life with derek season 1 part 1: it's about to get weird

We're introducing the premise, characters, actors, and first episodes Life with Derek, the Canadian sitcom that made us all ask the question: would you date your step-brother? Consider this a 'we watched it so you don't have to' series, where we're going through the most impactful episodes and giving each one a sibling tension rating (which we really should have called a Dasey scale).  We hope you enjoy our look into Canada's most notorious blended family.

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Transcript

Get home from school turn on my TV who are these friends staring right back at me now that we're older why don't you come over and go back in time with me 90s babies nostalgia 

hi I'm Amanda 

And I'm Jessica

and this is 90s babies nostalgia where a couple of 90s babies rewatch and sometimes watch for the first time a tween entertain me from the early 2000s

Just to be clear We are not sponsored by or affiliated with any of the channels shows actors brands that we talk about we just really love talking about Tv and today we are talking about life with Derek

season 1 today we are going to be going through the intro and a couple of the first episodes in season 1 of this canadian sitcom But before we get into it Jessica what have you been enjoying lately

well Billie Eilish's new album just got released yesterday at the time that we're recording this um hit me hard and soft I have only listened to it 1 time through have you listened to it yet

No I didn't even realize it came out but I haven't listened to any of Billie's albums I just listen to like the the singles

You've never listened to the full album of when we fall asleep where do we go

Ooo I Maybe listened to it with I don't think so though but I know like ah most of those songs have been released You know like on the the glad of those have videos Anyway no I don't 

Oh my god 

I am an album Girlie I Appreciate an album I Love a concept album Billie's just not an artist I've ever like sought out the albums to listen to

fair Well I Highly recommend this one I'm not gonna name off any favorites because I don't know yet I need to give it at least 2 more listens it's only 10 songs which I would say is my only complaint but it does have a 43 minute runtime which I feel like is perfect for an album I like an album that you can like listen to in 1 setting and when it gets more than like 50 minutes is too much lunch is going to be the song of the summer it's the song of summer you're gonna be hearing it all throughout pride month you are gonna be hearing it at all the bars Um road trip like it is a summer song it's about to be a summer anthem like I also love that with this album she didn't release any of the songs as singles she wanted to present it as 1 piece of art So everything came out at once it's awesome

Love that Maybe I do need to listen to it if she like felt so strongly about it being an album

It's definitely way more similar to when we fall asleep where Do we go compared to happier than ever So it feels like she's getting back to her roots of that first album Um it's great Give it a listen I'm sure most of you have But if you haven't Go listen what have you been enjoying

I also have something that I'm sure everyone else has already enjoyed but you have not which is that bridgerton season 3 is rocking my world it as of recording this is Quite new still and it's not okay It's not rocking my world in like the sexy way I think it will I think it will get there that the previous seasons have done I think that it had a harder Challenge because this is the only season where we knew both of the protagonists going into it and like we've known from before from the first series that they were going to have their own series if they if the show was popular enough and by series I mean season The brits say series for season and and then I just use them interchangeably because I watch a lot of love island anyway I think they had a harder job But what's really because you're not It's not like there's no mysterious mystery or intrigue of like a new person But what is really rocking my world about it is I just love shondaland I love the representation Always There's been a little bit of disability rep like in this series on very very side characters but just the biggest thing is like watching Nicola Coughlin be a leading lady In what is a big romance show a steamy show She said in interviews that she asked for some of her nudity like she made a choice to be very naked in some of her scenes because she should be like The same accepted despite her body like she's round She's stunning She's a beautiful woman but she has a round face and a like visible double chin and like a slightly pudgier body and she's shorter Compared and none of those are bad things That's not a judgment but in my programmed brain from growing up that does not say leading lady if she doesn't have like an angular face and like you know doesn't constantly look like she's saying the word Prune So it's just been really fun with my little brain watching her in scenes where she's being lusted after by a traditionally handsome man and my brain is like this is weird and I have to be like no it's not this is f*cking Awesome

Yeah yeah it is awesome I will not be watching it but I'm glad that you're enjoying it and I'm glad that Um it's giving you more than just a fun show

I won't I won't make you try to watch it unless we do something for the podcast about it

Yeah that's fair

Getting into life with Derek guys We have said it in our previous episodes I'm so excited for this because I watched this growing up but jest did not if you're not aware life with Derek is 1 of just a handful of Canadian shows That were originally produced for the family channel which is the canadian version of Disney Channel essentially except as of like 2019 they don't have their disney license anymore because a new channel got swept under anyway but they showed a lot of Disney channel shows over there and then In return around this time Disney licensed a few of their shows life with Derek Naturally Sadie those are the 2 that were at the same time and then my babysitter's a vampire was one of them 

Oh yeah yeah yeah

Yeah that was a canadian production as well I don't know why like I tried googling I tried being like Why when Disney Channel made so much original content would they just like randomly license these three shows and I could not find any why

Yeah I tried to look too and there's not really much on it

before I say the summary that I wrote down which I thought was kind of good What did you think life with Derek would be about

Yeah okay so here's the thing is now that we've watched I've watched the bulk of season 1 there are definitely scenes where I was like I remember this being in promotional material like I have never seen this entire episode none of the episodes I watched did it ever click that I had seen it before um 

Um but you've seen the next week on Yeah

but certain clips I was like oh this looks familiar I guess Knew it was going to be a sitcom I didn't realize it was going to be co led 

Okay

and I did know ahead of time that it was about a blended family But that's really all I knew

I guess because you knew it was about step siblings Did you realize that it was such a large family 

