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Even Stevens
Promotional poster
Format	Teen sitcom
Created by	Matt Dearborn
Starring	Shia LaBeouf Christy Carlson Romano Nick Spano Tom Virtue Donna Pescow A.J. Trauth Margo Harshman Fred Meyers
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	65 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	David Brookwell Sean McNamara (season 3) Dennis Rinsler & Marc Warren (episode 10+) Matt Dearborn (season 3)
Running time	24 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Disney Channel
Original run	June 17, 2000 (2000-06-17) – June 13, 2003 (2003-06-13)
Chronology
Followed by	The Even Stevens Movie

Even Stevens is an 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. The story takes place in Sacramento, California. Re-runs currently air on Disney XD.

Characters

Main characters

• Louis Anthony Stevens (Shia LaBeouf) - An immature and trouble-making seventh grader, Louis is the youngest of the family. Unlike his perfect siblings and equally perfect parents, he can't seem to find his place, but Louis always comes through for his family and friends when it matters most and sometimes, sets things he's done wrong in the end. Consequently, he is often involved in practical jokes, get-rich-quick schemes, and finding ways to infuriate his sister. He is often viewed as crazy and causes many disasters. His best friends are Tawny Dean and Alan Twitty. Louis and Tawny Dean eventually become a couple. Louis has Youngest Child Syndrome. Louis eventually became taller than Ren.

• Renee "Ren" Stevens (Christy Carlson Romano) - A perfectionistic and intelligent eighth grader, Ren is the middle child. 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 The Wombat Report, as well as a member of her school's Cheerleading squad for a few weeks. Ren is the editor of the School Newspaper and the Yearbook, a Straight A Student and also the highly valued assistant to Principal Wexler. Despite her ranking as top student in the class, Ren did get sentenced to, and served, detention on at least one occasion. Ren's favorite color is Purple and she eventually became the shortest next to Eileen.

• Eileen Stevens (Donna Pescow) - A successful no-nonsense, Jewish American 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.

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

• Donald "Donnie" Stevens (Nick Spano) - Ren and Louis's athletic big brother. Donnie is highly concerned with his appearance and a little bit of an airhead, although he excels in many sports. Donnie's favorite color is Blue.

• 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 is on the Basketball team and the Baseball team, plays guitar, and also has success with girls. Twitty's catch phrases are "Dude." and "Sweet.".

• Tawny Dean (Margo Harshman) - Louis's other best friend, and eventually his girlfriend. Tawny at first has no friends and is an outsider, until she meets Louis. Tawny usually dresses in goth clothing, unlike her classmates.

• Thomas "Tom" Gribalski (Fred Meyers) - Louis's 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. He called his mother by her name Doris. He also show much affection for his never-seen mother, Doris. However, in Season 2 Doris is seen playing the piano when Tom's auditioning for SASSY.

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 inventive ways to get out of there). Ren is his student assistant, while Louis drives him crazy.

• 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, is proven true. He is the trouble-maker to the family (even more annoying than Louis) and may be a little Louis.

• Jewel (Megan Miyahira) - Ren's best friend from the first episode of "Even Stevens". After "Swap.com" Jewel isn't seen or mentioned again.

• Charlotte (Shannon Marshall) - Ren's best friend in the first season of "Even Stevens". After "All About Yvett" Charlotte isn't seen or mentioned again.

• Carla (Lisa Foiles) - A girl who looks up to Ren. Carla is Marla's best friend. Carla and Marla are both on the Newspaper Staff with Ren and Ruby. After "Quest for Coolness" Carla isn't seen or mentioned again.

• Marla (Krysten Leigh Jones) - A young African American girl who looks up to Ren just like her best friend Carla. After "Quest for Coolness" Marla isn't seen or mentioned again.

• 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 and in that same episode she had a crush on BBMak.

• Coach Terry Tugnut (Jim Wise) - The gym coach who is always tough on Louis but crazy about Donny, Larry, and food. He loves to eat. Once he weighed over 300 lbs. He is frequently the victim of one of Louis' 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 best friend. Is a very happy and perky person. She, Ruby, and Nelson are as popular as Ren. Monique takes many things to extreme limits. Monique has a Southern accent.

• Larry Anthony Beale (Eric Tyrone Hodges II) - Ren's nasty, popular, charismatic, know-it-all rival in school. He hates Ren badly but Larry is an Army brat and he 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. Deep down Larry is jealous of Ren, and thinks of Louis as somewhat as a threat, but he'd never admit it.

• 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 best friend who seems to be allergic to everything, as evident by his overprotection of himself when outside. Is fluent in French. Becomes a recurring character. He is usually with Ren, and at times Donny, but has only once even talked to Louis

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 name 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 on the new WGN America at 4:00 am on Wednesdays and Fridays, along with Lizzie McGuire during the week. On Jan 7, 2009, 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. On Jetix Latin America it airs every Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon. In Britain, Even Stevens was screened on BBC2 and BBC1 (unlike most Disney Channel Original Series, this has never been shown on Disney Channel UK - although the channel has shown The Even Stevens Movie). As of 2009, it is now shown on CITV.

The series was removed from the Disney Channel's schedule in late 2006. In 2009, Even Stevens returned to television after a three year absence on Disney XD.

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

• Even Stevens at the Internet Movie Database
• Even Stevens at TV.com