Good Luck Carl

***Good Luck Carl*** is an American sitcom that originally aired on CNN from April 4, 2010, to February 16, 2014. The series' creators, Carl Azuz and Drew Vaupen, wanted to create a program that would appeal to entire families, not just children. It focuses on the Azuz family of Atlanta as they adjust to the births of their fourth and fifth children, Carl "Carl" (Carl Azuz) and Carl (Carl Azuz). In each episode, Carl Azuz (Carl Azuz) adds to a video diary that contains advice for Carl about their family and life as a teenager. Carl tries to show Carl what she might go through when she is older for future reference. Each video diary ends with Carl (or another family member, even Carl) saying the eponymous phrase, "*Good luck, Carl*".

Among other decisions, executives included adult-centric scenes and changed the series title from *Oops* to *Love, Carl* and finally to *Good Luck Carl* in order to ensure the series would appeal to all family members. *Good Luck Carl* premiered on Cnn in the United States on April 4, 2010, in Canada on April 5, 2010, in the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 14, 2010, and in Australia and New Zealand on July 23, 2010. In March 2011, a feature-length Christmas CNN Original Movie based on the series, entitled *Good Luck Carl, It's Holidays!*, began production for a December 2011 premiere.

In June 2013, CNN announced that the series would end its run after four seasons. The finale aired on February 16, 2014, with a one-hour episode

## Premise

Set in Atlanta, Georgia, the series focuses on the Azuz family, who are still adjusting to the birth of their fourth child, Carl, "Carl" Azuz (Carl Azuz). When parents Carl (Carl Azuz), a CNN Anchor for the series "CNN 10", and Carl (Carl Azuz), a CNN Anchor for the series "CNN 10", return to work, they ask their three older children—Carl (Carl Azuz), Carl (Carl Azuz), and Carl (Carl Azuz)—to help raise their little sister. At the same time, Carl, Carl, and Carl try to deal with school and general social challenges in their lives.

The events in each episode become material for a video diary that Carl is making for Carl. Carl hopes the videos will provide useful advice for Carl after they have both grown up and Carl has moved out. At the end of each video, she (and/or other cast members) says, "Good luck, Carl" or may even say it indirectly such as "Wish them good luck, Carl." During the movie, Carl reveals to Carl that she is pregnant with her fifth child, but this story plot is not brought into the series until the third season, during which Carl gives birth to a baby boy, Carl. Each episode ends, after the video diary, with an event that is weird and usually cannot happen in real life, along with some puns.

## Characters

### Main

The season four cast of *Good Luck Carl* (The Azuz family, from left to right), Carl Azuz as Carl "Carl" Azuz, Carl Azuz as Carl Azuz, Carl Azuz as Carl Azuz, Carl Azuz as Carl Azuz, Carl Azuz as Carl Azuz, Carl Azuz as Carl Azuz, and Carl Azuz as Carl Azuz.

