Good Luck Charlie is an American sitcom which airs on Disney Channel. The series was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who wanted to create a program that would appeal to entire families, as opposed to only children. It focuses on a Denver family, the Duncans, as they try to adjust to the births of their fourth and fifth children, Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico) and Toby Duncan (Logan Moreau). In each episode, Teddy Duncan (Bridgit Mendler) creates a video diary containing advice for Charlie about their family and life as a teenager. Teddy tries to show Charlie what she might go through when she is older in the video diaries for future reference. Each video diary ends with Teddy (or someone else from the family, even Charlie) saying the eponymous phrase, "Good luck, Charlie".
Among other decisions, executives included adult-centric scenes and changed the series title from Oops to Love, Teddy and finally to Good Luck Charlie in order to ensure the series would appeal to all family members. Good Luck Charlie premiered on Disney Channel in the United States on April 4, 2010.[1] It premiered in Canada on April 5, 2010, the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 14, 2010, and in Australia and New Zealand on July 23, 2010. Good Luck Charlie was renewed for a second season, with production beginning in August 2010 with a season premiere on February 20, 2011.[2] A feature-length Christmas Disney Channel Original Movie based on the series entitled Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! began production in March 2011 for a December 2011 premiere.[3]
On August 29, 2011, Disney Channel announced that they had renewed the series for a third season.[3] The third season premiered on May 6, 2012 and concluded on January 20, 2013. On July 12, 2012, Disney Channel announced that they renewed the series for a fourth season.[4] Season 4 premiered on April 28, 2013.[5] It was later confirmed that season 4 will be the final season, slated to end in early 2014.[6]
Premise[edit]
The series focuses on the Duncan family, who are still adjusting to the birth of their fourth child, Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico).[7] When parents Amy (Leigh-Allyn Baker), a nurse, and Bob (Eric Allan Kramer), an exterminator, return to work, they ask their three older children—PJ (Jason Dolley), Teddy (Bridgit Mendler), and Gabe (Bradley Steven Perry)—to help raise their little sister. At the same time, Teddy, PJ, and Gabe try to deal with school and general social challenges in their lives.[8]
The events in each episode become material for a video diary Teddy is making for her younger sister. Teddy hopes the videos will provide useful advice for Charlie after they have both grown up and Teddy has moved out. Also at the end of each video, she (and/or other cast members) says, "Good luck, Charlie" or may even say it indirectly such as "Wish them good luck, Charlie."[9] During the movie, Amy reveals to Teddy that she is pregnant with her fifth child, which Teddy is trying to adjust to but this story plot is not brought into the series until the third season. In the third season, Amy gives birth to a baby boy, Toby."[10]
Characters[edit]
Teddy Duncan
Teddy [11] Duncan (Bridgit Mendler) is Charlie's older and only sister and the second oldest of the Duncan children. Feeling that she will not be around as much when Charlie is grown, she produces and directs video diaries for her, hoping that it will give her advice that will help her be successful as a teenager. She produces these video diaries at the end of every episode, and at the end of every video diary she says "Good luck Charlie". Her best friend is Ivy Wentz. It was mentioned in "Sun Show: Part 1", that her parents were expecting a boy, hence the generally masculine name "Teddy". She dated Spencer Walsh in season one, but they broke up after she caught him two-timing both her and a pretty, dim-witted brunette named Skyler, breaking her heart. She and Skyler later become friends. She and Spencer later get back together in season two. Throughout the show Teddy has had numerous boyfriends. Teddy shows a lot of care towards her brothers, as demonstrated when she saves PJ from falling out of a tree house window, on the condition of him needing to drive her where ever she wanted for a month, or when Gabe gets a black eye from Jo and Teddy offers to help him with his problem. Teddy is known as a "goody-goody" (G.G.) from her best friend Ivy. She and Spencer get back together in "Can You Keep A Secret?". In "All Fall Down" Teddy and Spencer have to break up because Spencer is going to go to the Boston Institute for Performing Arts (BIPA) and they do not want to be in a long-distance relationship. But when Bob's newest employee, Beau, admits that he likes Teddy, they begin dating. The two break up when he decides to move home.Amy Duncan
