''Radio Free Roscoe'' is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

teen 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 ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series. The series was filmed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, and produced by

Decode Entertainment WildBrain Studios is the in-house television studio arm of Canadian entertainment company WildBrain based in Vancouver which was established in 2016 as DHX Studios. History In January 2016, DHX Media announced that they would be building a 60 ...

. It first aired on August 1, 2003, on Family Channel in Canada. It has also been dubbed in French (as required for Canadian federally funded TV shows) in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and aired on

Vrak Vrak (stylized as VRΔK) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts live-action programming aimed at youth audiences. History Background The youth channel TVJQ () went on the air in 19 ...

. The show was later aired on U.S. network

Noggin Noggin may refer to: General * Noggin or gill (volume), a unit of volume * Noggin (cup), a small cup * Noggin, slang for head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, an ...

's teen block,

The N The N (standing for Noggin) was a nighttime programming block on the Noggin television channel, aimed at preteens and teenagers. It was launched on April 1, 2002, by Viacom and Sesame Workshop. Before the block's introduction, Noggin's daytime l ...

, where the show received funding for a second season. The series ended on May 27, 2005, because The N decided to stop funding the show, and Family, along with Decode Entertainment, could not fill the gap in the production budget. The show was shown on Family until 2007, when it was replaced. In early 2008, The N began rebroadcasting reruns. As of 2019, episodes could still be found on the Canadian station

WildBrainTV WildBrainTV is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by WildBrain. WildBrainTV broadcasts live-action and animated children's programming aimed towards audiences ages 6–15. The channel first launched on June 1, 2011, under the own ...

. The pilot was first filmed in New Jersey, with an entirely different cast. At that time, the show was going to be based in

Nutley, New Jersey Nutley is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 30,143. What is now Nutley was originally incorporated as Franklin Township by an act of the New Jersey Legisla ...

and was to be titled ''Radio Free Nutley''. The show was never picked up. Decode Entertainment later decided to move production to Toronto and change the cast and title of the show, leading to the show's production and broadcasting.

Premise

Four teens in the suburban

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

town of Roscoe start attending Henry Roscoe High School. There, they are fed up with their school's radio station, "Cougar Radio", dictating unto the masses how to live, plus the rather overbearing Principal Waller, who seems to favour the popular students, so they create their own

pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...

station called Radio Free Roscoe. Lily Randall, Ray Brennan and Robbie McGrath are old friends, and find a friend in Travis Strong when they form the radio station. Each of them assume a radio alias to conceal their identity. In their time at Roscoe High, the four friends confront various challenges, such as relationships between the members of RFR and their schoolmates, as well as managing their pirate radio station with their regular lives.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Note: each member of ''Radio Free Roscoe'' assumes a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

for broadcasting the radio show, allowing them to remain anonymous and thus prevent the administration from shutting the show down (pseudonym given in quotation marks). * Ray "Pronto" Brennan –

Al Mukadam Al Mukadam (born Ali Mukaddam; April 6, 1984) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his performance as Ray Brennan in the Family Channel television series ''Radio Free Roscoe'' (2003–2005). Career Mukadam started his career very young and st ...

* Robbie "Question Mark" McGrath –

Nathan Stephenson Nathan Stephenson (born July 27, 1986) is a Canadian actor best known for his starring roles in ''Radio Free Roscoe'' as Robbie McGrath and in '' System Crash'' as James Alexander. He has also guest starred on ''Naturally, Sadie ''Natural ...

* Lily "Shady Lane" Randall –

Kate Todd Kate Todd (born December 12, 1987) is a Canadian actress and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Lily Randall in ''Radio Free Roscoe'' and Sally in ''Life with Derek''. She is also known for her continuing role as Erica in the ...

* Travis "Smog" Strong / Miss Communication – Nathan Carter

Supporting cast

* Kim Carlisle –

Genelle Williams Genelle Williams (born February 18, 1984) is a Canadian actress who is best known for her roles as Kim Carlisle in ''Radio Free Roscoe'', as DJ in ''The Latest Buzz'', and as the innkeeper Leena in ''Warehouse 13''. Career Acting in high school ...

* Principal Daniel Waller – Hamish McEwan * Mickey Stone – Kenny Robinson * Audrey Quinlan –

Ashley Newbrough Ashley Newbrough is an American actress. She is known for starring as Sage Baker in The CW drama series ''Privileged (TV series), Privileged'' (2008–2009), and for starring in a number of predominantly Christmas-themed television films since ...

* Ted – David Rendall * Ed –

Garen Boyajian Garen Boyajian ( hy, Կարեն Բոյաջյան born July 5, 1987) is a Canadian actor. While continuing to perform in a number of television series and feature films, in 2008 he established a production company with a collection of films in ac ...

