''Tower Prep'' is a

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

created for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American writer, animator, and comic book artist. He has served as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably ''Batman: The Animated Series' ...

, who is known for previously writing and producing series in the

DC Animated Universe The DC Animated Universe (DCAU, also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans) is a Shared universe, shared fictional universe based on DC Comics properties and media franchise produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It began with ''Batman ...

. From October 12 to December 28, 2010, the series aired one thirteen-episode season, before being canceled by Cartoon Network.

Premise

The series centers around "Tower Prep", an isolated

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for teenagers with supernatural abilities. The protagonist (Ian Archer) and a group of friends (Gabe Forrest, Suki Sato, and CJ Ward) are unwilling students at the institution, with no memory of how they got there. Throughout the series, they explore the mysteries of Tower Prep in the hope of escaping and returning to their normal lives.

Characters

Main

* Ian Archer (

Drew Van Acker Drew Van Acker (born April 2, 1986) is an American actor, model and producer. He is known for playing Jason DiLaurentis, the older brother of Alison DiLaurentis (Sasha Pieterse), on Freeform's ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017) and Ian Arche ...

) – Ian, the rebel, has the ability of "Preflex", seeing and reacting to events before they occur, which lets him excel in

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

. * Candice "CJ" Ward (

Elise Gatien Elise Gatien (born July 14, 1988) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Candice "CJ" Ward in the Cartoon Network live-action series ''Tower Prep''. Life and career Gatien was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. She is of h ...

) – CJ, the popular girl, has the ability of "

Perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

", which lets her read people's intentions from their body language. * Gabriel "Gabe" Lexington Forrest (

Ryan Pinkston Ryan James Pinkston is an American actor and model. He was a cast member on ''Punk'd'', he played Arnold in the third '' Spy Kids'' installment, and played Billy Hunkee in ''Soul Plane''. Life and career Pinkston was born on February 8, 1988, in ...

) – Gabe, the class clown, has the ability of "Hypersuasion", which let him talk people into doing whatever he wants. * Suki Sato ( Dyana Liu) – Suki, the quiet one, has the ability of "Mimicry", which lets her perfectly imitate any sound she has ever heard.

Tower Prep staff

* Headmaster (

Ted Whittall Wicker Park (film)">Wicker Park'' (2004), ''The Bone Collector'' (1999) and ''Daydream Nation'' (2010). He also made appearances in ''Smallville (TV series), Smallville'' and ''Schitt’s Creek''. Filmography Film Television References ...

) – The mysterious head of Tower Prep, eventually revealed to be CJ's father. * Coach (

Dan Payne Daniel Payne (born August 4, 1972) is a Canadian actor best known for playing the role of John in the television series '' Alice, I Think''. Career In his early 20s, Payne was a professional volleyball player. After his retirement, he was convin ...

) – A former student of Tower Prep and a test subject for Corvus H-40, a performance-enhancing substance. * Dr. Specs ( Alek Diakun) – Responsible for wiping the memories of new students. * Coach History ( Richard Steinmetz) * Nurse (

Karin Konoval Karin Konoval ( ; born June 4, 1961) is a Canadian-American actress who has appeared in theatre, numerous TV series and supporting lead roles in many feature films. Her screen credits include Maurice the Orangutan in ''Rise of the Planet of the ...

)

Supporting

* Whisper 119 (voiced by Peggy Jo Jacobs) – The AI responsible for managing the school and contacting new students. Later upgraded to Whisper 120. * Ray Snider (

Richard Harmon Richard Scott Harmon (born August 18, 1991) is a Canadian actor. His roles on television include Jasper Ames in '' The Killing'' (2011–2012), Julian Randol on '' Continuum'' (2012–2015), and John Murphy in '' The 100'' (2014–2020). Harmon ...

) – A student with the ability of "Hyper-strength". * Calvin "Cal" Rice (Izaak Smith) – A jock with the ability of enhanced hearing who bullies Ian. * Conner Owens (Andrew Dunbar) – A member of a secret group who assists Ian and his friends. * Cornelius Augustus Tower (David Smith, Matthew Thiessen) – A former magician,

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

fighter pilot, and jazz artist, who founded Tower Prep. * Fenton Capwell (Charlie Carrick) – An opera-loving student. * Emily Wright ( Jodi Balfour) – The former class president of Tower Prep.

Minor

* Don Finch (

Calum Worthy Calum Worthy (born January 28, 1991) is a Canadian actor, writer, and producer, and co-founder of AI education company 2wai. As an actor he is known for his roles as Dez Wade on the Disney Channel series ''Austin & Ally'', Alex Trimboli in the N ...

