''Malibu, CA'' is an American

teen sitcom A teen situation comedy, or teen sitcom, is a subgenre of comedic television program targeted towards young people. In general, these type of programs focus primarily on characters between 11 and 19 years of age and routinely feature characters inv ...

produced by

Peter Engel Peter Engel (born ) is an American television producer who is best known for his teen sitcoms that appeared on TNBC, a former Saturday morning block on NBC which featured all teenage-oriented programs for educational purposes. His most well kno ...

that aired from October 11, 1998, to May 20, 2000, in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

. Co-created by Engel and Carl Kurlander, the show centred on the lives of twin brothers Scott (Trevor Merszei) and Jason Collins (Jason Hayes), who move to Malibu,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

from

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 ...

to live with their father, Peter (

Edward Blatchford Edward Blatchford (born September 1, 1955) is an American actor best known for his role as Peter Collins from 1998 to 2000 in the sitcom ''Malibu, CA (TV series), Malibu, CA'', produced by Peter Engel. He also worked with Engel on three other te ...

). Guest appearances on the show included

Dennis Haskins Dennis Haskins (born November 18, 1950) is an American actor known for his role as School principal, Principal Richard Belding in the teen situation comedy, sitcom ''Saved by the Bell'', which ran from 1989 to 1993 on NBC. He then went on to star ...

(who had previously worked with Engel for several years on ''Saved by the Bell''),

Scott Whyte Scott William Whyte (born January 8, 1978) is an American actor best known for his role as Chris Anderson on ''City Guys''. He has also appeared in television series such as ''That '70s Show'' and ''Just Shoot Me!'' and the films '' D2: The Migh ...

and

Marissa Dyan ''City Guys'' is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on NBC from September 6, 1997, to December 15, 2001. The series aired as part of the network's Saturday morning block, TNBC. Plot ''City Guys'' was mainly centered on it ...

from ''

City Guys ''City Guys'' is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on NBC from September 6, 1997, to December 15, 2001. The series aired as part of the network's Saturday morning block, TNBC. Plot ''City Guys'' was mainly centered on it ...

'',

Daniella Deutscher Daniella Maria Deutscher (born October 4, 1975), also sometimes credited as Daniella Wolters, is an American actress, best known for playing the role of Julie Connor on the American Saturday morning television series '' Hang Time'' (1995–200 ...

and Dick Butkus from ''

Hang Time Hang time generally refers to how long a (self-)launched object stays in the air: * In basketball, the length of time a player stays in the air after jumping to score or pass the ball. * In American football, the length of time a punted ball flies ...

'', Josh Holland and Kristen Miller from ''

USA High ''USA High'' is an American teen sitcom that ran on USA from August 1997 to June 1999, ending after 95 episodes. The series revolves around six friends enrolled at the American Academy boarding school in Paris, France. Background Information '' ...

'', and model

Victoria Silvstedt Karin Victoria Silvstedt (born 19 September 1974)''Expressen'', 29 October 2004. is a Swedish model, actress, singer, and television personality.Victoria Silvstedt Official Homepage, victoriasilvstedt.com, 8 May 2010. Early life Born in Skellef ...

. The series was one of two post–'' Saved by the Bell: The College Years'' programs executively produced by Peter Engel that did not air on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

TNBC TNBC (or Teen NBC) was an American teen-oriented television programming block that aired on NBC from September 12, 1992, to September 28, 2002. The Saturday morning block featured live-action series – primarily in the form of scripted teen si ...

lineup, ''USA High'' being the other. Prior to the 2012 premiere of '' The First Family'', ''Malibu, CA'' was the last situation comedy to be broadcast in the United States for the first-run syndication market.

Characters

* Scott Collins (Trevor Merszei) – Scott moves to Malibu from

with his twin brother Jason after their mother takes a job in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, forcing them to live with their father. Scott is a competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

and dreams of being a sports broadcaster. Just like his twin brother, he is also girl hungry. In the first season, Scott and Jason often

break the fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

to address the audience. * Jason Collins (Jason Hayes) – Jason is Scott's twin brother who moves out to Malibu with him from New York City. Jason's main interest is girls, and he tries to get a date whenever possible, even if it means hurting other people along the way. He harbours dreams of being a world-famous guitarist and songwriter. * Peter Collins (

) – Scott and Jason's father and the owner of ''The Lighthouse'', a

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

in Malibu. He is more laid-back than the boys' mother and is always there for them, but will not tolerate misbehaviour. * Murray Updyke (Brandon Brooks) – The unacknowledged son of a wealthy