Yeah

Okay so with that live with Derek is a brady bunch-esque sitcom paying homage to the Brady bunch even in their opening sequence with Door colors about a blended family It picks up when teenager Casey Mcdonald and her younger Sister Lizzie and mom Nora move in with the venturis after Nora and George Venturi a lawyer who has 3 kids teenager Derek tween edwin and 7 year old Marti from a previous marriage They all move in together It is right when the show picks up so they're already married You don't get to see them get married and the show primarily focuses on casey's difficulty adjusting to a new family house city and school particularly as she butts heads with derek In every episode which I part of me is like kind of bitter that it is co led but I would say it is predominantly casey's show a little bit more than derek's yet it's life with derek he gets to be in the title I think Casey would call this sexist if she knew what her show's title was

Yeah yeah I didn't really notice that but my husband did call that out because he watched a couple episodes with me and he was like okay this is all from like Casey's perspective and like she's the main character which I was like I would argue It's co-led He was like yeah but the focus seems on her a lot and why is the show called life with Derek I like I dunno it didn't bother me I was like I like I think it's fine

Ah I think it's fine It just a yeah season one aired on the family channel September eighteenth 2005 through January Twenty Six 2006 um the show takes place in London Ontario it is

I believe it was filmed in Montreal or in Quebec

Yeah it was created and EP-ed by Daphne Ballon ah Christina Jennings and Scott Garvie as we go through this a lot of these Shows that these people are known for are canadian shows so they're not as familiar to me and some of them are smaller shows but this is a very connected group of actors executive producers creators writers Because they all have worked on like you'll see the same shows show up like 5 or 6 times at least so Daphne was the writer and executive producer on most of these but of I was a sixth grade alien life with Derek vacation with Derek Star falls Murdoch Mysteries and life with Luca which some of these are like spinoffs of life with Derek and then Christina Jennings is known for creating and writing regenesis screech owls dark oracle the Murdoch Mysteries strange days at Blake Holsey high um life with Derek vacation with Derek Life with Luca like so many things and then Scott Garvie produced many of these same things that I already said As well as carmilla the moblees and hudson and rex the theme song which we need to get in to is livin in life with derek sung by cheyeene twiner and performed by gary koftinoff it's composed by Gary and Ron Proulx Gary Koftinoff and Ron Proulx I don't know it's french Gary received a film and Tv music award for best score Um for non animated children's Tv program for this song and he's well known He's known for his works on dark Oracle Hartland saving hope hudson and rex so it was a very well received theme song at the time and it was award winning it Took me about 4 episodes to like it the first few times I listened to it I was like I hate this and it's terrible

I Thought that you might and I kind of hoped that you would I have to say it's like it's very iconic to me in that It's very catchy It does what I like which is it It tells you what the show is about versus we didn't have that with suite life But listening to it I was like this is terrible 

It's bad

even though yeah like I think the part of me that likes it is more of a nostalgia thing and that it's so catchy I find myself singing it when I'm not watching it on like the weeks where I've been watching a lot of episodes for the podcast but the recording of it sounds Like it was recorded underwater 

Yeah

and no offense to the singer but it's not the nicest voice to listen to

Yeah I agree it fits the show but the first few times I was like I immediately wanted to hit like skip I was like I don't know about this but I was like no I need to listen to it for the pod and then after The fourth time I was like okay I think I kind of get it You know 

Uh huh do you skip

not anymore No 

Ohhh wow

yeah I tried to listen to 

It really won you over

well yeah let's wait until we get to season 4 I might be over it by then

I don't know if there is a 4th season

Yeah there's four seasons right 

Oh I don't know if there's 3 or 4

I think we determined there was four because both of us were like oh my god why are there so many seasons Yeah there's 4

to be fair I will probably also be skipping it by season 4

yeah 

the intro of the show like while the song is playing Is just the kids and the the cast like playing around in front of a blue screen right Yeah so it doesn't show you clips of the show like Raven did it's more like the Lizzie Mcguire theme song both in production quality and in what's going on In the like sequence 

Yeah I'd say maybe slightly better than Lizzie Mcguire with the big red ball but only slightly

Yeah yeah because you see their dynamics a little bit more in the life with Derek one 

Yeah yeah

and also the life with Derek one tells you what the show is about 

Yeah which is helpful

the other notable thing about life with Derek I'd say that sets it up is its editing style It has these cut scenes that are Interspersed throughout each episode where it's like they're non-verbal and it's usually like Casey and Derek butting heads over a chair with a crown or sometimes the other kids are there and they're like pulling each other It's like A literal representation of the emotions that they're going through in their current dynamic

Yeah I would say it's like what Lizzie Mcguire does with the cartoon version of Lizzie except non verbal and the actual actors themselves but the cartoon version of Lizzie is her brain and that's what life with Derek is also doing with these cut scenes But it's the actors themselves in acting like acting out what's going on

Yeah in a very weird removed not real way 

Yeah

I completely forgot they did this I think the first one that happened in the show I was like oh right That's going to be a thing

Yeah I do feel like that was a style for that time

yeah I'd say so it feels pretty indicative of the time

Yeah where now you're like oh I don't know if this would be a choice if the show was created today but I didn't like it didn't bother me or anything I was like oh this isn't a choice 

Yeah I don't mind it actually I think they're kind of cute 

Yeah sometimes they're really cute

They also use a lot of sound effects during the show during actual scenes like when Derek and Casey are fighting and 1 of them wins a point like with the parents you'll hear like a boxing match ding like someone's won the round There's other sound effects that get thrown in there as well and then during the final credits you get to see the bloopers which I think just all of those are like the style of the show It's quite

It's a sitcom but it's quite it takes itself seriously sometimes but it's very comedic I enjoy it because I like silly things cast Our leading lady is Miss Casey Mcdonald who is 14 years old at the start of the show played by Ashley Leggat who or leggat I don't know who was 18 she is the oldest daughter of Nora Mcdonald the narrator of the show Very type a and you wrote dancer

