Genre Comedy-drama | ||
Starring Clark DukeTiffany DupontScott Michael FosterSpencer GrammerPaul JamesJake McDormanAmber StevensDilshad VadsariaJacob Zachar Opening theme "Our Time Now" (played on commercials, not during credits) | ||
Greek (stylized as GRΣΣK) is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC Family from July 9, 2007 to March 7, 2011. The series follows students of the fictitious Cyprus-Rhodes University (CRU), located in Ohio, who participate in the school's Greek system. The show's plots often take place within the confines of the fictional fraternities Kappa Tau Gamma (ΚΤΓ) and Omega Chi Delta (ΩΧΔ), or the fictional sorority Zeta Beta Zeta (ΖΒZ). Throughout the course of the series, other non-Greek characters and situations are introduced, but they all tie into larger relationships with the Greeks. The series follows Rusty and Casey Cartwright as they endure the events surrounding the Greek system at Cyprus-Rhodes. There are six chapters, arranged into four seasons. The series stars Jacob Zachar and Spencer Grammer as the lead characters. On April 7, 2016 it was announced that Greek will return for a reunion movie.
Contents
Production
Filmed primarily in Los Angeles, the show was also filmed on location at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in the Westwood district of Los Angeles. Some scenes were shot at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The exterior and some interior shots were filmed in the historic West Adams, Los Angeles. The house used in the pilot to establish the ZBZ residence is the same house used in the reality series Beauty and the Geek.
The first season was halted in September 2007 due to the Writers Guild of America strike and returned March 24, 2008, to a triple digit increase in ratings over the pilot's premiere. On May 1, 2008, ABC Family renewed Greek for a second season, premiering August 26, 2008. The series was moved from the Tuesday lineup to Monday nights. Twelve more episodes were ordered for late spring 2009 and aired beginning March 30. On January 31, 2009, it was announced that Greek would return for a third season, premiering on August 31, 2009. The midseason premiere of Greek was Monday, Jan. 25, at 10/9c.
On February 19, 2010, it was reported that the show had been renewed for a fourth, ten-episode season. Then, on March 13, 2010, creator Sean Smith announced his plans to end the series after the fourth season, saying, "We plan to end, that's the plan. We're all looking at this as an opportunity to come back, wrap up the show, and end strong. ABC Family could have ended it, but they gave us this opportunity and I don't want to squander it." On July 29, 2010, it was confirmed that the fourth and final season of Greek would air beginning in January 2011. The series finale aired on March 7, 2011.
Main characters
CRU Greeks
The following is a list of fraternities and sororities featured in more than one episode. (None of which are real fraternities)The following is a list of fraternities and sororities featured in at least one episode.Synopsis
The pilot episode premiered on Monday, July 9, 2007 in the US on ABC Family. The series finale aired on Monday, March 7, 2011.
Chapter One
Rusty Cartwright (Jacob Zachar) is a freshman at Cyprus-Rhodes University; and in an effort to shed his nerdy image, goes through Greek recruitment to join a fraternity. His older sister, Casey (Spencer Grammer), is an active member of the Zeta Beta Zeta sorority (the top sorority on campus), and is dating Omega Chi Delta (the top fraternity on campus), active Evan Chambers (Jake McDorman), who is wealthy and popular because of his father's company, Chambers International. Evan is the Pledge Educator of the Omega Chi (the top fraternity on campus) and offers Rusty a spot in Omega Chi. But Rusty declines after Evan gets spotted cheating on Casey with the Senator's daughter (and Zeta Beta Zeta pledge), Rebecca Logan (Dilshad Vadsaria). Rusty later accepts an invitation for Kappa Tau Gamma fraternity by the fun and laid back Cappie (Scott Michael Foster), Casey's ex-boyfriend and Evan's enemy. Additionally, Rusty's religious Baptist roommate, Dale (Clark Duke), is concerned for Rusty's involvement with the Greeks, but later accepts Rusty's new lifestyle, even befriending Rusty's gay friend Calvin (Paul James), an Omega Chi legacy and pledge. After Casey finds out about Evan and Rebecca, Frannie (Tiffany Dupont), ZBZ president and Casey's "big sister", convinces Casey