Double Trouble (Novel Series)

***Double Trouble*** is an novel series created by Maryam Wells. The books chronicle the lives of teenage identical twins Megan and Jenny Healy, who live in Leawood, California just outside of Los Angeles. The twins get into constant trouble that brought laughs to readers, but they also deal with teen social issues.

The series spawned a slew of spin-off novels: *Double Trouble: The Final Year*, a series that sees the twins in their senior year; *Double Trouble: Life in L.A.* which follows the twins in L.A. pursuing different career paths; *Double Trouble: All Grown Up* follows the twins in their 30's as they deal with careers, relationships, and motherhood and *Double Trouble: The New Sisters*, a teen series that follows a new pair of twin girls in Leawood.
Slogan: We're one in a same!

## Concept

The story is an updated version of the TV Sitcoms *The Patty Duke Show* that ran from 1963 to 1966 and *Double Trouble* that ran from 1984 to 1985. Author Maryam Wells, who revamped *All About Us*, felt like *Double Trouble* can use a updated makeover with a twist of her The Patty Duke Show. She revived the characters Kate and Allison Foster, taking them from 17-year-olds from Des Moines, Iowa to 15-year-olds living in a fictional town of Leawood, California, United States. Also, Maryam changed the names of the twins from Kate and Allison Foster to Megan and Jenny Healy, Art Foster to Nathan Healy. She even brought the twins' mother from the dead, and named her Tess Healy, who is from the Italian descent.

In the first book *Double Trouble* book back cover, One twin say, She's Jenny, I'm Megan and the other twin say, She's Megan, I'm Jenny! Jenny was the one holding a book that says: Geometry, while Megan held a book that says: Make-Up Application. In order to differentiate the two characters to the viewing public for the *Double Trouble Style Confidential* and *Beauty Confidential*, the character Megan dressed in trendier clothes, while Jenny's character wore sweeter clothes clothes. They also resemble the loud twin and they shy twin.

The first arc of the series highlighted the love triangle involving the twins and their shared love interest Jack Wheeler. Then the twins rivalry with queen bee Sage McConnell

The series touches on themes such as

## Synopsis

The series revolves around the lives of teenage identical twin girls, Megan and Jenny Healy, who live in Leawood, California, a fictional suburban town near Los Angeles.

They are the identical twin stars of this series, and as the books tell us over and over again, they might look the same on the outside, but they have opposite personalities! Wild. Most books are centered around one, or both of them, and the ones that aren't find some way to include them.

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There's a page or two long description of them at the beginning of every book, pounding it into our heads every time that the twins are normal teenagers dealing with normal lives in California.

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Megan, the elder twin, born two minutes before Jenny, is flashy, flirty, laid-back, and happy-go-lucky. She rivals with Queen Bee, Sage McConnell because Sage once pulls joke on Megan and she got back at her by telling people that Sage has a flesh-eating virus. She is shown to be the "Loud" twin in the series, while getting her and Jenny into crazy trouble due to her outrageous schemes.

Jenny, the opposite of her twin, is much the loyal twin. She always has her sister's back. Being the intelligent twin, Jenny has gotten straight-A's always outsmarted her sister on academics.

### **Junior Year**

During the twins junior year of high school, they both went through teen pregnancy plots; Jenny became pregnant. When she told her baby's father and ex-fiancé, Paul Porter, he was shocked, but eventually came around and chose to be there for her and the baby. Megan went through a pregnancy scare when her period was late, around the time she thought she was pregnant, her boyfriend, Matt Edwards was cheating on her with her arch-enemy, Sage McConnell.

Graduation

The series finale found the twins and their parents and friends on the verge on embarking on new crossroads in life. As high school ends, Marvin Dilton and Laurie Evans are plan to attend California University at Northridge, Ethan Ford goes to Stanford University for a basketball scholarship, and Dean Cameron is moving to San Diego to attend San Diego State University, the twins' parents, they are expecting their third child (only one baby), and Jenny wants to attend CULA. All of the characters are excited and looking forward to starting the new stages with their lives, except for Megan, who is in a crossroads. When Megan gets accepted to the Los Angeles Acting & Modeling School, her parents initially refuses to let her move to L.A. and believe that it was a waste of time, because they want her to attend college, when Megan does have her heart set on attending college. Megan decides on moving to L.A. despite what her parents say. When Jenny hears about it, she tells her that she wants to go with her. The episode ends with the twins announcing that they were moving to L.A. to purse their goals and their parents are shocked. The episode says at the end of the page: ***TO BE CONTINUED.... DOUBLE TROUBLE: LIFE IN L.A.***

## Main Characters

 File:Vanessa Merrell.jpg  Megan Healy - The cool, boy-crazy, fashionable, social twin of the two, who has a love/hate relationship with her twin sister, Jenny. Megan is the elder twin, by two minutes. She is an aspiring actress and model who dreams of making it to fame.

 File:Veronica Merrell.jpg  Jenny Healy - The intelligent, friendly, optimistic twin of the two, who has a love/hate relationship with her twin sister, Megan. Jenny always gets into crazy schemes, thanks to Megan. Although Jenny is the younger twin, she acts like the older sister to Megan. She is the overachiever of the duo and gets straight-A's unlike her twin. Jenny is the only twin to have multiple relationships than Megan.

## Other Characters

Nathan and Tess Healy are the parents of identical twin daughters, Megan and Jenny and of a son, Luke Healy. Nathan is a business executive and Tess is a fashion designer. They met while Nathan were at college and Tess was a junior in high school. Tess moved in with Nathan after she graduated from high school. They moved to California after Nathan got accepted to med school and Tess attended Fashion Institute of Fashion and Merchandising in Orange County. At 22, Tess gave birth to identical twin girls, Megan and Jenny.

The twins grew into spitting images of their parents. Beautiful, youthful Tess is often mistaken for the twins' aunt, Michelle.

As the twins entered their teen years, Nathan helped Tess open her own boutique *Healy Creations*. Although they are quite comfortable, they are not wealthy and have no intention of becoming so.

* Nathan & Tess Healy - The twins' parents.
* Stacie Cooper - The twins' neighbor and classmate.
* Jack Wheeler - The twins' crush, who later becomes Jenny's first boyfriend. He leaves Santa Mira for Hawaii.
* Dominique Irwin - The most popular girl in school. Though she starts out sweet to Megan, she eventually shows her true colors, an arrogant, hot-tempered mean girl who thinks she's better than everyone.
* Marvin Dilton - Newport Union High's school geek who has known the Healy twins since Kindergarten.
* Laurie Evans - Marvin's girlfriend, an intelligent student at Newport Union High, about as smart as Michelle. Though a genius, she is also arrogant and nasty. She always makes fun of Michelle for being stupid (although she is as smart as Laurie) and for her being prettier than her.
* Cody Parker - A football player who has a crush on Michelle since she tutored.
* Paul Porter - Michelle's on-and-off again boyfriend.
* Nick Huntington - Erin's first serious boyfriend. Nick had a conflict with Erin's twin sister, Michelle and her ex-boyfriend, though Michelle ended her conflict with him.
* Matt Edwards - Erin's second serious boyfriend. He attended Newport Union High's rival, Harbor School in the series.
* Mrs. Crawford - Erin and Michelle's Biology teacher at Newport Union High. She had conflicts with the twins and several students. She was killed in the Earthquake episode in 1999.

## Twin Diaries

Main article: Twin Diaries

The ***Twin Diaries*** series features the twins as 7th and 8th grade students attending Leawood Middle School. Though the series focuses primarily on Megan and Jenny from the middle school days from the mid-2010's.

## The Final Year

*Main Article: Double Trouble: The Final Year*

Following the conclusion of the original *Double Trouble* series, the twins' last year of high school was depicted in *DT: The Final Year*. After Jenny's devastating breakup with boyfriend, Paul Porter, she is looking forward to starting senior year with Megan and their friends. But the sisters faced hard challenges as they look forward to life after high school.

## Double Trouble: Life in L.A.

Main article: Double Trouble: Life in L.A.

After graduating from high school, Megan and Jenny leave Leawood and move to L.A. to pursued their goals. Both Megan and Jenny enroll at Los Angeles College to pursue different majors. Following their graduation, Megan enrolled at Los Angeles Academy of Dramatic Arts to study Theatre, while Jenny attends California University at Los Angeles to study psychology.

## *Double Trouble: All Grown Up* saga

*Double Trouble: The Reunion*

28-year-old twins, Megan and Jenny return to Leawood, for their class reunion. Megan starts a conflict with Lawyer Troy Marino, while Jenny falls for him.

*Double Trouble: All Grown Up*

Megan and Jenny are 30 with busy careers and dealing with their on and of romances with their boyfriends. During the series, the twins go through motherhood with their first children.

*Double Trouble: The New Sisters*

Double Trouble: The New Sisters continues the story of identical twin girls causing trouble in Leawood, California, after the original twin characters has graduated and moved to L.A. The series, which aired on Saturday mornings, features a new set of twin girls named Terri and Stephanie Dilton who are the daughters of former Leawood High students, Marvin Dilton and his wife Laurie Evans-Dilton. While Double Trouble: The New Sisters ran for five years, it endured numerous changes and never gained the popularity of the original series (in fact, it was said to be one of the worst teen shows of the 90s). Many of the New Sisters episodes were actually recycled plots from the original Double Trouble. The Healy twins, Megan and Jenny make cameo appearances in one episode in season two while trying to keep Leawood High from being bought and destroyed. Maxi Burger remains as the hangout for the Leawood High students, although a fire burned it down in one episode, and it is given a new look.

## Short Stories

Published on Lisa Jane Smith's official website.