That's what when I wikied it before I watched it That's what they said but we haven't seen any dancing yet guys Maybe we'll get to it in a later season

I think we will but I'm not sure it just like that I read that word and it tickled my brain

I know I I wrote these before I watched it and I didn't go in and edit them so I'm hoping that they're accurate Ashley Leggat so her start was in professional theater at a young age Um and she performed with like a well-known child's theater called Theater Aquarius and did like the sound of music lion witch and the wardrobe cinderella anne of green gables Um and then she went on to appear in confessions of a teenage Drama Queen in 2004 and then did a Tv movie a very married Christmas and played the series lead Kat Adams in ace lightning She had a few other recurring characters in smaller tv films um as well prior to getting her role as casey

Derek Venturi the titular Derek is also 14 years old he is the eldest son of George Venturi and he's played by Michael Seater who was 18 at the time as well

she said the oldest son He's also known for being playing hockey Um he's a big prankster that's like a big and just like he likes to stir the pot

He's also the popular kid in school and

Yeah that too

cannot be bothered in most things

Yeah um he was a child actor who began um acting in the late 90s in short films and tv films including the title character in the series Mattimeo a tale of redwall He also played Spencer Sharpe in the zack files and Lucas Randall in the strange days at blake holesey high um and he starred in the 2000 and film the prize winner of Defiance Ohio

You you said a 2000 and film

2005 film is what I meant

George Venturi is 44 He's the father of Derek Edwin and Marti he is a lawyer a bit of a stereotypical man and he is divorced And he is played by John Ralston who was 40 at the time Wow playing up

so he became interested in acting when he was studying for his degree so he got his diploma in jazz studies and kind of was like oh I think I'm into this acting thing He starred in a few films in 2000 prior to life with Derek including the role of Jack berg in the city and he also played Jack Avenir in the strange days up blake holsey high

Our mother is Nora Mcdonald who is 38 she is the mother of Casey and Lizzie She's a window treatment specialist Apparently I didn't even know that

Yeah that's part of the plot in multiple episodes 

Really

Yeah 

I've never noticed

okay 

I don't okay and she is also divorced and newly remarried to George and she's a pretty levelheaded mom I'd say she's similar to Lizzie's mom

Yeah I think she has a very close relationship with her girls and she's navigating how to be a step mom But yeah she's she's very like you can tell she is making thinking about the decision before she makes it in terms of Interacting with her kids 

Yeah and she was played by joy Tanner who was 39 at the time

Yeah and Joy got her start in the late 90s as a commercial actor after moving to Canada and then she moved from commercial acting into Tv acting and so she played Cheryl Anne in boogies diner George Fayne in 1995 Nancy Drew Tv series um and then she also voiced Candy Kong in Donkey Kong country but a lot of Donkey Kong things which I thought was funny Um and Jill stone in cold squad

our mid- well not mid younger child on the Mcdonald's side is Lizzie Mcdonald who is 10 years old she is Casey's younger sister and she's a bit of a tomboy she likes to play soccer and is much more level headed than casey honestly kind of too good of a sister for her but that's chill and she was played by Jordan Todosey However that's pronounced who was also 10

she has done things after life with Derek but the only thing that she really did prior is she starred alongside Michael Seater In the prize winner of Defiance Ohio

countering lizzie on the venturi side we have Edwin Venturi who is 11 and was played by Daniel Madger who was 13 at the time Edwin is classic middle child He's Edwin's younger brother But they do have another sibling on the venturi

Derek's younger brother

He's Derek's younger brother but they do have another sibling on the venturi side and he's a bit of a nerd He likes technology and he's pretty smart and he's a negotiator you know he's not afraid to switch sides to the Mcdonald's as long as he won't get in trouble with Derek But he does do whatever Derek bribes him to do

Daniel had a few one offer rols in Tv series including an episode of the famous Jett Jackson And he also was in x-men 

Oh small role I'm sure I was just surprised 

Small small all role Yeah

Yeah yeah the youngest venturi is Miss Marti Venturi who was six years old

I love her

I was I was wondering if you would I thought you would

Ah she's perfect

she is really just your youngest sibling like she's 6 like that's her whole personality is she's 6 She has imaginary friends She likes to pick scabs She hyper fixates on things and she says it like it is

She really loves cats

She does really love cats and she does have a good relationship with all of her siblings but especially Derek

Yeah yes Ariel Waller also starred in Cinderella man in 2005 as Rosemarie Braddock other than that though this really was like their first standout recurring role

Yeah and we'll cover this more in the wrap up But I don't think that Ariel continued acting after Derek

A lot of them didn't 

Yeah

spoiler

Casey's best friend is Emily Davis who is 15 and she is also the Venturi's next door neighbor Emily is I don't know I don't I she doesn't have that much of a personality like she's similar to Casey but less uptight she cares a little bit more about being cool She has a crush on Derek because he's the popular guy But she's not committed to 1 guy Don't get me wrong She's not like cool at all but she's not uncool

Yeah and Emily is played by shadia simmons who's 18 at the time of filming Um she starred in the color of friendship as piper dellums she played October wilde in I was a sixth grade alien She also played Nebula Wade in zenon the zequel

I have to just interject here so she is the girl so Raven plays nebula in the first zenon and the third zenon this is not a question This is a disclaimer for the listeners because I'm aware Raven plays nebula in the first and the third but in the second she did get replaced Why No one really knows and Raven on a podcast recently talking about zenon seemed to not know herself that she was replaced in the second one this is the girl that replaced her in the second one don't hate her for it Disney does some weird sh*t Ok I will not stand for any slander on shadia Simmons name because The color of friendship and Zenon raised me

along with many of her co-stars She also starred in strange days at Blake Holsey high and also in ace lightning