to stay with Evan. Casey and Cappie sleep together to get revenge on Evan, but it was just a "one time thing." Rusty and Jen K., a ZBZ pledge, begin dating after they help the Kappa Tau's save Vesuvius. Despite all the cheating and tension, Evan lavalieres Casey (gives her his Greek letters). Ashleigh (Amber Stevens), Casey's best friend and fellow ZBZ member, ends her long-distance relationship with boyfriend, Travis, and she attempts to move on to Calvin, who she finds out is gay. He gets accidentally outed by Ashleigh to all of Omega Chi, but Evan reassures him to stay in the fraternity. During the season, Calvin and Heath, a Kappa Tau, have an on-and-off fling. When Frannie finds out she won't be graduating next year, she runs for Omega Chi sweetheart again, against Casey. Meanwhile, Cappie and Rebecca begin a flirtatious relationship after doing a psych experiment together. A large scandal for the Greeks erupts after Rusty's new girlfriend, Jen K (Jessica Rose), a Zeta Beta Zeta pledge, writes a newspaper article based on the scandals and controversies of the Greeks and gets them in trouble with Dean Bowman, forcing the university to lay down strict rules and monitoring on the Greeks. Since Jen K was a ZBZ pledge, the article centers on the Zeta Beta Zeta sorority and ZBZ National Board interferes and forces Frannie to step down as president and has Casey take her place as interim president. In retaliation, Frannie then tells Evan that the only reason Casey decided to stay with him after he cheated was because of his reputation. As a result, Evan and Casey break up. Rusty and Jen K. also break up since Rusty can no longer trust her.
Chapter Two
Cappie and Rebecca begin a secret fling while Casey and Rusty try to get over their respective exes. The schools begins to set strict restrictions on the Greek system in response to the newspaper article. A ZBZ alumna, Lizzie, must live with the sisters to ensure no scandals occur again. The ZBZs pair up with the Kappa Tau's to throw a Gatsby-themed Prohibition party. Rusty has some trouble accepting that he and Calvin are in rivalry fraternities, but they end up solving their differences in the season finale. Cappie and Rebecca go public about their relationship, which makes Casey uneasy. By accepting Frannie back into the sorority, Lizzie leaves Casey and the rest of the ZBZ's. In light of the Greek Ball, there is a flashback to freshman year. Cappie and Evan used to be roommates and decided to rush together. Both were admitted to Kappa Tau, but Evan left after discovering he was only admitted because of Cappie. Cappie and Casey started dating, but Casey was stood up, waiting for Cappie to pick her up for the ball. Frannie confronted Cappie for standing up Casey. But Casey decided to go to the ball with Evan, and the two end up together by the end of the night. Now, Casey, Ashleigh and Frannie decide to go to the ball together, without dates, and Cappie goes with Rebecca. The season opens up with Greek Week, a competition against the sororities and fraternities. Rebecca decides to coach the Kappa Tau's, who find her controlling and rude. Frannie coaches the Omega Chi's and Casey coaches the Lambda Sig's. Casey tries to flirt with the Lambda Sig president, but Evan pays him to stay away from Casey. The Kappa Tau's protest against the CRU board, with the help of Evan, and the Greeks retain their special treatment on campus. Rusty begins hooking up with USAG member and Dale's friend, Tina, which ends because Rusty feels uncomfortable having casual sex. Turns out, Rusty gets crabs from Tina. Meanwhile, Casey attempts to move on from Evan multiple times, all of which were unsuccessful. However, Evan still isn't over Casey and enlists in Calvin to prevent other guys from talking to her. Calvin begins a relationship with Michael, (Max Greenfield). Casey tries to become more serious about her future by seeking Evan for help with pre-law. Everyone goes to Myrtle Beach for Spring Break. There, Ashleigh encounters the "Hotness Monster" and becomes crazed with finding him. Rebecca finds out her dad is running a prostitution ring and gets extremely drunk. She almost enters a wet tshirt concert, but ends up breaking up with Cappie since he is "beneath her." Cappie and Casey go on a romantic stroll down the beach and end up kissing. However, Cappie realizes what happened to Rebecca and decides to comfort her. Evan and Frannie spark a relationship and Rusty and Calvin work out their differences.
