The series follows Jessie Prescott, a young woman from a small town with big dreams who, rebelling against her strict father, decides to leave the military base in Texas where she grew up and moves to New York City. She accepts a job as a nanny and moves into a multimillion-dollar penthouse on the Upper West Side, Manhattan with the wealthy Ross family.
The family includes jet-setting parents Morgan and Christina Ross and their four rambunctious children: Emma, Luke, Ravi, and Zuri, along with the family pet, Mr. Kipling, a seven-foot Asian water monitor lizard, that is later revealed to be a female. With a whole new world of experiences open to her, Jessie embarks on new adventures in the big city as she grows to rely on the love and support of the children in her care. Assisting her are Bertram, the family's lazy and sarcastic butler, and Tony, the building's 20-year-old doorman.
Characters
Main
Main characters of Jessie L–R: Bertram, Zuri, Luke, Jessie, Emma and Ravi (with his pet lizard Mrs. Kipling)
Jessie Prescott (Debby Ryan) is an idealistic and resourceful woman from the military base of Fort Hood, Texas. As a recent high school graduate rebelling against her strict father who wanted her to join the army, Jessie moved to New York City to realize her dreams of stardom but, due to an unexpected turn of events, ends up becoming a nanny to the four Ross children. Even though at times both Jessie and the Ross kids annoy each other, they all deeply care for one another and Jessie is even shown to be sometimes overprotective.
Emma Ross (Peyton List) is a diva, somewhat ditsy, cynical girl, eager to reorder the world to the way she sees it. Emma is the oldest child of the Ross family, and Morgan and Christina's only biological child. Emma spends most of her time with Zuri and doesn't appreciate her brother Luke.
Luke Ross (Cameron Boyce) is a laid-back, flirty, and crafty boy who was born in Detroit and has a passion for video games, break-dancing, and causing mischief around the penthouse while also being sarcastic at times. He considers himself a "ladies' man", having taken a liking to Jessie in particular.
Ravi Ross (Karan Brar) is a gentle, intelligent and courteous boy, born and raised for ten and a half years in West Bengal, India, and the newest addition of the Ross family. He is imbued with the culture of his beloved homeland but is thrilled with his new life in the United States.
Zuri Ross (Skai Jackson) is a sassy, strong-willed, quick-witted and talkative girl who was brought to NYC from her birth country of Uganda. She is highly creative with a penchant for rainbows, unicorns, mermaids, and country music, and has many stuffed animals and imaginary friends. She is the youngest of the Ross children.
Bertram (Kevin Chamberlin) is the Ross family's butler. He is grouchy and often very lazy, though begrudgingly helps Jessie navigate her job as nanny to the four Ross children.
Tony (Chris Galya) is the doorman in the building where the Ross family lives who has strong feelings for Jessie and helps her navigate her adventures in the big city.
Morgan Ross (Charles Esten) is the father of the four Ross children and a famous movie director. The pilot episode reveals he is friends with George Lucas.
Mrs. Kipling (Frank),[note 1] known as Mr. Kipling in the first season, is the Ross family's house pet, a seven-foot Asian water monitor lizard that Ravi brought from India when he came to the US.
Rhoda Chesterfield (Carolyn Hennesy) is the cold-hearted head of the city condominium board in the building where the Ross family lives. Her first spat with Jessie and the Ross clan involved Mrs. Kipling tearing her clothes up in the elevator. She dislikes anyone who is not rich, who is under 20, or who is less self-absorbed than herself.
Stuart Wooten (J.J. Totah) is a quick-witted, yet love-struck, kid. He has a huge crush on Zuri and is a good friend to the Ross brothers.
Officer Petey (Joey Richter) is a police officer who is obsessed with the performing arts, and really wants to be an actor.
Rosie (Kelly Gould) is Emma's best friend who lives in a crime-ridden area of the city but is actually a nice girl.
Agatha (Jennifer Veal) is an unattractive, arrogant British nanny who frequently locks horns with Jessie and the Ross children. During their first meeting, she attempts to ban Zuri and Jessie from Central Park.
Connie Thompson (Sierra McCormick) is an insane girl with an obsessive crush on Luke.
Boomer (Lombardo Boyar) is Emma's new boss and Connie's uncle. He is shown as a hardworking and easily persuaded man while also annoyed with Connie's antics.
Brooks Wentworth (Pierson Fode) is Jessie's new boyfriend who later becomes Jessie's fiancé. He got a job in Africa and asked Jessie to get married as soon as possible. She decides to go with him but the kids become upset when they find out.