And then a last of our main cast Not last of our main cast sorry we have two more I just forgot Sam was at the bottom there Paul Greebie is the guidance counselor slash computer science teacher At the high school that casey and Derek go to and another thing that I completely forgot about this show is that every single episode Casey has a meltdown in the guidance counselor's office because in the very first episode her mom makes an appointment with him for her because she's like You're really going through it You should maybe see the school guidance counselor and so he's like not really to be taken seriously but he does offer some wise words he really just kind of grounds her when she whenever she's at her peak Casey moment in the episode

yes he also I feel like sometimes the advice he gives contributes to some of the chaos that is later to come

Okay but that's also to do with Casey's interpretation of his advice 

Oh yes yeah yeah Thousand percent I'm not saying it's bad advice I'm just saying that his character is there to kind of set that up as well

Yeah but he's definitely a little ill equipped for the job of Guidance counselor which is set up from the beginning when she's like you mean the computer science teacher but just know if we don't mention him in a summary he is in every episode

Yeah Paul was played by Arnold Pinnock who was 37 at the time he actually started in sketch comedy at Toronto second city main stage Um and then he starred in quite a few tv shows and Tv movies The only one really of note prior to 2005 was twitches Yeah

Yeah I saw he was in that and then last and kind of least is Sam Richards who is 15 and he's Derek's best friend He's on the hockey team with him He doesn't really have a personality He's a nice guy He has sisters and He likes Casey in Casey likes him

And Sam was played by Kit Weyman who was 18 at the time kit also played sulley and degrassi the next generation in 2003 as well as was part of a hip hop duo Called two left with his cousin which like is very hard to find information on but apparently was a Canadian thing I don't know 

That's so Canadian 

Yeah

like a couple of white guys in a hip hop duo and their cousins and I just 

yeah that's why I had to include it in the summary Like it feels unimportant but also very important Yeah

Also when you know what he looks like guys if you're watching I'll put a photo of him in the video but he's just like he's so white and he has a big ass head which I think about every time I watch him and he kind of gives like trouty mouth that Was a glee reference

well getting into our episodes We're just gonna cover a couple in this one we are gonna cover the first episode of season 1 the room Casey and Lizzie are setting up their new room in their new house in the venturi household but it is so cramped in there There's no space for anything There are boxes on top of boxes with things that look like they're going to fall off the boxes on top of that like it is chaos

Like guys they're talking about it being cramped and you don't see it at first and then later you see it and you're like oh sh*t like where do they even go

Yeah like there is no space for them in this room and so Casey is trying to get Nora and George to do something about it so she opens up to Nora being like I have already been through all of these changes like I have a new family I'm in a new house I had to move towns I'm at a new school And on top of that now I'm being crammed into a space like I don't even feel welcome in my own household and so Nora is like you know what I'll talk to George about it and so George offers her to still have her bedroom in the same room with Lizzie the cramped one but to offer her a separate Place to study in the basement but she turns that down because she's like basements are creepy which she's not wrong

She says I believe her words are that base- she finds basement soul crushing

Yeah then we go to school where casey learns she has to also share her locker but that's where she meets Emily who they'll become best friends and at school she kind of learns that like Derek is cool and Emily thinks he's hot and a lot of the girls think he's hot and Casey's not really sure how she feels about this She's like this is weird and then at later in the afternoon she tries to get out of her appointment with the guidance Counselor Paul but he convinces her to stay and chat For a few minutes and he tells her you know maybe you need to take action with this room thing It sounds like you're talking to everyone but maybe what you need to do is take some action So what does casey do

she comes in strong in the first episode we get our first casey family meeting where she sits everyone down and she gives a presentation and she proposes that she gets Derek's room and he moves into the attic with Edwin which I'm sure that you realize Derek would never go for this even though we are talking about the very first episode It's what teenage boy would and also this is his home that he's been living in his entire life kind of crazy of her instead Nora and George kind of double down on they can renovate the basement and she kind of devises it in her head that she's going to agree to this because if she makes it seem like she wants the basement then Derek will want the basement and then she can have Derek's room so she's like yeah yeah yeah guys go ahead and so they renovate the basement in a weekend and it comes out pretty cool actually and she's like thanks guys this is so fantastic and Derek's like you know I'll be the you have you've done so much I'll be the good brother And move into the basement and you can take my room and then she she messes up by agreeing too enthusiastically and too quickly because as soon as she agrees Derek's like wait a second and the parents are like wait a second and everyone rises up and so Parents decide that Derek and Casey have to fight in the basement until they come to a conclusion about who is moving down there and they leave them down there without food Yeah

But instead what ends up being decided is George and Nora decide to take the basement and give casey their room

I do want to say while they were fighting that they came to the Casey agreed that she would take the basement because she realized that her mom and George are so happy and she felt like she was messing everything up by causing all this tension
 
Yeah true

so that's our first summary of life with Derek it really sets the tone for we didn't mention this really but Casey lived in Toronto they moved to London which is a ways away still not Like super far But it's a couple hours I'd say by car I think and Casey went to an all girls school and now she's going to a co-ed school like they have substantially changed and then on top of that all girls school living with her mom and her sister It's been a very female life and the venturis Their only female is six years old being raised by a pack of wolves they're a very masculine house and so this is where 

yeah including Marti including Marti 

oh yeah yeah because she is what she's been taught So This is where the majority of the conflict of the series comes from 

Yes yeah

which I kind of get because I myself live in a very feminine energy and I can't imagine melt like melding it with a masculine one

No even me like I am married to a man but like 1 of the huge reasons that it works and I picked my husband to marry is he grew up with his mom and his 2 sisters for majority of his Growing years and so he was raised in a very feminine household so he has a lot of feminine attributes to him um to grow up in that sort of environment or even casey to not grow up into it for 15 years and then to be thrown into it I also would react the way she's reacting like it's a little crazy but I'm like you know you got thrown into crazy So what did they How did they expect you to act

I Just have to say like this is not important at all but getting into our actual notes like the egg scene is so disrespectful 

I Don't remember what happens with the eggs

This is like middle of the episode Nora makes scrambled like a big skillet of scrambled eggs for everyone for breakfast and every single child is like no I'll just have cereal like I want to have cereal and they all have their own different bowls and then finally Derek comes down last And George is like Nora made eggs and he starts shoveling them into his mouth out of the pan and they're like those are for everyone and so he spits them back out into the pan which whatever classic Derek like that's rude but to me just the fact that like if my mom made eggs I would not be allowed to say I want cereal Like she made eggs I am supposed to eat the eggs like it's so rude that everyone's like a no no no you made like 12 eggs but I'll just have cereal

Yeah no I agree it is rude especially like she's trying to fit into like Nora is also trying to fit in to this new role too like 

Yeah

and so that's like her trying and everyone's like eh cereal screw You there is one part where when they're trying to talk about what to do with the rooms and Nora is like well casey does make a point like the attic is bigger Derek could move up there George is like we are not kicking Derek out of his room and she and he basically says like He describes Derek as a lifetime project 

He says long term project 

Oh really

Yeah because I rewatched this one today So I made that comment but I forgot to press confirm on the comment until just now 

Oh okay okay lifetime or long term project is better than Lifetime project that makes more sense But Still a long term project I was like really but then also I'm like well what are children if they're not long term projects

Really and I do like that He's realistic like I don't really know why Derek's such a a jerk but he is a jerk

Yeah having to share lockers sounds so annoying We went to a high school where we didn't have lockers But if I had a locker I wouldn't want to share

That was going to be my note was we didn't even have lockers so it'd still be better than nothing 

I don't know

But also we didn't need them because the way our campus worked like it would have been even more of an inconvenience probably to have them because then like you have to constantly

Yeah imagine having a walk like 10 minutes just get to your locker 

Like even if we put them in a central location 

There's no central location

Sometimes your classes are actually near each other and then you'd have to like leave and in yeah it wouldn't yeah it wouldn't have made sense for us but still I agree if you but also who's realistically bringing that much stuff to school like your locker wouldn't be that much of a mess if you just took stuff home

Yeah it's true But I think people who have lockers rely on having a locker So That's why they put like pictures up and like I dunno because it just becomes an extra place to store junk and I feel like sharing It with another person who also is using it as an extra place to store junk just sounds terrible 

It sounds very intimate 

Yeah it does

I do like that while Nora is navigating this new role as step mom and a wife second wife to George she does still Step up for her kids and like advocate for them So like when they're having the family meeting and casey's talking about the room stuff and it's like what she's asking about is ridiculous to the venturis and they're all like we would never kick Derek out nora's also like ok but also Casey has given up a lot You know like she doesn't she's not afraid to interject 

Yeah totally

she kind of waits her turn and then does 

Mhmm she's very strategic about it  

Mhmm and I love that

I don't remember who says this or how it comes up but the 

George

Concept of sleeping on it Oh George says that they should just sleep on it and I just got to say that that's a concept I stand by sometimes really the solution is just f*cking sleep on it

Yeah this is the one where they that's when they have the family meeting and they're all getting heated up and Nora's like well why should Casey have to give everything up and he's like let's sleep on this and that's how the meeting ends it is a good It is a good way to just calm down clear your head and also sometimes I don't know about you guys But I got ADHD So I wake up with random ass thoughts

but it's also like sometimes sleeping on it means you come up with other solutions that you wouldn't have been able to come up with in the moment 

Oh that's what I meant is that I'll just like randomly have like like 10 hours later my brain will go like I won't have even been consciously thinking about something and my brain will suddenly be like we could have done this 

Yeah 

The biggest like this would never happen of this episode is that they said and did they renovated a whole ass basement into a bedroom in one weekend

And by renovated we mean the walls were not insulated 

Yeah it was an unfinished basement 

There were just some beams creating some separation and they didn't finish the hole basement You can see when they go down the stairs that part's still unfinished but they had to put up walls It's too much work

in one weekend and they didn't hire a contractor or anyone outside It's just the family doing it

And George is a lawyer who repeatedly cannot fix things in this show like that's part of the thing when he's like oh we can fix up the basement and they're like the way you made that bird house that like collapses 

Yeah

Yeah it's it's crazy I was like What in the Hgtv like what is this house swap What's going on

Yeah yeah it's wild

So because life wtih derek we have not touched this topic at all yet actually which is kind of crazy kind of crazy We're talking about life with derek like it's a normal show right and it is a normal show It is realistically a normal show guys be cool be normal but there is like this lore about it 

Yeah

jess knew of it before watching it because it's a blended family and our leads are 2 same age teenagers of the opposite sex who were constantly butting heads which Has led the fans to interpret their relationship as being quite flirtatious 

Yeah

because they're step siblings They just met I mean they probably didn't just meet We actually don't know how long George and Nora were together and how long their kids knew each other before they got married but it Feels very much like they all just met like 

yeah 

this flirtation and like tension is something that permeates throughout the series that like the actors knew the fans picked up on It's never written into the script but the actors then maybe influenced it as the show progresses because yeah the ship name is dasey It's one of the most It's like 1 of the top 10 most popular ships on Ao3 always like even though this show ended Fifteen years ago

That's crazy 

dasey is still like a top 10 or top 20 pairing on archive of our own which is the fan fiction website

so for this we're gonna do like a sibling flirting scale for each episode and I just want to remind you all I have never seen the show before so I'm gonna have a different opinion than Amanda And got to say guys off the bat I don't get it I don't get it I don't get it I don't get it I don't see it I just don't see the flirting I don't know why I don't see it I wrote this one 2 out of 10 maybe I feel like I'm being generous

And because I watched the show and like growing up I was like 10 what 10 or 12 watching the show when I was like why do I want these two step siblings to date I knew it was wrong I was old enough to know it was wrong But I also was old enough to recognize that internally I felt it and I wanted them to be together and it was very confusing and conflicting and I'm still not sure I've processed it fully but because of that I have a lot of nostalgia and bias So I'm not going to Maybe give my own rating I might influence Jess's a little bit but I'll leave her with the 2 out of 10 for this one I think that it's fair My one of my first notes though was why are they so flirty from the jump

When when

I ok I think this is Michael Skeater's fault 

Okay okay we can blame him

that's his name right Michael's 

Seater

Seater sorry my bad I think this is Michael Seater's fault because he just like plays Derek with a smirk all the time and one of the first times that Derek and Casey butt heads in this episode He's just like standing in a doorway smirking at her and I'm like oh why is this kind of kind of flirty 

Okay

yeah I feel like that's what it is I think it

yeah he does play it with a smirk that is true That is how he plays the character

Yeah I think it's more to do with him than her for sure though 

we'll see where it goes

I also I just cannot emphasize enough that they are step siblings with no blood relation who have not been raised together They're both 15 and just moved in together and

Yeah 

We're not promoting this relationship It's just a part of the show that we have to talk about

yes yes getting into our quotes when Casey is upset about her room She sits down and writes a letter To her mom and she goes uh mom I left a letter on your dresser since you don't reply to my emails and her mom responds and goes like the one with the subject line Divorce george

Which is so messed up

Which is the balls like she's 15 here who knows how she old she was when she sent probably around the same age but the balls of a 15 year old girl to title an email divorce George and send it to your mom

and it was probably like mom I cannot go through with this move I cannot leave my friends in toronto therefore the only solution is that you have to divorce George And I'm I'm terribly sorry I know that you really love him But there are lots of eligible bachelors in Toronto and I'm sure any of that would be a great fit

Yeah that's exactly what the email was the other one I wrote down is a Marti quote sticking with it We said Marti really loves cats and I just enjoy that she loves cats and one of her lines when Speaking of the egg scene when nor is trying to give everyone eggs Marti replies cats don't eat eggs Unfortunately

Yeah because not only does she love cats which by the way the venturis don't have a cat She thinks she is a cat she is playing life as a cat half the time 

Yeah

so that cats don't eat eggs unfortunately is her reason for not eating eggs

Yeah because she can't possibly eat the eggs because she is a cat

yeah as are we all Another Marti quote is that one of those mornings she walks down into the kitchen and she goes I have an announcement I'm not wearing socks I said I'm not wearing socks

Yeah

Like her lines are so random

They're so random but it doesn't feel It is definitely there for comedy like she is written to be that com- like comedic lift in the episode But it feels so in tune with what a 6 year old would be like raised in the environment that she was raised in that it doesn't feel like it's just there for comedy's sake like it feels like a real character but they're also hilarious

Yeah like of course a 6 year old thinks It's very important that she's not wearing socks and also really needs the attention of the room when they're not giving it to her so she just raises her voice because they need to know

Yeah yeah

And then our final quote from this episode is from Derek when he realizes that Casey has been trying to outwit him he says since when did the keener become the schemer which I had to write it down because it just felt very canadian 

Yeah I don't even know what that means

ok see see I have a few words in my head That I never know if they're Canadian or both and Keener is one of them that I always forget is Canadian and I think I called someone a keener recently in public and then I was like wait a second No one knows what I'm talking about it's just like ah you're keen you're It's a nerd

Okay 

Like it's nerdy because you're like overly keen to like be a like a goody goody

Ok like eager but more so

Yeah but I'd say calling someone a keener is similar to calling someone a goody goody or a brown noser It's like you're trying so hard to be the good kid in an adult's eye 

Okay okay

anyway Episode number 3 the fall Oh and disclaimer these episodes we are going through them in production code order but they were not aired in production code order but they are on streaming in production code order So you're welcome Doesn't mean we won't Maybe have continuity issues the fall at school casey's walking down the stairs Derek's walking up the stairs with his friend Sam who had just said that casey's cute but Derek was like you're blind and Derek Comments to casey nice outfit who died and I have to say this part because Jess just wrote Derek comments nice outfit That's not what he says he says nice outfit who died 

Okay

to Casey and then because of that because that is an insult

Yeah

She then gets frustrated and falls down the stairs and takes like 5 students with her and ends up with her head on someone's butt 

Butt yeah

and Derek being the supportive step brother that he is says nice job klutzilla which then becomes her school nickname the next day at school There's an announcement about dressing for stair safety and they even name her 

which is so mean it's so mean

Yeah because someone was like I think Emily was like well maybe they don't know it's you and then they're like thanks to the Casey Mcdonald rule and even the guy whose butt she landed on his dad is a lawyer and he's suing her for posterior trauma Blunt Posterior trauma

later on in the living room when they're all at home casey gets introduced to Sam um and they're having a conversation and she ends up tripping and falling on this like It's not construction cardboard house that Marti had spent all decorating she ends up falling on it and crushing it and poor Marti is crushed Later on casey's like really upset about this She storms upstairs and so Lizzie goes talks to Derek and it like you need to like help casey out like her reputation is now ruined at school and part of this is your fault since you started Well you said the insult and you started the nickname klutzilla And he kind of offers to help but also he's like it's not me It's Sam She has a crush on sam and anytime he's around is when she trips And so later on at school she has this grand idea to fix her reputation by giving a speech to the entire school and both Derek and Emily are like we need to stop this but they she will not listen to them and so Derek gets Sam to interfere As she starts her speech and pull her away to just walk her to class 

She's such a keener She's such a keener that she wants to give a formal speech and Emily's like this is a bad idea and she's like no I can win them over 

Yeah

No yeah the last note on this is that which we didn't mention It's Opened the episode opens up with this and ends with this is that for the last two weeks that Casey's been going to this high school Derek has completely pretended that he does not know her 

Yeah he's ignored her

and yeah he's ignored her He's not told anyone that he knows her only Emily knows because she's friends with casey And then finally at the end of the episode as part of his trying to help casey out because he's cool He admits that he is her step brother and he tells some of the nerds like hey leave her alone spread the word She's my stepister Which is brings us to our first note

Yeah just that's weird that Derek ignored her for two whole weeks like I get they have this tense relationship I get he's the popular kid and she can potentially ruin his reputation because of how like goody two shoes She is However It's still strange

I actually think it's pretty realistic I think 2 I think longer than two weeks would be weird longer than 2 weeks I'm like ah this is a very much a show plot But for 2 weeks for like just like a a teenager who's like I'm embarrassed by this person and also they're brand new in my life But also who is it harming if I just pretend that I don't know them It's not like she's like wanting to run around holding hands 

Sure I guess

I think like I like if I just think that a teenage boy would Do that because he just is amused by himself

Yeah see I see it more as like a reputation play 

Mhmm

like he is afraid of ruining his reputation and that is why he as the cool kid So that's why he doesn't want to associate with her

I Think there's a bit of that but I he seems very confident in his reputation and a lot of that comes from how much he doesn't care So I I don't know how much that Is a factor as much as he knows that it probably annoys Casey and that amuses him 

The canadianisms the sorrys kill me because she falls down the stairs and you just hear a cacophony of sorry sorry sorry that's how they say it That's how they say it in Canada guys and it just I Used to have classmates who would say sorry guys and especially the ones from ontario they just say it the most stereotypically and if you're from Ontario listening to this like hi I love you our friends from pop capsule pod are Canadian and I love you guys I lived in Canada for 3 years that's why I can't stop making fun of you

I Also like the way they say bag But I haven't heard it on this show yet But just

Bag a bag

yeah it's like they add an E in there

a bag Yeah that was the one that I wasn't expecting when I moved there and then my roommate did it and she was like what do you mean I say it weird and I was like you say it weird 

Yeah

the schadenfreude of this all of this whole episode is very real and very funny to me because just like the whole episode while Casey's worried about her reputation at school all of the adults are trying to cheer her up never by helping her but just by saying hey listen to this Really embarrassing story of a time when I like also did something really dumb and people thought it was funny and she even goes to Paul and is like you have to cheer me up by telling me something terrible that happened to you 

Yeah

and then he does

he does Yeah in this episode I liked Casey's relationship with her mom They have a scene where they just like bond over what she's going through and she opens up to her And she talks about Mr Larson which is one of Casey's current teachers and how um her mom kissed him but they use the term necked and I was like is this a canadian thing but based on what I googled It's just a term that she used her kissing but I had never heard necking

Yeah I googled it too because I know it I think it's more maybe common 

Like old

Yeah it's like 70s like our parents Gen for the US But I feel like I've heard it from Like Love Island like I feel like it might be a little more current in other english-speaking countries

Got it Okay that makes more sense because I knew what it like I wasn't I had to look it up but I was like I'm pretty sure this means kissing but I was like I just have never heard like necking be used because they used it multiple times in that conversation

Yeah I feel like I can hear it I can hear it in an Australian accent in my brain There's this scene where Casey's doing an at home aerobic workout in her room and it's just such a vibe like she's got the sweatband on and she's doing these like really good form punches and yeah it felt it was a vibe

Yeah

I did also like in this episode as part of the whole episode that all the adults are giving funny stories right But after Nora George does come and check in on casey and tell his story and And just liked the co-parenting of it You don't often see them alone together

I enjoyed that too We see kind of throughout the series too that like there's 1 episode I think we're talking about in particular where you see it but like Nora and George are really trying to make this work like they are really trying to adapt to Being this blended family they love each other but they are like this is as new to them as it is to the kids and you can There are certain moments where you really see them trying to navigate how to do that Best together

Yeah and they mess up a lot and that's a common plot point throughout the series especially season one I've noticed even in some that I didn't show you but it is really refreshing to watch them struggle and try their best and just They're not perfect parents but they're trying and that makes them good parents I also just really enjoyed the dynamic of like the younger sister siblings and the older siblings But I feel like they're definitely going to have complexes from that like if we had a proper like life with Luka is the um little 

Spinoff

it's not even a spinoff I feel like it's like a movie spinoff It's like Derek and Casey their families when they're older And neither Edwin nor Lizzie are in it I haven't seen it This is just what I know off the top of my head I just feel like a true a true spinoff would be following Edwin and Lizzie in their like

Yes 

Corporate jobs where they're miserable and they go to a lot of therapy

yeah I also would like to just see Marti as a teenager like Marti but 17 

I would like to see Marti as an adult

yeah that too

getting into our sibling flirting scale I rated this episode a zero out of 10 guys I don't get it You're this is gonna be a common thing I don't get it Someone helped me get it

I gave it a 1.5 out of 10 because the kindness that Derek shows her and this is one of the first episodes where I think you see him step up for Casey in a way that he doesn't really want to but you can tell that he does Feel a kindness towards her It can be construed as a sibling way as it was I'm sure written but it is there is a lingering where he's like watching her in the hallway and it's also because Sam says that she's cute and Sam is The common denominator that makes her klutzy right But also Derek insults her every time Sam's around so it starts this wondering of like why does Derek care so much if his friend likes casey

