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Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Format	Sitcom, Comedy
Created by	Clyde Phillips
Starring	Corin Nemec, Troy Slaten, Billy Jayne, Melanie Chartoff, Taj Johnson, Abraham Benrubi, Maia Brewton, Gerrit Graham
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	73
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Production Company(s)	Columbia Pictures Television
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Original run	2 September 1990 – 13 June 1993
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Parker Lewis Can't Lose is an early 1990s comedy television series produced by Columbia Pictures Television that was strongly influenced by the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The series originally aired on the Fox network from September 1990 to June 1993 (three seasons, 73 episodes), the last season sporting the simpler title Parker Lewis.

The series depicts the tribulations of the title character Parker Lewis, a Santo Domingo High School student, for whom nothing is impossible. Just like his best buds Jerry Steiner and Mikey Randall and his girlfriend Annie Sloane, his prime concern is achieving and maintaining coolness during the turbulent years of puberty. However, their efforts keep being thwarted by Parker's little sister, Shelly, and principal Grace Musso. Apart from various aspects of teenage life, embedded in a surreal, living-cartoon-like quality and the clever camera angles and filming techniques, an episode regularly contains more or less subtle references to movies, politics, and celebrities. The surrealism was toned down in the series' final season.

The TV spinoff Ferris Bueller, which was directly based on Ferris Bueller's Day Off, debuted on NBC during the same month, but it only lasted 13 episodes. Parker Lewis Can't Lose actually had lower ratings, but the Fox Network was still in its early years and thus had lower expectations.

Contents 1 Main characters 2 International 3 Cultural References 4 Episodes 4.1 Season 1 (1990–1991) 4.2 Season 2 (1991–1992) 4.3 Season 3 (1992–1993) 5 Trivia 6 DVD Release 7 External links

• Parker Lewis (played by Corin Nemec) - Smart guy with a penchant for garish shirts. He usually has a plan up his sleeve, and they in turn usually involve outsmarting someone else. Parker is famous for his catch phrase, "not a problem," which he often says when faced with trouble. In the final season, Parker finally settled down with one girl, Annie, and he seemed more mature and less reliant on his "not a problem" attitude.

• Jerry Steiner (played by Troy Slaten) - Archetypal nerd. In the first two seasons, he always wears a trench coat from which he produces almost any object imaginable, apparently fixed inside with velcro. He addresses everyone by last name, i.e., "Mr. Lewis," "Mr. Randall," and even "Mr. Kubiac," or collectively as "sirs". At the end of the credits, Jerry is stuffed into his locker by the Kube, causing him to plaintively call for "Mr. Lewis? Mr. Randall? Mr. Phillips? (Clyde Phillips, the series' creator and executive producer) Hello?"

• Mikey Randall (played by Billy Jayne) - Rock'n'Roll rebel without a cause. By far the most emotionally driven of the trio.

• Grace Musso (played by Melanie Chartoff) - Principal of Flamingo High; Parker's arch-nemesis. Often breaks the glass on her office door, and with that trademark 'swoosh' when she swings her arm with thumbs pointing to the door.

• Franklin Lemmer (played by Taj Johnson) - Principal Musso's ultra-Republican sidekick and "lapdog" with vampiric tendencies. Likes to wear black and seems to have a telepathic connection to the principal. Obsessed with war, strategy and politics. He is able to teleport at will.

• Francis Lawrence 'Larry' Kubiac (played by Abraham Benrubi) - a.k.a. "Kube", he is built like a dinosaur with a brain to match, yet with a surprisingly sweet disposition. Initially not a member of Parker's gang, he later develops some ties to them. But still, he is more of a force of nature than a real player. His favourite line was, "Eat now?"

• Shelly Lewis (played by Maia Brewton) - Parker's other arch-nemesis, his little sister. She likes to manipulate their parents to her benefit, which usually annoys Parker to no end.

• Dr. Norman Pankow (played by Gerrit Graham) - The principal of El Corrado High School and Musso's primary adult rival. His doctorate is in penology. As tough as Musso is, Pankow is regarded as far, far worse.

• Coach Frank Kohler (played by comedian John Pinette). Joining during the show's final season, Frank Kohler served as a father figure for Larry Kubiac and the new owner of the Atlas Diner, which he finally loses in the show's final episode, "The Last Supper." He is obsessed with Grace Musso, who is completely repulsed by him.

• Annie Sloane (played by Jennifer Guthrie). Parker's love interest from the middle of the second season to the show's end.

