Greek Information

Greek (stylised as GR??K) is an American comedy-drama television series that ran from July 9, 2007 to March 7, 2011 on ABC Family. The series follows students of the fictional Cyprus-Rhodes University (CRU), located in Ohio, who participate in the school's Greek system. The show's plots often take place within the confines of the fictional fraternities, Kappa Tau Gamma (??") and Omega Chi Delta (??"?), or the fictional sorority, Zeta Beta Zeta (-"?Z). Throughout the course of the series, other non-Greek characters and situations are introduced, but they all tie into larger relationships with the Greeks. There are four seasons.

Production

In April 2007, ABC Family announced plans to begin airing Greek in July of that summer. The series premiered on July 9, 2007. Show creator Patrick Sean Smith began the show as a spec script of a show that he "really wanted to see," noticing a lack of shows in an hour-long format following a comedic take on college life. Citing "shows like Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty" that "were pushing the envelope comedically in [sic] one-hour format," Smith saw the idea working for a younger set. Greek became an example of ABC Family's desire to change their image to appeal to the emerging generation of viewers. The show's content is not traditionally considered "family friendly" due to its depiction of sex and drinking. The producers and the television network believe the friendships, which substitute for family during college, achieve the network's motto: A New Kind of Family. At the heart of the series is the sibling relationship between Casey and Rusty. The producers recognize that while it is a show about families, it is not necessarily for families, believing it is important that the authenticity of college life be portrayed, which includes the mature elements of that lifestyle. Even still, they work at making sure their depictions aren't gratuitous.

Filmed primarily in Los Angeles, the show is also filmed on location at the UCLA campus in the Westwood district of Los Angeles. Many campus scenes have also been shot at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California, outside of Los Angeles. They've also filmed at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The exterior and some interior shots were filmed in the historic West Adams District within Los Angeles. The house used in the pilot to establish the ZBZ residence is 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 returned March 24, 2008, to a triple digit increase in ratings over the pilot's premiere. On May 1, 2008, ABC Family renewed Greek for a second season, premiering August 26, 2008. The series was moved from the Tuesday lineup to Monday nights. Twelve more episodes were ordered for late spring 2009 and aired beginning March 30. On January 31, 2009, it was announced that Greek would return for a third season, premiering on August 31, 2009. The midseason premiere of Greek was Monday, Jan. 25, at 10/9c.

On February 19, 2010, it was reported that the show had been renewed for a fourth, ten-episode season. Then, on March 13, 2010, creator Sean Smith announced his plans to end the series after the fourth season, saying, "We plan to end, that's the plan. We're all looking at this as an opportunity to come back, wrap up the show, and end strong. ABC Family could have ended it, but they gave us this opportunity and I don't want to squander it." On July 29, 2010, it was confirmed that the fourth and final season of Greek would air beginning in January 2011. The series finale aired on March 7, 2011.

International syndication

• on ABC Family on Mondays, encores running the following Friday during its First Chapter.
• on TV2
• on E4
• on pay-TV Fox8
• on TV2
• on MuchMusic
• on Virgin 17
• on MTV Greece and later on ANT1.
• on la Sexta 3
• on Fox Italia and MTV Italia
• on MTV Russia
• on pay-TV network Fox and Pro7/sixx
• on TVNorge
• on Kanal 5
• on Kanal 4 and Kanal 5
• on Nelonen
• on RTE2
• on HOT Family in the first 2 seasons, and currently on HOT3
• It will begin airing on RTL 5
• on Kanal A
• on VUZU, (DSTV Channel 123)
• on Universal Channel
• on Universal Channel
• on Fox
• on Fox
• on 2BE
• used to be aired on FoxLife
• ANT1 Cyprus is planning to air the Series from January 2012
• on FoxLife
• on Fox
• on STAR World
• on Fox
• on Telefuturo
• on TNT
• on STAR World
• on Fiji One
• on FoxLife
• on Star World
• on Fox