) – Ray Snider's best friend. * Shinji Sato (

Terry Chen Terence Chen (born February 3, 1975) is a Canadian actor. Early life Chen was born on February 3, 1975, in Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the ...

) – Suki Sato's older brother. * Emerson Poencet (Jeffrey Ballard) – A student with the ability of microscopic vision. * Howard Gilmore (Jarod Joseph) – A student with the ability to see in the dark. * Ross Anderson (

Kacey Rohl Kacey Rohl (born August 6, 1991) is a Canadian actress. She is known for playing Sterling Fitch in the television crime drama ''The Killing (U.S. TV series), The Killing'', Prudence in the 2011 dark fantasy film ''Red Riding Hood (2011 film), Red ...

) – Emily's ruthless campaign manager.

Production

wrote the first episode of ''Tower Prep'', drawing on his own experiences of "strangeness" and "alienation" at prep school. Cartoon Network picked up the series as part of their initiative to develop live action programming for a family audience. The pilot was shot in 2009, and full production of the first season began in 2010 in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. Former ''

X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to May 19, 2002, on Fox, spanning nine seasons, with 202 episodes. A tenth season of six e ...

'' writer

Glen Morgan Glen Morgan (born July 12, 1961) is an American television producer, writer and director. He is best known for co-writing episodes of the Fox science fiction supernatural drama series ''The X-Files'' with his partner, James Wong. He served as ...

was hired as executive producer and showrunner, joined by a writing team including Dini, Glen's brother Darin Morgan,

Riley Stearns Riley Stearns (born June 29, 1986) is an American filmmaker who has directed three feature films: ''Faults (film), Faults'' (2014), ''The Art of Self-Defense (2019 film), The Art of Self-Defense'' (2019), and ''Dual (2022 film), Dual'' (2022). E ...

Aury Wallington Aury Wallington is an American novelist and television writer. Biography Wallington grew up in Pennsylvania and always wanted to be a writer but was not sure how to go about it. She graduated from Tufts University and moved to New Orleans becau ...

, Jeff Eckerle, and Marilyn Osborn. The promotion for the series began with a fictional storyline, in which Cartoon Network published

vlog A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one ta ...

s from the four main characters. Prior to the series premiere, a sneak peek of the show was released for free download on the iTunes Store featuring half of the first episode. To promote the premiere, the network announced a giveaway of 1,000

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a po ...

devices that would take place during the show. The song "Unstoppable" by

Foxy Shazam Foxy Shazam is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 2004. , the band's lineup consists of lead vocalist Eric Nally, pianist Sky White, trumpeter and backing vocalist Alex Nauth, bassist Existential Youth, guitarist Devin William ...

was used in network promos and in the episode "Trust".

Cancellation

The last two episodes of the first season aired on December 28, 2010. On March 23, 2011, Cartoon Network announced their new and returning programs for the remainder of 2011 and ''Tower Prep'' was not mentioned as one of the returning series. In October 2011, Cartoon Network removed all ''Tower Prep'' content from its website. In December 2011, Paul Dini announced that the series would not return for a second season. Dini continued to comment on the series over the next several years, saying that he was "sworn to secrecy" about the ending, that Cartoon Network decided not to air a second season despite talk of foreign financing, and that he was never given a reason for the cancellation of the series. Dini speculated that a primary reason for the cancellation was that ''Tower Prep'' drew a primarily female viewership, and that Cartoon Network wanted to instead target young male viewers for their merchandising.

Episodes

Reception

Critics commented on the show's low production values and murky fight scenes, but praised its overall concept, writing, and cast. Brian Lowry of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said the show's mysteries might appeal to both children and adults, calling it "a series that points the way toward a best-case scenario" for Cartoon Network's live-action programming. In the 2011 Leo Awards, Brenton Spencer was nominated for Best Direction in a Youth or Children's Program or Series for the episode "Dreams".

Notes

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Television, United States, Canada 2010 American television series debuts 2010 American television series endings 2010s American high school television series 2010s American mystery television series 2010s American teen drama television series 2010 Canadian television series debuts 2010 Canadian television series endings 2010s Canadian high school television series 2010s Canadian teen drama television series American adventure television series American television series about teenagers Boarding school television series Canadian adventure television series Canadian mystery television series Canadian television series about teenagers Television series about artificial intelligence Cartoon Network original programming American English-language television shows Serial drama television series Teen superhero television series Television shows filmed in Vancouver Television series by Cartoon Network Studios Television series by Sony Pictures Television