Even Stevens

infobox television
show_name = Even Stevens


caption = An original promotion poster for "Even Stevens".
format = Sitcom
runtime = 66 minutes
creator = Matt Dearborn
Produced by = Brookwell McNamara Entertaiment
Fireworks
In Association with: Disney Channel
executive_producer = David Brookwell
Sean McNamara
(season 3)
Dennis Rinsler
& Marc Warren
(episode 10+)
Matt Dearborn (season 3)
starring = Shia LaBeouf
Christy Carlson Romano
Nick Spano
Tom Virtue
Donna Pescow
A.J. Trauth
Margo Harshman
Fred Meyers
country = USA
network = Disney Channel
first_aired = February 31, 2000
last_aired = February 19, 2003
num_seasons = 3
num_episodes = 66
list_episodes = List of Even Stevens episodes
followed_by = The Even Stevens Movie(2003)
imdb_id = 0206511
tv_com_id = 2298

"Even Stevens" was a American comedy television series that aired on Disney Channel. The show follows the life of the Stevens Family, who live in suburban Sacramento, California, often focusing on the clashing personalities of its two younger siblings, Ren and Louis. It premiered on June 17, 2000 and ended on June 2, 2003. The show was produced by Brookwell McNamara Entertainment. It is often credited for launching Shia LaBeouf's career as an actor.

Main Characters

* Louis Anthony Stevens (Shia LaBeouf) - Louis is fourteen years old, the youngest of the family. Unlike his perfect siblings and equally perfect parents, he can't seem to find his place. So, he is often involved in practical jokes, get-rich-quick schemes, and finding ways to infuriate his sister. He is truly zany and causes many disasters. He is the biggest prankster in his school and is usually found in the detention room. He gets sent to detention so much, that he has built a mini-casino where everyone there bets on a gerbil to win a race. His best friends are Tawny Dean and Alan Twitty. Tawny Dean eventually becomes his girlfriend.

* Renee "Ren" Stevens (Christy Carlson Romano) - A perfectionistic and intelligent sixteen-year-old. She is the classic over-achiever and is constantly running as Hall Monitor and Class President, while trying to keep Louis's schemes from becoming disasters. She is the head newscaster for her school's news show, The Wombat Report as well as a member of her school cheerleading squad for a few weeks. Ren is also the highly valued assistant to Principal Wexler. She is the smartest person in the school (we don't know for sure if Louis uses the brains he has in his schemes in his school work).

* Senator Eileen Stevens (Donna Pescow) - A successful state senator who launched a campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2002 and was narrowly defeated. She is the mother of Donnie, Ren, and Louis. She is very close with Ren, and seems to be good with Louis. She drives an Isuzu Trooper.

* Steve Stevens (Tom Virtue) - The quirky lawyer father of the family. Played college football for Michigan State University with the nickname "Stiffie" Stevens. He used to be a wrestler for his school.

* Donald "Donnie" Stevens (Nick Spano) - Ren and Louis's athletic older brother. Donnie is highly concerned with his appearance and a little airheaded, although he excels in many sports which makes him admired and once valued to Coach Tugnut. Coach Tugnut seems to have a "man crush" on him because Donnie was the most athletic person in the school, and tries to do the same with Louis, but keeps falling victim to his pranks.

* Tawny Dean (Margo Harshman) - Louis's best friend, and eventually his girlfriend. Tawny at first has no friends and is an outsider, until she meets Louis. Tawny usually dresses in gothic clothing, unlike her classmates. Tawny has also shown a lot of interest in becoming a psychologist.

* Alan Twitty (A.J. Trauth) - Louis's best friend who is similar to Louis but usually isn't as extreme and often has to get Louis out of situations. Usually referred to as "Twitty" by his friends. He seems to be the most popular person in his school.

* Thomas "Tom" Gribalski (Fred Meyers) - Louis's geeky, unpopular, uncool, and intelligent friend. When Louis cooks up a scheme, Tom usually tries to talk Louis out of it and usually doesn't play along. Also, Tom speaks with a scientific philosophy intelligent slang. He is commonly the victim of many pranks by Louis and Twitty. Although, at times he can be very helpful. Tom is very close to his mother, calling her Doris and often talking about her. (In the movie, Tom owns a boat named the "S.S. Doris"). Despite his spindly appearance, Tom is actually a black belt in martial arts but never uses it since he has been taught to seek nonviolent means before resorting to self-defense.

