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Radio Free Roscoe is a teen comedy-drama television series. The series was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, and produced by Decode Entertainment. It first aired on August 1, 2003, on Family Channel 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. The show was later aired on U.S. network Noggin's teen block, The N, where the show received funding for a second season. The series ended on May 27, 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. As of 2019, episodes could still be found on the Canadian station WildBrainTV.
| Radio Free Roscoe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Teen drama Comedy drama |
| Created by | Will McRobb Douglas McRobb |
| Starring |
|
| Theme music composer | Jono Grant |
| Opening theme | "Radio Free Roscoe Theme" |
| Ending theme | "Radio Free Roscoe Theme" (Instrumental) (some episodes) |
| Composer | Jono Grant |
| Country of origin |
|
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 52 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | John A. Delmage |
| Production locations | Toronto, Ontario Nutley, New Jersey (pilot)[2] |
| Cinematography | George Hosek |
| Editors |
|
| Running time | 20–22 minutes |
| Production company | Decode Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | Family Channel (Canada) Noggin (The N block; U.S.) |
| Release | August 1, 2003 – May 25, 2005 |
The pilot was first filmed in New Jersey, with an entirely different cast. At that time, the show was going to be based in Nutley, New Jersey and was to be titled Radio Free Nutley.[2] The show was never picked up. Decode Entertainment later decided to move production to Toronto and change the cast and title of the show, leading to the show's production and broadcasting.
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Four teens in the suburban New Jersey town of Roscoe start attending Henry Roscoe High School. Fed up with their school's radio station (Cougar Radio) dictating how students should live, and the overbearing Principal Waller who seems to favour the popular students, they create their own pirate radio station called Radio Free Roscoe. Lily Randall, Ray Brennan and Robbie McGrath are old friends, and find a friend in Travis Strong when they form the radio station. They assume radio aliases to conceal their identities.
The four friends confront various challenges, such as navigating relationships with their schoolmates and managing their pirate radio station while maintaining their day-to-day lives.
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Main cast
Note: each member of Radio Free Roscoe assumes a pseudonym for broadcasting the radio show, allowing them to remain anonymous and thus prevent the administration from shutting the show down (pseudonym given in quotation marks).
- Ray "Pronto" Brennan – Al Mukadam
- 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 – Hill 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 Carlisle 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
- Marley (Marlee) Otto - Maggie Gelbert
- 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)
- Mukundan Jr. – Himself
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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.
There are two official Radio Free Roscoe products.
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")
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| Country/Region | Channel | Language |
|---|---|---|
 Australia |
ABC (now moved to ABC2) | English |
 Russia |
Teen TV | Russian |
 Italy |
Rai Gulp and Rai 2 | Italian |
 Canada |
English | |
| Canada |
VRAK.TV | French |
 Portugal |
Panda Biggs | European Portuguese |
| Latin America | Boomerang | Latin American Spanish |
 Brazil |
Boomerang | Brazilian Portuguese |
 Poland |
|
Polish |
 United Kingdom |
Nickelodeon | English |
 United States |
The N (block on Noggin) | English |
 France |
France 2 and Canal J | French |
 Finland |
YLE TV2 | English (with Finnish subtitles) |
 Israel |
Arutz HaYeladim | English (with Hebrew subtitles) |
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