Guest stars
Bryn Breitbart (Katherine McNamara) appeared in "Kids Don't Wanna Be Shunned", where she attempts to steal Emma's friends by pretending she is of Danish royalty. In "Diary of a Mad Newswoman", Emma forgives Bryn and they become coworkers on Ravi's school news show.
Shaylee Michaels (Maia Mitchell) is a successful Australian actress who befriends Jessie, casting her as her stunt double in her latest film in "Jessie's Big Break".
Ms. Falkenberg (Cheri Oteri) is Zuri’s quirky but overly strict third-grade teacher, appearing in the episode "Teacher's Pest". Jessie serves as Ms. Falkenberg’s classroom aide.
Chris Bosh appeared as himself in "Say Yes to the Messy Dress". He keeps his stinky white socks from the tenth grade as a sign of good luck, even though Luke disagrees with him and tries to sabotage his chance to win a basketball game against the New York Knicks.
Adam Sandler appeared as himself in "Punch Dumped Love", making spare change. He claims he wants to go by his nickname "Thunder".
Vic (Lulu Antariksa) appears in "Break-Up and Shake-Up", where Tony trains her to become a doorwoman, causing Jessie to become jealous of them. In the end, Vic goes out with one of Jessie’s exes, Ted.
Max Bauer (Matthew Timmons) is Jessie's young agent who appears in "Caught Purple Handed", where he says that he is living in his mother's basement and has to pay her rent.
Maybelle (Stefanie Scott) is the new girl in the Ross's apartment building. She appears in "Hoedown Showdown", where she hog-ties Emma's new "soul mate" after he asks her out knowing Emma likes him.
Mackenzie (G. Hannelius) is another creepy girl in school along with Connie. She appears in "Creepy Connie 3: The Creepening" where she has a psycho crush on Luke just like Connie.
Michelle Obama appeared as herself in "From the White House to Our House", where she is called by Zuri because Zuri wants her friend Taylor's mother to be home for Taylor's tenth birthday.
The series was created by Pamela Eells O'Connell, who had previous experience with the "nanny" sitcom formula, starting her career as a writer on the series Charles in Charge and serving as co-executive producer on The Nanny, before working with Debby Ryan on The Suite Life on Deck.[1][2][3] O'Connell is said to have developed Jessie specifically to showcase Ryan's talent.[4] In an interview with the Star-Telegram, Ryan explained how the concept originated: "(O'Connell) and I were throwing ideas back and forth when The Suite Life was coming to an end, and she came up with this. I was absolutely captivated. Then Disney looked at the script and the show runner (O'Connell) and myself and they were like: 'Awesome. We like it. You're on in the fall'".[4] In interviews with Variety, Disney Channel President Gary Marsh spoke of working with Ryan again: "It's been thrilling to watch Debby grow from an unknown actress to one of our top stars. Debby is a talented young actress who connects to a wide fanbase because she's genuine, relatable and aspirational all at once. Our viewers have followed her from The Suite Life on Deck to 16 Wishes, and we're pleased to be working with her again."[5][6] Jessie was the first main character to be engaged on the Disney Channel. There was a four-part episode about the engagement.[7]
Casting
The cast in December 2011 (use cursor to identify)
With Ryan signed on, Disney Channel began the search to cast the Ross family in May 2011.[8] Before casting was finalized, there were numerous differences in the original concept for several of the characters.[8] The role of the mother to the Ross children was originally a photographer named "Pandora", the role of the oldest daughter, Emma, was originally named "Anabel", the role of Luke was originally a boy adopted from Korea named "Hiro", and the role of Ravi was originally a boy adopted from South America named "Javier" who had a pet capybara instead of a water monitor.[8][9][10] Some have speculated that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, as a prominent celebrity couple with a multi-cultural adoptive family, may have been one possible inspiration for the series.[11] In an interview with the Boston Herald, O'Connell described her inspiration, saying: "I thought the celebrity parents and gorgeous penthouse would be glamorous, and a nice contrast to Jessie's more modest Texas roots. That fish out of water element makes for good stories, and I was inspired by many families who have adopted children of different ethnicities."[11] The Ross parents are only shown in a few episodes throughout the series.