* Parker Haynes –

Victoria Nestorowicz Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

(season 2) * Megan –

Hill Kourkoutis Hill Kourkoutis (born 23 January 1988) is a Canadian songwriter, producer, mixer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist, director and actress. Biography Early life Hill was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is of Greek descent. Career Music Hill ...

(season 2) * Bridget – Lara Amersey (season 2) * River Pierce – Steve Belford (season 2) * Grace Sutter – Julia Alexander (season 2) The final two episodes of the series ("Dance Around the Truth" and "The Last Dance") included all of the main and supporting cast, excluding Bridget (although she is mentioned) and Audrey. All members of RFR have been, at some point, part of Cougar Radio. Travis considered joining in Episode One. Ray joined Cougar Radio because he didn't like concealing himself behind his persona "Pronto". Kim Carlisle convinced Robbie to join. Lily joined River Pierce to get air time for her band. Regardless of the rational basis, none of the RFR members departs permanently.

Guest stars

Tracey Hoyt Tracey Hoyt (born January 14, 1964 in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian voice actress and alumna of York University and the Second City National Touring Company (Toronto), possessing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance. She p ...

– Miss Emily Mitchell * Ray Mukaddam – Tim Brennan *

Lauren Collins Lauren Felice Collins (born August 29, 1986) is a Canadian actress, best known for portraying Paige Michalchuk on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. She has also had supporting roles in the films '' Take the Lead'' (2006) and ''Charlie Bartlett ...

– Blaire *

Skye Sweetnam Skye Alexandra Sweetnam (born May 5, 1988) is a Canadian singer, actress, and music video director. She first entered the music industry in 2003 with the release of her debut single " Billy S." More than a year later, her debut studio album, ''N ...

– Sydney DeLuca *

Jake Epstein Jacob Lee Epstein (born January 16, 1987) is a Canadian actor and singer. He played Craig Manning, a musician with bipolar disorder, on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. He also played Will in the First National Tour of '' American Idiot'', an ...

– Jackson Torrence *

Aubrey Graham Aubrey Drake Graham ( ; born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper and singer. An influential figure in contemporary popular music, Drake has been credited for popularizing singing and R&B sensibilities in hip hop. He gained recognition by ...

– RFR caller *

The Meligrove Band The Meligrove Band is a Canadian indie rock band, based in Toronto, and consisting of Jason Nunes on vocals, guitar and piano, Darcy Rego on vocals and drums, Brian O'Reilly on guitar and synthesizer, and Michael Small on bass guitar. History T ...

– Themselves *

The Trews The Trews are a Canadian rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Chris Gormley. The band is currently based in Hamilton, Ontario. From thei ...

– Themselves * The Pettit Project – Themselves *

The Rocket Summer The Rocket Summer is the solo-project of Bryce Avary, a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and record producer based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas. He writes and produces every song on his records, and plays every instrument on them. H ...

– Himself (voice) *

Dan Koch Dan Koch is an American musician and podcaster. He hosts the You Have Permission and Pretty Good Vibrations podcasts and previously co-hosted the Depolarize! and Reconstruct podcasts. He was the lead guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwrit ...

– Himself (voice) * Mukundan Jr – Himself

Episodes

There are a total of 52 episodes. On

Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, the episodes aired as two seasons, and on

the episodes aired as four seasons, although both channels have aired all 52 episodes.

Media releases

There are two official ''Radio Free Roscoe'' products. * ''Radio Free Roscoe: Season One - Greatest Hits'' –

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

compilation, VSC Corporation (Video Services Corp.) * ''Radio Free Roscoe, Volume 1'' – CD compilation

Awards and nominations

Awards

*2004 New York Festivals: **World Medal (Silver) for Television Programming & Promotion – Teen Programs (ages 13–17). * 2005 Gemini Awards: ** Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series: ''Radio Free Roscoe'' (p. Steven Denure, Neil Court, John Delmage, Douglas McRobb, Will McRobb, Brent Piaskoski, Beth Stevenson. Decode Entertainment Inc.)

Nominations

* 2004 Young Artists Awards ** Nominated David Rendall (''Radio Free Roscoe'') for Best Performance in a Television Series, Recurring Young Actor. *2004 Parents' Foundation Parents' Choice Awards: **Recommended Television Series Winner: ''Radio Free Roscoe''. *2004 Gemini Awards Nominations: **Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series: ''Radio Free Roscoe'' (p. Steven Denure, Neil Court, John Delmage, Douglas McRobb, Will McRobb, Brent Piaskoski, Beth Stevenson. Decode Entertainment Inc.) **Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series: Ali Mukaddam (for "The Awful Truth"). **Best Sound in a Dramatic Series: ''Radio Free Roscoe'' – Justin Drury and Ric Jurgens (for "There Will Be No Encore Tonight")

International syndication

''RFR'' is currently in syndication on these stations: ''RFR'' was formerly syndicated on these stations: