It's all you ever hear. Look like this, think like this, be like this. How do you fight it? We started our own radio station. We keep our identities secret. It gives us the power to say what we want, as loud as we want. - show's intro
Radio Free Roscoe is a television show about four freshman in high school who are fed up with three things: the pressure put on people incessantly to conform, the positively lame garbage disguised as music that is played on mainstream radio, and not having a voice. Radio Free Roscoe is born.
The four main characters are Robbie McGrath, Lily Randall, Ray Brennan and Travis Strong. Robbie is the idealist of the group, independent, assertive, and not afraid to fight for the principles he believes in. Travis is the philosopher; he is constantly quoting Buddha and is the voice of reason within the gang. Lily is the group's musician (she's a singer/songwriter and later has a band, No Man's Land) and the only girl. Ray is the comedian whose antics somewhat mask a truly caring, intelligent individual.
The series begins with auditions to work at Cougar Radio - the radio station of Henry Roscoe High School that's basically controlled by Principal Waller. Robbie and Travis, the new kid at school, both try out and are accepted, but soon become disillusioned with how "the voice of Radio Free Roscoe" is run, and quit. With Travis's technical know-how, he and Robbie decide to start up their own underground radio station, enlisting Robbie's long-time friends Ray and Lily as well. The station's headquarters are a small deserted area in the warehouse district of their city. A permit filed to broadcast bird watching allowed them their location on the airwaves, and their voices are disguised so their identities may remain a secret. RFR is broadcast on 88.1 at 4:00 PM every day, with the group using alaises so they can speak freely on anything they want and not be found out by Waller. Robbie is called Question Mark because of his inquisitive nature (he begins each show with, "I'm Question Mark, and I'm wondering..."). Lily's alias is Shady Lane, a song by Pavement, which was what inspired her to start playing the guitar. Travis is called Smog, an amalgamation of Smirk Dog, a name given to him by Ray. Ray had the most difficult time coming up with an alter-ego for himself. It was finally decided that he should be Pronto because it was the opposite of how he really was - a procrastinator who was constantly late.
Radio Free Roscoe aired on
The-N and The Family Channel. It was not picked up for a third
season.
Cast:
Nathan Carter - Travis Strong/Smog
Ali Mukaddam - Raymond 'Ray' Brennan/Pronto
Nathan Stephenson - Robert 'Robbie' McGrath/Question Mark
Kate Todd - Lily Randall/Shady Lane
Victoria Nestorowicz - Parker Haynes
Steve Belford - River Pierce
Garen Boyajian - Ed
Sara Farb - Jennifer Peoples
Sally Gifford - Jack's Girlfriend
Natalie Manuel - Pinkhead
Hamish McEwan - Principal Waller
David Rendall - Ted
Kenny Robinson - Mickey
Charlotte Sullivan - Judy Douglas
Genelle Williams - Kim Carlisle
Episodes:
Season One:
01. The Power of Radio
02. On the Air
03.
About a Girl
04. Radio Wars
05.
Clark Kent
06. I Am Question Mark
07.
Political in Pink
08. The Imposter
09. Detention Redemption
10. Crush Me
11. My Pal Pronto
12. Call of the Cougar
13. Sports Ray-dio
14. Count on Me
15. Girl Talk Radio
16. Written in the Stars
17. How to Lose a Girl, part I
18. How to Lose a Girl, part II
19. This Just In
20.
Gossip
21.
Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance
22.
The Boxer
23. The Bad Boy
24. More Than A Single
25. The Awful Truth
26. All or Nothing
Season Two:
01. You Choose, You Lose
02. A Class, A Grade, A Lifetime
03. One Steps Forward, Two Step Back
04.
These Bossy Boots Were Made for Walking
05. Scheming and Dreaming
06. Lie vs. Lie
07.
Bridget Over Troubled Water
08. I'm With Cupid
09.
You've Got E-mail
10. River Deep, Roscoe High
11. Lil' and Grace
12. Daddy Dearest
13. There Will Be No Encore
14.
Unbreak My Heart
15.
We'll Always Have Roscoe
16. Musical Influences
17.
Rah, Rah Revenge
18. On A Wingman and a Prayer
19. The All Nighter
20. In the Key of F
21. Stand Up and Deliver
22. In Charm's Way
23. Truth or Conquests
24. The Trews About Rock 'n Roll
25. Dancing Around the Truth
26.
The Last Dance
Sources:
RFR - My Guilty Pleasure. http://www.geocities.com/jeca_97/rfr.html
Radio Free Roscoe. http://www.tv.com/radio-free-roscoe/show/20818/summary.html
Full Cast and Crew for "Radio Free Roscoe". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377248/fullcredits
Anticonformity. http://rfr.foreshadowed.net/