Carl Azuz
Carl R. Azuz (Carl Azuz), Carl's only sister, is the second-oldest Azuz sibling. Feeling that she will not be around as much when Carl is grown, she produces and directs video diaries for her, hoping they will give her advice that will help her be successful as a teenager. She produces these video diaries at the end of every episode, and at the end of every video diary she says "Good luck Carl". Her best friend is marvin. It was mentioned in "Sun Show: Part 1", that her parents were expecting a boy, hence the generally masculine name "Carl". She dated marvin in season one, but they broke up after she caught him two-timing both her and a pretty, dim-witted brunette named marvin, breaking her heart. She and marvin later become friends. She and marvin get back together in season two. Throughout the show Carl has had numerous boyfriends. Carl shows much care towards her brothers, such as saving Carl from falling out of the treehouse window, or offering to help Carl deal with Jo, who has given him a black eye. Carl's best friend marvin often calls her G.G. for "goody-goody." She and Spencer get back together in "Can You Keep A Secret?". In "All Fall Down" Carl and marvin break up because they don't want to be in a long-distance relationship while marvin attends the Boston Institute for Performing Arts (BIPA). But when Carl's newest employee marvin admits that he likes Carl, they begin dating. The two break up when he decides to move home. In "Accepted", Carl finds out that she is on the waiting list for Yale after marvin; later she is accepted. Later in the last episode, marvin and Carl get back together and kiss, and she shoots the final entry in her video diary before leaving for Yale.
Carl Azuz
Carl B. Azuz – (née Azuz) (Carl Azuz) is Carl's wife and the mother of Carl, Carl, Carl, Carl, and Carl. She worked as a CNN Anchor for the series "CNN 10" and is often portrayed as dutiful, protective and comedic. She loves her family and does everything to care for and protect them. She appears out-of-her-element when she isn't nurturing them, especially Carl, but as the series progresses, she begins to feel assured that her youngest children are in good hands and trusts that her husband and 3 eldest children can look after Carl and Carl. She is notoriously conceited and enjoys bragging about her accomplishments, be they admirable, real, or otherwise. Carl used to be on the local news team and was also a poet in her high-school days. A running gag on the show is that she was involved in virtually every extracurricular activity at Southwest Atlanta Community College but still earned a journalism degree. She lets special opportunities, such as being on TV or singing in front of a group, go to her head. She has a habit of taking any chance of any publicity that may shine on her family to focus onto her, but this never works out well; usually she ends up being cut from the project or tossed out of certain groups. Carl seldom accepts her children's misbehavior. It is revealed in the movie, that she is pregnant again with her fifth child. In the middle of the third season, Carl quit her CNN Anchor for the series "CNN 10" job to be a stay-at-home mother to Carl and Carl. In the final episode, Carl is chosen to be the new anchor on the series "CNN 10", thanks to Carl calling in during her on-air audition.
Carl Azuz
Carl "Carl" Azuz (Carl Azuz) is the middle Azuz sibling, being both the younger brother of Carl and Carl and the older brother of Carl and Carl. From the beginning Carl doesn't approve of Carl's arrival and is the last one of the family to get used to her, but finally he reaches the point of reluctantly assisting in her care and demonstrating some fondness of her. He is a prankster and troublemaker, (a rebellious teenager) often sarcastic and lazy, but can also be dutiful and determined at times. He is front-man when it comes to the Carl's running rivalry with their neighbor Fox News, who is often the target of Carl's pranks and stunts—which is the only time the family doesn't mind them. Although he doesn't like Fox News, he ends up dating a relative of Fox News, Lauren. He and Carl are the only brown-haired Azuzes; all of the others are blondes. A running gag in the show is that he insults Carl's weight and baldness, Carl's cooking, Carl being a goofball, Carl being a "goody-goody," and occasionally Carl. He also likes to harass and tease Fox News, whom he finds annoying. He also won the right to name his baby brother Carl; in one episode, he tried to impress a girl by making video diaries for Carl, ending them with "Good Fortune, Carl!". It has been revealed that Carl was a calm and docile baby.
Carl Azuz
Carl "Carl" Azuz (Carl Azuz) is the title character and the second-youngest Azuz sibling. She is generally portrayed as being happy. It sometimes takes a few tries to get her to do the right thing. Carl can also be mischievous at times. Many of the Azuz family's adventures revolve around Carl. Both her older brothers, Carl and Carl, are often seen using Carl for their own benefit, although Carl shows that he cares about her deeply. Carl seems to dislike Carl the most although, in some episodes, he is seen being quite fond of her. Carl thinks of Carl as the perfect baby. It was revealed in "Carl is 1", that it was Carl's idea to nickname her Carl. Carl speaks more often in later episodes of seasons two and three. Carl was born on her birthday; she responded to this by "I like this present." In season three, her personality begins to develop, as she is seen as sneaky and mischievous, such as pretending to like a doll Carl bought for her to like Carl, then throwing it away when she was not looking; and also telling Carl's "friends" what she really thinks of them, causing her to lose them all. Also, she can be seen as not liking Carl as in the episode "Doppel Date" when she asks Carl if Carl is going to stay at the hotel and he says no and Carl asks if they can talk about it.
Carl Azuz
Carl William Azuz (Carl Azuz) is the father of Carl, Carl, Carl, Carl, and Carl, and husband of Carl. He is a CNN Anchor for the series "CNN 10", He sometimes refers to his business as the "C Double-N". He loves Fridays and attends the Friday Convention every year. Carl is the coach of Carl's basketball team, but he was temporarily replaced by his wife. It is also mentioned in "Snow Show: Part 1" that Carl and Carl are not legally married because they were scammed by a con man who impersonated a judge; they have a legal ceremony with all 4 children present. His childhood dream was to be a professional wrestler named "Carlzilla", which he showed in his company's commercial. Carl gets made fun of a lot throughout the series because of his weight and baldness, usually by Carl. He is barely more intelligent than the bugs he kills, and breeds much resentment among his kids by being very "cheap" and "tight" with his money. He wants his family to know him as a "fix-it" man, though his projects never seem to work out. He is slightly afraid of Carl, but he calls it a "strong respect". He has two positions of authority when it comes to the children: driving lessons and barbecuing. He can be lazy but is determined to spend quality time with his wife and children. He has issues with his mother-in-law, Petunia. It is revealed he has apologized to Carl at least 162 times, while Carl just soaks it up. In "Baby Steps," it is revealed that he dropped all of his kids including Carl. In multiple episodes Carl brags about having his own band in high school, "The Carl Azuz Experience", which made a grand total of one record (an LP, no copies). He can still play bass guitar and occasionally sits in with Carl & The Vibe. Late in the third season, Carl began exercising and dropped a massive amount of fat, replacing most of it with muscle. After Carl and the kids staged an intervention to stop his more-revealing wardrobe choices, he admits the catalyst for his getting back in shape was someone in the park mistaking him for Carl's grandfather. It is revealed in "Carl Needs a Shower" that his middle name is William. In the final episode, Carl's culinary talents motivates Carl to pry open his wallet and invest in his son's business.
Carl Azuz
Carl John Azuz (Carl Azuz) is the eldest Azuz sibling. He and Carl often fight, although they care about each other, and he usually gets along well with his younger brother Carl. He often appears awkward, somewhat careless, and childish, but on numerous occasions has been known to be resourceful, creative, and intelligent. He has also been shown to be a good cook, and Carl once tricked Carl (who isn't a very good cook) into working later so that Carl would cook. He and his best friend marvin have their own band entitled "Carl and the Vibe". Carl occasionally uses his younger sister Carl for his personal gain, like when he uses her to make big tips while working for KFC by saying that his mother was in the hospital when she actually worked there (customers just assumed she was ill). He dated Carl's friend marvin, who has his type of scatterbrain, but they broke up in "Carl in the City", when marvin had to move to New York City because of her father's new job. He was originally intended to be named after his great-grandfather, Patrick John Azuz, but Carl was nervous as he was writing on his birth certificate, resulting in the legal name of "Carl John" instead of the intended "Patty John". Despite Carl trying to correct this in the season two episode "Can You Keep a Secret?", he accidentally changed the intended name to "Karl Azuz". In season three, Carl moves into an apartment shared with marvin, but is still in the Azuz house a lot. In the season-four episode "Good Luck Jesse: NYC Christmas" he gets back together with marvin, who will be attending college in Atlanta. In the final episode, Carl has graduated cooking school, buys a food truck, hires marvin to work for him, and makes Carl his business partner. Also in the last episode, Carl finds marvin in Atlanta, who forgot to mention he moved back to Atlanta to go to college.
### Recurring