Filming
After casting was finalized and changes were made to several of the characters to suit the actors chosen, the series skipped the pilot phase and was put directly into production.[10][12] Filming began in June 2011 on Stage 3/8 at Hollywood Center Studios which, prior to start of production, served as the sound stage where the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place was taped.[13][14] 13 episodes were originally ordered for the first season, but while the show's first season was in production, Disney Channel ordered an additional seven episodes, bringing the total number of episodes for the first season to 20.[6] When asked about the atmosphere on set during an interview with MSN TV, Ryan described her relationship with the young cast: "I definitely feel like a nanny! They are smart kids, but they're real kids. They like to have fun. My policy is: We can play hard, as long as we work hard, and because we work hard, we need to play hard."[15] Filming on the series wrapped on February 22, 2015.[16]
On March 28, 2013, the series was renewed for a third season, with production resuming in July 2013.[17] Season 3 premiered on October 5, 2013. On April 16, 2014, it was announced that Jessie would get engaged in a four-episode arc that would conclude the season in the fall, marking the first time a Disney Channel lead character has gotten engaged.[18]
The series was renewed for a fourth season on May 20, 2014.[19] Production began in August 2014 for a January 9, 2015 premiere. On October 1, 2014, Peyton List stated that the fourth season would be the last season of Jessie.[20] On January 9, 2015, Debby Ryan said that the fourth season will see the show go past its 100th episode and also see its fifth crossover with another Disney Channel show. She also stated that Jessie will end in early 2016.[21]
On February 25, 2015, Disney Channel officially announced the series would end after its fourth season, bringing the series to a total of 101 episodes. On the same day, Disney ordered the first season of a spin-off titled BUNK'd, which stars Peyton List, Karan Brar, and Skai Jackson in their respective roles.[22][23] 98 episodes were eventually aired in the series as 6 of the 101 produced episodes were combined into 3 extended length specials for broadcast and video sales.
On November 28, 2014, Jessie shared its fourth crossover with the series Liv and Maddie in a special episode titled "Jessie's Aloha-Holidays with Parker and Joey", featuring Joey Bragg as Joey Rooney and Tenzing Norgay Trainor as Parker Rooney.[27] This crossover put Jessie into a tie with Hannah Montana and Lilo & Stitch: The Series as the Disney Channel shows to have had the most crossovers. This was counted as a single one-hour episode of Jessie with Liv and Maddie characters, and was not a Liv and Maddie episode.
Controversy
Disney Channel did not broadcast "Quitting Cold Koala" on its originally scheduled date of May 17, 2013, and showed a rerun of "Kids Don't Wanna Be Shunned" instead. The episode did, however, appear on the Disney Channel website, "WATCH Disney Channel", and on "Disney Channel on Demand", the channel's video-on-demand service. On Facebook, Disney Channel announced, "We are removing this particular episode from our regular programming schedule and will re-evaluate its references to gluten restrictions in the character's diet".[28] The edited version of "Quitting Cold Koala" aired on July 5, 2013, as part of a two-episode spectacular, with all gluten jokes having been removed in the revised version.
Spin-off and international adaptation
On February 25, 2015, Disney Channel announced that a Jessie spin-off titled Bunk'd would begin production in the spring. The series would star Peyton List, Karan Brar, and Skai Jackson.[22][23] The show premiered on July 31, right after the Disney Channel Original MovieDescendants.
In India, a Hindi-language adaptation of the show, titled Oye Jassie, premiered on Disney Channel on October 13, 2013.[29] Like most adaptations, the episodes and characters are similar to the original.[30]
Release
The pilot episode of Jessie was released as a free download via the iTunes Store one week prior to its Disney Channel premiere. Making its official debut on the Disney Channel on September 30, 2011, the series became the network's most-watched premiere on a Friday since September 2008, when The Suite Life on Deck debuted.[31][32] The premiere of Jessie ranked as the number-one telecast at 9:00 PM with a total of 4.6 million total viewers in the target demographics, scoring 2.3 million viewers among kids 6–11, 1.8 million viewers among tweens and teens 9–14, and 887,000 viewers among adults 18–49.[31][32] The most watched episode of Jessie is "Star Wars" with 7.32 million viewers total and the least watched episode is "Basket Case" with 1.38 million viewers total.
Broadcast
The series airs worldwide on Disney Channel. The series premiered on September 30, 2011, in Canada,[33] on November 25, 2011, in Australia and New Zealand,[34] and on December 17, 2011, in Singapore.[35] It previewed on January 29, 2012, and premiered on February 17, 2012, in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[36] It premiered on April 1, 2012 in South Africa.[37] In Canada, the series premiered on Disney Channel on September 1, 2015.[38]