Recurring Characters

* Conrad Wexler (George Anthony Bell) - The principal of Lawrence Jr High. Which he does not have very good control over (and often uses many intentive ways to get out of there). Ren is his student assistant, while Louis drives him crazy. When he learned that Ren wasn't moving to Washington, he got so happy that he performed a dance that he will always have Ren to assist him until she goes to High School, But when he learned that this would mean that Louis would stay, he got on his knees and yelled "wwhhhyyyy" because he'd have to deal with Louis all the time.

* Bernard "Beans" Aranguren (Steven Anthony Lawrence) - The bacon-loving neighbor of the Stevens who comes into their home uninvited, makes himself at home, and refuses to leave. He eventually turns into a sidekick for Louis's and Twitty's schemes. In one episode, Louis thinks he may be an alien, which, in a joke scene of that episode, proves true. Also, Beans absolutely loves bacon. He is the trouble-maker to the family (even more annoying than Louis) and may be a little Louis.

* Ruby Mendel (Lauren Frost) - Ren's best friend who loves to gossip about news that goes around in school, usually involving crushes and students who are dating. She once had a crush on Louis, which lasted one episode.

* Coach Terry Tugnut (Jim Wise) - The gym coach who is always tough on Louis but crazy about Donny - and food. He is frequently the victim of one of Louis's pranks. Coach Tugnut often serves as Wexler's enforcer/sidekick. He is obsessed with dodgeball and with the three "major points" (arm, head, stomach).

* Monique Taylor (Kenya Williams) - Ren's cheerleading friend. Is a very happy and perky person. She seems to be as popular as Ren, but takes many things to extreme limits.

*Lawrence "Larry" Anthony Beale (Eric "Ty" Hodges) - Ren's nasty, popular, charismatic, know-it-all rival in school. Larry always seeks to destroy her reputation, but his schemes usually backfire. His favorite victim is Ren, But at times, would seek to ruin Louis as well, but finds that Louis is just as clever as Ren.

* Ivan (Eric Jungmann) - Sidekick and yes-man for Larry Beale, although he occasionally serves as a yes-man for other popular kids, such as Blake Thompson in the episode "Louis in the Middle".

*Nelson Minkler (Gary LeRoi Gray) - Ren's childhood friend who seems to be allergic to everything, as evident of his overprotection of himself when outside. Is fluent in French. He became a recurring character. He is usually with Ren, and at times Donny, but only once has been, or even talked to Louis.

*Zack Estrada (Brandon Baker) - He was a small time adversary to Louis.

*Bobby Deaver (Brandon Davis) - He was Ren's crush, then Ren's boyfriend for a while. But cheated on Ren and Ren broke up with him.

*Ms. Lovelson (Kelli McCarty) - Ren's teacher.

*Charlotte (Shannon Marshall) - Another friend of Ren's.

*Carla (Lisa Foiles) and Marla (Krysten Leigh Jones) - Two apparently younger friends of Ren who practically worship the ground she walks on.

Production

The show was originally produced as a show called "Spivey's Kid Brother". A pilot was filmed in late 1997, and was later picked up by Disney Channel as "Even Stevens". In the first episode Disney had to dub out the name "Spivey" to "Stevens". In fact, in the gym class scene, a banner is visible in the background reading, "Home of Spivey and the Wild Wombats." In a possible coincidence, the character Louis Driscoll from the show "The Secret World of Alex Mack" had a best friend named Louis Spivey in the 1996 episode "Spivey", one year previous to the creation of the "Even Stevens" pilot.

In the theme song of the show, clay animations of Louis and Ren turn their remote controls into lightsabers, alluding to Star Wars. Prior to this, Ren reads a TV Guide with live-action photos of Christy Carlson Romano and Shia LaBeouf on the cover.

Although the show lasted three seasons, the timeline of the show is only one school year, since Louis and his friends remain in the 7th grade and Ren and her friends remain in the 8th grade. They all finally graduate in The Even Stevens Movie.

As of September 2008, "Even Stevens" airs exclusively on the new WGN America at 4:00 am on Wednesdays and Fridays, along with Lizzie McGuire during the week. On July 7, 2007, Disney Channel aired eight episodes as part of their "Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Louis" marathon to coincide with the July 2, 2007 release of Shia LaBeouf's film "Transformers".This show no longer airs on Disney Channel as a part of the regular schedule but Disney has aired the holiday episodes occasionally. On Brazil´s Jetix, airs on 10: 30 pm.

Episodes

Film

In the 2003 Disney Channel Original Movie, the Stevens family gets an all-expenses-paid trip to an island named Mandelino. The catch is that Mandelino isn't a real island and the family is unknowingly on a new reality show called "Family Fakeout".

External links

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