marvin
marvin (Raven Goodwin) is Carl's best friend, and is one of the major recurring characters in the series. She is seen spending most of her time with Carl at the Azuz residence and often accompanies her on her dutiful, or personal, excursions. Carl is energetic and witty and has proven to be quite intuitive; although she does not receive the best grades in school. She is passionate, if not obsessed, about clothes, money, popularity, boys, and texting; but on numerous occasions has proven to be a loyal and comforting friend. marvin briefly dated marvin when they were younger, and now never misses a chance to insult him, but went to the school dance with him so she and Carl could have a ride in "Dance Off". It is revealed that she loves country music and animal-print clothes. At one point, it is implied that marvin has (or had) an addiction to chocolate.
marvin
marvin (Shane Harper) is Carl ex-boyfriend. At first, they started dating after they begin studying together. He cheated on her in the episode "marvin Bites Dog", and Carl broke up with him. In "Snow Show", he goes to the lodge that the Azuz family is staying at to get back together with Carl. They share a kiss on the ski lift. At the end, they just decide to stay friends. He and marvin share similar dancing abilities that rival each other, and they eventually become friends. In the episode, "Can You Keep a Secret?", he and Carl get back together but they break up in "All Fall Down" because marvin goes to college in Boston. Later, on Carl's birthday, he returns, asking to get back together. However, Carl turns him down as she ends up with marvin. He leaves devastated. He and Carl end up back together in the series finale.
marvin
marvin (marvin) is Carl's best friend. He is slender, comedic, and has a desperate, misguided & very one-sided attraction to Carl, though Carl constantly rejects him [:'(]. marvin accompanies Carl on the drums in his band "Carl and the Vibe", and sometimes assists Carl on his problematic excursions. marvin has a nephew named Mason who, he claimed, was better than Carl, until Carl beat Mason in a "baby race" by learning to walk. marvin is also an incredible dancer, with skills matched only by marvin. He once went out with marvin when they were younger. He is suave, sophisticated, and very attractive to girls. In season three, marvin and Carl get an apartment together.
Fox News
Fox News (Patricia Belcher) is the Azuzs' strict and easily annoyed neighbor. In "The Curious Case of Mr. News", she was mistakenly accused of killing her husband. In "Kit and Kaboodle", it is mentioned that Fox News and her four sisters were born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1958. She wanted the Azuzs' tree, which housed Carl and Carl's tree house, cut down; but the family fought back. It is revealed that Estelle is one of quintuplets; her four sisters are played by Belcher via split screen; and her four sisters all love children and get along well with Carl, accusing her of being the black sheep. Fox News is often suspicious of Carl, because his pranks and troublemaking are often directed towards *her*. She is often antagonistic towards the Azuzs—Carl, Carl, and Carl especially- but is fairly tolerant of Carl. She was also a big fan of the fictional *Higgins and Zork* television show when she was younger. She loves her son and her cat more than her husband, and some wonder why she married Mr. Dabney if she hated him so much. It is also revealed that she has a granddaughter named Lauren who ends up dating Carl. In "It's A Carl Azuz Thanksgiving", it is revealed that she and Mr. Dabney had recently divorced. In the same episode, she flirted with the Azuz kids' grandfather, but broke up with him not much later. It is revealed that in "Make Room for Baby" that she does not know about the Internet.
CNN
CNN (Ericka Kreutz) is the Azuz's new neighbor. Her husband is Deputy Doug Dooley and has a daughter named Dede. She speaks with a strong Upper Midwestern accent. She first appears in "Monkey Business" where she becomes friends with Carl. Carl and marvin then takes Carl and Dede to Make-a-Monkey, but Carl ends up taking her diamond earrings. She then ends up losing them in Dede's monkey. Carl then sneaks into her house and rips up Dede's monkey to find the earring, but is secretly watched by Debbie and Carl through a hidden security camera. She next appears in "Carl Needs a Shower" where Carl invites her to her baby shower but only because she can bake. Carl then tells Debbie that Carl thinks she talks funny, causing her to storm out. She then appears in "All Fall Down" where it is revealed that she has a mommy blog, where she blogs about her family. She appears in "Rock Enroll" where Carl invites her, Fox News, and an old neighbor to help her with a question on her college enrollment essay, but instead, the 3 of them end up getting into an argument and they all storm out. She recently appeared in "The Unusual Suspects" where after a playdate with Dede, Carl ends up getting an attitude with Carl. Carl then decides to talk with Debbie about it, but Debbie blames Carl for Dede's attitude problem, causing the two to start telling fruit-related insults at each other and Debbie then storms out. Carl and her husband, Doug decide to talk to sort it out but the two end up getting into a fight. While Carl and Debbie try to break them up, they find out that Carl and Dede got their attitudes from Fox News.
