Chicken Girls
Chicken Girls is an American web series starring Jules LeBlanc, Hayden Summerall, Hayley LeBlanc, Brooke Elizabeth Butler, Riley Lewis, Indiana Massara, Mads Lewis, Aliyah Moulden, Rush Holland, Dylan Conrique, Caden Conrique, Carson Lueders, and more. The series, produced by Brat, premiered on YouTube on September 5, 2017.
| Chicken Girls | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | |
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring |
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| Theme music composer | Jules LeBlanc, Hayden Summerall and Brooke Elizabeth Butler |
| Opening theme | "Birds of a Feather" by Annie LeBlanc, Brooke Elizabeth Butler, and Hayden Summerall |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 11 |
| No. of episodes | 138 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 5–18 minutes |
| Production company | Brat |
| Release | |
| Original network | Brat |
| Original release | September 5, 2017 – present |
| Related | |
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The series is known for launching the careers of Jules LeBlanc, Hayden Summerall, Brooke Elizabeth Butler, and Indiana Massara. A spinoff series, Chicken Girls: College Years,[1] which follows Rooney and Birdie in college together, debuted online on August 2, 2022.[2]
Premise
Chicken Girls tells the story of middle school student Rhyme McAdams and her friends, Ellie, Quinn, and Kayla – known as "The Chicken Girls" – who have been dancing together forever. The show follows the girls as they navigate dance, friendship, crushes, and learning how to grow up. But as they begin their freshman year at Attaway High School (season 3), everything's changing.
In Season 7, Harmony has found her own squad of Chicken Girls. With all the backstabbing, secret-keeping and boy drama, can the new girl group survive middle school?
Cast
Main
- Annie LeBlanc as Rhyme McAdams (main, seasons 1–6; recurring, season 7; guest, seasons 8–9): Harmony's older sister, Ellie and Quinn's best friend, and Astrid's cousin
- Hayley LeBlanc as Harmony McAdams (seasons 1–9): Rhyme's 12-year-old sister, and Astrid's cousin. Unlike Rhyme, Harmony is quite feisty and is not afraid to speak her mind. She takes over as series lead in season 7. She starts her own Chicken Girls, which includes Claire, Bel and Leyla.
- Hayden Summerall as Tommy "T.K." Kaye (main, seasons 1–2, 6; recurring, season 3, 7–8; guest, season 5, 9): Rhyme's childhood friend, and later boyfriend
- Brooke Elizabeth Butler as Ellie Mack (main, seasons 1–6; recurring, seasons 7–8): Rhyme's, Quinn's and Kayla's best friend
- Riley Lewis as Quinn Forrester (main, seasons 1–6; guest star, season 7; recurring, season 8): Rhyme and Ellie's best friend since childhood and become best friends with Kayla when the girls are in middle school
- Indiana Massara as Rooney Forrester (main, seasons 1–6; recurring, seasons 7–8): Quinn's step sister and Birdie's best friend
- Mads Lewis as Birdie Kaye (main, seasons 1–6; recurring, season 7): TK's older sister and Rooney's best friend
- Aliyah Moulden as Luna (seasons 1–6): the former captain of the Power Surge dance team
- Rush Holland as Flash (main seasons 1–6, guest, season 9): TK's and Ace's best friend, and Kayla's former boyfriend. It is revealed by his father in season 2 that his real name is Frederick.
- Dylan Conrique as Kayla Seltzer (main, seasons 1–4; guest, season 7): A friend of Ellie where Ellie met in dance camp and become best friends with Rhyme and Quinn.
- Caden Conrique as Tim Sharp (seasons 1–4): the former editor in chief of Attaway Appeal, Kayla's cousin, and Rhyme's former boyfriend
- Carson Lueders as Ace (main, seasons 1–3; guest, season 4, 9): TK's and Flash's good friend. He moved to California between seasons 3 and 4 when he sold his and Flash's app called "'Sup" to an investor.
- Matt Sato as Robbie Robbins (main, seasons 2–5; recurring, season 6): Ellie's on-off boyfriend. His mother is Robin Robbins, a famous music producer.