Casting

Main cast

Character	Portrayed by	House Notes
Rusty Cartwright "Spitter"	Jacob Zachar	Kappa Tau pledge, brother, pledge educator, rush chair, and later president
Casey Cartwright	Spencer Grammer	ZBZ sister, pledge educator, interim president, rush chair, Panhellenic liaison, and later house mother
"Cappie" (name later revealed as "Captain John Paul Jones")	Scott Michael Foster	Kappa Tau president
Evan Chambers	Jake McDorman	Omega Chi brother, president, and later alum
Calvin Owens	Paul James	Omega Chi pledge, brother, and briefly president
Ashleigh Howard	Amber Stevens	ZBZ sister, social chair, president, and later alum
Rebecca Logan	Dilshad Vadsaria	ZBZ pledge, sister, and later president
Dale Kettlewell	Clark Duke	Anti-Greek activist who later pledges for Omega Chi

CRU Greeks

The following is a list of fraternities and sororities featured in more than one episode. (None which are real fraternities)

Zeta Beta Zeta ("ZBZ")	ZBZ	The top sorority at CRU based on academics, athletics, and philanthropy.
Omega Chi Delta ("Omega Chi")	??"?	The top fraternity at CRU based on academics, athletics, and networking.
Kappa Tau Gamma ("Kappa Tau" or "KT")	KT"	The "black sheep" of the CRU Greeks based heavily on socializing.
Iota Kappa Iota (derogatorily called "Icky")	IKI	A short-lived rival sorority house of ZBZ founded by Frannie and paid for by Evan.
Gamma Psi Alpha ("Gamma Psi")	"?A	A rival sorority house who briefly bumped ZBZ out of the top spot.
Pi Pi Pi ("Tri-Pi")	???	A rival sorority house of ZBZ often noted for their promiscuity.
Lambda Sigma Omega ("Lambda Sig")	"???	One of the top fraternities at CRU, based solely on athletics.
Psi Phi Pi	???	Nerdy Geek fraternity featured in a few episodes, noted for interest in sci-fi. Their social chair, Jason, used marked cards at an Omega Chi casino night.

The following is a list of fraternities and sororities featured in at least one episode.

Alpha Theta Upsilon	A?Y	Shown in the episode "The First Last". It is a sorority.
Alpha Sigma Rho	A?P	Shown in the episode "Brothers and Sisters". It is a fraternity.
Alpha Tau Kappa	ATK	The fourth Greek house to be shown in the Pilot episode. It is a fraternity.
Beta Theta Tau	B?T	Shown in the episode "Brothers and Sisters".
Alpha Delta Pi	A"??	Shown in the episode "Tailgate Expectations".
Delta Rho	"?P	Mentioned in the episode "Highway to Discomfort Zone". It is a fraternity.
Epsilon Epsilon Epsilon	EEE	Shown in the episode "Brothers and Sisters". It is a sorority.
Theta Pi Gamma	??"	This is the third Greek house the rushees tour in the Pilot episode. It is a Jewish fraternity.
Iota Psi Delta	I?"?	Shown in the episode "Mister Purr-Fect". It is a fraternity.
Kappa Delta Epsilon	K"?E	Shown in the episode "Mister Purr-Fect". It is a fraternity.
Mu Gamma Sigma	M"?	Mentioned in the episode "Depth Perception". It is a sorority.
Nu Nu Nu	NNN	Shown in the episode "Brothers and Sisters". It is a fraternity.
Xi Gamma Theta	?"?	Shown in the episode "The Half-Naked Gun". It is a sorority.
Xi Delta Gamma	?"?"	Shown in the episode "Brothers and Sisters". It is a fraternity.
Pi Delta Epsilon	?"?E	Shown in the episode "Three's A Crowd". It is a sorority.
Pi Sigma Theta	???	Shown in the episode "Brothers and Sisters". It is a fraternity.
Sigma Epsilon	?E	The first Greek house to be shown in the Pilot episode.
Sigma Chi Epsilon	?XE	Shown in the episode "Tailgate Expectations". It is a sorority.
Phi Beta Pi	?B?	Shown in the episode "Friend or Foe". It is a sorority.
Omega Nu Epsilon	?NE	Mentioned in the episode "Tailgate Expectations". It is a fraternity.