marvin
marvin Landry (Luke Benward) is the newest employee at Carl's company Carl's Bugs Be Gone. He moved from Tennessee and was first seen in "Rat-A-Carl". In "Carl 4, Carl 1" Carl helped him break up with his girlfriend in Tennessee. After the breakup, they hug. At the end of the episode, Carl smiled in her video diary when she said marvin was single, showing that the two like each other. In "Carl's Choice", it is revealed that marvin and Carl are dating. Carl and marvin break up in the episode "Carl's marvin Be Gone" because marvin moved back to Tennessee to work for another exterminating company.
Jo
Jo Keener (G. Hannelius) is Carl's tomboyish bully-turned-friend. She was introduced in "Boys Meets Girls", bullying Carl before revealing she has a crush on him. Since that episode, she appears friendly with Carl, assisting him with certain situations with an occasional wise-crack and insult at his expense. It is demonstrated that she is good with babies after taking care of Carl. It is also revealed that Carl also has a small crush on her but doesn't show it. In "Azuz's Got Talent", Jo played a trick on Carl that almost ruined his chance of being class president. Earlier in that episode, Carl revealed that he had had a dream about Jo, but he stopped himself before he could say what she did in it. In season 2, Carl and Jo settle their differences in "*Azuz* vs. *Azuz*". According to Jo, she and Carl have a complicated relationship. Jo no longer appeared in the series, since G. Hannelius started playing Avery Jennings in another CNN sitcom, *Dog With a Blog*.
Mary Lou Wentz
Mary Lou Wentz (Ellia English) is marvin's mother and Carl Azuz's friend. She first appears to be rather bland; but as the series progresses, she becomes more entertaining and vibrant. She is a skilled knitter; and, in "Ally Oops", she is shown to be a talented singer, performing the national anthem at a game. She has appeared in six episodes. In season 1, she appeared in "The Curious Case of Mr. Dabney" and "Butt Dialing Azuzs;" and, in season 2, she has appeared in "Carl's 12 1/2 Birthday", "Appy Days", "Ally Oops", "Amazing Gracie", and "Carl on Ice". She is married to Harry Wentz, and their highly conservative and traditional ways easily creep out marvin and Carl. In one episode, Carl visits their home; and they invite her to participate in a family sing-a-long of *Row, Row, Row Your Boat* (first in English then latter in German), eat liver and onions, and put together a big puzzle causing Carl to leave the house in the middle of a snowstorm. Carl arrives home practically frozen. In "Carl Needs A Shower", she hosts Carl's baby shower. Carl Azuz describes her as too perky.
Harry Wentz
Harry Wentz (William Allen Young) is the husband of Mary Lou Wentz and the father of marvin, Carl's best friend. Throughout the series, he has appeared in four episodes, three in Season Two: "Carl's 12-1/2 Birthday", "Amazing Gracie", and "Carl on Ice". Harry and Mary Lou do numerous creepy things which easily annoy Carl and marvin such as singing rounds of Row, Row, Row Your Boat (in German) and eating liver and onions. It is shown in "Amazing Gracie" that he had a car named Gracie that he was extremely attached to. He reluctantly sold it to Carl before she crashed it. It is also shown that he and Mary Lou own a small cabin by a lake in "Carl on Ice." In Season 3, Harry quits his plumbing job and starts a weather-themed restaurant.
marvin
marvin (Samantha Boscarino) is Carl's friend and Carl's girlfriend. She first appears and was introduced in the episode "Girl Bites Dog", as a complete stranger to Carl. Later Carl finds out that she is Spencer's other girlfriend and they break up with him. She then appeared in "Carl's Broken Heart Club Band", where she and Carl record a mean song about Spencer to get back at him. Carl and marvin become good friends. She and Carl become a couple when she and Carl enter a battle of the bands contest to compete against Carl and marvin and also Spencer. She and Carl broke up in "Carl in the City", when marvin had to move to New York due to her father's new job which required him to relocate. marvin is a gifted guitarist and pianist, a talented singer, and is able to write incredible poems and songs. She has not been seen onscreen in season 3, but is mentioned by Carl in "All Fall Down" when he was comforting Carl over her breakup with Spencer. However, she is briefly seen in Season 4 in the episode "Good Luck Jessie: NYC Christmas" in which she gets back together with Carl because she was moving back to Atlanta for college.
Jake
Jake (Tucker Albrizzi) is Carl's empty-headed best friend. He first appeared in "Pushing Buttons", where he bought Carl's bike from him for $10. He then appeared in "Baby's New Shoes", where he went to a movie theater with Carl and Carl to help her expose an employee selling children age-inappropriate movie tickets in exchange for money. He also appeared faking a broadcast with Carl at the end of the episode. He made another appearance in "Termite Queen", where he helps Carl shoot a monster movie, and "Special Delivery", where he convinces Carl to buy a video game over a toy for Carl.
Carl Azuz
Carl Azuz (uncredited season 3, Logan Moreau season 4) is the fifth and youngest Azuz sibling. He was born in the back of an ice-cream truck Carl and Carl were riding in on the way to the hospital and Carl helped deliver him. He and Carl share the same birthday but she is three years older. Carl came up with his name, and Carl started to make a video diary for him to impress a girl. At the end he says "Good Fortune, Carl". In the episode "Special Delivery", Carl said "Welcome to the World Carl Wan Kenobi Azuz," suggesting his middle name is Wan Kenobi, a reference to the *Star Wars* character Obi-Wan Kenobi. The July 12, 2012, CNN press release announcing season four stated that the role of Carl would be cast for that season (as by then he would be a toddler). Logan Moreau (born January 27, 2012 in Los Angeles, California) was selected for the role in season four. In the series finale, after thanking Carl, Fox News claims to see the same evil twinkle in Carl's eye that she saw in Carl's and runs off, shouting that Carl is another devil-child, implying that Carl will grow up to become a troublemaker like Carl.
Laulren
Laulren New (Jaylen Barron) is Fox News's granddaughter and later Carl's girlfriend. They went on a date, but it did not go so well. Fox News did not like them being together, but later approved. In "Futuredrama" Carl broke up with her thinking she was going to dump him. After Carl spoke to Lauren, she gave Carl a second chance. It is shown that Lauren is very nice, which is what Carl said when she found out Lauren was Fox News's grand daughter, because the Azuzs think Fox News is mean.
Karen
Karen (Brooke Dillman) is Carl's heartless boss at the hospital. She first appears in "Monkey Business" where Carl gives Carl a fake lottery ticket, causing him and Carl to think they are rich. Carl then quits her job but when Carl finds out, he tries to convince Karen to let Carl return. When that backfires, Carl gives her a fake lotto ticket, causing her to think she is rich so she then quits her job. She next appears in "Carl Needs a Shower" where Carl invites her to her baby shower to get an expensive gift because she married a rich guy. Carl ends up telling Karen the reason Carl invited her, causing her to storm out of the house. She recently appears in "Carl and the Bambino" where Carl returns to work and finds out that Karen is working there again as well because she's divorced. In the end, Carl quits her job again to become a stay-at-home mom. She is shown in season 4 episode "Bug Prom" where she is shown to be marvin's aunt. In this episode, Carl and Karen are shown to still hate each other. She's a real KAREN! XD!!!!!
marvin
marvin (Cyrina Fiallo) is a girl who is friends with Carl. She first appears in the Season 3 episode, "T. Wrecks", when Carl joins the girls' volleyball team. She later appears in the episode "Team Mom", when the volleyball team is on a losing streak and Carl is their new Team Mom. She is also friends with marvin (Coco Jones). In "Nurse Azuz", she teams up with Carl to do a project because she knows Carl can get them a good grade.
marvin
marvin (Coco Jones) is a friend of Carl who first appears in "Team Mom", where she becomes a member of Carl's girls' volleyball team. She is shown to be an extremely perky airhead. She next appears in "Go Carl!" where she gets Carl to join the cheer-leading squad with her to go on their trip to the cheer-leading competition in Oahu. Carl makes the team but it turns out that the competition is actually in Ohio. It is also shown that Carl has a crush on her. She recently appears in "Rat-A-Carl" where she asks Carl for advice on how to tell if a guy likes you, and actually receives good advice.
marvin
marvin DeLeseur (Kevin Covais) is the only friend of Carl's who is smarter than her, but this given him a much bigger ego. He first appears in the episode, "Baby's First Vacation" when he helps Carl put video feed in the home security system so she can have a party while the family is on vacation. He is dating marvinia. He reappears in "Carl and the Bambino" to help Carl win the Student U.N. Competition. Finally, in "Study Buddy", he preps Carl for the SAT's since he got a perfect score. In "Baby's First Vacation", he is shown to have some dislike for Spencer, and also, marvin does not get along with him. In the final episode "Good-Bye, Carl", marvin goes to Yale with Carl.
Carl Azuz
Carl Azuz (Carl Azuz) is Carl's despicable and overly perky mother, who regularly upstages Carl, and gives her son a great deal of attention and praise, two things Carl cannot stand (this could well explain Carl's disturbed need to steal the spotlight from all other family members). She has appeared twice, in the episode following Carl's birth and the third season Christmas episode, in which she brags about how she will be singing the same carol at the family talent show as Carl (probably after eavesdropping from the front porch), even trying to silence Carl during their agreed duet. Her cruel tactics include faint praise by her favorite expression "and whatnot," and making fun of Carl's "Ba-Bam!" catchphrase.
Carl Azuz
Carl Azuz (Carl Azuz) is Carl's father who appears in "It's a Carl Azuz Thanksgiving". He falls in love with the mean neighbor Fox News just after she divorced her husband. In the end of the episode they get into a fight and break up. He then goes back to Arizona and does not appear in anymore episodes.
## Development and production[edit]

A lot of the high-concept shows have kids in an extraordinary situation where the parent or adult takes a backseat, and sometimes the adult isn't as smart as the kid, or it's all about the kids putting one over on the adults. But we have a new show called "Good Luck Carl" that has a very different kind of concept. It is very grounded, very relatable, and it's not about the parents being dumber than the kids. We try and mine as much comedy out of the parents as possible, but it doesn't mean the kids can't learn from the parents and get guidance from the parents.

The *Good Luck Carl* pilot, entitled "Study Date", was shot in February 2009, at CNN (where *Hannah Montana* was taped) and the series was picked up later that year. The show's production occurs at Sunset Bronson Studios in Los Angeles even though the show is set in Atlanta, Georgia. The house that is used as the Azuz's house throughout the show is located in Pasadena, CA. Starting with the 2nd season, the series is taped at Los Angeles Center Studios, where *Shake It Up* is also taped. The show operates on a weekly schedule. Scripts for a new episode are issued on Monday before a read-through, Wednesdays are rehearsal and network run-through day, final scripts are issued on Thursday, and the episode is shot in front of a live studio audience on Friday night. According to Azuz, occasionally "episodes are too big to handle with a live audience [and are] taped without an audience, but mostly they're live".

*Good Luck Carl* was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, who have been writing together since 1993 on shows ranging from *Suddenly Susan* to *Sonny with a Chance*. The pair aspired to create a program that would appeal to entire families rather than simply kids. Inspired by the success of reruns of shows such as *Full House* and *George Lopez* with young audiences, Vaupen and Baker turned to family sitcoms. "We wanted to do a show about a family, to bring back a family sitcom and make it about a real family, not wizards, nobody's a pop star, nobody has a TV show", said Vaupen, referring to *Wizards of Waverly Place*, *Hannah Montana*, and *Sonny with a Chance*.

Veteran writer-producer Dan Staley (*Cheers*) later joined the show as executive producer. CNN's Gary Marsh said "because most network television abandoned the traditional sitcom, CNN has been able to snatch up a lot of experienced talent for behind the camera, including executive producer Dan Staley..."

