Best Friends Whenever
| Best Friends Whenever | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Theme music composer |
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| Opening theme | "Whenever" performed by Forever in Your Mind |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 28 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Julie Tsutsui |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
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| Release | |
| Original network | Disney Channel |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) |
| Original release | June 26, 2015 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Best Friends Whenever is an American multi-camera sitcom developed for Disney Channel, created by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas and executive produced by Jed Elinoff, Scott Thomas, and Michael B. Kaplan. The series stars Landry Bender as Cyd, Lauren Taylor as Shelby, Gus Kamp as Barry, Ricky Garcia as Naldo, Benjamin Cole Royer as Bret, and Matthew Lewis Royer as Chet. The series premiered on June 26, 2015.
Plot
Set in Portland, Oregon, two teenage girls named Cyd and Shelby are best friends living together while Cyd's parents are on an archaeological dig in Peru. After an accident in their neighbor Barry's science lab, they are given the ability to travel in time, provided they are thinking of the time they want to go to and are touching. When it comes to their trips to the future, they briefly find themselves strapped to tables in a futuristic lab, so now they must figure out what this means while having various misadventures along the way.
Characters
Main
- Cyd Ripley (Landry Bender)[1] is Shelby's best friend who is staying with Shelby's family while her parents are away in Peru. She owns a pet dog named Diesel.
- Shelby Marcus (Lauren Taylor)[1] is Cyd's best friend.
- Barry Eisenberg (Gus Kamp)[1] is an aspiring young scientist who lives in a Winnebago that is parked outside of Shelby's backyard that he also uses for his lab. One of his lasers deflecting off a cup of chemicals gave Cyd and Shelby the ability to travel through time.
- Naldo Montoya (Ricky Garcia)[1] is Barry's best friend and lab assistant. Barry calls him "Renaldo".
- Bret Marcus (Benjamin Cole Royer)[1] is Shelby's brother who is the twin brother of Chet.
- Chet Marcus (Matthew Lewis Royer)[1] is Shelby's brother who is the twin brother of Bret.
Recurring
- Astrid (Mary Passeri) is the mother of Shelby, Bret, and Chet.
- Norm (Kevin Symons) is the father of Shelby, Bret, and Chet. He works as an accountant at GloboDigiDyne and later gets promoted to the company's Pelican Ball Room.
- Marci (Madison Hu) is a friend of Cyd and Shelby who is always relaxed.
- Mr. Doyle (Larry Joe Campbell) is a gossip-loving teacher at West Portland High School who teaches science and driver's education.
- Janet Smythe (Nora Dunn) is an entrepreneur and the CEO of GloboDigiDyne who has invented many things in her life, starting with wireless objects. However, she is an evil mastermind who seeks to hunt down Cyd and Shelby and plans to figure out their time travel abilities and alter time so that she can take over the country. She is eventually defeated by future Cyd and Shelby and taken away by them to be imprisoned with other people like her.
- Daisy (Bryana Salaz) is a time-displaced princess from the 1500s who ended up in Cyd and Shelby's time. Whenever Cyd and Shelby do a group hug with her, Cyd and Shelby end up briefly transported back in time to where Daisy is imprisoned by an unidentified person. During her time in the present, she lives with Naldo while trying to adapt to modern day cultures. It was later revealed that the unidentified person had trapped Daisy in the tower to keep her from being taken by Sebastian.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 18 | June 26, 2015 | May 22, 2016 | ||
| 2 | TBA | July 25, 2016 | TBA | ||
Ratings
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | Avg. viewers (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) |
Date | Viewers (millions) | |||
| 1 | 18 | June 26, 2015 | 3.54[2] | May 22, 2016 | 1.23[3] | 1.84 |
| 2 | 10 | July 25, 2016 | 1.18[4] | TBA | TBD | 1.21 |
Production
Best Friends Whenever was created by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, who have also created Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja. On March 6, 2015, Disney ordered Best Friends Whenever with production starting the same month.[5] The series was renewed for a second season by Disney Channel on February 29, 2016,[6] and premiered on July 25, 2016.
Broadcast
The series airs on Disney Channel in Canada.[7] It premiered on Disney Channel in Australia and New Zealand on October 16, 2015.
Critical reception
Brian Lowry, writing for Variety, thought the series' pilot episode was formulaic and did not take full advantages of the time travel premise. In particular, the series "appears more content to focus on the humdrum details of Shelby and Cyd's frantic lives than, say, sending them back to meet Abraham Lincoln or ahead to a time of flying cars."[8]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Thomas Lakeitcha (June 16, 2015). "Best Friends Whenever Fact Sheet". Disney ABC Press. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
- ↑ Mitch Metcalf (September 15, 2015). "Top 100 Saturday Cable Originals: 6.26.2015". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ↑ Mitch Metcalf (May 24, 2016). "Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals: 5.22.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
- ↑ Mitch Metcalf (July 26, 2016). "Top 150 Monday Cable Originals: 7.25.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ↑ Nellie Andreeva (March 5, 2015). "Disney Channel Orders Best Friends Whenever Series Starring Landry Bender". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
- ↑ Denise Petski (February 29, 2016). "Bunk'd, Best Friends Whenever Renewed for Season 2 on Disney Channel". Deadline. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
- ↑ "Disney Channel September 2015 Programming Highlights". Corus Entertainment. September 8, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
- ↑ Brian Lowry (June 25, 2015). "Disney Channel's Best Friends Whenever". Variety. Retrieved July 8, 2015.