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What I Like About You (TV series)

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What I Like About You
GenreTeen sitcom
Created by
Starring
Theme music composer
  • Wally Palmar, Mike Skill and Jimmy Marinos (original song)
  • Eric Ferguson, Joey Armstrong and Josh Auer (arrangement for Lillix cover)
  • Philip Steir (remix; seasons 2–4)
Opening theme"What I Like About You" performed by Lillix
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes86 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Drew Brown
  • Shelley Zimmerman
  • Rich Kaplan
Production locationCalifornia
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time20–22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkThe WB
ReleaseSeptember 20, 2002 (2002-09-20) –
March 24, 2006 (2006-03-24)

What I Like About You is an American television sitcom co-created by Wil Calhoun and Dan Schneider.[1] It is set mainly in New York City, following the lives of two sisters: vivacious teenaged sister Holly (Amanda Bynes) and her responsible older sister Val (Jennie Garth). The series ran on The WB from September 20, 2002, to March 24, 2006, with a total of 86 episodes produced. With the exception of a brief period early in the second season, What I Like About You was a headline on The WB's Friday night comedy block.[2]

Cast and characters

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Main article: List of What I Like About You characters

Throughout their time on the series, two main characters—Vince and Lauren—are never given last names. Jeff is also never given a last name, although in the artwork for the season 1 DVDs, he is listed as "Jeff Campbell".

Main

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Actor Character Seasons
1 2 3 4
Amanda Bynes Holly Tyler Main
Jennie Garth Val Tyler Main
Simon Rex Jeff Campbell Main
Wesley Jonathan Gary Thorpe Main
Leslie Grossman Lauren Recurring Main
Michael McMillian Henry Gibson Recurring Main Guest
Nick Zano Vince Main
Allison Munn Tina Haven Main
Stephen Dunham Peter Main

Recurring

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Guest

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Theme song and opening sequences

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The series takes its title from the 1980 song of the same name by American rock band The Romantics; it was written by the group's members Wally Palmar, Mike Skill, Rich Cole, and Jimmy Marinos. A cover version of the song, performed by the Canadian all-female rock group Lillix, is used as the theme song for the show. Lillix's cover version can also be heard on the soundtrack of the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday and the soundtrack of the film 13 Going on 30. The theme was remixed into a techno/dance style theme for the second season by Philip Steir, who composed all the music for remainder of the series.

The pilot episode has a short opening sequence, and the cast members' names are only shown over the cold open. The first season's opening sequence features intercut scenes (as from home movies) of two girls portraying younger versions of Holly and Val, with shots of Bynes and Garth sticking their tongues out at the camera, mixed with footage excerpted from the first four episodes. The opening title sequence for the rest of the series features the show's cast in front of digitally inserted scenes of New York at night. Different versions of the sequence are used for SD and HD broadcasts.

Due to music costs, and rights, DVD and streaming releases replace the theme song of Lillix's cover. Remarking upon it when the series was added to HBO Max in January 2021 with the replacement music, TVLine called it "royalty-free garbage that not even Shazam can identify."[3]

Broadcast

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Episodes

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Main article: List of What I Like About You episodes

Series overview

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SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
122September 20, 2002May 9, 2003
222September 11, 2003May 7, 2004
324September 17, 2004May 20, 2005
418September 16, 2005March 24, 2006

History

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What I Like About You premiered on Friday, September 20, 2002, in the 8.00pm timeslot. When the second season premiered on September 11, 2003, the series moved to Thursday nights at 9.00pm, alongside The Jamie Kennedy Experiment. On January 9, 2004, the series moved back to Friday nights, in the 8.30pm timeslot. With the third season premiere on September 17, 2004, the series moved back to its original 8.00pm timeslot and remained there until the series finale in March 2006.

International

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In Canada, the series aired on YTV and later on Nickelodeon.

In Italy, the series aired under the name Le cose che amo di te (The things I Love about you) on Rai 2 from July 7, 2006 until August 2, 2008.