### Nathan & Tess series

* *Nathan & Tess: Love at First Sight*
* *Nathan & Tess: The Wedding*
* *Nathan & Tess: Birth of the Twins*

### Megan and Jenny's birthday parties

* An Untold Tale: The Twins' First Birthday
* An Untold Tale: The Twins' Fifth Birthday
* An Untold Tale: The Twins' Eighth Birthday
* An Untold Tale: The Twins' Tenth Birthday

## Topics

Although the series had wacky storylines, it also dealt with serious topics.

* Megan and Jenny Healy had teen pregnancy plot.
	+ Megan had an pregnancy scare with Matt Edwards, around the same time he was cheating on her with her enemy, Sage McConnell.
	+ Jenny got pregnant after she had unprotected sex with boyfriend at the time, Paul Porter.
		- Since the pregnancy plots, the twins vowed to be careful when it came to sex.
* Megan, Jenny, and their friend, Laurie Evans went through an eating disorder or dealt with a negative body image.
	+ Megan starved herself for a dance competition.
	+ Jenny had bulimia for unknown reason.
	+ Laurie was uncomfortable with her body and took diet pills.
* Nathan Healy had a heart attack and underwent triple bypass surgery.
* Megan and Jenny had a tuberculosis scare.
* Megan and Jenny were victims of a sexual assault.
	+ Megan was almost raped by a college student.
	+ Jenny was sexually harassed by her boss at Java the Hut.
* Megan and Jenny were nearly killed during the Leawood Thunderstorm which left half of Leawood damaged.
	+ Megan injured her ankle when she twisted trying to .
	+ Jenny was trapped in the school library with Marvin, Stacie, and Laurie.
* Megan had went through a learning disability called dyscalculia.

## Notes/Trivia

* Like the hit novel series, *All About Us*, *Double Trouble* was also a short-lived TV series from NBC. When aspiring writer, Maryam Wells saw both show, she knew they both had potential and felt like the reason both shows didn't last long was because was lack of storylines and both TV series didn't tell the story right.
* Different twin actresses were considered for the roles of the Healy twins.
	+ Keaton and Kylie Tyndall were considered, but they retired from acting and Wells thought the topics in the series might go up against the Tyndall twins religious beliefs.
	+ Amanda and Caitlin Fein were considered but they were too short for the roles.
	+ Sarah and Laura Bellini were considered, but Wells chose Veronica and Vanessa Merrell instead.
* The twins had names originally named for them.
	+ The first was Jessica and Jennifer Winslow.
	+ The second was Brandy and Caitlyn
	+ The third was Erin and Michelle.
		- Wells finally selected the names "Megan" and "Jenny" from the twin characters from *Star Trek: Voyager*.
* This was the second series to be based on the original TV series from NBC. The first was *All About Us*. Maryam Wells revamped both series into novel franchises for today's readers.
* The TV version of the series was set in Des Moines, Iowa in the 1980's. The novel version took place Leawood, California in the 2010's.
* Wells had made changes to both the series and the main characters for the novel version.
	+ She created Leawood, a town in California, as a setting for the series. It is three hours from Los Angeles.
	+ She brought the twins' mother back to life and gave her a job of being an fashion designer. The twins' father is the mother's business manager and her husband.
	+ She changed the twins age from 17 years old to 15 years old, turning them into sophomores. Ironically, in Wells' other series, *All About Us*, the series began with the main characters as sophomores. Megan is the elder twin by two minutes.
* Wells changed Kate Foster's name to Megan Healy, the elder twin by two minutes who dislikes school, class/homework, mean girls, and jerks and likes cute boys, fashion, acting, and dancing. Wells also changed Allison Foster's name to Jenny Healy, the younger twin who is much smarter and less rebellious than her sister, who puts up with Megan's constant whining and crazy schemes.
* The novel series is somewhat similar to "*Sister, Sister*" and "*Sweet Valley High*".
* Megan's full name is Megan Ann Healy and Jenny's is Jennifer Lynn Healy.
* The exterior shots of John Burroughs Middle School was used for Leawood High School background in different shots of the *Double Trouble* book covers.
* Maryam Wells not only wrote the series into novels, but she is responsible for overseeing the book over photo shoots and styling.
* *Double Trouble* and *Double Trouble: The New Sisters* both have twins as the main characters.
* Both twins from *Double Trouble* and *Double Trouble: The New Sisters* attended Leawood High School during the course of their series.
* The *Double Trouble* twins were originally named Kate and Allison Foster and were portrayed by real-life twins Liz and Jean Sagal, the sisters of former Married... With Children actress, Katey Sagal.
* Double Trouble and Double Trouble: The New Sisters both have twins as main characters.
* Double Trouble is coming back as a new original in 2025. It will contain almost all of the characters as the original. It will features blue-eyed blonde twin girls who happen to be the daughters of Marvin Dilton and Laurie Evans, who were secondary characters of the original DT series and classmates of the Healy twins.