Synopsis

The pilot episode premiered on Monday, July 9, 2007 in the US on ABC Family. The series finale aired on Monday, March 7, 2011.

Season		Episodes	Season premiere	Season finale	Region 1 DVD release
	1	22	July 9, 2007	June 9, 2008	Chapter 1: March 18, 2008	Chapter 2: December 30, 2008
	2	22	August 26, 2008	June 15, 2009	Chapter 3: August 18, 2009	Chapter 4: March 9, 2010
	3	20	August 31, 2009	March 29, 2010	Chapter 5: January 11, 2011
	4	10	January 3, 2011	March 7, 2011	October 18, 2011

Season One

Rusty Cartwright (Jacob Zachar) is a freshman at Cyprus-Rhodes University, and in an effort to shed his nerdy image, he goes through Greek recruitment. His older sister, Casey (Spencer Grammer), is an active member of the Zeta Beta Zeta sorority (the top sorority on campus), and is dating Omega Chi Delta active Evan Chambers (Jake McDorman), who is wealthy and popular because of his father's company, Chambers International. Evan is the Pledge Educator of the Omega Chi (the top fraternity on campus) and offers Rusty a spot in Omega Chi but gets declined after Evan gets spotted cheating on Casey with the Senator's daughter (and Zeta Beta Zeta pledge), Rebecca Logan (Dilshad Vadsaria). Rusty later accepts an invitation for Kappa Tau Gamma fraternity by the fun and laid back Cappie (Scott Michael Foster), Casey's ex-boyfriend, much to Casey's concern. Additionally, Rusty's straight-edged Baptist roommate, Dale (Clark Duke), is concerned for Rusty's involvement with the Greeks, but later accepts Rusty's new lifestyle, even befriending Rusty's gay friend Calvin (Paul James), an Omega Chi legacy and pledge who gets accidentally outed by Ashleigh (Amber Stevens). A large scandal for the Greeks erupts after Rusty's new girlfriend, Jen K (Jessica Rose), a Zeta Beta Zeta pledge, writes a newspaper article based on the scandals and controversies of the Greeks and gets them in trouble with Dean Bowman, forcing the university to lay down strict rules and monitoring on the Greeks. Since Jen K was a ZBZ pledge, the article centers on the Zeta Beta Zeta sorority and ZBZ National Board interferes and forces Casey's "big sister" Frannie, an ambitious and manipulative girl, to step down as president and has Casey take her place as interim president.

Season Two and three

After being ousted as ZBZ president by Nationals, Frannie decides to set up her own sorority, Iota Kappa Iota (Nicknamed "IKAP" by the house, and the "ICKY's" by all the other houses). Bankrolled by her new boyfriend, Evan Chambers', trust fund, she sets about convincing a small number of ZBZ sisters to defect. New ZBZ president Ashleigh assumes her full duties taking over from interim president Casey, however Casey remains a prominent figure in the house, taking charge of the year's pledges. At the Kappa Tau house, Rusty is looking forward to being an active after a year of hazing and serving the brothers, only to find he is still treated the same as a 'Post-pledge' until the freshman arrive on campus. During Rush, Rusty takes a liking to Calvin's former high school friend Andy (Jesse McCartney) and petitions hard to convince him to join the Kappa Tau house over the Omega Chi house. Rusty and Dale take an Art History elective, and Rusty falls (literally) for free spirit Jordan (Johanna Braddy). Jordan attends a Kappa Tau party on invite from Rusty, during which she makes out with Andy. Rusty's situation worsens when Andy joins Kappa Tau, and Cappie makes Rusty his big brother in the house. Casey struggles with her feelings for Cappie whilst dating Max (Michael Rady), forcing Casey and Cappie to argue and agree to not be friends anymore; however, Cappie comes to her aid when the ZBZ homecoming float breaks down and the two make up. Rusty, unable to hide his feelings for Jordan, kisses her and later admits this to Andy, who leaves the Kappa Tau house because of this. The betrayal of Rusty to his younger brother infuriates Cappie, who likens the situation to when Evan stole Casey from him, however when Cappie and Evan start reminiscing and become friends, Cappie also forgives Rusty. Jordan chooses Rusty over Andy, and the Iota Kappa Iota house is disbanded by Frannie after she breaks up with Evan and graduates from CRU. Unable to bury her feelings for Cappie, Casey tries to reconnect with Cappie, only for him to reject her. Casey breaks up with Max because she doesn't ever think she'll feel the same with him as she does with Cappie.

