''The Best Years'' is a Canadian drama television series about a group of college students at Charles University, a fictional Ivy League school in Boston, Massachusetts. It stars

Charity Shea Charity Shea real name Charity Guthrie (born December 4, 1978) is an American former actress. She is best known for her role as troubled teenager Samantha Best in ''The Best Years (TV series), The Best Years''. She has starred in films including ...

as Samantha Best, an orphan who lived in the foster care system for ten years before receiving a scholarship to Charles. The show was created by Aaron Martin and produced by Wendy Grean. The first season aired on Global in Canada and on Noggin's teen block, The N, in the United States. The second season was shown in the United States on The N and in Canada on E!, CanWest's secondary network.

Plot

The show revolves around Samantha Best (

). She receives a scholarship to attend Charles University, a fictional Ivy League college in Boston, Massachusetts, after bouncing between foster homes for ten years. The first season included episodes about sensitive topics like cocaine addiction, inappropriate teacher-student relationships, and

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. The second and final season picked up eight months after season one with several characters absent and replaced with new characters and focused romantic entanglements.

Cast and characters

Main

as Samantha Best *

Randal Edwards Randal may refer to: People ;Given name *Randal and Randall (given names), English-language masculine given names. *Randal Gaines, American politician *Rand Paul, United States Senator ;Surname *Allison Randal, a linguist, software developer and a ...

as Noah Jensen *

Jennifer Miller Jennifer Miller (born 1961) is an American circus entertainer, writer, and professor at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. She has lived with a beard for most of her life. She is a juggler and fire eater. Miller lives in New York City. Biog ...

as Kathryn Klarner *

Brandon Jay McLaren Brandon Jay McLaren (born October 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor. He made his first screen appearance in the television series ''Just Cause'' (2002). He has been known for his main and supporting roles in shows such as ''Graceland'', ''Power Range ...

as Devon Sylver (season 1) *

Athena Karkanis Athena Karkanis (born September 7, 1981) is a Canadian television, film and voice actress. She is noted for her role as Grace Stone in the NBC/Netflix science fiction drama series ''Manifest''. Life and career Karkanis was born in Alberta and r ...

as Dawn Vargaz (season 1) *

Niall Matter Niall Matter ( ; born October 20, 1980) is a Canadian-American actor. Following recovery from a serious accident sustained while working on an oil rig, Matter chose to pursue a full-time acting career. He received his first significant break in ...

as Trent Hamilton (season 1) * Tommy Lioutas as Rich Powell (season 2) * Michael Xavier as Delman (season 2) * Nadiya Chettiar as Poppi Bansal (season 2) * Mishael Morgan as Robyn Crawford (season 2)

Recurring

Sherry Miller Sherry Miller is a Canadian actress best known for her role as Jane on the CTV drama ''E.N.G.'' (1990), as Jennifer Taylor on the Showtime drama '' Queer As Folk'' (2000–2005), and as Dorothy O'Sullivan on the Global teen drama ''The Best Ye ...

as Dorothy O'Sullivan *

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 ...

as Alicia O'Sullivan (season 2; guest season 1) * Ashley Newbrough as Sloane McCarthy (season 1) *

Ashley Diana Morris Ashley Diana Morris (born December 7, 1988) is a Canadian model and actress. In 2013, she became the newest Guess model after an accidental discovery in Vancouver. Morris was attending a concert by country music artist Dierks Bentley when she was ...

as Shannon Biel (season 1) * Alan Van Sprang as Lee Campbell (season 1) * Evan Buliung as Professor Warren

Episodes

Season 1 (2007)

The first season of ''The Best Years'' was first shown in Canada on Global from May 22 to August 14, 2007. In the United States, it aired on The N from June 29 to September 21, 2007, at 8:30 to 9:30 pm EST on Friday nights.

Season 2 (2009)

Production notes

The show's theme song is titled "Infinite Possibility" and was written and performed by Mark Wiebe, also known as Markattack or Sinewave. Outdoor scenes from the show were filmed on the campus of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, as well as the University of Toronto, and interior scenes of the campus were re-created at the Toronto Film Studios.

Home release

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.

Ratings

According to Mediaweek, ratings the show debuted with 323,250 total viewers on Friday, June 29 at 8:30 p.m. ET, which more than doubled the time period average.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Best Years, The (Tv series) 2000s Canadian drama television series 2000s college television series 2007 Canadian television series debuts 2009 Canadian television series endings Canadian television soap operas English-language television shows Global Television Network original programming The N original programming Serial drama television series Television series by Entertainment One Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows set in Boston