Chapter Three
A video of Rebecca's little scandal from Myrtle Beach goes viral and the ZBZ's advise her to lay low. However, Rebecca begins to snap, and national ZBZ rep Tegan advises Casey to remove her. However, Casey and the other ZBZs stand by her side to support Rebecca through her troubling times. Meanwhile, Frannie tries to tell Casey about her and Evan, but Casey finds out after seeing them kissing during the Greek Week championship ceremony. Casey later begins crushing on Drew, who turns out to be Ashleigh's "Hotness Monster" from Spring Break. After fighting over him, neither of them end up with him since he seemed uninterested in Ashleigh and Casey isn't totally over the whole Frannie and Evan thing. After "processing" Frannie and Evan's relationship for a while, Casey ultimately decides that she and Frannie cannot be friends since she chose a boy over their friendship. When Rebecca realizes Cappie isn't serious enough to help her cope with her family issues and still isn't over Casey, the two decide to break up. Ashleigh suddenly realizes she has a spending problem and Rusty is in desperate need of the car. So, Casey and Ashleigh enlist in Rusty's RA, Max (Michael Rady) to help them count cards and win money at the Omega Chi's casino night. Casey becomes interested in Max, and the two start dating shortly thereafter. Frannie, Ashleigh and Casey go to Florida for a ZBZ convention, and Frannie successfully overturns a rule about an ex-officer rerunning for their lost position (revealing her intentions to rerun for President against Casey). Meanwhile, Calvin cheats on Michael with Heath, his flame from Season 1, and the two break up since Calvin doesn't really know what he wants. Cappie and Rebecca briefly try to be friends with benefits, but she's not entirely over him and he's not entirely over Casey. Casey worries that her geeky boyfriend, Max may jeopardize her presidency campaign, but she later realizes that she cares more about Max than his reputation (unlike Evan). After some ugly politics between Frannie and Casey, Ashleigh unexpectedly wins the ZBZ presidency. Despite winning the presidency, Ashleigh has trouble performing her duties with Frannie and Casey both trying to influence her decisions. Meanwhile, Rusty runs into Jen K. and they try to rekindle their relationship, but he realizes he will never get over what she did to the Greeks. In the season finale, Rusty and Calvin both become actives in their respective fraternities, Kappa Tau and Omega Chi. Max gets accepted to CalTech and Casey gets an internship in Washington DC. The two seem to decide to split, seeing that a long distance relationship would not work. And during ZBZ initiation, Frannie announces that she's starting her own sorority, with financial help from Evan, and Rebecca must make a choice between Frannie and the ZBZs.
