her revenge plot against Brooke. Theresa never appears again after Season 1, but unlike Kelly, who vanished and was never mentioned again, Theresa is said to be attending a prestigious art school in Season 2 by Brooke. * Aubrey Nealon as Olaf (season 1) – A transfer student from Finland ostracized by most of the students. He often struggles to find the right word to describe his circumstance. He is a chess fanatic and friends with Billy. * Ahnee Boyce as Cyndi (season 1) – An activist for environmental causes who is frustrated with the lack of concern from students. Strong-willed, assertive, but friendly, Cyndi wasn't afraid to speak her mind or put people like Brooke in their place when she had to. * Roxanne Alexander as Roxanne Lee (seasons 2–4) – Roxanne is an associate of Chris who displays a tough exterior and is often the catalyst for dissent within Dylan's band. Chris has feelings for her and wants to be in a band with her. Roxanne shows a more vulnerable side during Season 4 when it was revealed she was a victim of abuse at the hands of her father. *Andrew Baskin as Chris McDonald (seasons 2–4) – A troubled youth often at odds with others, especially Dylan. He plays guitar and aspires to be a rock star. Seen as a hoodlum, he later makes a genuine attempt to change his ways and develops feelings for Ashley. They date briefly, but Ashley finally leaves him due to his true abusive nature and his interest in Roxanne. When Roxanne and Chris becomes especially scornful. After seemingly losing everything and accepting his fate as an outcast, he turns around when Russ makes a genuine attempt to make a friend in him. *Lisa Warner as Stacy Collins (seasons 2–4) – An awkward and timid girl who begins an unlikely friendship with Brooke. While she initially looks up to Brooke and aspires to be her friend, Stacy begins tiring of her attitude. She then begins to do the same towards Roxanne. *David Wight as David O'Brien (seasons 2–4) – The student manager/trainer of the basketball team. While a bit shy, Dave doesn't hesitate to stand up for himself or others when provoked. He especially looks up to Matt. * Arseman Yohannes as Arseman Harrell (seasons 2–4) – Arseman is a cheerful, candid person who often lends other students advice or a kind ear. She has a good singing voice, which attracts the attention of Dylan's band. She eventually leaves due to her hatred of the way the band is run and she later on dates Dylan. *John Boyd as John DiMarco (seasons 2–3) – A prankster who catches the wrath of Billy over a joke he pulls on him. *Erin Inglis as Erin Walker (seasons 2–3) – Matt's adoring younger sister, Erin is protective of her brother and is easily offended by rumors about him. *Claire Langlois as Amanda Morgan (season 2) – Brooke's other sister. Amanda provokes her sister's ire after she tattles on Brooke to her parents. Billy has a crush on Amanda, but she bluntly rejects him, calling him immature. She steals Courtney's necklace and allows Janice to take the blame for it, and Brooke exacts her revenge by telling the whole school about it, leaving Amanda an outcast by season's end. *
Rekha Shah Rekha Shah (born August 25, 1976) is a Canadian television executive and former actress, best known for her work on the internationally popular sketch comedy program ''You Can't Do That On Television''. She also appeared on the Nickelodeon show F ...
as Janice (season 2) – An overly eager and awkward new transfer student that has difficulty making friends upon her arrival. She eventually befriends Courtney and Arseman, but is then accused by Brooke of stealing an heirloom necklace of Courtney's, is shunned by her classmates, and decides to transfer schools again. It turns out Brooke's sister Amanda, not Janice, was the thief, and Courtney and Janice reconcile, though not before Janice transfers out of Hillside. *Minna Koch as Lea (season 2) – Lea befriends Erin when the latter is having difficulty fitting in at school. *James Greye as Richard (season 3) – Responsible for booking the musical acts at The Avalon. *Micah Cox as Micah (season 4) – A player on the boys soccer team. Micah briefly clashes with Pepper over her success at his expense. *Russell Dayvault as Russ Talbot (season 4) – Pepper's best friend. When Russ has health complications, his friends become concerned. *Erin Donovan as Brittany Nichols (season 4) – Brittany is highly aware of her attractiveness and not beyond using it to her benefit. She has an acute knowledge of football. *Elizabeth Ortiz as Liz (season 4) – Similar to Courtney's character, Liz is a reserved student who enjoys writing poetry, later forming a friendship with Roxanne. *
Pepper Binkley Pepper Binkley is an American actress, performer, writer, and director who works in film, television, theater, and commercials. She was a series regular in the fourth season of 1990s teen drama, '' Fifteen''. Career From 1992 to 1993, Binkley p ...
as Pepper O'Brien (season 4) – Dave's tomboy sister who is heavily into sports. She later tries out for the boys soccer team. * Allison Bloom as Jennifer Locke (season 4) – A spiritual successor to Brooke, Jennifer is a shallow and materialistic individual from a wealthy family. She makes a point to insult everyone she comes across and is jealous of her younger brother who has a remarkably high I.Q. *David Whitty as Michael Rowland (season 4) – Star Football Team Captain & Quarterback. Brittany takes quick interest in Michael, creating tension between him and Billy. * Jason Angel as Jason Locke (season 4) – The precocious younger brother of Jennifer whose knowledge often helps solve other student's dilemmas. * Loyal Pyczynski as Loyal (season 4) – Introduced late in the series, Loyal is Billy's new stepbrother from his mother's marriage to Billy's father.


Episodes

The entire first season is available for download from
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
. The first season was previously on
Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
and the entire series currently streams on
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
. As of 2021, all four seasons are available through
FilmRise FilmRise is a New York City–based film and television studio and streaming network, which has become one of the largest independent providers of content to ad-supported streaming (AVOD) platforms, in addition to providing the largest free direc ...
on devices such as
Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services. The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduce ...
and
Amazon Fire TV Amazon Fire TV (stylized as amazon fireTV) is a line of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon. The devices are small network appliances that deliver digital audio and video content streamed via the Internet to a connecte ...
. All four seasons are also available through FilmRise for streaming on IMDb TV, now known as
Freevee Amazon Freevee is an American ad-supported video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service owned by Amazon, with original and licensed programming. History Amazon Freevee launched as a free, ad-supported video channel by the Amazon-owned online data ...
.


Production notes

The series' head writer for all 65 episodes was Ian Weir, who wrote all but five episodes. Its director was Michael Berry. The first season of the show was filmed in
Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, while the second season was filmed at the studios of CJOH-TV (where fellow Nickelodeon series ''
You Can't Do That on Television ''You Can't Do That on Television'' is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that first aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured pre-teen and teenage actors in a sketch comedy format similar to that of ...
'' was also based) in
Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
. The third and fourth seasons were taped at
Nickelodeon Studios Nickelodeon Studios was a production studio and theme park attraction run by the television network Nickelodeon at Universal Studios Florida. Opening on June 7, 1990, as ''The First World Headquarters for Kids'', the studio attracted young tour ...
at
Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
in
Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
.


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{Former Nickelodeon original series 1990s American high school television series 1990s American teen drama television series 1990s Canadian high school television series 1990s Canadian teen drama television series 1990s Nickelodeon original programming 1991 American television series debuts 1991 Canadian television series debuts 1993 American television series endings 1993 Canadian television series endings American television soap operas Canadian television soap operas Coming-of-age television shows English-language television shows Television series about teenagers Television shows filmed in Ottawa Television shows filmed in Vancouver YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming