Zoey 101 (series)

This article is about the series as a whole. For information on the pilot episode, see here. For information on the video game, see here.

Zoey 101 (series)
Background Information
Genre	Teen sitcom, comedy-drama
Created by	Dan Schneider
Starring	Jamie Lynn Spears Paul Butcher Sean Flynn (Seasons 1-3) Kristin Herrera (Season 1) Christopher Massey Alexa Nikolas (Seasons 1-2) Erin Sanders Matthew Underwood Victoria Justice (Seasons 2-4) Austin Butler (Season 4)
Opening theme	Follow Me performed by Jamie Lynn Spears
Composer	Britney Spears
Country of Origin	United States
Language	English
Seasons	4
Episodes	65
Production
Executive Producers	Dan Schneider Bill O'Dowd Jan Korbelin (Episode 1-15) Jörg Westerkamp (Episode 16-65)
Location	L.A. California
Camera setup	Film, single-camera
Running time	approx. 23-25 minutes
Production company	Schneider's Bakery Apollo ProMovie Nickelodeon Productions
Broadcast
Series run	January 9, 2005–May 2, 2008
Network	Nickelodeon (original), Teennick (reruns)
Picture format	480i 16:9 (SDTV)
Status	Series ended, reruns

Zoey 101 is an American live-action situation comedy-drama television series starring Jamie Lynn Spears. The series was originally run as a TEENick show on Nickelodeon, beginning on January 9, 2005. Zoey 101 follows the lives of teenager Zoey Brooks along with several of her friends that attend the boarding school Pacific Coast Academy.

Zoey 101 was one of Nickelodeon's highest rated and most successful shows in the 2000s decade. The series won three Young Artist Awards, two Kids' Choice Awards and a Neox Fan Award. The entire series is currently available for purchase on DVD and on digital stores online, such as iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and Paramount+.

The show was initially filmed at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, then at stages in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California beginning Season 3. The future of the show came into question after Jamie Lynn Spears announced her pregnancy at the age of 16, however, filming of the series had already wrapped up by that time. Nickelodeon continued to air the series with its fourth and final season, which began on January 27, 2008 and ended on May 2, 2008. Reruns of the show were also halted on November 27, 2009. Reruns returned to TeenNick on May 31, 2010, and has run in syndication ever since. The series is available on Parmount Plus and some episodes are available on Nick.com.

Premise

The series centers around Zoey Brooks as she enrolls in Pacific Coast Academy, a school that previously only allowed boys to attend. Throughout the series, Zoey and her friends navigate life as teenagers in a boarding school. As the series progresses, the group of friends grows closer together.

Cast

Main cast

Actor	Character	Episodes	Seasons
			1	2	3	4
Jamie Lynn Spears	Zoey Brooks	65	Main
Paul Butcher	Dustin Brooks	25	Main
Sean Flynn	Chase Matthews	54	Main			Guest
Austin Butler	James Garrett	9	Absent		Guest	Main
Kristin Herrera	Dana Cruz	13	Main	Absent
Victoria Justice	Lola Martinez	50	Absent	Main
Christopher Massey	Michael Barret	64	Main
Alexa Nikolas	Nicole Bristow	26	Main		Absent
Erin Sanders	Quinn Pensky	62	Main
Matthew Underwood	Logan Reese	60	Main

Recurring cast

Cast	Character	Season(s)	Years credited	First Appearance	Final Appearance	Episode Count
Jessica Chaffin	Coco Wexler	All 4 Seasons	2005-2008	Defending Dustin	PCA Confidential	13
Jack Salvatore Jr	Mark Del Figgalo	All 4 Seasons	2005-2008	New Roomies	Chasing Zoey	28
Creagen Dow	Jeremiah Trottman	Not In Season 1	2005-2008	The Election	Chasing Zoey	12
Lisa Tucker	Lisa Perkins	3-4	2007-2008	Michael Loves Lisa	Chasing Zoey	4
Miki Ishikawa	Vicky	Only In Season 1	2005-2006	Welcome to PCA	Backpack	5
Daniella Monet	Rebecca	Only In Season 3	2006-2007	Surprise	Zoey's Balloon	3
Abby Wilde	Stacey Dillsen	3-4	2006-2008	Chase's Girlfriend	PCA Confidential	17
Brando Eaton	Vince Blake	3-4	2006-2008	The Great Vince Blake	Chasing Zoey	4

Episodes

Main article: List of Episodes

Season		Episodes	Air date
			Season premiere	Season finale
	1	13	January 9, 2005	May 1, 2005
	2	13	September 11, 2005	April 16, 2006
	3	26	September 24, 2006	January 4, 2008
	4	13	January 27, 2008	May 2, 2008

TV films

Film	Airdate	Episode #
Spring Break-Up	March 10, 2006	Ep 23-24
The Curse of PCA	October 13, 2007	Ep 43-44
Goodbye Zoey	January 4, 2008	Ep 51-52
Chasing Zoey	May 2, 2008	Ep 64-65

Production

Development

In 2002, Dan Schneider first had Jamie Lynn Spears audition for him at the age of 11 years old, after an executive at Nickelodeon asked if he would like to meet with Britney Spears' sister. At the time All That had just revamped it's cast, and he knew that casting Britney's younger sister "would bring a lot of attention to 'All That,' and it would be a good thing. [He] was just hoping she'd be good. In 2002, Dan Schneider first had Jamie Lynn Spears audition for him at the age of 11 years old, after an executive at Nickelodeon asked if he would like to meet with Britney Spears' sister. At the time All That had just revamped it's cast, and he knew that casting Britney's younger sister "would bring a lot of attention to 'All That,' and it would be a good thing. [He] was just hoping she'd be good." On September 21, 2002, Jamie Spears, as she was originally credited, made her debut on Nickelodeon in the premiere of Season 8 of All That. Midway through Season 9, in late 2003, Schneider had a meeting with another executive at the network who wanted to know if Schneider had any ideas for a spin-off series that could be built around Spears, like how Kenan & Kel, The Amanda Show, and The Nick Cannon Show were built around their stars. According to Schneider, the show was completely "custom made" for Jamie Lynn, and her mother Lynne, "had a lot of input."

In August 2004, Spears officially signed a development deal with Nickelodeon in which she would star as the protagonist in her own scripted television series that would air on the network. Spears stated that she can still vividly recall her first meeting to talk about the show, if only for the setting: Houston’s in Santa Monica, her favorite at the time. “We had dinner, and we talked about what Zoey should be like,” she says. “I just remember it being really important to me that Zoey had a tomboy side to her because that's who I was. I was 11 or 12 years old, so I didn't really have much opinion [on the business side] but I definitely wanted her to be very strong and confident. I do remember that.”

Casting

As show began casting, Paul Butcher was hired to play opposite Zoey as her younger brother Dustin Brooks. Actress Erin Sanders had auditioned for Nicole, the part of Zoey's best-friend and roommate, but the role was eventually offered to Alexa Nikolas. Keeping Sanders in mind, Schneider created the character of Quinn Pensky just for her. Sean Flynn, the grandson of film star Errol Flynn, who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood, was hired to play Chase Matthews, Zoey's will-they-won't-they love interest. Rounding out the cast were Kristin Herrera as Dana Cruz, Christopher Massey as Michael Barret, and Matthew Underwood as Logan Reese.

Departures

Kristin Herrera exited after the first season and being replaced by Victoria Justice for the rest of the series. In 2005, following the conclusion of the second season, Alexa Nikolas was let go from the show, following numerous fights and incidents with Spears and being bullied and abused by the cast and producers, with her character, In August 2005, it was reported that Britney Spears had confronted Nikolas about the feud, in 2022 Britney has apolgized. In 2007, following the third season, Sean Flynn left the show and was replaced by Austin Butler. Flynn stated in an interview that the reason he left was to focus on his education at the time, However, his decision to pursue school over the show is a decision he ultimately regrets, claiming it turned out to be a mistake.

Filming/Finale

The series was filmed on location at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, for the first and second seasons, which caused the series to be Nickelodeon's most expensive show to ever produce. For the third season, production moved to a sound stage in Santa Clarita, California.

The series officially ended production in August 2007 after the shooting of its final season, which began airing five months later in January 2008. Spears' pregnancy made this season controversial. However, the show was not cancelled due to her pregnancy. It was not until October 2007—two months after the final season wrapped production—that the Zoey 101 staff learned about her pregnancy.

10th anniversary short and possible revival

On September 18, 2015, the 10th anniversary of the airing of the season 2 episode "Time Capsule", TeenNick aired a short clip featuring Chase and Michael. In the clip, it becomes apparent that Zoey and Chase have broken up and he is now seeing someone else. When Chase proposes to his current girlfriend Alyssa (Jamie Snow), Michael storms in and informs him of what Zoey said on her DVD from "Time Capsule". The DVD reveals that Zoey suspected Chase's crush on her at the time, even before she went to England, and at some point even thought about getting together with him as she considered him her soulmate, but didn't act on it until after she went to England. This causes Chase, who is still in love with Zoey, to abandon Alyssa to find Zoey, with the clip ending on a cliffhanger.

On July 23 2019, rumors arose that a reboot of the series might be in the works. A week later, Victoria Justice, Erin Sanders, Abby Wilde, Matthew Underwood, Sean Flynn, Jack Salvatore, Jr., Paul Butcher, Christopher Massey, and Dan Schneider had an impromptu reunion dinner. On September 2019, Victoria Justice would say that nothing concrete had been established but that she's totally on-board for a reboot.

On November 21 2019, it was reported that Jamie Lynn Spears, Erin Sanders, Kristin Herrera, Sean Flynn, Matthew Underwood, Christopher Massey, and Paul Butcher would all star in an episode of All That's eleventh season. On October 2020, the cast made a reunion on TikTok.

Sequel film

Main article: Zoey 102

On January 12, 2023, Jamie Lynn Spears announced that production had begun on a sequel film entitled, Zoey 102, set to premiere in 2023 on Paramount+, with original series cast members Spears, Sean Flynn, Christopher Massey, Erin Sanders, Matthew Underwood, Jack Salvatore, Jr., and Abby Wilde reprising their roles. Production began in January 2023 in North Carolina. Nancy Hower is currently attached to direct, with Spears attached as executive producer. [1]

Controversies

Bullying

In August 2005, while visiting the set at Pepperdine University where the second season of Zoey 101 was being filmed, Britney Spears requested the show's talent coordinator, Ian Jordan bring Alexa Nikolas to Jamie Lynn's trailer to speak with Alexa about rumors, that according to Jamie Lynn, Alexa was spreading about the younger Spears. According to reports, Britney confronted Alexa and proceeded to scream at her. A representative from the Spears family later confirmed the confrontation, and said Britney, "...felt she was sticking up for her sister." The confrontation left Nikolas in tears, and was a contributing factor to her leaving the show. When interviewed by TMZ in 2007, Alexa Nikolas said she, "...left because of [an] uncomfortable working environment." Nikolas called the conflict between she and Britney, "a miscommunication," and said it was personal, declining to comment on it further.

When most of the cast got together for a reunion dinner on July 29, 2019, Alexa Nikolas considered it triggering. The reunion lead Nikolas to speak out about the working environment on the show, describing being bullied, excluded, and verbal abused in addition to being physically abused by Kristin Herrera while filming the last episode of season one. Alexa and her mother went to, " the producers for help on various occasions, but they didn’t take the bullying seriously," said Alexa. After the incident with Britney, Alexa was brought into a meeting with Dan Schneider, Nickelodeon and Viacom executives, where she claims she was gaslit the duration.

Jamie Lynn reached out to Alexa, apologizing for what happened between them on Zoey 101, and invited her to be involved in the new music video they were shooting for the show's theme song.

In her autobiography Things I Should Have Said, Jamie Lynn Spears claimed Nikolas was the bully on the set, and said that she had no memory of, "...ever bullying anyone." This sparked backlash from Alexa, in addition to other people who felt the book was untruthful including her sister , Britney.

DVD Releases

Title	Release date	Episodes
Spring Break-Up	May 19, 2006 (USA)	8,13, 23-24
Bonus features include season one bloopers, behind-the-scenes tours and two bonus episodes from the first season, "Quinn's Date" and "Little Beach Party".
Title	Release date	Episodes
The Complete 1st Season	February 13, 2007 (USA) November, 23, 2010 (Canada)	1-13, 37 (bonus)
This two-disc release includes all thirteen episodes from the first season. Bonus features include bloopers, original cast member audition tapes, and a bonus episode, "Quarantine", from the third season. Alexa Nikolas (Nicole) and Kristin Herrera (Dana) do not appear on the cover.
Title	Release date	Episodes
The Complete 2nd Season	August 29, 2008 (USA) January, 11, 2011 (Canada) September 10, 2008 (AUS)	14-26
(USA) Three-disc release, all 13 episodes, available just in Amazon.com, as a "CreateSpace" program of "Burn-On-Demand" DVDs. Alexa Nikolas (Nicole) and Paul Butcher (Dustin) do not feature on the cover. (AUS) This two-disc release includes all thirteen episodes from the second season. Released by Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand (Region 4).
Title	Release date	Episodes
The Complete 3rd Season	June 14, 2009 (USA) March 8, 2011 (Canada)	27-52
(USA) Five-disc release, all 24 episodes, available just in Amazon.com, as a "CreateSpace" program of "Burn-On-Demand" DVDs. This disc is expected to play back in DVD Video "play only" devices, and may not play in other DVD devices, including recorders and PC drives.
Title	Release date	Episodes
The Complete 4th Season	June 16, 2009 (USA and Canada)	53-65
(USA) Three-disc release, all 13 episodes, available just in Amazon.com, as a "CreateSpace" program of "Burn-On-Demand" DVDs. This disc is expected to play back in DVD Video "play only" devices, and may not play in other DVD devices, including recorders and PC drives.

Soundtrack

Main article: Zoey 101: Music Mix

Zoey 101 Soundtrack

Awards

Awards and accolades

Awards and honors for Zoey 101

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Template:Abbr
2005	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Breakout Show	Zoey 101	nominated	[citation needed]
		Choice TV Breakout Performance — Female	Jamie Lynn Spears	nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Children's Program	Zoey 101	nominated
	Casting Society of America	Best Casting — Children's Programming	Sharon Chazin Lieblein	nominated		2006	2006 Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite TV Actress	Jamie Lynn Spears	won
Young Artist Awards	Best Young Ensemble Performance In A TV Series (Comedy or Drama)	Sean Flynn Paul Butcher Kristin Herrera Victoria Justice Christopher Massey Alexa Nikolas Erin Sanders Jamie Lynn Spears Matthew Underwood	won
2007	2007 Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite TV Actress	Jamie Lynn Spears	nominated
	Kids' Choice Awards Germany	Favorite Actor/Actress		won
	Fave Nick Show	Zoey 101		nominated
	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance In A TV Series — Leading Young Actress	Jamie Lynn Spears	Template:Nom
		Best Performance In A TV Series — Recurring Young Actress	Erin Sanders	Template:Won
		Best Family Television Series	Zoey 101	Template:Nom
		Best Young Ensemble Performance In A TV Series	Jamie Lynn Spears Paul Butcher Sean Flynn Victoria Justice Christopher Massey Erin Sanders Matthew Underwood	Template:Nom
	Casting Society of America	Outstanding Achievement in Casting — Children's Series Programming	Krisha Bullock	Template:Nom
	2009	2009 Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite TV Show	Zoey 101	Template:Nom
		Young Artist Awards	Best Performance In A TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Supporting Young Actress	Erin Sanders	Template:Nom
2013	Neox Fan Awards	Best Neox Kidz series	Zoey 101	Template:Won

Trivia

• Despite being a sitcom, the show is more like a teen's drama series. Indeed, the show is often referred to as a dramedy which we don't see in modern sitcoms.
• Zoey Brooks is the only main character who is present for all 65 episodes of the show; Dustin is absent for 40 episodes; Chase does not appear in season 4, except for "Trading Places" and "Chasing Zoey;" James only appears in season 4; Dana only appears in season 1; Lola is not introduced until Season 2 and is absent in "Haunted House," and Season 3's "PCA Confidental;" "PCA Confidential" is the episode that Michael is absent in; Nicole only appears in Seasons 1 and 2, Quinn does not appear in "Defending Dustin," "School Dance," and "PCA Confidential;" and Logan didn't appear in "Defending Dustin," "Quinn's Date," "Spring Fling," Backpack," and "PCA Confidential."
  • The order of these characters is based from greatest to least, how many episodes out of all 65 episodes they are present for:
    • Zoey: 65; Michael: 64; Quinn: 62; Logan: 60; Chase: 54; Lola: 50; Nicole: 26; Dustin: 25; Dana: 13; and James: 9.
• Jamie Lynn Spears and Alexa Nikolas share the same birthday April 4th: Jamie Lynn born in 1991 and Alexa born in 1992.
• This is Dan Schneider's only show without a laugh track, or other studio audience sound effects, due to the fact that this show is more of a drama.
• Season 3 is the longest season with 25 episodes. Every other season aired for 13 episodes each, except Season 4 because it has 14 episodes.
• Throughout the show's four-season run, Nicole, Dana, Dustin and James are the only main characters to not end up with a boyfriend or girlfriend.
• Jamie Lynn Spears (Zoey), Paul Butcher (Dustin), Christopher Massey (Michael), Erin Sanders (Quinn), and Matthew Underwood (Logan) are the only main characters to appear in all four seasons as a main role. Sean Flynn (Chase) was a main character in Seasons 1-3 but only appeared in 2 episodes of Season 4 as a guest star. Kristin Herrera (Dana) was a main character in Season 1. Victoria Justice (Lola) was a main character in Seasons 2-4, she does not appear at all in Season 1 due to Dana. Alexa Nikolas (Nicole) was a main character in Seasons 1-2, she does not appear in seasons 3-4.
• Jessica Chaffin (Coco), Jack Salvatore Jr. (Mark), Christopher Murray (Dean Rivers) and Brian Tee (Kazu) are the only four recurring characters to appear in all 4 Seasons in the show.
• Austin Butler is the only actor on the show to have played more than one role: Danifer, and James Garrett.
• Contrary to popular belief, Zoey 101 did not end due to Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy : the cast and the producers had decided that the show was showing its age, so they wrapped up filming in August of 2007. It would be a year before the series finale aired (this is a common mistake made by many, as they assume filming ended in 2008). Spears did not announce her pregnancy until October. It should be noted that Spears gave birth to her baby after the final episode aired. In a 2012 interview, Victoria Justice confirmed that she, and no one else, had even heard about Jamie's pregnancy until after production had wrapped up, joking that it was good timing.
• Stacey, Coco, and Carl are the only characters from Zoey 101 to appear in another show later on. Stacey appeared in two iCarly episodes (iStart a Fan War and iHire an Idiot) as well one episode of Sam and Cat (#MadAboutShoe). While, Coco and Carl appeared in the Sam and Cat episode "#FirstClassProblems". Quinn's name was briefly heard in the iCarly episode "iWas a Pageant Girl" but she wasn't seen and the voice sounded nothing like the original Quinn.
• A predecessor to Zoey 101 is "Moody's Point" a recurring sketch that aired on The Amanda Show. "Moody's Point" parodied "Dawson's Creek," as well as other cheesy teen dramas of the time. Like Zoey 101, the series was serious in terms of the story, but the dialogue was meant to be comical. Dan Schneider attempted to create a full TV show based on this sketch, but was unable to convince Nickelodeon, thus he considers Zoey 101 the successor series. He has noted that if Moody's Point became a TV show it would have been in the same vein as Zoey 101 but with more absurd dialogue and characters.
• Two actors who would later go on to star in the hit tv show: Glee, appeared on Zoey 101, Harry Shum, Jr. played Roy in Trading Places, and Kevin McHale had a recurring role as the nerd Dooley.
• The working title of the series was Totally Zoey, but it was changed due to Dan Schneider finding it too cheesy. The name was a reference to "Totally Kyle" from The Amanda Show (played by Drake Bell), and would be used again as Totally Terri in the iCarly episode "iTake on Dingo."
• Originally, Dana was to become Logan's girlfriend, but when Kristin Herrera left the show, Quinn took over this role.
• Since iCarly and Victorious established a crossover, along with the fact that Stacey Dillsen guest starred in iCarly, all three shows exist in the same universe.
  • Additionally, Sam & Cat is a spin-off show of both iCarly and Victorious, meaning that it is also set in the same universe as these three shows. Stacey and Coco would also appear in Sam & Cat. Amusingly, this means that there are three Victoria Justices (Lola, Shelby Marx, and Tori Vega) in the same universe.
  • A notable concept is that iCarly can be a 'prequel' to Zoey 101. In the episode iWas a Pageant Girl, a girl says that her name is Quinn Pensky. In Zoey 101, it is revealed that her character competed in pageants when she was little, meaning that the events of iCarly happened prior to Zoey 101. However, there are several other things that contradict this theory, so it may be impossible as well.
  • Miranda Cosgrove's and Jennette McCurdy's roles as Paige Howard and Trisha Kirby are similar to the actresses' respective roles on iCarly. Carly Shay and Paige Howard are both intellectuals and well behaved, while Sam Puckett and Trisha Kirby are both uneducated and obnoxious.
  • Victoria Justice's and Daniella Monet's roles as Lola Martinez and Rebecca are similar to their roles on Victorious. Tori Vega and Lola Martinez are both well behaved, while Trina Vega and Rebecca Martin are both sassy and attitudinal.
• Every Zoey 101 season resulted in a cast member leaving and being replaced with someone else (i.e. Dana Cruz doesn't return in Season 2, Lola appears in her place for the rest of the series, Nicole leaves after Season 2 and Quinn takes her place in Room 101, and Chase was replaced by James Garrett for a majority of Season 4.

External links

• Zoey 101 (series) at the Internet Movie Database
• Zoey 101 at TV.com