Sure 

So I gave it 1.5 because it's all indirect But I feel like it's planting seeds 

Yeah

quotes from this episode one of the early on Marti Gems is remember last year when I barfed it had yellow chunks in it

yeah

don't remember who said this but I loved it What's wrong with being emotional probably casey 

no this was Nora this was during the family the dinner where they were talking about how Casey has been going through it at school and Edwin and Derek were like oh is she being emotional again and Nora Like turns to Georgia and is like what's wrong with being emotional like what are your sons saying

yeah 

when Sam comes over to the house and he sees Casey he's like I thought you said that you didn't know her and Derek says recent accident my marriage 

So mean

I know but I love the way he phrased it

one of my favorite Marti Quotes from this is um they are speaking pig latin and Marti Goes Pigs speak latin

that's it for our first 3 episodes to get a good feel for it I do want to give a little shout out to episode 2 house of games because it made me cackle with Marti's line this is one where I texted jess and I was like I had to pause I was laughing so hard and I was hoping you would identify the line but then I didn't sign the episode So I just have to give it a little shout out because she has an imaginary friend in this episode named Daphne and Casey at one point is accidentally stepping on Daphne and so she Moves over and she tells Marti tell Daphne that I'm sorry and Marti just very plainly says too late You hurt her feelings She hates you

I Love her so much so much

I think the first episode I was like on the fence about how wild this child is going to be and then she said that in episode 2 and I was like I'm absolutely in love with this little girl like she's so funny 

She's great

too late you hurt her feelings She hates you which actually becomes Part of the plot throughout the rest of that episode of like well Daphne hates Casey so

Oh my god 

also just a weird note in that is that during a little There's a scene where George and Nora are kind of bickering and George accidentally calls her abby in the midst of this bicker which is the name of his ex-wife and I think it's the only time in the season that we hear that name

yeah 

so thoughts Jessica mostly I want to know what are your first impressions of the show and characters

I like it It's in the same vein of the shows We've watched so far but completely different 

Agreed

at the same time so it feels refreshing

how do could you expand on that at all like what makes it feel different because I know for me but I would like to
 
I think it's the dynamic that a lot of the plot either takes place in basically 2 places It's either at the house or at school 

Sounds like Lizzie and Raven

Yeah but Because of that we get a lot of more time with the characters and because it's such a large cast of characters I feel like we just get a lot more personality and conflict in interpersonal relationship building that we Haven't been able to get from other shows because I feel like there's not a lot of like shenanigans like suite life where they're getting up to nonsense all the time like all those things that happen even though there are pranks and there's tension and like you know the main part of almost every episode is Casey and Derek butting heads It's butting heads in a way that would happen in the situation that they're giving It's not because they're going to do something outlandish so it feels a little more grounded I think

yeah it's very interpersonal I Really like that I I wrote this is somehow like an annoying show yet the most charming and Grownup show that we've watched

Yeah totally

I really wasn't sure how you were going to feel about it when I started the rewatch because I forgot how absolutely insufferable both Casey and Derek can be but as annoying as they both are I think the writing is really good I think All of these characters Yeah some of them were a little lacking in personality Some of the younger kids we don't see as much of them We might later on We might not I don't really care but Casey and Derek especially are written in a way that even when they're annoying you like really understand them and they usually come around and it doesn't feel contrived It doesn't feel like Oh Ha Ha She had to learn a lesson That's the lesson of this episode Really it just feels like teenagers kind of

Yeah yeah it feels like a Tv-fied version of reality of if this was a happen in real life These are the sort of things that would happen and then of course it's escalated to make it entertaining to watch But it's not like outlandish or ridiculous or like this would never actually happen like they're just doing this to make a point you know it feels real

Yeah which is what a sitcom is supposed to be sitcom stands for situational comedy You put some characters in a situation and watch what happens 

Yeah

I do have a funny little side Note I don't know how you watched it I've been watching it on freevee if you don't know guys you can watch it for free on freevee which is part of prime and a lot of these episodes or scenes from these episodes I should say look like they were filmed underwater in 2005 I don't know why

Okay I felt like they looked like they were filmed in 2005 I'm personally not getting the underwater vibe 

No

But I'm also watching on freevee

they look like they were in a sauna They look like the lens lenses had not been cleaned in 20 years they were just like sweaty grimy

Ok I don't I'm not getting that

How do you feel about our characters in life with Derek with like Derek Casey or obviously we love Marti the the parents like is there anyone that stands out as someone you really like someone you really don't like

I like Casey and Derek I don't think either of them are likable characters But I like that both of them are not likable

They're both unlikable and likable at the same time

Yeah I would like to especially since we get four seasons see more development especially of the middle kids because like as we said Marti's thrown in there for comedy She's also 6 so she can't really contribute to the plot all that much because she's 6 but I would like to see a little bit more development of Lizzie and Edwin because I feel like typically when their characters are used It's to develop the plot further with Casey and Derek so I would like to see maybe more of just them

I do really like that they are the middlemen that neither of them are above going to bat for their older sibling by blood neither of them are above telling their older sibling by blood when they are messing up I Really like what they do for the family dynamics and they seem to get along the best of anyone in the house when it comes to the venturi Mcdonald Crossover 

True

but I agree that it would like be nice to see more of who they are as people

yeah

I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it up next we are going to be covering the rest of season one most of but not all of the episodes

as always please please please please rate and review wherever you watch your podcasts follow us on social media on Youtube and Instagram at nineties babies nostalgia spell out the word nineties we are Also on Tiktok but use the numericals there and with that we will see you in the next one bye

Nineties babies nostalgia