Chapter Four
At the beginning of Chapter 4, we see that Max decides to stay at Cyprus-Rhodes for grad school to stay with Casey. Rebecca becomes a spy for the ZBZs by "joining" Frannie's sorority, the Iota Kappa Iotas, but she gets caught and returns to the ZBZs. Evan becomes President of the Omega Chi's and tries to recruit Calvin's high school friend Andy (Jesse McCartney), an all-state football star. New ZBZ president Ashleigh assumes full responsibility by taking over from interim president Casey, however Casey remains a prominent figure in the house by becoming Rush Chair and Pledge Educator. During Rush, Rusty takes a liking to Andy and convinces him to join the Kappa Tau house over the Omega Chi house. Rusty, Dale and Calvin also take an Art History elective, and Rusty falls (literally) for a student named Jordan (Johanna Braddy). Jordan attends a Kappa Tau party on invite from Rusty, during which she makes out with Andy and decides to pledge ZBZ. Rusty's situation worsens when Cappie makes Rusty Andy's big brother and Andy and Jordan start dating. Later, Jordan and Rusty kiss, which Rusty admits to Andy, who leaves Kappa Tau. The betrayal of Rusty to his younger brother infuriates Cappie, who likens the situation to when Evan stole Casey from him. But when Cappie and Evan start reminiscing in their new secret group, they decide to put the past behind them and become friends, Cappie ultimately forgives Rusty, who starts dating Jordan after she chooses him over Andy. Meanwhile, Rebecca briefly questions her sexuality after kissing another girl and seeks advice from Calvin. Calvin has trouble resisting his new gay roommate, Grant, and adopts Dale's purity ways to avoid conflict. Frannie keeps taking advantage of Evan's trust fund and he starts cheating on her. The two eventually end their relationship, and Evan declines his trust fund, since it is only causing him issues with others. However, Evan does agree to help Rebecca save her laptop from the impound lot, which leaves viewers questioning whether they'll have a potential future relationship. While everyone else is having relationship issues, Ashleigh begins secretly seeing the ZBZ's custodian, Fisher, and the two eventually go public about their relationship. On the other hand, Casey gets freaked out by how fast her and Max's relationship is progressing, after finding out he turned down CalTech for her. Max tries to lavaliere her, but the two agree to take it slow. He leaves for an internship in Oxford, England and they try to maintain a long-distance relationship. But, Casey struggles with her feelings for Cappie, forcing Casey and Cappie to end their friendship. In the season finale, The Iota Kappa Iota house is disbanded by Frannie after she finally graduates from CRU. Inspired by the Kappa Tau's "End of the World" party, Dale and Calvin ditch their purity pledges and pursue their respective lovers. Unable to bury her feelings for Cappie, Casey tries to reconnect with Cappie, only for him to reject her. So, Casey breaks up with Max, because she realizes she'll feel the same with him as she does with Cappie.
Chapter Five
Chapter Five begins shortly after Homecoming of the academic year 2009–2010. Max leaves Cyprus-Rhodes after realizing that Casey was his main reason for staying. It is revealed that Cappie intended to get Casey back at the End of the World Party, but Evan talked him out of it. Meanwhile, Casey discovers that Rebecca and Fisher made out at the party, which eventually leads to the end of Ashleigh and Fisher's relationship. Later in the season, the two get back together. Additionally, Dale loses his virginity to his landlady Sheila (Kristen O'Meara), causing him to doubt his religious faith. Casey takes an active role as the ZBZ rep for Panhellenic, where she is forced to interact with Evan and clashes with Katherine (Nora Kirkpatrick), the Panhellenic president. Rusty struggles academically, but he gets a professor to sponsor a special project. Calvin and his roommate/fellow Omega Chi brother Grant (Gregory Michael) quietly begin a relationship. Evan discovers their romance, but he helps them keep it a secret from the rest of the Omega Chis until Grant is ready to publicly come out as being gay. Rusty and Jordan become more serious; they finally have sex, and Rusty lavalieres her. However, they eventually break up when Jordan decides to leave CRU and move to New York City to pursue photography. Casey discovers Cappie and Evan's secret friendship when she intrudes upon a secret society meeting, and the three temporarily become friends again. Dale briefly gets back together with Sheila once they reunite at a ComicCon convention. Ashleigh and Evan, as Greek presidents, both have trouble controlling their houses. When Thanksgiving rolls around, Cappie finally confesses his feelings for Casey and the two finally get back together, which ruins the fragile friendship between Cappie, Casey, and Evan. Meanwhile, tension builds between Dale and Rusty when they compete for an academic grant, which Rusty ultimately wins. Rusty discovers that his nerdy classmate Dana (Martha MacIsaac) has a crush on him, but he blows his chance by acting too cocky and she refuses to go out with him. Later, she becomes his lab assistant. Cappie and Evan decide to bring their houses together for a major campus prank, but Evan betrays Cappie because he resents Cappie's relationship with Casey and hopes to regain control of his Omega Chi brothers. As a result of the prank, three Kappa Taus, including Wade (Derek Mio), are expelled. Evan seeks comfort from Rebecca after he and Cappie end their friendship, which sparks a relationship between them. After the drama with IKI, ZBZ is knocked down to being the fourth-best sorority, with Gamma Psi taking first. After the ZBZs suspiciously lose a Songfest competition, the ZBZ girls decide to investigate the Gamma Psi house for evidence of cheating. Rebecca accidentally leaves a candle burning, causing the Gamma Psi house to burn down. Although ZBZ tries to keep it a secret, Casey eventually breaks down and tells Katherine what happened, after finding out that Natalie, the Gamma Psi President, slept with one of the judges. The confession ends her new friendship with Katherine, but Casey gets a position on the Panhellenic Board as VPJ (Vice President of Justice), inspiring Casey to seriously consider law school and a future in politics. Ashleigh discovers that Fisher cheated on her again, so they break up for good, and Dale is hired as the new ZBZ hasher. Rusty briefly dates Katherine, and she asks him to take her virginity, but Rusty turns her down and eventually breaks up with her in order to pursue a relationship with his lab assistant, Dana. Grant and Calvin also break up because Grant wants to know what being single is like. Rebecca and Evan begin to get more serious, and he gives her an expensive necklace. When Calvin hints that Evan sees a future for them, Rebecca freaks out and sleeps with Beaver. On Mardi Gras, Evan sees Rebecca kiss another guy at a bar, and they break up. Rebecca introduces Casey to Joel (Samuel Page), who works in politics, and Casey begins to get some political experience and prepare for law school. After she takes the LSAT, Joel tries to kiss her, but she rebuffs him and says that she has a boyfriend. Casey begins to question her relationship with Cappie, however, because he refuses to talk about the future and wants to stay at CRU forever, while Casey is starting to think seriously about the future. In the final episode of the season, Cappie breaks up with Casey for not having enough faith in their relationship.
Chapter Six
Casey, Ashleigh, and Evan graduate, while Calvin and Rebecca adjust to their new duties as presidents. After some investigation, Casey discovers the real reasons behind not getting into CRU Law, and with a turned decision stays at CRU as a law student and the ZBZ housemom. Ashleigh then turns up at the ZBZ house saying she was fired from her job in New York, only to have it revealed later that she was sent on a coffee run one day and just split, and came back to CRU because she was lonely and disliked her boss. Meanwhile, Cappie tries to get back with Casey, and after telling him that maybe they can go back the way they were, Cappie promises that he will change so that someday he is worthy of being her boyfriend. Calvin deals with the ramifications of lying to become president of ΩX, as well as his relationship with Heath. After an inspiring talk with Evan, Dale rushes ΩX. Alternatively, the KT brothers lose all of their pledges except one; Peter Parkes, a KT legacy whose father is Lasker Parkes, creator of the 'Joshua Whopper' software (named in episode 2x04). Since declaring a major (which was philosophy), Cappie has decided to graduate that semester to be with Casey. Ashleigh had a brief relationship with Casey and Evan's law professor, but broke it off because he was acting like a jerk to people around her. Ashleigh then took a marketing job with her past professor and began a relationship with Rusty. Rebecca and Evan broke up and formed somewhat of a friendship in the final episode. After discovering that Omega Chi was trying to use him to get to Kappa Tau, Dale was kicked out of the fraternity. He was later reinstated after the Calvin and the pledges stood up to the new president on Dale's behalf. Dale got back together with Laura. Katherine and Beaver (Walter) got together. After it was revealed that Lasker Parkes wanted to destroy Kappa Tau's house to build a gym, a protest took place to save the house. Casey, Evan, and Cappie all came to amends and Cappie announced that Rusty was the new Kappa Tau president. Kappa Tau was torn down, but Rusty pledged to finding a new, better house for Kappa Tau. Casey quits CRU Law to go to Washington with Cappie, who is now graduated. Rusty and Ashleigh begin their relationship. In the final scene, the main cast, Rebecca, Evan, Rusty, Ashleigh, Dale, and Calvin say good bye to Casey and Cappie as they drive away together, Cappie telling Casey he wants to go wherever she's going. The final scene features Casey and Cappie driving off.
