Greek (TV series)

Cast and characters

Jacob Zachar portrays Rusty Cartwright, a freshman nerd who joins Kappa Tau Gamma to gain confidence. Spencer Grammer plays his older sister Casey, a Zeta Beta Zeta sorority member navigating drama and a love triangle. Scott Michael Foster is Cappie, the Kappa Tau president and Casey's ex-boyfriend, who becomes Rusty's big brother. Jake McDorman plays Evan Chambers, Omega Chi Delta's pledge educator and Casey's ex, who has a troubled family and a rivalry with Cappie. Paul James portrays Calvin Owens, a secretly gay freshman who pledges Omega Chi and later comes out. Amber Stevens plays Ashleigh Howard, Casey's best friend and ZBZ roommate. Dilshad Vadsaria is Rebecca Logan, a senator's daughter who pledges ZBZ and initially clashes with Casey. Clark Duke plays Dale Kettlewell, Rusty's conservative, anti-Greek roommate.

Production

The series was primarily filmed in Los Angeles, with location shooting at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The ZBZ residence exterior used in the pilot was the same house used in the reality series Beauty and the Geek. The first season was halted in September 2007 due to the Writers Guild of America strike and resumed on March 24, 2008, with increased ratings.

ABC Family renewed the show for a second season on May 1, 2008, which premiered August 26, 2008, moving from Tuesday to Monday nights. Twelve more episodes aired starting March 30, 2009. A third season premiered on August 31, 2009, with a midseason premiere on January 25, 2010. On February 19, 2010, a fourth ten-episode season was ordered.

Creator Sean Smith announced on March 13, 2010, plans to end the series after the fourth season, which aired from January 2011, with the finale on March 7, 2011. Albert Hammond Jr.'s "In Transit" played at the start of the pilot. The Perishers' "Nothing Like You and I" closed season one episode "Freshman Daze". The Plain White T's song "Our Time Now" was used in commercials; the band appeared in several episodes, sometimes as Kappa Tau brothers.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 50% approval rating based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 5.70/10, and a critical consensus noting unevenness and predictability. Metacritic assigned a score of 62 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews. Ginia Bellafante of The New York Times said Greek captures the spirit of the hedge-fund age. David Wiegand of SFGATE called the writing competent and the cast engaging. Kelly West of CinemaBlend described the show as worth watching with laugh-out-loud moments. Alison Herman of The Ringer called it TV's gold standard for the college experience. Critics praised the three-dimensional portrayal of Calvin, a gay fraternity brother dealing with stereotyping and homophobia.