Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane
Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane is an American teen sitcom created by Daniel and Sue Paige, starring Selma Blair, David Moscow, Michael Rosenbaum, and Azura Skye that premiered on The WB network from January 17, 1999 and ended on June 11, 2000. During development, the show was initially known as Zoe Bean and was later retitled Zoe... during its second season. The series aired a total of 26 episodes over its two seasons.
| Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Zoe... |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Daniel Paige Sue Paige |
| Directed by | Robert Berlinger Gil Junger Jeff McCracken Brian K. Roberts Jonathan Weiss Dana DeVally Piazza Craig Zisk |
| Starring | Selma Blair David Moscow Michael Rosenbaum Azura Skye |
| Theme music composer | Steven R. Burry (season 1) |
| Opening theme | "Charmed" by My Friend Steve (season 1) |
| Composer | Roger Boyce |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Michael Jacobs Peter Aronson |
| Producers | Jim Freedman Mike Rowe Morgan Sackett Jean Zuhorski |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Michael Jacobs Productions Touchstone Television |
| Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | The WB |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original release | January 17, 1999 – June 11, 2000 |
Characters
The series centered on four eccentric high school friends in New York City. The foursome attended (fictional) Fielding-Mellish Prep, which gets its name from Woody Allen's character in the movie Bananas.
- Zoe Bean (Selma Blair): A coy, boy-crazy daydreamer.
- Duncan Milch (David Moscow): An anxious oddball. A Woody Allen type.
- Jack Cooper (Michael Rosenbaum): Handsome, but egotistical and selfish.
- Jane Cooper (Azura Skye): Jack's twin sister. Sarcastic and cynical. (Although playing twins, Skye was nine years younger than Rosenbaum in real life.)
The show also starred Mary Page Keller as Zoe's single mother Iris during the first season. Scott Foley, fresh from Dawson's Creek, appeared in the pilot with the intention of having him star in the series as Zoe's love interest. But once the pilot finally got picked up, Foley had already moved on to Felicity.
Episodes
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 13 | January 17, 1999 | May 16, 1999 | ||
| 2 | 13 | January 31, 2000 | June 11, 2000 | ||
Season 1 (1999)
During the first season, the show centered on the four teenagers as high school students. Jeremy Renner originally played Jack in the original pilot episode but was replaced by Michael Rosenbaum.[1] The first season included guest stars such as Scott Foley as a college boy Zoe had a crush on, Sara Rue as a wheelchair-using bully, Will Friedle as a charming stoner who dated Zoe, and Jacinda Barrett as a girl who liked both Duncan and Jack.
The first season theme song was "Charmed" by My Friend Steve.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date | Prod. code [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | January 17, 1999 | 516-T |
| 2 | 2 | "Everything You Wanted to Know About Zoe" | January 24, 1999 | J-406 |
| 3 | 3 | "When Zoe Met Johnny" | February 7, 1999 | J-404 |
| 4 | 4 | "To Jack, from Zoe" | February 14, 1999 | J-409 |
| 5 | 5 | "Sympathy for Jack" | February 21, 1999 | J-411 |
| 6 | 6 | "Hard Cheese on Zoe" | February 28, 1999 | J-403 |
| 7 | 7 | "The Trouble with Jane" | March 7, 1999 | J-410 |
| 8 | 8 | "A Good Man is Hard to Find" | March 10, 1999 | J-412 |
| 9 | 9 | "The Advice" | March 14, 1999 | J-413 |
| 10 | 10 | "Under Mom's Thumb" | April 11, 1999 | J-408 |
| 11 | 11 | "Down and Out at Bleecker and Houston" | May 2, 1999 | J-402 |
| 12 | 12 | "Zoe Under the Influence" | May 9, 1999 | J-407 |
| 13 | 13 | "Run, Man Ray, Run" | May 16, 1999 | J-405 |
Season 2 (2000)
When the show returned for a second season, it had been heavily retooled. The friendship between the four friends remained intact, but now they were adult college students. Gone was Keller as Zoe's mom, while Omar Gooding joined the cast as the foursome's friend Doug Anderson. The title had also been shortened to simply Zoe... (pronounced on-air as Zoe Dot Dot Dot) out of fear that the former title was turning off potential viewers.
After the series was cancelled, Michael Rosenbaum expressed disappointment with the fact that the network had cut his character's name out of the title for the second season.[3]
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by [4] | Original air date | Prod. code [4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "No Good Deed" | Gil Junger | January 31, 2000 | 226052 |
| 15 | 2 | "The Customer Is Always Vic" | James Hampton | February 7, 2000 | 226054 |
| 16 | 3 | "I Don't Feel So Good" | James Hampton | February 14, 2000 | 226056 |
| 17 | 4 | "Kiss of Death" | Brian K. Roberts | April 2, 2000 | 226057 |
| 18 | 5 | "The Feud" | Dana DeVally Plazza | April 9, 2000 | 226062 |
| 19 | 6 | "A Midsummer Night's Nightmare" | Gil Junger | April 16, 2000 | 226063 |
| 20 | 7 | "Crossing the Line" | Brian K. Roberts | April 23, 2000 | 226060 |
| 21 | 8 | "Desperately Seeking Zoe" | Robert Berlinger | April 30, 2000 | 226058 |
| 22 | 9 | "Tall, Dark and Duncan's Boss" | James Hampton | May 14, 2000 | 226055 |
| 23 | 10 | "My Dinner with Andy" | Robert Berlinger | May 21, 2000 | 226059 |
| 24 | 11 | "Too Much Pressure" | Brian K. Roberts | May 28, 2000 | 226061 |
| 25 | 12 | "Party Girls" | Gil Junger | June 4, 2000 | 226053 |
| 26 | 13 | "Three Years Later" | Gil Junger | June 11, 2000 | 226051 |
References
- "Zoe, Duncan, Jack And Jane Tried To Be Seinfeld For Teens". screenrant.com. 2019-10-04. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
- From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog – Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) – Basic Search [search: "Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane"]". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
- "Lex Appeal". Soap Opera Digest. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
- From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "Zoe : no."]". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2017-09-03.