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 ...
that aired in Canada on YTV from September 2011 through August 2013. The show stars Torri Webster, Madison Pettis, Nathan McLeod, Michael Murphy, Jake Goodman, and Sandy Jobin-Bevans. The show follows Tess Foster (Webster) as she copes with living in a home with just boys: her widowed father Jack (Jobin-Bevans) and Gabe (McLeod), Spencer (Goodman), and Sam (Murphy), who are her brothers. With the help of her best friend Allie (Pettis), she pulls through. ''Life with Boys'' is created by Michael Poryes, who also co-created '' Hannah Montana'' and ''
That's So Raven
''That's So Raven'' is an American television teen sitcom that was created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman, and aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between January 2003 and November 2007. The series centers on Raven Baxter (Raven-S ...
''.
''Life with Boys'' was renewed for a second season. Shooting started on September 4, 2012, 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 anch ...
, Ontario. On February 6, 2013, the series premiered on the American network
TeenNick
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 ...
. The show was not renewed for a third season.
Premise
Set in
Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 30,316,Torri Webster) is 14 years old and the only girl in a house of all boys. She is the only girl on her school's wrestling team, and sometimes deals with what comes with that. Her best friend is Allie and most of the shenanigans she gets into involve her. Tess sometimes feels like she is thrown under the bus in her house full of brothers, but at the end of the day loves them even though she feels overwhelmed. Tess is sometimes referred to as the "BoyGirl Freak" by her peers because of her interest in sports. She also is a member of the Mathletes.
*Allie Brooks ( Madison Pettis) is Tess's best friend, a bright and popular cheerleader who loves fashion and is a typical girly girl. She's a fixture at the Foster household, despite never quite understanding how Tess can survive life in a house full of boys. However, sometimes she can be a little unsupportive towards the problems Tess faces. She often spends her
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
holiday in
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...
and in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. She is liked by Sam and does like Sam but not in the same way.
*Gabriel "Gabe" Foster (Nathan McLeod) is Tess' 16-year-old brother and the oldest of the Foster siblings and knows how to get his way. Gabe is one of the stereotypical boy heartthrobs of high school who is kind of a player when it comes to girls, since he usually dates more than one girl at a time. He dislikes "caring" for his younger siblings yet shows a liking for Spencer.
*Samuel Joseph "Sam" Foster (Michael Murphy) is Tess' twin brother. He is considered a nerd by many of the characters. Sam has a crush on Allie, but his efforts to win her heart always end in rejection.
*Spencer Foster (Jake Goodman) is Tess' youngest brother. He is a 10-year-old, precocious scary-smart, and uses these tools to his advantage.
*Jack David Foster (Sandy Jobin-Bevans) is Tess, Gabe, Spencer and Sam's dad and is also the gym teacher at the high school. He can be a bit overprotective of his family, but he struggles the most with Tess. He is a single dad, because his wife has died.
Recurring characters
* Bobby Parelli (John-Alan Slachta) is a wrestling champion. He was Tess's enemy. He and Tess started dating behind Allie's back, as Bobby was her ex-boyfriend. After a period of dating, Tess broke up with Bobby, as he went to a baseball game and faked being sick. He soon was swapping numbers with a girl in the stands.
* Kaylee (Francesca Martin) is the show's main antagonist and Tess's rival (though Allie gets along with Kaylee just fine). She enjoys making peoples' lives miserable. She is the head cheerleader, and a very popular. She can be extremely mean and lacks brains. She took advantage of Sam and asked him to complete an A+ grade assignment for her in exchange for one dance at the school formal. Her mother dated Jack Foster.
* Chloe (Madison Scott) is Allie and Tess's back-up friend when they were having a fight. She was also having a fight with her friend Zoe, who left her for the glee club. Chloe also tells Tess when all the boys are going lovesick over Tess that she needs to get a boyfriend or no girl will ever talk to her again. Chloe gets along with Kaylee. She also tell Tess that she'll miss her when Tess was going to change schools. Chloe is only seen a few times but is close friends with Allie and Tess.
* Jessica Jones-Foster (Anne Lickings) is Tess's, Gabe's, Spencer's and Sam's late mom and Jack's late wife. She appears as a ghost to Tess in her dream and also appears ghost driver in Jack's car (even though nobody noticed her in the car).
Episodes
Accolades
Broadcast
The series airs worldwide on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
.
It previewed in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
on December 28, 2012 and premiered on February 6, 2013 and ended on June 12, 2013. It premiered on April 23, 2012 in Africa. It premiered on November 21, 2011 and ended on December 22, 2012 in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It premiered in March 2012 in Australia, on March 15, 2012 in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, and on November 6, 2012 in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
the show started airing reruns on
Nickelodeon Canada
Nickelodeon is a Canadian English language specialty channel based on the American cable network of the same name owned by Corus Entertainment under a brand licensing agreement with Paramount.
As with all of its sister networks throughout the ...
and
ABC Spark
ABC Spark is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel was launched on March 26, 2012, replacing the declining channel Dusk.
ABC Spark is based on the U.S. subscription channel Freeform (previously ...