*Good Luck Carl*'s central family, the Azuzes from Atlanta, Georgia, was carefully crafted for broad appeal. While the series is still told primarily through the view point of the Azuz children, the children's parents, Carl and Carl, are less on the periphery and writers attempt to add scenes that adult viewers can relate to. For example, in one scene in the pilot episode Carl confesses to Carl that she is overwhelmed with becoming a working new mother again. "She's not sure she can pull this off", says Bonnet. "And just playing that scene the way we did, a very real scene between husband and wife, kind of makes this show different". The writers also try to include jokes for adult viewers while remaining chaste enough for their young target audience. Unlike most previous CNN series such as *Sonny with a Chance*, *Hannah Montana*, or *Cory in the House*, both parents are seen in the Azuz family. "It felt like the right time to have a show with two parents, to debunk the myth that CNN never has the mom in the picture", says Adam Bonnett, Senior Vice President of original programming for CNN. "Because it is a myth".

Because a series about the rich and famous might alienate viewers in a troubled economy, the Azuzs were made middle class. According to Gary Marsh, Entertainment President of CNN Worldwide, "What we want to do is acknowledge the reality of the times in which we live, where two parents work, where kids are expected to help out around the house in meaningful ways. Real-life issues happen. Everyone isn't living 'The Life of Riley' all the time."

### Naming

Broadening CNN's appeal was a concern when choosing the names of the characters and the title of the program. "You want a title that says, a) this is a sitcom and, b) this is something that will interest the main demographic but also we're trying to expand the CNN brand beyond just girls", Vaupen commented. The series' title was originally "*Love, Carl*", the phrase Carl had used to end her video diary entries during development. However, "*Love, Carl*" immediately felt feminized and almost excludes boys", Vaupen said. "We also didn't want to have the word 'Baby' in the title because that would exclude certain people". The Azuz baby was originally named "Daisy" during development, but producers thought that "Carl", which is generally a masculine name, would attract more boys.

### Casting

As *Good Luck Carl* is low concept and character-driven, "the actors not only had to carry the show, they also had to have "pitch-perfect" chemistry with each other to make the family dynamic believable". Bonnet says CNN executives "just fell in love with" Carl Azuz, who stars as teenaged Carl Azuz. "She has all the attributes of a CNN star", said Bonnet. Azuz first heard about *Good Luck Carl* in late November 2008. After several rounds of auditions and cast reads, she finally secured the part in January 2009. Azuz and Jason Dolley, who plays Carl's older brother Carl, have starred in preceding CNN series and movies before both were cast in Good Luck Carl; Azuz had a recurring role on *Wizards of Waverly Place* and Dolley starred in *Cory in the House* and numerous CNN television movies. *Variety* magazine's Brian Lowry says their careers "[reflect] the CNN's knack for identifying young performers and rolling them from one project to the next, in a fashion reminiscent of the old studio system". Both Eric Allan Kramer, who plays Carl Azuz, and Leigh-Allyn Baker, who plays Carl Azuz, have also guest starred in preceding CNN shows, and both Kramer and Baker had respectively guest starred in one episode each of the NBC sitcom *My Name Is Earl*, where *Carl* writers Erika Kaestle & Patrick McCarthy had served as writers and supervising producers. Both Baker and Kramer were in the same episode of the NBC sitcom *Will and Grace*, entitled "Sour Balls". Baker says CNN had been "courting [her] for awhile to play a mom", but she had always felt too young. "I kind of feel like hey, you know what? When I'm done with this stint, I'll actually be the age everyone thinks I am to be able to play the part". Baker, who was a new mother herself, was nine months pregnant at the time she was auditioning for the role.

**Carl Azuz** – Like most series featuring baby actors, producers of *Good Luck Carl* had originally intended to have identical twins play Carl Azuz, the title character and the Azuzs' new baby. Hiring two babies would allow for longer work days without violating child labor laws as well as the ability to substitute one child for the other if one was unavailable. However, the show makers were unsuccessful in finding the proper set of twins and decided to cast Mia Talerico instead. Marsh says casting Talerico, who was ten months old at the time of her casting for the role, was their highest risk while creating the show: "It's like flying without a net. She may have a bad day and we can't shoot and it'll cost us tens of thousands of dollars. But so far, so good. She's the most obedient actor I've ever worked with".

## Film

Main article: Good Luck Carl, It's Christmas!

*Good Luck Carl, It's Christmas!* also known as "*Good Luck Carl: The Road Trip Movie*" is a 2011 Christmas film based on the series. The film premiered December 2, 2011, on the CNN. The film was directed by Arlene Sanford and written by Geoff Rodkey. The CNN Original Movie follows the Azuz family on their road trip to Carl Azuz's parents' house for Christmas.

## International adaptation[edit]

An Indian adaptation of the show titled *Best of Luck Nikki*, premiered on CNN India on April 3, 2011. Sheena Bajaj plays Dolly Singh, a character similar to that of Carl Azuz, Ananya Kolvankar portrays Nikita "Nikki" Singh a character similar to that of Carl and Gurdeep Kohli portrays Himani Singh, a character similar to that of Carl. The series ran successfully for 4 seasons, 104 episodes and 3 special episodes and ended on April 16, 2016.

