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Two of a Kind (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Two of a Kind is an American
sitcom that aired on ABC
as part of the network's TGIF
line-up, starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
. The show aired from September 25, 1998 to July 9, 1999.
The series was produced by Griffard/Adler Productions, Dualstar Productions
, and Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television
. It was the last series to be produced by Miller-Boyett Productions
.
) is a college professor and widowed father living in Chicago, Illinois, who believes there is a scientific explanation for everything except how to control his scheming 12 year old daughters. Mary-Kate and Ashley Burke (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) are identical twin sisters, who are complete opposites. Mary-Kate is a tomboy, whose biggest interest is perfecting her jumpshot and her curveball and her worst subject in School is Math. Ashley makes Straight A's and she dreams of a modeling career and boys.
And then there's Carrie (Sally Wheeler
), a 26-year-old freshman in Kevin's class, who has come late to college after exploring the world. Carrie is quirky, difficult, beautiful, and quick to speak her mind, so when she answers Kevin's ad for a part-time baby sitter for the girls, he is convinced she's nothing but trouble and is in favor of their next door neighbor Mrs. Baker baby sitting Mary-Kate and Ashley. The girls think she is a dream-sitter come true, and agree to put their differences aside to join forces to make a little chemistry between their by-the-book father and the beautiful woman who seems to drive him crazy in all the right ways.
and Bennett Salvay, and was the second theme composed by Frederick and Salvay that does not include lyrics, coming after The Family Man, which was also produced by Miller-Boyett.
The opening sequence varied slightly from week to week, featured clips of Kevin, Carrie and the girls playing in park. The scenes, which always slightly vary include, the girls rollerblading, the girls on the swing with Carrie, the girls playing frisbee with Kevin, Carrie and Kevin playing basketball, Carrie, Kevin and the girls playing a very large beach ball. The opening sequence only includes the show title and the executive producers' names, unlike previous Miller-Boyett series, whose opening sequences featured the cast and producers names in the sequence. The names of the show's cast members were instead shown in the opening teaser, prior to the opening credits.
in the United States. It ran on the network starting in 1999 (a few months after its cancellation), when the network was Fox Family, and continued after the channel's purchase by Disney until 2004. ABC Family ran separated the closing credits and the tag scene as they originally aired on ABC
.
In the United Kingdom
, reruns of the series also aired on Nickelodeon UK
and Disney Channel UK. The international networks run the closing credits over the tag scene. The series currently airs on Pop Girl
.
Despite the lack of success for the television series, the books are more successful towards children and pre-teens.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom that aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
as part of the network's TGIF
TGIF (ABC)
TGIF was the name of an American family-friendly prime time television programming block on the ABC network. The name comes from the initials of the popular phrase "Thank God It's Friday"...
line-up, starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen are American actresses and entrepreneurs.Both have appeared in television and films since infancy. Since then, they have continued their celebrity through numerous television programs, films, interviews, as well as commercial endorsements...
. The show aired from September 25, 1998 to July 9, 1999.
The series was produced by Griffard/Adler Productions, Dualstar Productions
Dualstar
Dualstar Entertainment Group, LLC is a privately held American limited liability company owned by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, which produces movies, TV shows, magazines, video games, etc...
, and Miller-Boyett-Warren Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
. It was the last series to be produced by Miller-Boyett Productions
Miller-Boyett Productions
Miller-Boyett Productions was an American television production company that mainly developed television sitcoms from the 1970s through the 1990s...
.
Premise
Kevin Burke (Christopher SieberChristopher Sieber
Christopher Sieber is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Kevin Burke in Two of a Kind starring Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen and Lord Farquaad in Shrek the Musical. Christopher studied acting and musical comedy at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City...
) is a college professor and widowed father living in Chicago, Illinois, who believes there is a scientific explanation for everything except how to control his scheming 12 year old daughters. Mary-Kate and Ashley Burke (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) are identical twin sisters, who are complete opposites. Mary-Kate is a tomboy, whose biggest interest is perfecting her jumpshot and her curveball and her worst subject in School is Math. Ashley makes Straight A's and she dreams of a modeling career and boys.
And then there's Carrie (Sally Wheeler
Sally Wheeler
Sally Wheeler, , is an American television actress, probably best known for her role in short-running series Two of a Kind alongside Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen....
), a 26-year-old freshman in Kevin's class, who has come late to college after exploring the world. Carrie is quirky, difficult, beautiful, and quick to speak her mind, so when she answers Kevin's ad for a part-time baby sitter for the girls, he is convinced she's nothing but trouble and is in favor of their next door neighbor Mrs. Baker baby sitting Mary-Kate and Ashley. The girls think she is a dream-sitter come true, and agree to put their differences aside to join forces to make a little chemistry between their by-the-book father and the beautiful woman who seems to drive him crazy in all the right ways.
Main cast
- Mary-Kate OlsenMary-Kate OlsenMary-Kate Olsen is an American actress, producer, author and fashion designer. She made her career debut in 1987 alongside her twin sister Ashley Olsen in the television series Full House...
as Mary-Kate Burke - A tomboy who loves sports and horses, but inside likes a few things that Ashley likes too, like modeling. She has two friends, Max and Brian. She also has a math tutor named Taylor. Mary-Kate suffers from DyscalculiaDyscalculiaDyscalculia is a specific learning disability involving innate difficulty in learning or comprehending simple arithmetic. It is akin to dyslexia and includes difficulty in understanding numbers, learning how to manipulate numbers, learning maths facts, and a number of other related symptoms...
. Mary-Kate's favorite color is red.
- Ashley OlsenAshley OlsenAshley Fuller Olsen is an American actress, fashion designer, producer, and author. She co-founded luxury fashion brand The Row and the more affordable line Olsenboye with her twin sister Mary-Kate Olsen and started her own fashion company called Elizabeth and James...
as Ashley Burke - A total opposite to her twin sister, Mary-Kate, she is very girly and likes boys, fashion, dancing, make up, cheerleading, and modeling. She's better at math than Mary-Kate. Ashley also has a first crush when Mary Kate's math tutor Taylor Donovan. Ashley's a Straight A Student. She's friends with the popular Jennifer Dilber. Ashley's favorite color is green.
- Christopher SieberChristopher SieberChristopher Sieber is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Kevin Burke in Two of a Kind starring Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen and Lord Farquaad in Shrek the Musical. Christopher studied acting and musical comedy at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City...
as Kevin Burke - The widowed dad of Mary-Kate and Ashley, a professor and landlord. He has been on many dates with women, but they never work. He teaches Carrie, the twins' cool baby sitter. Kevin's wife died when Mary-Kate and Ashley where in the 3rd Grade. Kevin plays the saxophone.
- Sally WheelerSally WheelerSally Wheeler, , is an American television actress, probably best known for her role in short-running series Two of a Kind alongside Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen....
as Carrie Moore - The twins' baby sitter and student, friend, employer of Professor Burke. She has a great sense of humor and a free-spirit. Carrie eventually moves into the Burke's basement after Kevin accidentally causes her to get evicted from her apartment.
- Ernie GrunwaldErnie GrunwaldErnie Grunwald is a Canadian-born actor who has had made guest appearances in a number of notable television series. He has also had recurring roles on, One on One, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody , and Two of a Kind opposite Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen...
as Paul - Carrie's classmate and is a student of Kevin. He also has a Saturday job as a pizza delivery guy. He has a crush on Carrie but is too afraid to admit it. In one of the episodes, Paul sees Carrie at the professor's house late at night, and Kevin worries that Paul "got the wrong idea". Paul's a computer whiz.
- Martin SpanjersMartin SpanjersMartin Ryan Spanjers is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Rory Hennessy in the short-lived ABC television sitcom 8 Simples Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.-Life and career:...
as Brian - Mary-Kate and Ashley's friend who has a slight crush on Ashley. He goes to school with the twins.
- Orlando BrownOrlando BrownOrlando Brown is an American actor and musician. A child actor, his early roles included 3J in Family Matters, Eddie Thomas in That's So Raven, Tiger in Major Payne, and Nelson in The Jamie Foxx Show. He was also the voice of Sticky Web on the animated TV series The Proud Family...
as Max - Mary-Kate and Ashley's other guy friend. He also goes to school with the twins.
- Anastasia Emmons as Jennifer Dilber - Ashley's friend. Jennifer's the most popular girl in 7th Grade. Ashley invites Jennifer to a sleep over that she has in the hopes of becoming popular and getting to sit with her at lunch.
- Kimberly J. BrownKimberly J. BrownKimberly J. Brown is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Marah Lewis #3 on The Guiding Light and Marnie Piper in the Halloweentown film series .-Career:...
as Nicole - Ashley's other friend. Mary-Kate becomes jealous when Ashley spends more time with Nicole than her. After "My Boyfriend's Back" Nicole isn't seen or mentioned again.
Recurring cast
- Jesse SofferJesse SofferJesse Lee Soffer is an American actor. His film debut at the age of eight was in Matinee. In 1995, he played the role of Bobby Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie and returned for A Very Brady Sequel a year later....
as Taylor - Mary-Kate's math tutor and Ashley's main love interest.
- David LascherDavid LascherDavid Scott Lascher is an American actor best known for his roles in Blossom, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and the Nickelodeon show Hey Dude, in which he starred with Christine Taylor.- Life and career :...
as Matt Burke - Kevin's irresponsible younger brother and the twins' uncle. He briefly dated Carrie.
- David Valcin as Eddie Fairbanks - Kevin's best friend and a plumber. He tries to find women to date, but is never successful.
Theme music and opening sequence
The theme music which accompanied the opening title sequence was composed by Jesse FrederickJesse Frederick
Jesse Frederick is a film and television composer best known for writing and performing the themes to popular television shows such as Perfect Strangers, Full House, Family Matters, and Step By Step.-Early years:...
and Bennett Salvay, and was the second theme composed by Frederick and Salvay that does not include lyrics, coming after The Family Man, which was also produced by Miller-Boyett.
The opening sequence varied slightly from week to week, featured clips of Kevin, Carrie and the girls playing in park. The scenes, which always slightly vary include, the girls rollerblading, the girls on the swing with Carrie, the girls playing frisbee with Kevin, Carrie and Kevin playing basketball, Carrie, Kevin and the girls playing a very large beach ball. The opening sequence only includes the show title and the executive producers' names, unlike previous Miller-Boyett series, whose opening sequences featured the cast and producers names in the sequence. The names of the show's cast members were instead shown in the opening teaser, prior to the opening credits.
Syndication
After its cancellation, the show gained more of an audience when reruns began airing on ABC FamilyABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
in the United States. It ran on the network starting in 1999 (a few months after its cancellation), when the network was Fox Family, and continued after the channel's purchase by Disney until 2004. ABC Family ran separated the closing credits and the tag scene as they originally aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, reruns of the series also aired on Nickelodeon UK
Nickelodeon UK
Nickelodeon is a children's television channel available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable, TalkTalk TV and UPC Ireland in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including on demand on BT Vision. The channel was launched on 1 September 1993...
and Disney Channel UK. The international networks run the closing credits over the tag scene. The series currently airs on Pop Girl
Pop Girl
Pop Girl is a free-to-air television channel owned by CSC Media Group, showing cartoons, live action and pop music videos for girls aged 6 to 16...
.
Episodes
| # | | Directed by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|
Books
Some episodes were written and released as books. Some other Two of a Kind novels were just made up by the authors. As of December 16, 2006, 40 books have been released. The first book is "It's a Twin Thing". Initially, the books are actually simplified versions of the episode scripts, while currently, they just feature its main characters.Despite the lack of success for the television series, the books are more successful towards children and pre-teens.
- 1. It's a Twin Thing by Judy Katschake
- 2. How to Flunk Your First Date by Megan Stine
- 3. The Sleepover Secret by Judy Katschake
- 4. One Twin Too Many by Megan Stine
- 5. To Snoop or Not to Snoop? by Megan Stine
- 6. My Sister the Super-model
- 7. Two's a Crowd
- 8. Let's Party!
- 9. Calling All Boys (Diaries subseries, #1)
- 10. Winner Take All (Diaries subseries, #2)
- 11. P.S. Wish You Were Here (Diaries subseries, #3)
- 12. The Cool Club
- 13. War of the Wardrobes
- 14. Bye -Bye Boyfriend
- 15. It's Snow Problem
- 16. Likes Me, Likes Me Not
- 17. Shore Thing (Diaries subseries, #4)
- 18. Two For The Road (Diaries subseries, #5
- 19. Surprise, Surprise
- 20. Sealed With a Kiss
- 21. Now You See Him, Now You Don't
- 22. April Fools Rules
- 23. Island Girls (Diaries subseries, #6)
- 24. Surf, Sand & Secrets (Diaries subseries, #7)
- 25. Closer Than Ever
- 26. The Perfect Gift
- 27. The Facts About Flirting
- 28. The Dream Date Debate
- 29. Love Set Match (Diaries subseries, #8)
- 30. Making A Splash (Diaries subseries, #9)
- 31. Dare To Scare (Diaries subseries, #10)
- 32. Santa Girls (Diaries subseries, #11)
- 33. Heart to Heart (Diaries subseries, #12)
- 34. Prom Princess (Diaries subseries, #13)
- 35. Camp Rock 'n' Roll (Diaries subseries, #14)
- 36. Twist and Shout (Diaries subseries, #15)
- 37. Hocus-pocus (Diaries subseries, #16)
- 38. Holiday Magic (Diaries subseries, #17)
- 39. Candles, Cake, Celebrate! (Diaries subseries, #18)
- 40. Wish on a Star (Diaries subseries, #19)