''Just for Kicks'' is an American comedy series that aired on the
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 ...
television network as a part of the channel's
TEENick
TeenNick is an American pay-TV channel that is operated by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Aimed primarily at teens and tweens, its programming includes a variety of live-action series inherited from sister channel Nic ...
television lineup. The series is about a group of girls on a soccer team set in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Created by Alana Sanko and developed by
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
, the series was first titled ''Head to Toe'', and then ''The Power Strikers'', but its title was finally changed in 2005 to ''Just for Kicks''. The series premiered in January 2006 on
Nickelodeon UK
Nickelodeon (commonly shortened to Nick) is a British pay television network aimed at children aged under 13.
On 1 September 1993, a localised version of the US channel launched in the United Kingdom and launched at a later date in Ireland. I ...
, and in April 2006 on Nickelodeon in the United States.
The series is produced by
Brookwell McNamara Entertainment
Brookwell McNamara Entertainment, Inc. is a production company formed by David Brookwell and Sean McNamara. It has made television shows for Disney Channel, Disney XD, CBS, Cartoon Network, The N, and Nickelodeon. It is one of the largest out-s ...
. Airing for one season of thirteen episodes, it is also considered to be one of Nickelodeon's most forgotten series, as this show fell to obscurity and was lost for over a decade until May 2, 2016, nearly ten years after its original premiere, when the entire series was uploaded onto
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
in two parts. Despite this, the show has yet to ever air again on television in over a decade.
Characters
Main characters
* Alexa D'Amico (Francesca Catalano) – She is a typical popular high school girl. She was a former cheerleader and she is fond of boys. She has an older brother, Chris. Towards the end of the series, her father gets laid off of his job, which causes some stress for her. Since Alexa started being a soccer player and she had to stop cheerleading her old, popular friends don't understand why she would rather run around on a muddy field than go shopping. She lives in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
.
* Winifred "Freddie" Costello (Mallory Low) – She is a tough girl in high school who is not good friends with Alexa because she and her friends are snobs to Freddie at their private school. Her father is always with the military, and she lives with her grandmother. She is also known for having severe cases of "bacne", or acne on her back. Freddie lives in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
on the
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
.
* Lauren Zelmer (
Katija Pevec
Katija Mira Pevec (born March 1, 1988) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Christina Beardsley in the 2005 film '' Yours, Mine and Ours'', and Lauren Zelmer on the short-lived Nickelodeon television series, '' Just for Kic ...
) – Lauren is a shy, timid serious girl who is a good athlete. She is a typical schoolgirl who plays the violin and is on the soccer team, among other activities. Lauren is very intelligent, and is very busy with extracurricular activities, which causes her much stress. She has a big crush on Alexa's older brother Chris, and at the end of the season they start to date, much to Alexa's disbelief. Her overprotective mother works at a local private school, in which Lauren attends. Lauren lives in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
, Manhattan.
* Vida Atwood (
Jessica Williams) – Vida is a sporty athletic serious girl, who has a lot in common with her soccer mate Lauren Zelmer. She has been playing soccer the longest, and is sort of the unofficial best at the game. She lives at home with her younger brother, older sister, and parents. Vida is self-conscious of her towering height, and it is known that she once beat up a boy back in first or second grade. She lives in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
.
* Chris D'Amico (Jerad Anderson) – Chris is Alexa's older brother, he is an aspiring filmmaker and somewhat dimwitted.
Recurring characters
* Marni Nelson (Jessica Sara) – A Power Strikers teammate later turned team manager.
* Coach Leslie Moore (
Craig Young
Craig Young (born 25 June 1956) is an Australian former representative rugby league footballer for the Australia national rugby league team, the New South Wales Blues and a stalwart player over 11 seasons from 1977 to 1988 with the St. Geor ...
) – The Power Strikers coach.
* Evan Ribisi (
Johnny Palermo
John Joseph "Johnny" Palermo (March 1, 1982 — June 8, 2009) was an American television actor.
Early life
A native of Rochester, New York, Palermo graduated from Webster Schroeder High School, Webster High School in 2000. He is the son of Joh ...
) – Chris' best friend who also works at the girls' local hangout the @itude Cafe.
* Courtney (Shelley Buckner) – Alexa's shallow best friend who doesn't like Alexa having interest in soccer.
* Dr. Charles Atwood (
Kadeem Hardison
Kadeem Hardison (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dwayne Wayne on ''A Different World'', a spin-off of the long-running NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show''. He starred in the Disney Channel series ''K.C. Unde ...
) – Vida's dad.
* Mrs. Atwood (
JoNell Kennedy
JoNell Kennedy has been an American actress, producer and writer since 1992. She is perhaps best known for her recurring role as "Coroner Pat" on ''The Mentalist''. She also appeared on an episode of '' Southland''.
Personal life
Kennedy was ...
) – Vida's mom.
* Ty Atwood (
Leon Thomas III
Leon G. Thomas III (born ) is an American actor, record producer, songwriter and singer. After early roles in Broadway and providing the singing voice of Tyrone on the Nick Jr. animated series ''The Backyardigans'' (2006–2008), he played Andr ...
) – Vida's annoying little brother.
* Elise Atwood (Shani Pride) – Vida's older sister who is an aspiring model.
* Mrs. Zelmer (Jenica Bergere) – Lauren's overprotective mom.
* Lucy Costello (
Amy Hill
Amy Marie Hill (born May 9, 1953) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Hill's first major role was as Yung-Hee "Grandma" Kim on '' All-American Girl'' where her character became the breakout character of the short-lived television serie ...
) – Freddie's grandmother who she is living with while her parents are overseas in the military.
* Dana Battle (Rinabeth Apostol) – The captain of the Power Strikers who spends every waking minute on the soccer field and is Vida’s foil. When she gets injured, she softens up to the rookies.
Episodes
References
External links
*
{{Former Nickelodeon original series
2006 American television series debuts
2006 American television series endings
2000s American comedy-drama television series
2000s American high school television series
2000s American teen drama television series
2000s American teen sitcoms
2000s Nickelodeon original programming
English-language television shows
Fictional association football television series
Television series about teenagers
Television series by Brookwell McNamara Entertainment
Television shows set in New York City
Women's association football television series