Characters[edit]
Main[edit]
The season four cast of Good Luck Charlie (The Duncan family, from left to right), Mia Talerico as Charlie Duncan, Bradley Steven Perry as Gabe Duncan, Bridgit Mendler as Teddy Duncan, Leigh-Allyn Baker as Amy Duncan, Jason Dolley as PJ Duncan, Eric Allan Kramer as Bob Duncan and Logan Moreau as Toby Duncan
- Teddy Duncan
- Teddy R.[9] Duncan (Bridgit Mendler), Charlie's only sister, is the second-oldest Duncan sibling. Feeling that she will not be around as much when Charlie is grown, she produces and directs video diaries for her, hoping they 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 get back together in season two. Throughout the show Teddy has had numerous boyfriends. Teddy shows much care towards her brothers, such as saving PJ from falling out of the treehouse window, or offering to help Gabe deal with Jo, who has given him a black eye. Teddy's best friend Ivy often calls her G.G. for "goody-goody." She and Spencer get back together in "Can You Keep A Secret?". In "All Fall Down" Teddy and Spencer break up because they don't want to be in a long-distance relationship while Spencer attends the Boston Institute for Performing Arts (BIPA). 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. In "Accepted", Teddy finds out that she is on the waiting list for Yale after Victor; later she is accepted. Later in the last episode, Spencer and Teddy get back together and kiss, and she shoots the final entry in her video diary before leaving for Yale. It was never revealed what her middle initial "R" stands for.
- Amy Duncan
- Amy B.[10] Duncan – (née Blankenhooper[11]) (Leigh-Allyn Baker) is Bob's wife and the mother of PJ, Teddy, Gabe, Charlie, and Toby. She worked as a hospital nurse and is often portrayed as dutiful, protective and comedic. She loves her family and does everything to care for and protect them. She appears out-of-her-element when she isn't nurturing them, especially Charlie, but as the series progresses, she begins to feel assured that her youngest children are in good hands and trusts that her husband and 3 eldest children can look after Charlie and Toby. She is notoriously conceited and enjoys bragging about her accomplishments, be they admirable, real, or otherwise. Amy used to be on the local news team and was also a poet in her high-school days. A running gag on the show is that she was involved in virtually every extracurricular activity at Southwest Denver Community College but still earned a nursing degree. She lets special opportunities, such as being on TV or singing in front of a group, go to her head. She has a habit of taking any chance of any publicity that may shine on her family to focus onto her, but this never works out well; usually she ends up being cut from the project or tossed out of certain groups. Amy seldom accepts her children's misbehavior. It is revealed in the movie, that she is pregnant again with her fifth child. In the middle of the third season, Amy quit her nursing job to be a stay-at-home mother to Charlie and Toby. In the final episode, Amy is chosen to be the new anchor on "Good Morning, Denver", thanks to Charlie calling in during her on-air audition.
- Gabe Duncan
- Gabriel[12] "Gabe" Duncan (Bradley Steven Perry) is the middle Duncan sibling, being both the younger brother of Teddy and PJ and the older brother of Charlie and Toby. From the beginning Gabe doesn't approve of Charlie's arrival and is the last one of the family to get used to her, but finally he reaches the point of reluctantly assisting in her care and demonstrating some fondness of her. He is a prankster and troublemaker, often sarcastic and lazy, but can also be dutiful and determined at times. He is front-man when it comes to the Duncans' running rivalry with their neighbor Mrs. Dabney, who is often the target of Gabe's pranks and stunts—which is the only time the family doesn't mind them. Although he doesn't like Mrs. Dabney, he ends up dating a relative of Mrs. Dabney, Lauren. He and Toby are the only brown-haired Duncans; all of the others are blondes. A running gag in the show is that he insults Bob's weight and baldness, Amy's cooking, PJ being a goofball, Teddy being a "goody-goody," and occasionally Charlie. He also likes to harass and tease Mrs. Dabney, whom he finds annoying. He also won the right to name his baby brother Toby; in one episode, he tried to impress a girl by making video diaries for Toby, ending them with "Good Fortune, Toby!". It has been revealed that Gabe was a calm and docile baby.
- Charlie Duncan
- Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan (Mia Talerico) is the title character and the second-youngest Duncan sibling. She is generally portrayed as being happy. It sometimes takes a few tries to get her to do the right thing. Charlie can also be mischievous at times. Many of the Duncan family's adventures revolve around Charlie. Both her older brothers, PJ and Gabe, are often seen using Charlie for their own benefit, although PJ shows that he cares about her deeply. Gabe seems to dislike Charlie the most although, in some episodes, he is seen being quite fond of her. Amy thinks of Charlie as the perfect baby. It was revealed in "Charlie is 1", that it was Teddy's idea to nickname her Charlie. Charlie speaks more often in later episodes of seasons two and three. Toby was born on her birthday; she responded to this by "I like this present." In season three, her personality begins to develop, as she is seen as sneaky and mischievous, such as pretending to like a doll Amy bought for her to like Toby, then throwing it away when she was not looking; and also telling Amy's "friends" what she really thinks of them, causing her to lose them all. Also, she can be seen as not liking Toby as in the episode "Doppel Date" when she asks Bob if Toby is going to stay at the hotel and he says no and Charlie asks if they can talk about it.
- Bob Duncan
- Bob William Duncan[13] (Eric Allan Kramer) is the father of Teddy, PJ, Gabe, Charlie, and Toby, and husband of Amy. He owns a pest control company, "Bob's Bugs Be Gone". He sometimes refers to his business as the "Triple B-G". He loves bugs and attends the Bug Convention every year. Bob is the coach of Gabe's basketball team, but he was temporarily replaced by his wife. It is also mentioned in "Snow Show: Part 1" that Bob and Amy are not legally married because they were scammed by a con man who impersonated a judge; they have a legal ceremony with all 4 children present. His childhood dream was to be a professional wrestler named "Bobzilla", which he showed in his company's commercial. Bob gets made fun of a lot throughout the series because of his weight and baldness, usually by Gabe. He is barely more intelligent than the bugs he kills, and breeds much resentment among his kids by being very "cheap" and "tight" with his money. He wants his family to know him as a "fix-it" man, though his projects never seem to work out. He is slightly afraid of Amy, but he calls it a "strong respect". He has two positions of authority when it comes to the children: driving lessons and barbecuing. He can be lazy but is determined to spend quality time with his wife and children. He has issues with his mother-in-law, Petunia. It is revealed he has apologized to Amy at least 162 times, while Amy just soaks it up. In "Baby Steps," it is revealed that he dropped all of his kids including Toby. In multiple episodes Bob brags about having his own band in high school, "The Bob Duncan Experience", which made a grand total of one record (an LP, no copies). He can still play bass guitar and occasionally sits in with PJ & The Vibe. Late in the third season, Bob began exercising and dropped a massive amount of fat, replacing most of it with muscle. After Amy and the kids staged an intervention to stop his more-revealing wardrobe choices, he admits the catalyst for his getting back in shape was someone in the park mistaking him for Toby's grandfather. It is revealed in "Amy Needs a Shower" that his middle name is William. In the final episode, PJ's culinary talents motivates Bob to pry open his wallet and invest in his son's business.
- PJ Duncan
- PJ[14] Duncan (Jason Dolley) is the eldest Duncan sibling. He and Teddy often fight, although they care about each other, and he usually gets along well with his younger brother Gabe. He often appears awkward, somewhat careless, and childish, but on numerous occasions has been known to be resourceful, creative, and intelligent. He has also been shown to be a good cook, and Bob once tricked Amy (who isn't a very good cook) into working later so that PJ would cook. He and his best friend Emmett have their own band entitled "PJ and the Vibe". PJ occasionally uses his younger sister Charlie for his personal gain, like when he uses her to make big tips while working for Kwikki Chikki by saying that his mother was in the hospital when she actually worked there (customers just assumed she was ill). He dated Teddy's friend Skyler, who has his type of scatterbrain, but they broke up in "PJ in the City", when Skyler had to move to New York City because of her father's new job. He was originally intended to be named after his great-grandfather, Patrick John, but Bob was nervous as he was writing on his birth certificate, resulting in the legal name of "Potty John" instead of the intended "Patty John". Despite Bob trying to correct this in the season two episode "Can You Keep a Secret?", he accidentally changed the intended name to "PP Duncan".[14] It is revealed in the "Special Delivery" episode that his middle name is Darth. In season three, PJ moves into an apartment shared with Emmett, but is still in the Duncan house a lot. In the season-four episode "Good Luck Jessie: NYC Christmas" he gets back together with Skyler, who will be attending college in Denver. In the final episode, PJ has graduated cooking school, buys a food truck, hires Emmett to work for him, and makes Bob his business partner. Also in the last episode, PJ finds Skyler in Denver, who forgot to mention she moved back to Denver to go to college.
Recurring[edit]
- Ivy Wentz
- Ivy Renee[15] Wentz (Raven Goodwin) is Teddy's best friend, and is one of the major recurring characters in the series. She is seen spending most of her time with Teddy at the Duncan's residence and often accompanies her on her dutiful, or personal, excursions. Ivy is energetic and witty and has proven to be quite intuitive; although she does not receive the best grades in school. She is passionate, if not obsessed, about clothes, money, popularity, boys, and texting; but on numerous occasions has proven to be a loyal and comforting friend. Ivy briefly dated Emmett when they were younger, and now never misses a chance to insult him, but went to the school dance with him so she and Teddy could have a ride in "Dance Off". It is revealed that she loves country music and animal-print clothes. At one point, it is implied that Ivy has (or had) an addiction to chocolate.
- Spencer Walsh
- Spencer Walsh (Shane Harper) is Teddy's ex-boyfriend. At first, they started dating after they begin studying together. He cheated on her in the episode "Girl Bites Dog", and Teddy broke up with him. In "Snow Show", he goes to the lodge that the Duncan family is staying at to get back together with Teddy. They share a kiss on the ski lift. At the end, they just decide to stay friends. He and Emmett share similar dancing abilities that rival each other, and they eventually become friends. In the episode, "Can You Keep a Secret?", he and Teddy get back together but they break up in "All Fall Down" because Spencer goes to college in Boston. Later, on Teddy's birthday, he returns, asking to get back together. However, Teddy turns him down as she ends up with Beau. He leaves devastated. He and Teddy end up back together in the series finale.
- Emmett
- Emmett (Micah Stephen Williams) is PJ's best friend. He is slender, comedic, and has a desperate, misguided & very one-sided attraction to Teddy, though Teddy constantly rejects him. Emmett accompanies PJ on the drums in his band "PJ and the Vibe", and sometimes assists PJ on his problematic excursions. Emmett has a nephew named Mason who, he claimed, was better than Charlie, until Charlie beat Mason in a "baby race" by learning to walk. Emmett is also an incredible dancer, with skills matched only by Spencer. He once went out with Ivy when they were younger. In his mind, he sees himself as being suave, sophisticated, and very attractive to girls. In season three, Emmett and PJ get an apartment together.
- Mrs. Dabney
- Mrs. Estelle[16] Dabney (Patricia Belcher) is the Duncans' strict and easily annoyed neighbor. In "The Curious Case of Mr. Dabney", she was mistakenly accused of killing her husband. In "Kit and Kaboodle", it is mentioned that Mrs. Dabney and her four sisters were born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1958. She wanted the Duncans' tree, which housed PJ and Teddy's tree house, cut down; but the family fought back. It is revealed that Estelle is one of quintuplets; her four sisters are played by Belcher via split screen; and her four sisters all love children and get along well with Gabe, accusing her of being the black sheep. Mrs. Dabney is often suspicious of Gabe, because his pranks and troublemaking are often directed towards her. She is often antagonistic towards the Duncans—Bob, PJ, and Gabe especially- but is fairly tolerant of Charlie. She was also a big fan of the fictional Higgins and Zork television show when she was younger. She loves her son and her cat more than her husband, and some wonder why she married Mr. Dabney if she hated him so much. It is also revealed that she has a granddaughter named Lauren who ends up dating Gabe. In "It's A Charlie Duncan Thanksgiving", it is revealed that she and Mr. Dabney had recently divorced. In the same episode, she flirted with the Duncan kids' grandfather, but broke up with him not much later. It is revealed that in "Make Room for Baby" that she does not know about the Internet.
- Debbie Dooley
- Debbie Dooley (Ericka Kreutz) is the Duncans' new neighbor. Her husband is Deputy Doug Dooley and has a daughter named Dede. She speaks with a strong Upper Midwestern accent. She first appears in "Monkey Business" where she becomes friends with Amy. Teddy and Ivy then takes Charlie and Dede to Make-a-Monkey, but Teddy ends up taking her diamond earrings. She then ends up losing them in Dede's monkey. Teddy then sneaks into her house and rips up Dede's monkey to find the earring, but is secretly watched by Debbie and Amy through a hidden security camera. She next appears in "Amy Needs a Shower" where Amy invites her to her baby shower but only because she can bake. Charlie then tells Debbie that Amy thinks she talks funny, causing her to storm out. She then appears in "All Fall Down" where it is revealed that she has a mommy blog, where she blogs about her family. She appears in "Rock Enroll" where Teddy invites her, Mrs. Dabney, and an old neighbor to help her with a question on her college enrollment essay, but instead, the 3 of them end up getting into an argument and they all storm out. She recently appeared in "The Unusual Suspects" where after a playdate with Dede, Charlie ends up getting an attitude with Amy. Amy then decides to talk with Debbie about it, but Debbie blames Charlie for Dede's attitude problem, causing the two to start telling fruit-related insults at each other and Debbie then storms out. Bob and her husband, Doug decide to talk to sort it out but the two end up getting into a fight. While Amy and Debbie try to break them up, they find out that Charlie and Dede got their attitudes from Mrs. Dabney.
- Beau
- Beau Landry (Luke Benward) is the newest employee at Bob's company Bob's Bugs Be Gone. He moved from Tennessee and was first seen in "Rat-A-Teddy". In "Charlie 4, Toby 1" Teddy helped him break up with his girlfriend in Tennessee. After the breakup, they hug. At the end of the episode, Teddy smiled in her video diary when she said Beau was single, showing that the two like each other. In "Teddy's Choice", it is revealed that Beau and Teddy are dating. Teddy and Beau break up in the episode "Bob's Beau Be Gone" because Beau moved back to Tennessee to work for another exterminating company.
- Jo
- Jo Keener[17] (G. Hannelius) is Gabe's tomboyish bully-turned-friend. She was introduced in "Boys Meets Girls", bullying Gabe before revealing she has a crush on him. Since that episode, she appears friendly with Gabe, assisting him with certain situations with an occasional wise-crack and insult at his expense. It is demonstrated that she is good with babies after taking care of Charlie. It is also revealed that Gabe also has a small crush on her but doesn't show it. In "Duncan's Got Talent", Jo played a trick on Gabe that almost ruined his chance of being class president. Earlier in that episode, Gabe revealed that he had had a dream about Jo, but he stopped himself before he could say what she did in it. In season 2, Gabe and Jo settle their differences in "Duncan vs. Duncan". According to Jo, she and Gabe have a complicated relationship. Jo no longer appeared in the series, since G. Hannelius started playing Avery Jennings in another Disney Channel sitcom, Dog With a Blog.
- Mary Lou Wentz
- Mary Lou Wentz (Ellia English) is Ivy Wentz's mother and Amy Duncan's friend. She first appears to be rather bland; but as the series progresses, she becomes more entertaining and vibrant. She is a skilled knitter; and, in "Ally Oops", she is shown to be a talented singer, performing the national anthem at a game. She has appeared in six episodes. In season 1, she appeared in "The Curious Case of Mr. Dabney" and "Butt Dialing Duncans;" and, in season 2, she has appeared in "Gabe's 12 1/2 Birthday", "Appy Days", "Ally Oops", "Amazing Gracie", and "Teddy on Ice". She is married to Harry Wentz, and their highly conservative and traditional ways easily creep out Ivy and Teddy. In one episode, Teddy visits their home; and they invite her to participate in a family sing-a-long of Row, Row, Row Your Boat (first in English then latter in German), eat liver and onions, and put together a big puzzle causing Teddy to leave the house in the middle of a snowstorm. Teddy arrives home practically frozen. In "Amy Needs A Shower", she hosts Amy's baby shower. Amy Duncan describes her as too perky.
- Harry Wentz
- Harry Wentz (William Allen Young) is the husband of Mary Lou Wentz and the father of Ivy Wentz, Teddy's best friend. Throughout the series, he has appeared in four episodes, three in Season Two: "Gabe's 12-1/2 Birthday", "Amazing Gracie", and "Teddy on Ice". Harry and Mary Lou do numerous creepy things which easily annoy Teddy and Ivy such as singing rounds of Row, Row, Row Your Boat(in German) and eating liver and onions. It is shown in "Amazing Gracie" that he had a car named Gracie that he was extremely attached to. He reluctantly sold it to Teddy before she crashed it. It is also shown that he and Mary Lou own a small cabin by a lake in "Teddy on Ice." In Season 3, Harry quits his plumbing job and starts a weather-themed restaurant.
- Skyler
- Skyler (Samantha Boscarino) is Teddy's friend and P.J.'s girlfriend. She first appears and was introduced in the episode "Girl Bites Dog", as a complete stranger to Teddy. Later Teddy finds out that she is Spencer's other girlfriend and they break up with him. She then appeared in "Teddy's Broken Heart Club Band", where she and Teddy record a mean song about Spencer to get back at him. Teddy and Skyler become good friends. She and PJ become a couple when she and Teddy enter a battle of the bands contest to compete against PJ and Emmett and also Spencer. She and PJ broke up in "PJ in the City", when Skyler had to move to New York due to her father's new job which required him to relocate. Skyler is a gifted guitarist and pianist, a talented singer, and is able to write incredible poems and songs. She has not been seen onscreen in season 3, but is mentioned by P.J. in "All Fall Down" when he was comforting Teddy over her breakup with Spencer. However, she is briefly seen in Season 4 in the episode "Good Luck Jessie: NYC Christmas" in which she gets back together with PJ because she was moving back to Denver for college.
- Jake
- Jake (Tucker Albrizzi) is Gabe's empty-headed best friend. He first appeared in "Pushing Buttons", where he bought Gabe's bike from him for $10. He then appeared in "Baby's New Shoes", where he went to a movie theater with Gabe and Teddy to help her expose an employee selling children age-inappropriate movie tickets in exchange for money. He also appeared faking a broadcast with Gabe at the end of the episode. He made another appearance in "Termite Queen", where he helps Gabe shoot a monster movie, and "Special Delivery", where he convinces Gabe to buy a video game over a toy for Charlie.
- Toby Duncan
- Toby Duncan (uncredited season 3, Logan Moreau season 4) is the fifth and youngest Duncan sibling. He was born in the back of an ice-cream truck Bob and Amy were riding in on the way to the hospital and Teddy helped deliver him. He and Charlie share the same birthday but she is three years older. Gabe came up with his name, and Gabe started to make a video diary for him to impress a girl. At the end he says "Good Fortune, Toby". In the episode "Special Delivery", Amy said "Welcome to the World Toby Wan Kenobi Duncan," suggesting his middle name is Wan Kenobi, a reference to the Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi. The July 12, 2012, Disney press release announcing season four stated that the role of Toby would be cast for that season (as by then he would be a toddler).[18] Logan Moreau (born January 27, 2012 in Los Angeles, California) was selected for the role in season four.[19] In the series finale, after thanking Gabe, Mrs. Dabney claims to see the same evil twinkle in Toby's eye that she saw in Gabe's and runs off, shouting that Toby is another devil-child, implying that Toby will grow up to become a troublemaker like Gabe.
- Lauren
- Lauren Dabney (Jaylen Barron) is Mrs. Dabney's grand daughter and later Gabe's girlfriend. They went on a date, but it did not go so well. Mrs. Dabney did not like them being together, but later approved. In "Futuredrama" Gabe broke up with her thinking she was going to dump him. After Teddy spoke to Lauren, she gave Gabe a second chance. It is shown that Lauren is very nice, which is what Charlie said when she found out Lauren was Mrs. Dabney's grand daughter, because the Duncans think Mrs. Dabney is mean.
- Karen
- Karen (Brooke Dillman) is Amy's heartless boss at the hospital. She first appears in "Monkey Business" where Gabe gives Bob a fake lottery ticket, causing him and Amy to think they are rich. Amy then quits her job but when Gabe finds out, he tries to convince Karen to let Amy return. When that backfires, Gabe gives her a fake lotto ticket, causing her to think she is rich so she then quits her job. She next appears in "Amy Needs a Shower" where Amy invites her to her baby shower to get an expensive gift because she married a rich guy. Charlie ends up telling Karen the reason Amy invited her, causing her to storm out of the house. She recently appears in "Teddy and the Bambino" where Amy returns to work and finds out that Karen is working there again as well because she's divorced. In the end, Amy quits her job again to become a stay-at-home mom. She is shown in season 4 episode "Bug Prom" where she is shown to be Beau's aunt. In this episode, Amy and Karen are shown to still hate each other.
- Vonnie
- Vonnie (Cyrina Fiallo) is a girl who is friends with Teddy. She first appears in the Season 3 episode, "T. Wrecks", when Teddy joins the girls' volleyball team. She later appears in the episode "Team Mom", when the volleyball team is on a losing streak and Amy is their new Team Mom. She is also friends with Kelsey (Coco Jones). In "Nurse Blakenhooper", she teams up with Teddy to do a project because she knows Teddy can get them a good grade.