- Paul Toweh as Ty Walker (main, seasons 3–6; guest, season 8): Luna's boyfriend and Walker's elder brother
- Marlhy Murphy as Stephanie Stewart (main, seasons 3–6; recurring, season 2): Rooney's ex-girlfriend
- Donovan Miller as Wes (main, seasons 5–6; recurring, season 7): Astrid's co-worker
- Pilot Paisley-Rose as Astrid Davison (main, seasons 5–6; recurring, season 7): Rhyme's and Harmony's cousin
- Avani Gregg as Gemma (season 6)
- Coco Quinn as Katie (main, season 7–present; guest, season 5): Harmony's childhood best friend who is the member of the dance team.
- Txunamy Ortiz as Brittany Diamond (main, seasons 7–8; guest star, seasons 2–3): Harmony's childhood best friend, and the member of the dance team.
- Enzo Lopez as Peyton "PK" Kaye (season 7–present): TK's and Birdie's cousin
- Skyler Aboujaoude as Leyla (seasons 7–9) Harmony, Claire and Bel's best friend and is longtime friends with Darnell, Gus and Eggie.
- Santiago Carrera as Gus (seasons 7–9): a friend of Walker and Eggie
- Matteo Gallegos as Jordan (seasons 7–8): An 8th grader who briefly dated Harmony and had a love triangle with Harmony and Leo McCoy.
- Liam-Alexander Newman as Darnell Walker (seasons 7–9): Ty's younger brother. He is longtime friends with Eggie, Gua and Leyla.
- Aidan Prince as Edward "Eggie" Kham (seasons 7–9): the captain of the football team and is long time friends with Walker, Gus and Leyla and PK
- Kheris Rogers as Bella "Bel" Bosker (season 7–present): the current captain of Attaway Dance Team, and a chicken girl and is Harmony, Claire and Leyla's best friends
- Elliana Walmsley as Claire Fitzroy (season 7–present): an overachieving student, and a member of the chicken girl, and is Harmony, Leyla and Bel's best friends
- Corinne Joy as Simone (main, season 8–present; recurring, season 7): Harmony's former friend and the temporary captain of the new Power Surge
- Thaddeaus Ek as Leo (season 8): a theater kid, who plays the male lead in the school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
Recurring
Introduced in season 1
- Jeremiah Perkins as Hamilton (seasons 1–4): Rooney's ex-boyfriend
- Kelsey Leon as Kimmie (seasons 1–3): a friend of Luna's and former member of the Power Surge dance team
- Erin Reese DeJarnette as Beth (seasons 1–3): a friend of Luna's and former member of the Power Surge dance team
- Tallinn Silva as Jade (seasons 1–3): a friend of Luna's and former member of the Power Surge dance team
- Jenna Davis as Monica Allen (seasons 1–2): a friend of Luna and former member of the Power Surge dance team. Her parents own Allen's Arcade. She is the granddaughter of Cathy Fitzroy and Allen Alvarez from A Girl Named Jo.
- Breanna D'Amico as Sandy (seasons 1–2): a friend of Ellie's and another member of Miles' band
- Greg Marks as Henry Barnett (seasons 1, 3): Rooney's former boyfriend
- HRVY as Miles (season 1): Ellie's former love interest
- Caitlin Carmichael as Laney Raymond (season 1): TK's former girlfriend
- Isabella Durham as Sierra Raymond (season 1): Laney's twin sister and a girl Ace briefly dated
Introduced in season 2
- Holly Gagnier as Robin Robbins (seasons 2–3): a music producer in L.A. and ex-best friend of Miss McCallister, Ms. Mack, & Mrs. Sharpe. Her real name is Roberta Roach.
- Billy LeBlanc as Mr. Forrester (seasons 2–3): Rooney's father and Quinn's stepfather
- Steven Parker as Principal Mathers (seasons 2–3): the principal of Attaway High
- Brooke Burke as Tiffany Mack (seasons 2–3): Ellie's mother
- Lilia Buckingham as Autumn Miller (season 2): Luna and Birdie's rival and the captain of the Millwood Dance Team
- Olivia Espara as Naomi (season 2): a former member of the Attaway Dance Team
- Grant Knoche as Jules (season 2): Luna's childhood friend
- Christian Lalama as Paul (season 2): the manager for the Millwood Dance Team who develops a crush on Rhyme
- Ariel Martin as Dru (season 2): an employee at the Attaway Arcade
- Aidette Cancino as Holly (season 2): Ace's former crush. She works for the Attaway Appeal and it is revealed by Tim that she got Mathilda (a character played by MaeMae Renfrow from another Brat show based on/named after Attaway Appeal) fired from the newspaper.