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

baron, Murray is an off-beat surfer who runs ''The Surf Shack'', a beachfront establishment where surfers can rent boards and other paraphernalia that Peter later buys. Though a bit of an idiot savant. Murray is a true friend. * Jennifer "Stads" Stadler (Wendi Kenya; Season 1, and select episodes of Season 2) – Stads is a blonde, athletic,

tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...

ish

lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/ AED first a ...

at the beach. She is insulted when people think she is a

bimbo Bimbo is slang for a conventionally attractive, sexualized, naive, and unintelligent woman. The term was originally used in the United States as early as 1919 for an unintelligent or brutish man. As of the early 21st century, the "stereotypic ...

and is hot-tempered when dealing with people who call her one. Initially smitten with Scott, she ends up with Jason. Their relationship is fraught with constant fighting because Stads usually beats Jason at everything, and they eventually break up after Jason kisses Stads' best friend Samantha during a storm. They reconcile, but Stads takes a job in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and breaks up with Jason again after she learns he is seeing someone else. * Samantha "Sam" Chapman (Gina Marie May; Season 1 only) – An attractive brunette who is Stads' best friend and the next-door neighbour of Scott, Jason, and Peter. Scott and Jason initially vie for her affections, but Scott wins out and Jason begins a relationship with Stads. When Scott's ex-girlfriend Megan comes to town, he has an affair with her, causing Samantha to break up with him. Samantha is an

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

who protests drilling for oil at the beach and the construction of condominia which threaten the existence of ''The Surf Shack'', run by her childhood friend Murray. She also briefly tries her hand at

modeling A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

and almost leaves for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with a photographer of dubious moral character before Scott convinces her to change her mind. Samantha later moves back to the East Coast to attend college. * Traycee Banks ( Priscilla Lee Taylor; recurring character in Season 1, promoted to main cast in Season 2) – A gorgeous blonde who is a stereotypical

. Traycee owns an enormous amount of swimwear, loves the colour pink, and is an actress. She initially lives in her own place but moves into an apartment with Lisa, which she names ''Casa de Fun Fun''. She gets a job working as Dr. Sheila Lowenstein on the

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 ...

''Malibu Hospital'', but after the show is cancelled she decides to go to

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

. Like Murray, Traycee is not very bright and sometimes annoying, but she is a good friend. Her beauty often attracts many men to her, which her friends sometimes use to their advantage. * Lisa Jones (Marquita Terry; Season 2 only) – Lisa is a medical student who later becomes a doctor at a hospital. She has a tendency to be bossy and short-tempered, especially around her roommate Traycee, and has a habit of taking endlessly when she is nervous. She once forces Traycee to leave the apartment after an argument, but after her crazy-

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

-fan new roommate scares her, she patches things up with Traycee and moves back in with her, with help from her friends. She eventually forms a relationship with Scott. * Alexandra "Alex" Kaufman (Suzanne Davis; Season 2 only) – A

who comes to town after Stads' departure. Alex loves Malibu and hanging out with her friends. She becomes fond of Murray and even tries her hand at a singing career.

Episodes

Season 1 (1998–1999)

Season 2 (1999–2000)

Production staff

Directors

Gary Shimokawa Gary K. Shimokawa (born February 13, 1942) is an American director and producer. He is best known for directing the sitcoms ''Archie Bunker's Place'', '' Night Court'' and ''The Golden Girls''. He has directed and produced over 40 shows and mo ...

Writers

*Brett Dewey *Mark J. Gordon *Carl Kurlander *Mark Lavine *Renee Palyo *Troy Searer *Bob Underwood

Producers

*Chris Conte .... co-executive producer *Brett Dewey .... producer *Leslie Eberhard .... consulting producer *

.... executive producer *Carl Kurlander .... co-executive producer *Gil Lopez .... associate producer *Renee Palyo .... supervising producer *Troy Searer .... producer *Tony Soltis .... consulting producer *Shannon Stapleton .... associate producer *Shannon Stapleton .... co-producer

Stations

The series was cleared 88% of the country, and was scheduled to air in 150 markets.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0176376, Malibu, CA 1998 American television series debuts 2000 American television series endings 1990s American teen sitcoms 2000s American teen sitcoms 1990s American sitcoms 2000s American sitcoms English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television shows set in Malibu, California Television series about brothers Television series about families Television series about teenagers Television series about twins Television series by Universal Television Television series by Tribune Entertainment