Radio Free Roscoe
Radio Free Roscoe is a Canadian teen comedy-drama television series. The series was filmed in Toronto, Ontario and produced by Decode Entertainment. It first aired on August 1, 2003, on Family in Canada. It has also been dubbed in French in the province of Quebec and aired on Vrak. The show was later aired on The N in the United States, where the show received funding for a second season. The series ended on 27 May 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 can still be found on the Canadian station Chrgd.
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 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. Despite the change in filming location, the show was still set in suburban New Jersey.
Premise
Four teens in the suburban New Jersey 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 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 when Ray has a crush on Lily, when Lily and Travis date briefly, and other relationships between the members of RFR and their schoolmates. Examples include Lily and River Pierce, Travis and Parker Haynes, and Ray and Grace. Life at Roscoe High gets especially complicated when Robbie falls for the Cougar Radio DJ, Kim Carlisle.
Cast and characters
Main cast
Note: each member of Radio Free Roscoe assumes a pseudonym for broadcasting the radio show, allowing them to remain anonymous and thus prevent the administration from shutting the show down.- Ray "Pronto" Brennan – Al Mukadam
- Robbie "Question Mark" McGrath – Nathan Stephenson
- Lily "Shady Lane" Randall – Kate Todd
- Travis "Smog" Strong / Miss Communication – Nathan Carter
Supporting cast
- Kim Carlisle – Genelle Williams
- Principal Daniel Waller – Hamish McEwan
- Mickey Stone – Kenny Robinson
- Audrey Quinlan – Ashley Newbrough
- Ted – David Rendall
- Ed – Garen Boyajian
- Parker Haynes – Victoria Nestorowicz
- Megan – Hillary Kourkoutis
- Bridget – Lara Amersey
- River Pierce – Steve Belford
- Grace Sutter – Julia Alexander
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 – Miss Emily Mitchell
- Ray Mukaddam – Tim Brennan
- Lauren Collins – Blaire
- Skye Sweetnam – Sydney DeLuca
- Jake Epstein – Jackson Torrence
- Aubrey Graham – RFR caller
- The Meligrove Band – Themselves
- The Trews – Themselves
- The Pettit Project – Themselves
- The Rocket Summer – Himself
- Dan Koch – Himself
- Mukundan Jr – Himself
Episodes
Media releases
There are two official Radio Free Roscoe products.- – DVD compilation, VSC Corporation
- Radio Free Roscoe, Volume 1 – CD compilation
Awards and nominations
Awards
- 2004 New York Festivals:
- *World Medal for Television Programming & Promotion – Teen Programs.
- 2005 Gemini Awards:
- * Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series: Radio Free Roscoe
Nominations
- 2004 Young Artists Awards
- * Nominated David Rendall 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
- *Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series: Ali Mukaddam.
- *Best Sound in a Dramatic Series: Radio Free Roscoe – Justin Drury and Ric Jurgens
International syndication
Country/Region | Channel |
ABC | |
Latin America | Boomerang |
The N | |
TVP2 | |
Teen TV | |
Rai Gulp and Rai 2 | |
Panda Biggs |
Country/Region | Channel | Language |
Canada | VRAK.TV | French |
Brazil | Boomerang | Brazilian Portuguese |
Poland | ZigZap | Polish |
United Kingdom | Nickelodeon | English |
France | France 2 and Canal J | French |
Finland | YLE TV2 | English |
Arutz HaYeladim | English |