- Nathan Triska as Frankie (season 2): a former member of Attaway Dance Team, dubbed "Chicken Boy" by Rhyme, Quinn, Kayla, and Birdie
- Brec Bassinger as Babs (season 2): Flash's father's assistant, and Ace's crush. She is a struggling actress.
- Ben Alezart as Bagel (season 2): the captain of the Attaway school basketball team. In a different Brat show called Brobot, it is revealed that Bagel's real name is Bobby.
- Andy Milder as Edward (season 2): Flash's father, a famous movie producer who lives in Los Angeles
- Alex and Alan Stokes as Lukas and Roscoe (season 2): members of the Attaway school basketball team
- Paris Simone as Suzie (season 2): a former member of the Power Surge dance team
- Cameron McLaeod as Billy Ridgeway (seasons 2, 5): a member of the Attaway Appeal
Introduced in season 3
- Lily Chee as Britney (seasons 3–5): one of the queen B's at Attaway High. She is a top student and journalist for the Attaway Appeal.
- Sean Cavaliere as Spike Smith (recurring, season 3; guest star, seasons 4–5): Birdie's ex-boyfriend
- Jay Ulloa as Drake (seasons 3–4): a theatre actor and Rhyme's ex-boyfriend
- Heidi Kaufman as Suzy Kaye (seasons 3–4): TK and Birdie's mother
- Emma Maddock as Mel (seasons 3, 5): Stephanie's ex-girlfriend
- Tatiana Turan as Molly McAdams (seasons 3, 5): Rhyme and Harmony's mother
- Sissy Sheridan as Angie (season 3): the self-titled "queen" of drama club until Rhyme joins
- Kaylyn Slevin as Beatrice (season 3): the leader of the queen B's at Attaway High
- Isabelle Marcus as Becky 1 (season 3): one of the queen B's at Attaway High
- Josie Nivar as Becky 2 (season 3): one of the queen B's at Attaway High
- Rebecca Zamolo as Mrs. Forrester (season 3): Quinn's mother, and Rooney's stepmother
- Luke Dodge as young T.K. (season 3)
- Trinity Valenzuela as young Rhyme (season 3, 8)
Introduced in season 4
- Diezel Braxton as Arthur (seasons 4–5): a student at Attaway High
- Paul Thomas Arnold as Junior Chambers (season 4–present): the owner of Junior's. He is a recurring character across the Brat universe.
- William Franklyn-Miller as Ezra Grant (season 4): Rhyme's former crush, and classmate whom she met in Spring Breakaway.
- Kiana Naomi as Effie (season 4): a good friend of Rhyme's who attends Crown Lake. The two met in Spring Breakaway.
- Alex Guzman as Jax Brinkman (season 4): Britney's boyfriend
- Nataliz Jiménez as Elena (season 4): Ezra's abusive stepmother
- Dino Petrera as Billy (season 4): a kid who works for the Attaway Appeal
Introduced in season 5
- Carter Southern as Isaac Jones (season 5): a member of Attaway High's football team. He is a main character in Zoe Valentine.
- Tariq Brown as Evan (season 5): a member of Attaway High's football team
- Kai Peters as Jesse Hawkins (season 5): a classmate of Rhyme and Wes's rival, also known as "The Falcon", which is his stage name for the Attaway radio station he runs
- Blaine Maye as Johnny Valentine (season 5): Robbie's cousin and River's friend. He stars in Dirt and also appears in Boss Cheer.
- Catherine Grady as Mrs. Henderson (season 5): the social studies teacher at Attaway High
Introduced in season 6
- Chris Romero as Carlos (season 6): a member of Ellie's debate team
- Gigi Cesare as Tonya (season 6): a girl in Birdie, Rooney, Luna, and Ty's gym class
- Amelie Anstett as Sadie (season 6): TK's girlfriend back in Texas
- Anirudh Pisharody as Benji (season 6): Gemma's ex-boyfriend
- Kesley Leroy as Jessica (season 6): a member of the Attaway High cheer team
Introduced in season 7
- Andrew Davis II as Mr. Giamarra (seasons 7–8): a reading and literature teacher for Harmony and her friends
- Sawyer Fuller as Portia (seasons 7–8): a worker at the Parlor Ice Cream Shop
- Ansa Woo as Tanya Kham (season 7): Eggie's mother who is best friends with Bel's mother
- Alyssa Gutierrez-Sierra as Star (season 7): Simone's teammate and Harmony's former friend
Introduced in season 8
- Brooklyn Courtney-Moore as Margo (season 8–9): Leyla's friend and later rival and head editor of the junior appeal
- Lauren Rosa as Young Harmony (season 8)
- Ella Noel as Tamara (season 8)
- Mila Skye Rouse as Judy (season 8–present)
- Sir Cornwell as Ernie (season 8–9)
- Hailey Villarreal as Grace (season 8)
Introduced in season 9
- Mehra Marzbani as Yasmina
- Tina Hohman as Emerson
- Adriana Camposano as Poppy
Introduced in season 10
- Nicolette Peck as Ivy
- Lizzy Howell as Kara
- Raihyah as Bailey
- Ayumi Matsumoto as JJ
- Anna Mia Conley as Petra
- Meztli Quetzalcoatl as Theo
- Matthew Garbacz as Finn
- La'Ron Hines as Ben
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 11 | September 5, 2017 | December 19, 2017 | |
| 2 | 11 | February 14, 2018 | May 15, 2018 | |
| 3 | 13 | September 4, 2018 | December 11, 2018[3] | |
| 4 | 11 | March 19, 2019 | May 28, 2019 | |
| 5 | 11 | September 3, 2019 | November 12, 2019 | |
| 6 | 10 | March 10, 2020 | May 12, 2020 | |
| 7 | 15 | September 8, 2020 | December 15, 2020 | |
| 8 | 20[4] | March 23, 2021 | July 27, 2021 | |
| 9 | 16 | October 26, 2021 | April 5, 2022 | |
| 10 | 20 | September 27, 2022 | May 23, 2023 | |
Production and release
Production and filming for the series' first season commenced August 6, 2017. The series was first reported by Variety on August 21, 2017.[5] Alana Johnson was originally cast a series regular, but she dropped the role to produce her own film. The second season premiered on February 14, 2018.[6] In June 2018, Brat released Chicken Girls: The Movie which takes place between the second and third seasons of Chicken Girls. On August 9, 2018, The Hollywood Reporter announced season 3 would premiere on September 4, 2018.[7]
The Brat Holiday Spectacular film, featuring Annie LeBlanc, Indiana Massara, Aliyah Moulden, Mackenzie Ziegler and other performers from Chicken Girls, along with cast from Total Eclipse and Boss Cheer, was released in December 2018.[8][9] The film takes place between Chicken Girls season 3 and Spring Breakaway. In March 2019, Brat released the Spring Breakaway film, which stars Annie LeBlanc, Lilia Buckingham, Anna Cathcart, Kianna Naomi and William Franklyn Miller. This film takes place between Holiday Spectacular and Chicken Girls season 4.
The series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on March 19, 2019.[10] In August 2019, Brat released the Intern-in-Chief film, which featured much of the Chicken Girls cast, notably Annie LeBlanc, Brooke Elizabeth Butler, Riley Lewis, and Kianna Naomi, with Indiana Massara, Hayley LeBlanc, Matt Sato, Rush Holland, Mads Lewis, and Aliyah Moulden appearing as well. The film takes place between the fourth and fifth seasons of Chicken Girls. The fifth season premiered on September 3, 2019. In November 2019, the series was renewed for a sixth season, which premiered on March 10, 2020.
In August 2020, Brat announced a new cast for the seventh season of Chicken Girls, which included Hayley LeBlanc, Coco Quinn, Txunamy Ortiz, and Corrine Joy from Mani, as well as Enzo Lopez, Elliana Wamsley, Matteo Gallegos, Michael Aboujaoude, Skyler Aboujaoude, Kheris Rogers, Aidan Prince, Santiago Carrera, and Liam-Alexander Newman.[11] The season was originally set to premiere on September 1, 2020, but was pushed back to September 8. In 2020, a behind the scenes documentary series Chicken Girls: The Docuseries was released alongside season 7. Season 8 was being filmed as of February 1, 2021, and was released on March 23, 2021.
Filming
The main filming location for Chicken Girls, besides Brat Studios, is Ramona Convent Secondary School. It was used as the school in the series' first season, and in Chicken Girls: The Movie, as well for most of the fourth through sixth seasons.
Reception
Viewership
Forbes reported that Chicken Girls and another Brat show, Total Eclipse, helped the network accumulate a "loyal audience" of 15 million unique viewers in three months that "the company is beginning to monetize by moving into advertising in 2019".[12]
Chicken Girls: The Movie was the most viewed program on Brat of all time, having more than 38 million views as of October 1, 2022. The Brat Holiday Spectacular, featuring Annie LeBlanc, Indiana Massara, Aliyah Moulden, Mackenzie Ziegler, other cast from Chicken Girls, has been viewed more than 7.7 million times as of October 1, 2022. The Spring Breakaway film has been viewed more than 8.8 million times, while the Intern-in-Chief film has been viewed more than 4.5 million times, as of October 1, 2022.
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient/nominee | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Streamy Awards | Best Drama Series | Chicken Girls | Nominated | [13] |
| Best Acting in Drama | Annie LeBlanc | Nominated | [13] | ||
| 2019 | Streamy Awards | Best Scripted Series | Brat | Nominated | [14] |
| Best Acting | Annie LeBlanc | Nominated | [14] |
Spinoffs
The popularity of Chicken Girls has led the team at Brat TV to produce accompanying spinoff series to the show. The first series, Rooney's Last Roll, follows Rooney Forrester as she struggles to move on from her relationship with Stephanie after finding a film roll from the last time they were together. It premiered on November 11, 2020.
A second spinoff series, Chicken Girls: College Years, follows Rooney and Birdie as they start their new lives in college and encounter new challenges along the way.[1] It premiered on August 2, 2022.[2]
A third spinoff series, Chicken Girls: Forever Team, centers on Simone and her friends, who have to navigate their life with Harmony having moved away. It premiered on November 3, 2022.
References
- "Mads Lewis and Indiana Massara will expand Brat TV's 'Chicken Girls' universe in a spinoff series". Tubefilter. July 7, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
- @brat (July 21, 2022). "Chicken Girls: College Years premieres August 2 only on Brat TV. 💙🎓" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "CHICKEN GIRLS – Season 3 – Ep. 13: "Footloose"". Brat. December 11, 2018 – via YouTube.
- Brat TV [@brat] (May 10, 2021). "i'm just gonna go ahead and confirm season 8 of chicken girls has 20 episodes, the longest season for any brat tv show ever! 🐔💜" (Tweet). Retrieved August 28, 2022 – via Twitter.
- McNary, Dave (August 22, 2017). "Digital Creator Brat Unveils Fall Slate of High School-Set Shows". Variety.
- "CHICKEN GIRLS 2 – Annie & Hayden in "Thyme" – Ep. 1". Brat. February 14, 2018 – via YouTube.
- "Brat Unveils Fall Slate Featuring More 'Chicken Girls,' Competition Series 'Talent Show' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. August 9, 2018.
- Weiss, Geoff (January 3, 2019). "Fresh Off Highly-Viewed Holiday Film, Tween Studio 'Brat' Unveils Latest Series". Tubefilter.
- "Brat Holiday Spectacular", Brat via YouTube, December 21, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
- Hipes, Patrick (December 7, 2018). "Brat Expands Slate With New Original Series, Renewals For Winter Launch". Deadline Hollywood.
- Shafer, Ellise (August 4, 2020). "Brat TV Announces New Cast of 'Chicken Girls' For Season 7". Variety. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- Robehmed, Natalie (December 12, 2018). "Poised to Monetize, Digital Studio Brat Seeks Ad Dollars In Teens". Forbes. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
- Lukarcanin, Emina (September 25, 2018). "David Dobrik Leads 2018 Streamy Awards With 6 Nominations: See the Full List". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- Haring, Bruce (December 13, 2019). "9th Annual Streamy Awards Honors 'Good Mythical Morning' As Show Of The Year". Deadline. Retrieved September 27, 2020.