Season four and five

Season four begins shortly after Homecoming of the academic year 2009"2010. Rebecca confesses that she shared a kiss with Fisher (Ashleigh's boyfriend) and Ashleigh refuses to accept the apology from both parties. Casey's break up with Max was difficult, but she put her energy into her participation in Panhellenic. Meanwhile, Rusty struggles to keep up his GPA while still in Kappa Tau activities, and Cappie enlists himself as help. Calvin and Grant quietly begin a relationship, and Evan helps them keep it a secret from the rest of Omega Chi. Rusty and Jordan take their relationship to the next level, but due to a once in a lifetime opportunity Jordan moves to New York, and the two split up. Cappie and Evan's friendship is discovered by Casey and the three are friends again. When Thanksgiving rolls around Cappie and Casey share a special moment and get back together. Dale and Rusty begin to fight when they are put up for the same academic grant. Cappie and Evan make a deal to unite their houses against Officer Huck, but Evan betrays Cappie and three Kappa Tau brothers are expelled. The Gamma Psi house burns down, and the ZBZ house is to blame, but eventually Casey breaks down from the guilt and tells Katherine what happened. Rusty breifly begins to date Katherine. Grant and Calvin break up, because Grant wants to know what being single is like. In the final episode Cappie breaks up with Casey for not having enough faith in them.

Season six

Casey, Ashleigh, and Evan graduate, while Calvin and Rebecca adjust to their new duties as presidents. After some investigation, Casey discovers the real reasons behind not getting into CRU Law, and with a turned decision stays at CRU as a law student and the ZBZ housemom. Ashleigh then turns up at the ZBZ house saying she was fired from her job in New York, only to have it revealed later that she was sent on a coffee run one day and just split, and came back to CRU because she was lonely and disliked her boss. Meanwhile, Cappie tries to get back with Casey, and after telling him that maybe they can go back the way they were, Cappie promises that he will change so that someday he is worthy of being her boyfriend. Calvin deals with the ramifications of lying to become president of ?X, as well as his relationship with Heath. After an inspiring talk with Evan, Dale rushes ?X. Alternatively, the KT brothers lose all of their pledges except one; Peter Parkes, a KT legacy whose father is Lasker Parkes, creator of the 'Joshua Whopper' software (named in episode 2x04). Since declaring a major (which was philosophy), Cappie has decided to graduate that semester to be with Casey. Ashleigh had a brief relationship with Casey and Evan's law professor, but broke it off because he was acting like a jerk to people around her. Ashleigh then took a marketing job with her past professor and began a relationship with Rusty. Rebecca and Evan broke up and formed somewhat of a friendship in the final episode. After discovering that Omega Chi was trying to use him to get to Kappa Tau, Dale was kicked out of the fraternity. He was later reinstated after the Calvin and the pledges stood up to the new president on Dale's behalf. Dale got back together with Laura. Katherine and Beaver (Walter) got together. After it was revealed that Lasker Parkes wanted to destroy Kappa Tau's house to build a gym, a protest took place to save the house. Casey, Evan, and Cappie all came to amends and Cappie announced that Rusty was the new Kappa Tau president. Kappa Tau was torn down, but Rusty pledged to finding a new, better house for Kappa Tau. Casey quits CRU Law to go to Washington with Cappie, who is now graduated. Rusty and Ashleigh begin their relationship. In the final scene, the main cast, Rebecca, Evan, Rusty, Ashleigh, Dale, and Calvin say good bye to Casey and Cappie as they drive away together, Cappie telling Casey he wants to go wherever she's going. The final scene features Casey and Cappie driving off as Pledge Spidey (Peter Parkes) is putting the KT letters on a new house (the old Lambda Sigs house) that ?X's housing foundation bought them so they could stay on campus.

Music

• Albert Hammond, Jr.'s "In Transit" played at the beginning of the Pilot episode
• The Perishers "Nothing Like You and I" played at the end of Season 1 Episode 8 "Separation Anxiety"
• The Plain White T's "Our Time Now" played during commercials advertising Greek during the show's first chapter promotional run. The band has appeared in numerous Greek episodes, making their debut in the season one episode, "The Rusty Nail". They appeared in subsequent episodes "Friday Night Frights", "A New Normal", and "See You Next Time Sisters". The show sometimes features members of the band as KT brothers, such as in the episode "The Great Cappie". The Chapter Two DVD features a video for the band's song, "Natural Disaster", which features Tiffany Dupont.
• The Dollyrots appeared in the season one episode, "Multiple Choice", playing "Because I'm Awesome".
• Marié Digby performs "Better Off Alone" in the penultimate season one episode, "Barely Legal".
• American Bang performs two songs in the season one finale, "Spring Broke": "Wild and Young", and "Move to the Music".
• The War Tapes are the featured band during the season two finale, "At World's End", "Always Falling", and "Dreaming of You".
• Alpha Rev appeared in the season preview performing Phoenix Burn.
• Zach Selwyn wrote a rap song to promote the third season of "Greek" in 2009, and shot a music video with the cast of the show.
• The Temper Trap with the song "Sweet Disposition" on the last episode (22) of the second season.
• In one episode (season 3, episode 10 "Friend or Foe?"), before fire in Gamma Psi house, ZBZ singing song "Good Girls Go Bad" (originally performed by Cobra Starship).
• Episode 5 Season 4 when Cappie takes Casey back to ZBZ after the Everest party, the song "Ring of Fire" by Jack Savoretti is played.
• Season 4 Episode 6, when Cappie welcomes Casey to CappieLand, the song "Under the Milky Way" by Sia is played.
• Youth Group with the song "Forever Young" on the finale of Greek (season 4, episode 10)..
• All Time Low's song "Six Feet Under The Stars" was featured in season 3 episode 2
• Spinning by Jack's Mannequin in the last episode of season 2 as well as the beginning of the series finale
• When KT had a booth in Season 4 Episode 2, The Last Summer by the Forward

Season Finale when they tore down the Kappa Tau House - Afterall by Wlliam Fitzsimmons

Reception

Greek has received a score of 62 out of 100 from review aggregator Metacritic. In a review released soon after the premiere of the show, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called the show "light-hearted fun" and "authentic" while the New York Times claimed that Greek "captures the spirit of the hedge-fund age like nothing else." Other critics did not find the drama as authentic, with Elizabeth Fox of the Philadelphia Inquirer criticizing the show's predictability and lack of originality as another "teenage soap opera." Other reviews were middling, calling the writing of the show acceptable and praising the strength of the cast.

Members of the real life Greek community have claimed that Greek's depiction of fraternity and sorority life is stereotypical. USC banned the show from filming on their campus, in reaction to the promotional poster featuring the Greek logo over a red cup, since the cup is often used to symbolize alcoholic consumption during parties. However, upon viewing the pilot episode they held off on sending a letter to ABC Family, complaining about the depiction of the Greek System, when they realized there was more to the show than just parties. Others recognize it as a hyperbolic representation of "tamer, more modest" Greek life.

The show has been noted by LGBT activists for the character of Calvin, a gay fraternity brother, who struggles with the stereotyping and homophobia that coming out of the closet entails. Critics have praised the character's "three dimensionality."

Awards

In 2008 GLAAD nominated Greek for an Outstanding Drama Series award, and in 2009 they nominated the show in the Outstanding Comedy Series category. Actor Paul James was nominated for a 2009 Image Award as Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. In 2010, it was again nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Comedy Series" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.

