6teen


6teen is a Canadian animated sitcom originally produced by Nelvana, with the final season produced by Fresh TV. It premiered on November 7, 2004 on Teletoon. In the United States, the series first premiered on Nickelodeon on December 18, 2005, and was removed from the schedule on May 13, 2006. The show later relaunched on Cartoon Network on October 23, 2008 through June 21, 2010.
With the first 78 episodes and both 45-minute-long specials produced by Nelvana, 6teen ended with a total of four seasons of 95 22-minute-long episodes. The series finale aired on February 11, 2010 and included an acoustic version of the theme song by Brian Melo. DVD and iTunes releases have been made in both Canada and the United States, and the first 4 seasons are available on the streaming service Tubi TV. A special reunion PSA titled "Vote, Dude!" was released on September 12, 2018, with the original cast reprising their respective roles to raise awareness for voting in the 2018 US midterm elections, though no plans to bring back the show have been announced.

Plot

6teen is an animated sitcom for older children, preteens, and teenagers. The plots take place almost entirely in a gigantic shopping mall known as the Galleria mall. The Galleria mall is a cross between the Toronto Eaton Centre and the West Edmonton Mall. The series follows the cast of six 16 year-old friends in everyday lives, including their first part-time jobs.
6teen is focused on the common problems related to teenagers. The main characters are: Jude, Jen, Nikki, Jonesy, Caitlin, and Wyatt. They deal with first crushes, first jobs, first bank accounts, and a sweet taste of freedom. Nikki finds herself stuck working at The Khaki Barn, a store where she would not shop herself, while Jen has found her dream job at a sports shop, but makes some mistakes. As a running gag, Jonesy manages to get fired from a new store in almost every episode with a few exceptions. Wyatt falls hopelessly in love with his older co-worker. Jude works at the hockey rink as a Zamboni driver. Caitlin endures the daily humiliation of working at the lowest store in the mall's hierarchy of cool – The Big Squeeze, a lemonade stand shaped like a giant lemon, where she's required to wear a hat shaped like a lemon as a part of her uniform.

Production

6teen is created and directed through the use of a 2D digital software package known as Harmony, which was developed by the Toon Boom Animation studio in Montreal, Quebec. Because this software ensures smoother animation and eliminates the need for black trace lines, the program can be fashioned entirely on computer without the use of paper.
6teen is scripted by a team of writers which includes series creators and directors Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch, along with Sean Cullen, and George Westerholm. On the subject of their work, McGillis concludes:
The show's principal characters were designed by Brad Coombs. Original music is composed by Don Breithaupt and Anthony Vanderburgh. There are seven main cast members who voice 6teen. Brooke D'Orsay performs the voice of Caitlin, while Stacey DePass performs the voice of Nikki, Megan Fahlenbock voices Jen, Jess Gibbons voices Wyatt, Christian Potenza voices Jude, and Terry McGurrin voices Jonesy. Jamie Watson provides the voices of Coach Halder and Ron the Rent-a-Cop.

Characters

Character nameVoiced byDescription
Jude LizowskiChristian PotenzaHe is an easygoing Jewish Canadian boy with a knack for extreme sports, over-the-top comportment and pranks. A younger version of Jude is featured in the Total Drama spin-off, Total DramaRama.
Caitlin CookeBrooke D'OrsayShe is a peppy, spoiled teenage girl with a love for shopping. She is not originally a part of the group, but became their friend when she started working to show her father she can earn money after she maxed out her credit card.
Jonesy GarciaTerry McGurrinHe is a tall, Mexican Canadian flirtatious teenage boy, the joker of the group and in a relationship with Nikki Wong. He also picks on Jennifer Masterson and calls her "step-sis" because his father eventually marries Jen's mother.
Nicole 'Nikki' WongStacey DePassShe is a rebellious punk Chinese Canadian girl with a quick, sarcastic wit and is in a relationship with Jonesy Garcia. A younger version of Nikki made a cameo appearance in the second Total Dramarama, "Duck Duck Juice".
Jennifer 'Jen' MastersonMegan FahlenbockShe is a responsible, athletic girl that serves as the "motherly tomboy" of the group. Her mother remarries to Jonesy's father, reluctantly making the pair step-siblings.
Wyatt WilliamsJess GibbonsHe is a Black Canadian music-loving boy with a caffeine addiction.

Episodes

Canada

United States

Reception

Throughout the show's run, 6teen has received critical acclaim. In the winter/spring of 2005, the program ranked among Teletoons' Top 10 for children ages ten years old and up in both English and French markets. It was also the only Canadian production to be nominated for a Pulcinella Award in 2005 under "TV Series for All Audiences". Furthermore, on June 2, 2007, 6teen received an award from the Alliance for Children and Television for being the best of children's television to fall under the age group of nine to fourteen years old that year. Carole Bonneau, vice-president in charge of Teletoon's programming, has remarked about 6teen:
In Canada, the show garners about 2.5 million viewers each episode. In the United States, 6teen's ratings were around 1.8 million viewers each episode, and ratings held there and then even increased, making it one of Cartoon Network's top shows. The highest rating 6teen received on Cartoon Network was 3.7 million viewers, on Thursday, June 11, 2009, immediately after the season premiere of Total Drama Action. As time went on, 6teen began a slow drop in ratings. The 6teen series finale, which aired on June 21, 2010, received a total of 1.6 million viewers, which is lower than previous 6teen episodes.
In 2009, the show won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song for its theme song, "6teen", which was performed by Phil Naro.

Censorship

Because 6teen was targeted towards a more mature audience, certain episodes were deemed too risque or inappropriate by American channels Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. This led to 24 episodes being censored or pulled in the United States. With Canada's legalization of same-sex marriage occurring around the time of the show's release, many episodes of 6teen included references and innuendos to homosexuality, all of which were censored in the US. Other censorships and bans in the United States included a plotline that centered around shoplifting, and nude images that were modifed from the show's original blur-out to a full black bar.

Home releases