Streaming

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From January 2021 to January 2023, all four seasons of What I Like About You, began streaming on HBO Max.[4]

Syndication

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From April to September 2006, reruns of What I Like About You aired as part of The WB’s Daytime WB weekday afternoon programming block alongside 8 Simple Rules. Reruns of the series moved to The CW (which replaced The WB) on September 18, 2006, airing for a full hour at 3:00PM on weekdays alongside Reba. On September 24, 2007, The CW reduced its daytime reruns of What I Like About You to one episode per day to accommodate the addition of reruns of All of Us, remaining until September 2008. Following the series' departure from The CW, the show began airing on ABC Family (now Freeform) in various timeslots during the daytime. The N aired the series in early 2009, a few months before their rebranding to TeenNick, where the series aired before subsequently being removed in 2013.

Home media

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On May 1, 2007, Warner Home Video released the complete first season on DVD in region 1. The three-disc set included a gag reel as its only bonus feature. Due to high music licensing issues, Lillix's cover of the theme song was removed and replaced with a generic pop-rock song produced specifically for the set. Due to low sales and high music licensing costs, no further seasons were given a general retail release.

On March 7, 2017, Warner Archive released the second season on DVD in region 1 in a three-disc set. The third season was released on November 27, 2018 in a three-disc set,[5] and the fourth season was released on February 26, 2019 in a two-disc set.[6] The releases for seasons two through four are Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) releases, frequently pressed on DVD-R discs.[7] Although the final three seasons were originally broadcast in widescreen high definition, the episodes are presented on DVD in fullscreen.

DVD Name Release Date Ep # Additional Information
The Complete First Season May 1, 2007 22 Bonus features include a Gag Reel.
The Complete Second Season March 7, 2017 22 None.
The Complete Third Season November 27, 2018 24 None.
The Complete Fourth Season February 26, 2019 18 None.

Ratings

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United States ratings

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Season U.S. ratings
1 2002-2003 2.96M[8]
2 2003-2004 2.55M[9]
3 2004-2005 2.5M[10]
4 2005-2006 2.2M[11]

Awards and nominations

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GLAAD Media Award

Year Category Recipient Results
2006 Outstanding Individual Episode (In a Series Without a Regular Gay Character) "Someone's In the Kitchen with Daddy" Nominated

Teen Choice Awards

Year Category Recipient Results
2003 Choice TV: Breakout Show What I Like About You Nominated
Choice TV Breakout Star Wesley Jonathan
Choice TV Actress: Comedy Amanda Bynes
2004 Choice TV Actress: Comedy Amanda Bynes
2005 Choice TV Show: Comedy What I Like About You
Choice TV Actress: Comedy Amanda Bynes

Young Artist Awards

Year Category Recipient Results
2003 Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series: Guest Starring Young Actress Chelsea Brummet Nominated
2004 Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama): Leading Young Actress Amanda Bynes

References

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  1. ^ Friedman, Josh; Miller, Daryl H.; Sachs, Mark; Sandell, Scott; Taylor, Jonathan (September 15, 2002). "Let the Shows Begin". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 19, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  2. ^ Hidek, Jeff (September 20, 2002). "'What I Like' a Fun Treat". Wilmington Star News.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "What I Like About You Is an Underrated WB Relic Worth Revisiting on HBO Max". TVLine. 29 January 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  4. ^ "What I Like About You on HBO Max". HBO Max. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  5. ^ "What I Like About You: The Complete Third Season (2003) (MOD)". WB Shop. Archived from the original on 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
  6. ^ "What I Like About You: The Complete Fourth Season (MOD)". WB Shop. Archived from the original on 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  7. ^ "DVD Calendar Feature Articles". Metacritic. Archived from the original on February 28, 2017.
  8. ^ "2002-2003 Season Ratings for Network TV Primetime - Sitcoms Online Message Boards - Forums". SitcomsOnline. Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  9. ^ "I. T. R. S. RANKING REPORT". ABC Medianet. 2007-09-30. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  10. ^ "Primetime series; final audience and ratings figures". The Hollywood Reporter. 2005-05-27. Archived from the original on 2005-12-26. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
  11. ^ "2005-2006 Broadcast Ratings". The Hollywood Reporter. May 26, 2006. Archived from the original on 2010-07-22.
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