Radio Free Roscoe (also abbreviated as RFR) was a Canadian television series filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The show was produced by Decode Entertainment, and it first aired on 1 August 2003 on Family, in Canada. It has also been dubbed in French (as required for Canadian federally funded TV shows) in the province of Quebec and aired on VRAK.TV. 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.
The pilot was first filmed in New Jersey, with an entirely different cast. Then, the show was going to be based in Nutley, New Jersey and was titled Radio Free Nutley. The show was never picked up until Decode Entertainment decided to move production to Toronto and change the cast and title of the show. However, 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, so they create their own pirate radio station called Radio Free Roscoe. Lily, Ray and Robbie are old friends, and find a friend in Travis when they form the radio station. Each of them make a radio name to conceal their identity.
In their time at Roscoe High, the four friends confront challenges, such as when Ray Brennan ("Pronto") has a crush on Lily Randall ("Shady Lane"), when Lily Randall and Travis Strong ("Smog") date briefly, and during other love interests between the members of RFR and their schoolmates, such as Lily Randall and River Pierce, Travis Strong and Parker Haynes, and Ray Brennan and Grace. Cougar Radio and life at Roscoe High gets more complicated when Robbie McGrath ("Question Mark") falls for the Cougar Radio DJ, Kim Carlisle.
Cast and characters[]
Main cast[]
Note: each member of Radio Free Roscoe uses a pseudonym that is only used when broadcasting their radio show, so they can remain anonymous (this is represented in quotations).
- Ray "Pronto" Brennan – Ali Mukaddam
- 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 (Season 2)
- Megan – Hillary Kourkoutis (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 Carlsile 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 (Voice)
- Dan Koch – Himself (Voice)
Opening theme[]
Performed by Skye Sweetnam and Nathan Stephenson.
Robbie "Question Mark" McGrath: It's all you ever hear. Look like this, think like this, be like this. How do you fight it? We started our own radio station. We keep our identities secret. It gives us the power to say what we want, as loud as we want.
Skye Sweetnam: We change the rules around. We got a different sound. Tune into the underground. 'Cause when it gets too much, you have no choice. Aww yeah, you gotta make some noise. Are you listening? Are you listening? Now, we're on the air.
Robbie "Question Mark" McGrath: You're listening to Radio Free Roscoe.
Episodes[]
- Main article: List of Radio Free Roscoe episodes
There are a total of 52 episodes. On Family, the episodes aired as two seasons, and on The N 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 compilation
- Radio Free Roscoe, Volume 1 – CD compilation
Running gags[]
Radio Free Roscoe has a few running gags, normally associated with a single character's conversational patterns or propensity to mention certain similar phrases.
- "The best of both worlds" – The phrase "Best of both worlds" is frequently used by Ray to relate to made up words which he uses in exclamation. The rest of the characters do this in the earlier episodes a few times, too, but it is later a trait adopted and solely employed by Ray. His father is also seen to do this in one episode, even quoting his own father, who apparently used the joke to refer to his hair.
- "Choose" – Ray and the cast of RFR often play "Choose", a game where someone says two things and you have to choose between them. In many episodes, this is how Ray and Lily bond.
- Punching Ray's arm – Any time Ray would say or do something stupid, Lily would punch him on his arm. The two find a photograph of one of the first times Lily did this when looking through the time capsule in "The All-Nighter".
- "Think Pink" – Lily used this as her campaign hook when she ran for student president. Occasionally, this line would appear in later episodes.
- Nanny Haynes – In the second season, Parker Haynes repeatedly quotes her grandmother, Nanny Haynes – albeit out of context, as most of these quotes at first relate to life and philosophy and seem insightful until Parker's revelation that she has unknowingly either totally paraphrased her grandmother or is quoting her out of context. These quotes and misquotes normally involve mundane and uninteresting aspects of everyday life when shown in context.
- Garth Klimchuk – Garth Klimchuk is never seen or heard from, but referred to throughout the series. It is mentioned, for instance, that he throws like a girl or smells like kiwi. His girlfriend once called into RFR and asked if she could say hello to him. The DJs refused. Garth Klimchuk is also the composer of the ditty "Travis Strong, Go Back to Hong Kong".
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:
| Country/Region | Channel |
|---|---|
| Template:AUS | ABC (now moved to ABC2) |
| Template:Flagicon Latin America | Boomerang |
| Template:US | The N |
| Template:POL | TVP2 |
| Template:RUS | Teen TV |
RFR was formerly syndicated on these stations:
| Country/Region | Channel | Language |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Flagicon Quebec (Canada) | VRAK.TV | French |
| Template:Flagicon Brazil | Boomerang | Brazilian Portuguese |
| Template:Flagicon Poland | ZigZap | Polish |
| Template:Flagicon United Kingdom | Nickelodeon UK | English |
| Template:Flagicon France | France 2 and Canal J | French |
| Template:Flagicon Finland | YLE TV2 | English (with Finnish subtitles) |
| Template:ISR | Arutz HaYeladim | English (with Hebrew subtitles) |
External links[]
Template:Wikiquote
- Radio Free Roscoe official website
- Active Fan Forum
- RFR at The-n.com
- Radio Free Roscoe at Family.ca
- Radio Free Roscoe at Decode.tv
- Template:Epguides
- Template:Imdb title
- Template:Tv.com
- PopGurls interviews with Nathan Carter, and Kate Todd
- Free RFR episodes
Template:Radio Free Roscoe Template:The N/TeenNick
es:La radio libre de Roscoe fr:Radio Free Roscoe pl:Radiostacja Roscoe pt:Radio Free Roscoe