Ratings

The viewership for Greek's pilot episode was 1.1 million, and Chapter 2 ended with 1.3 million viewers.

Chapter 3 saw a ratings spike, premiering to 1.6 million viewers, a 78% increase, doubling and tripling their ratings in all demographics, marked a network high for male viewers, and was the 2nd most watched cable show with females age 12"34. Greek also appeared on the list of top ten downloads on iTunes. Chapter 4 premiered much lower, with 0.99 million viewers, and ended with 0.745 million.

The third season premiere (Chapter 5) had a total of 1.21 million viewers, down almost 2 million from its lead in, The Secret Life of the American Teenager. The second episode pulled in 1.31 million viewers. Chapter 5 ended with 0.66 million viewers and Chapter 6 premiered with 1.033 million.

Online reality show spinoff

In 2007, ABC Family created a website www.virtualrush.com that was to be used in conjunction with the Greek television series. The site was maintained during the first two seasons, in which the users of the site competed in a wide variety of contests in order to become an extra on the show. During the first season of the contest, a five part online reality series called Rush*d followed the six finalists that were selected by ABC Family staff from their hometowns and college campuses to Los Angeles.

The Finalists:

• Chrissy Celotto " Van Wilder
• Luke Martin " IvoryRockstar
• Nate McGee " NJMCGEE
• Jay Stephens " ChiKappaDelta
• Jenna Walsh " Jenziebabe
• Laura Wise " Whitecup

In the fifth episode of Rush'd, Laura Wise was announced the winner of the contest.

In season two of Virtual Rush, Tom Kruszewski " Puckstopper35, was announced as the winner of the second and final contest. Following the second season the website was rendered inert.

Specials

In the United Kingdom, episodes are followed by special behind-the-scenes features entitled Greek Uncovered, which can be found on the BBC iPlayer and on BBC Three. In the Australian iTunes Store, each week, a new episode (to Australia) will appear, after it is aired on Fox8.

DVD releases

In 2008, ABC/Disney released Season 1 on DVD in two volumes, titled Chapter One and Chapter Two. In 2009, Season 2 was also released on DVD in two volumes, titled Chapter Three and Chapter Four.

In 2010, Shout! Factory secured the rights for the rest of the series and released Season 3 on DVD as a complete set, titled Chapter 5: The Complete Third Season. On October 18, 2011, Shout! Factory released "Greek: Chapter 6 - The Complete Fourth Season" as a Shout! Select title, available exclusively on their website.

Season One

DVD name	Ep#	Disc#	Region 1	Special features
Chapter One	10	3	March 18, 2008	Deleted scenes Greek: The Initiation Chapter Two Sneak Peak Extended Music Sequence Audio Commentaries
Chapter Two	12	3	December 30, 2008	Bloopers Flashback Episode " "And So It Begins" Natural Disaster " Music Video by the Plain White T's Audio Commentaries

Season Two

DVD name	Ep#	Disc#	Region 1	Special features
Chapter Three	10	3	August 18, 2009	20 Questions with the Cast of Greek Bloopers Audio Commentaries
Chapter Four	12	3	March 9, 2010	Bloopers Greek Recap At World's End " The Cast and Creators Take You Behind the Scenes for a Look at the Filming of the Final Episode of the Fourth Chapter How Do You Sleep? " Music Video by Jesse McCartney Audio Commentaries

Season Three

DVD name	Ep#	Disc#	Region 1	Special features
Chapter Five: The Complete Third Season	20	6	January 11, 2011	A Study Break with Nora Kirkpatrick ("Katherine") Cast & Crew Audio Commentaries GOTCHA! Featurette Gag Reels And More!

Season Four

DVD name	Ep#	Disc#	Region 1	Special features
Chapter Six: The Complete Fourth Season	10	3	October 18, 2011	Looking Back at Greek with the Cast A Study Break with Aaron Hill ("Beaver") Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Series Finale A Very Special Q&A