''The Best Years'' is a Canadian

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television series about a group of college students at Charles University, a fictional

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

school in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. 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 Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

in Canada and on

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 ...

, 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

college in

, after bouncing between foster homes for ten years. The first season included episodes about sensitive topics like

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

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 Michael D. Xavier (born Michael David Smith; 27 November 1978) is an English actor and singer. Early life Michael David Smith (later known as Michael Xavier) attended Knutsford High and ultimately completed his professional acting training a ...

as Delman (season 2) * Nadiya Chettiar as Poppi Bansal (season 2) *

Mishael Morgan Marie-Charms Mishael Morgan (born July 15, 1986) known professionally as Mishael Morgan, is a Trinidadian-Canadian actress known for the roles of Hilary Curtis and Amanda Sinclair on CBS Daytime soap opera, ''The Young and the Restless'', the latt ...

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 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 ...

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 Evan Buliung is a Canadian actor.

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 , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

in Guelph, Ontario, as well as the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, 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