- Kelsey
- Kelsey (Coco Jones) is a friend of Teddy who first appears in "Team Mom", where she becomes a member of Teddy's girls' volleyball team. She is shown to be an extremely perky airhead. She next appears in "Go Teddy!" where she gets Teddy to join the cheer-leading squad with her to go on their trip to the cheer-leading competition in Oahu. Teddy makes the team but it turns out that the competition is actually in Ohio. It is also shown that Gabe has a crush on her. She recently appears in "Rat-A-Teddy" where she asks PJ for advice on how to tell if a guy likes you, and actually receives good advice.
- Victor
- Victor DeLeseur (Kevin Covais) is the only friend of Teddy's who is smarter than her, but this given him a much bigger ego. He first appears in the episode, "Baby's First Vacation" when he helps Teddy put video feed in the home security system so she can have a party while the family is on vacation. He is dating Victoria. He reappears in "Teddy and the Bambino" to help Teddy win the Student U.N. Competition. Finally, in "Study Buddy", he preps Teddy for the SAT's since he got a perfect score. In "Baby's First Vacation", he is shown to have some dislike for Spencer, and also, Ivy does not get along with him. In the final episode "Good-Bye, Charlie", Victor goes to Yale with Teddy.
- Linda Duncan
- Linda Duncan (Shirley Jones) is Bob's despicable and overly perky mother, who regularly upstages Amy, and gives her son a great deal of attention and praise, two things Amy cannot stand (this could well explain Amy's disturbed need to steal the spotlight from all other family members). She has appeared twice, in the episode following Toby's birth and the third season Christmas episode, in which she brags about how she will be singing the same carol at the family talent show as Amy (probably after eavesdropping from the front porch), even trying to silence Amy during their agreed duet. Her cruel tactics include faint praise by her favorite expression "and whatnot," and making fun of Amy's "Ba-Bam!" catchphrase.
- Frank Duncan
- Frank Duncan (Alan Rachins) is Bob's father who appears in "It's a Charlie Duncan Thanksgiving". He falls in love with the mean neighbor Mrs. Dabney just after she divorced her husband. In the end of the episode they get into a fight and break up. He then goes back to Arizona and does not appear in anymore episodes.
Development and production[edit]
A lot of the high-concept shows have kids in an extraordinary situation where the parent or adult takes a backseat, and sometimes the adult isn't as smart as the kid, or it's all about the kids putting one over on the adults. But we have a new show called "Good Luck Charlie" that has a very different kind of concept. It is very grounded, very relatable, and it's not about the parents being dumber than the kids. We try and mine as much comedy out of the parents as possible, but it doesn't mean the kids can't learn from the parents and get guidance from the parents.
—Adam Bonnett, senior Vice President of original programming for Disney.[20]Good Luck Charlie was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who have been writing together since 1993 on shows ranging from Suddenly Susan to Sonny with a Chance.[25] The pair aspired to create a program that would appeal to entire families rather than simply kids. Inspired by the success of reruns of shows such as Full House and George Lopez with young audiences, Vaupen and Baker turned to family sitcoms. "We wanted to do a show about a family, to bring back a family sitcom and make it about a real family, not wizards, nobody's a pop star, nobody has a TV show", said Vaupen,[25] referring to Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana, and Sonny with a Chance.
Veteran writer-producer Dan Staley (Cheers) later joined the show as executive producer. Disney's Gary Marsh said "because most network television abandoned the traditional sitcom, Disney has been able to snatch up a lot of experienced talent for behind the camera, including executive producer Dan Staley..."[26]
Good Luck Charlie's central family, the Duncans from Denver, Colorado, was carefully crafted for broad appeal. While the series is still told primarily through the view point of the Duncan children, the children's parents, Amy and Bob, are less on the periphery and writers attempt to add scenes that adult viewers can relate to. For example, in one scene in the pilot episode Amy confesses to Bob that she is overwhelmed with becoming a working new mother again. "She's not sure she can pull this off", says Bonnet. "And just playing that scene the way we did, a very real scene between husband and wife, kind of makes this show different".[5] The writers also try to include jokes for adult viewers while remaining chaste enough for their young target audience.[5] Unlike most previous Disney Channel series such as Sonny with a Chance, Hannah Montana, or Cory in the House, both parents are seen in the Duncan family. "It felt like the right time to have a show with two parents, to debunk the myth that Disney never has the mom in the picture", says Adam Bonnett, Senior Vice President of original programming for Disney Channel. "Because it is a myth".[27]
Because a series about the rich and famous might alienate viewers in a troubled economy, the Duncans were made middle class. According to Gary Marsh, Entertainment President of Disney Channel Worldwide, "What we want to do is acknowledge the reality of the times in which we live, where two parents work
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