''Life with Boys'' is a Canadian

teen sitcom A teen situation comedy, or teen sitcom, is a subgenre of comedic television program targeted towards young people (Preadolescence, tweens, Adolescence, teenagers and, to a lesser extent, Young adult, young adults). In general, these types of prog ...

that aired in Canada on YTV from September 9, 2011 through August 27, 2013. The sitcom stars

Torri Webster Torri Webster (born August 12, 1996) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her starring role as Tess Foster in the YTV teen sitcom '' Life with Boys'', which earned her the Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress in a TV Series. ...

Madison Pettis Madison Michelle Pettis (born July 22, 1998) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Sophie Martinez on the Disney Channel comedy series '' Cory in the House'', as Peyton Kelly in the 2007 film '' The Game Plan'', and as Allie Broo ...

, 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 Michael David Poryes (born March 22, 1955) is an American television producer, screenwriter and filmmaker, best known for co-creating the Disney Channel shows ''That's So Raven'' and ''Hannah Montana''. Filmography Executive producer *'' Hannah ...

, who also co-created ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...

'' and ''

That's So Raven ''That's So Raven'' is an American television fantasy 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 ( ...

''. ''Life with Boys'' was renewed for a second season. Shooting started on September 4, 2012, in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario. On February 6, 2013, the series premiered on the American network TeenNick. The show was not renewed for a third season and was cancelled after season 2.

Premise

Set in

Westfield, New Jersey Westfield is a Town (New Jersey), town in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 31,032, an increase of 716 (+2.4% ...

, the series centers around Tess Foster as she navigates her way through the turmoil of teen life while living at home with her widowed, overprotective dad and three brothers. Although Tess admires the four important men in her life, they do have four totally different perspectives. Despite the shortcomings of being the only girl in a male household, the boys can sometimes offer solid advice. Whether it's building up the courage to talk to a boy, dealing with an obnoxious one, or coping with the repercussions of being the only girl on the boys' wrestling team, ''Life with Boys'' sheds a comedic light on many of life's difficult moments.

Characters

Main characters

*Tess Foster (

) 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 (

) 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 Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

holiday in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

and in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. 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. 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.

Episodes

Accolades

Broadcast

The series aired worldwide on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

. It previewed in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It premiered in March 2012 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, on March 15, 2012 in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, and on November 6, 2012 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

the show started airing reruns on

Nickelodeon Canada Nickelodeon is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel based on the American cable network of the same name owned by YTV Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment under a brand licensing agreement with the Paramount ...

and

ABC Spark ABC Spark is a Canadian English-language discretionary 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 Freefo ...

on September 1, 2014 until April 30, 2017.

References

External links

* {{Former YTV original series 2011 Canadian television series debuts 2013 Canadian television series endings 2010s Canadian teen sitcoms Canadian English-language television shows YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming Television series about brothers Television series about families Canadian television series about teenagers Television series about twins Television series by Nelvana Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows set in New Jersey