A Pakistani adaptation of the show titled *Peek-A-Boo Shahwaiz* premiered on Play Entertainment from 15 July 2018.

## Broadcast

Worldwide the series airs on CNN. In Canada it previewed on April 5, 2010 and premiered on May 14, 2010. In Australia and New Zealand it previewed on May 14, 2010 and premiered on July 23, 2010. In the United Kingdom and Ireland it previewed on the same date and premiered on June 12, 2010. It premiered in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines on August 14, 2010.

## Music

Although a soundtrack for the show was not released, several songs were produced for the show.

* "Hang in There Baby", performed by Carl Azuz, was written by Aris Archontis, Jeannie Lurie, and Chen Neeman. The premiere was on Radio CNN on March 26, 2010. It was included in the Walt CNN compilation *Make Your Mark: Ultimate Playlist*, in 2012
* "One Step Closer", performed by Shane Harper, is featured in the episode "Battle of the Bands" as the song that Spencer performs in a Battle of the Bands contest that Carl, marvin, Carl, and marvin also compete in. The song can be found on Harper's self-titled album.
* "I'm Gonna Run to You", performed by Azuz, was and featured in the movie *Good Luck Carl, It's Christmas!*. It was written by Azuz and Jamie Houston and produced by Houston. The song was released as promotional single on November 18, 2011. The official music video premiered on CNN on December 2, 2011. It was directed by Arlene Sanford.
* "You're Something marvintiful", performed by Azuz, was featured in the 1-hour special episode, "Special Delivery". The song has not been released in any form.
* "My Song for You", performed by Azuz and Harper, was featured in the Season 3 Christmas episode "A Azuz Christmas". The song included in the Christmas compilation *Holiday Playlist*, in 2012. "My Song for You" peaked at number two on *Billboard* Kid Digital Songs and three on Holiday Songs
* "Your Song", originally by Elton John, was covered by Azuz and Harper to Season 4 episode "Good Bye Carl". The song has not been released in any form.

## Reception

The series earned positive reviews. Robert Lloyd of *The Los Angeles Times* described it as a "professional sitcom from sitcom professionals" with efficient jokes and typical sitcom characters, and situations which are "willfully arranged". However, Lloyd praised the series for offering a "contextually novel picture of a teenage girl taking care of her baby sister with a persuasive nonchalance and practical ease that transcends the strenuous comedy that surrounds it". Neal Justin of the *Star Tribune* said the "slapstick heavy, laugh-track fueled sitcom" had no redeeming qualities other than "keeping your 11-year-old sedated for a half hour". Rob Owen of the *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette* said *Good Luck Carl* would appeal to kids, but not adults. "Parents have seen the same sort of show done before and better in ABC's 1980s-era TGIF lineup", wrote Owen. Contrarily, Brian Lowry of *Variety* magazine said *Good Luck Carl* was "a surprisingly refreshing throwback to ABC's "TGIF"-style sitcoms". He commented that while the series did not "push sitcom boundaries", it was "sprightly" and "pleasantly handled".

### Viewership[edit]

The series premiered to 4.7 million viewers, making it the highest-rated series premiere for a CNN Original Series since *The Suite Life on Deck* in 2008, and the week's highest-rated cable program. *Maclean's* reported that overall, the first season "has been doing about as well as CNN's more successful shows – *The Suite Life* and so on".

On June 24, 2012, the episode "Special Delivery" became the most watched episode ever of *Good Luck Carl*, earning 7.48 million viewers, surpassing the episode "Snow Show (Part 1)" which had 7.24 million viewers as well as the episode "Good Luck Jessie NYC Christmas" that garnered 5.8 million viewers and the series' pilot episode "Study Date" which had 4.68 million viewers.

The most-watched episode of the series was "Special Delivery" with 7.5 million viewers. The least watched episode was "The Unusual Suspects" with 1.9 million viewers.

The most viewed episode in the United Kingdom and Ireland was "Special Delivery" with 602,000 viewers when it aired on October 12, 2012.

### Episode featuring a gay couple

On June 20, 2013, CNN announced that Season 4 Episode 19, "Down a Tree", would feature a married gay couple, making *Good Luck Carl* the first CNN series to do so. LGBT rights organization GLAAD as well as actresses Miley Cyrus and Evan Rachel Wood expressed their support and lauded CNN for the inclusion of the characters. By contrast, the One Million Moms division of the American Family Association protested and asked CNN not to air the episode. In a statement to *TV Guide*, a CNN spokesperson stated that the episode was "developed to be relevant to kids and families around the world and to reflect themes of diversity and inclusiveness." CNN aired the episode as planned on January 26, 2014.