Music
Season Finale when they tore down the Kappa Tau House - Afterall by William Fitzsimmons
Reception
Greek has received a score of 62 out of 100 from review aggregator Metacritic. In a review released soon after the premiere of the show, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called the show "light-hearted fun" and "authentic" while the New York Times claimed that Greek "captures the spirit of the hedge-fund age like nothing else." Other critics did not find the drama as authentic, with Elizabeth Fox of the Philadelphia Inquirer criticizing the show's predictability and lack of originality as another "teenage soap opera." Other reviews were middling, calling the writing of the show acceptable and praising the strength of the cast.
Members of the real life Greek community have claimed that Greek's depiction of fraternity and sorority life is stereotypical. USC banned the show from filming on their campus, in reaction to the promotional poster featuring the Greek logo over a red cup, since the cup is often used to symbolize alcoholic consumption during parties. However, upon viewing the pilot episode they held off on sending a letter to ABC Family, complaining about the depiction of the Greek System, when they realized there was more to the show than just parties. Others recognize it as a hyperbolic representation of "tamer, more modest" Greek life.
The show has been noted by LGBT activists for the character of Calvin, a gay fraternity brother, who struggles with the stereotyping and homophobia that coming out of the closet entails. Critics have praised the character's "three dimensionality."
Awards and nominations
In 2008, GLAAD nominated Greek for an Outstanding Drama Series award, and in 2009 they nominated the show in the Outstanding Comedy Series category. Actor Paul James was nominated for a 2009 Image Award as Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. In 2010, it was again nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Comedy Series" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.
Ratings
The viewership for Greek's pilot episode was 1.1 million, and Chapter 2 ended with 1.3 million viewers.
Chapter 3 saw a ratings spike, premiering to 1.6 million viewers, a 78% increase, doubling and tripling their ratings in all demographics, marked a network high for male viewers, and was the 2nd most watched cable show with females age 12–34. Greek also appeared on the list of top ten downloads on iTunes. Chapter 4 premiered much lower, with 0.99 million viewers, and ended with 0.745 million.
The third season premiere (Chapter 5) had a total of 1.21 million viewers, down almost 2 million from its lead in, The Secret Life of the American Teenager. The second episode pulled in 1.31 million viewers. Chapter 5 ended with 0.66 million viewers and Chapter 6 premiered with 1.033 million.
Online reality show spin-off
In 2007, ABC Family created a website www.virtualrush.com that was to be used in conjunction with the Greek television series. The site was maintained during the first two seasons, in which the users of the site competed in a wide variety of contests in order to become an extra on the show. During the first season of the contest, a five-part online reality series called Rush*d followed the six finalists that were selected by ABC Family staff from their hometowns and college campuses to Los Angeles.
The Finalists:
In the fifth episode of Rush'd, Laura Wise was announced the winner of the contest.
In season two of Virtual Rush, Tom Kruszewski – Puckstopper35, was announced as the winner of the second and final contest. Following the second season the website was rendered inert.
Specials
In the United Kingdom, episodes are followed by special behind-the-scenes features entitled Greek Uncovered, which can be found on the BBC iPlayer and on BBC Three. In the Australian iTunes Store, each week, a new episode (to Australia) will appear, after it is aired on Fox8.
DVD releases
In 2008, ABC/Disney released Season 1 on DVD in two volumes, titled Chapter One and Chapter Two. In 2009, Season 2 was also released on DVD in two volumes, titled Chapter Three and Chapter Four.
In 2010, Shout! Factory secured the rights for the rest of the series and released Season 3 on DVD as a complete set, titled Chapter 5: The Complete Third Season. On October 18, 2011, Shout! Factory released "Greek: Chapter 6 - The Complete Fourth Season" as a Shout! Select title, available exclusively on their website.
Reunion film
Greek creator Patrick Sean Smith is reportedly set to team up with Shawn Piller and Lloyd Segan to produce a reunion TV film for Freeform titled Greek: The Reunion. The movie would see the characters from the series return to Cypress Rhodes University for a five-year reunion. At this point, none of the cast members have confirmed their involvement.