• In Belgium, the show aired on the official Flemish television channels (BRT1 and BRT2, now called Eén and Canvas) with multiple reruns.
• In Canada, the show aired on Global TV.
• In Germany, the show aired on Pro 7.
• In France, the show aired on TF1.
• In the UK, the show first aired on BSB Channel Galaxy before moving to SKY One and later on Toonami. The series never made it to terrestrial television.
• In Peru, the show aired first on Frecuencia Latina (Canal Dos).
• In Poland, the show aired first on Canal+, then on TVP2.
• In Portugal, the show aired first on TVI and years later on SIC Radical.
• In New Zealand, the show aired on TV2.
• In the Philippines, the show aired on RPN 9.
• In Hungary, the show aired first on M1 and years later on TV2.
• In the Netherlands, the show aired on NCRV.
• In Israel, the show aired on Cable Channel 6 and later on Cable Channel 3.
• In Chile, the show aired on Canal Trece
• In Brazil, the show aired on Rede Record
• In Mexico, the show aired on XHGC-TV Canal 5
• In Spain, the show aired on Canal Sur, TV3, Canal 9, ETB 1, TVG and years later on Cuatro
• In Australia, the show aired on Channel 9
• In Uruguay it aired on Canal 4.
• In Argentina it aired on Canal 2, on the afternoons.
• In Greece and Cyprus, it aired on ANT1
• In Italy it aired on Telemontecarlo
• In Austria it aired on ORF1
• In Turkey it aired on CNBC-e
• In Iceland it aired on Sjónvarpið as Skálkar á skólabekk (Rogues in school)
• In El Salvador it aired on Channel 6.
• In Costa Rica it aired on Repretel Channel 6 and Channel 11.
• In Sweden, the show aired on SVT, as 'Parker Lewis'
• In Denmark, it aired on TV2
• In Kenya, it aired on Kenya Television Network (KTN)
• In Norway, it aired on NRK as a part of the show Go' Elg

• Alternative rock band Fall Out Boy released a song entitled "Parker Lewis Can't Lose (But I'm Gonna Give It My Best Shot)." on their very first album Fall Out Boy's Evening Out With Your Girlfriend. the song boasts the lyrics: "In the meantime/just talking to my shoes converse with my Converse/at least they hear a word I say"
• The Western name for a common pig character in early Sonic the Hedgehog video games is Porker Lewis.
• At the end of the first season finale episode, "Parker Lewis Can't Win," two figures observing the PLCL set say: "So that's how they do it!" "C'mon, Ferris, let's get out of here." (A reference to the short run of the rival Ferris Bueller on NBC).
• In one episode during the second season, a background figure in a crowd scene can be seen holding a sign to the viewing audience that reads, "Thank you for not watching Eerie, Indiana." Eerie, Indiana was an NBC program on opposite PLCL during 1991-1992.
• The two primary antagonists, Mrs. Musso and Frank, may be named as a reference to the famous Hollywood restaurant Musso & Frank Grill.

1. Pilot
2. Operation Kubiak
3. Power Play
4. Parker Lewis Must Lose
5. Close, But No Guitar
6. G.A.G. Dance
7. Love's a Beast
8. Saving Grace
9. Musso & Frank
10. Deja Dudes
11. Radio Free Flamingo
12. Science Fair
13. Teacher, Teacher
14. Rent-a-Kube
15. Heather the Class
16. Jerry: Portrait of a Video Junkie
17. Splendor in the Class
18. The Human Grace
19. Citizen Kube
20. Randall Without a Cause
21. Jerry's First Date
22. Against the Norm
23. King Kube
24. Teens from a Mall
25. My Fair Shelly
26. Parker Lewis Can't Win

1. Father Knows Less
2. A Walk on the Dark Side
3. Full Mental Jacket
4. Future Shock
5. The Undergraduate
6. Stormy Mikey
7. Fat Boy and Little Man
8. Aging Gracefully
9. The Parker Chronicles
10. Rock 'n' Roles
11. Loves Handles
12. Boy Meets Girl
13. Raging Kube
14. Tower of Power
15. Obscene and Not Heard
16. Goodbye Mr. Rips
17. Civil Wars
18. Glory Daze
19. Boy Meets Girl II
20. Dance of Romance
21. When Jerry Met Shelly
22. Geek Tragedy
23. Money Talks
24. Home Alone with Annie
25. Diner '75

1. Flamingo Graffiti
2. Cape Flamingo
3. The Kiss
4. Summer of '92
5. Love is Hell
6. Jerry's Journey
7. Beauty and the Kube
8. Hungry Heart
9. Lewis and Son
10. Kohler Buys the Diner
11. Parker's Got a Brand New Car
12. An Unmarried Musso
13. Educating Brad
14. The Love Bug
15. Write or Die
16. The Bitch is Back
17. Musso: a Wedding
18. A Night to Remember
19. Boys Night In
20. Senior Jerry
21. The Rocky Kohler Picture Show
22. The Last Supper

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Actor Seth Green originally auditioned for the role of Jerry Steiner, but lost out to Troy Slaten. Presumably this is also where he met Abraham Benrubi, with whom he appeared in Without a Paddle, and who is also a frequent guest voice actor on Green's Adult Swim show Robot Chicken
• The theme for every high-school dance in the show was "Remember The 80s".^{[citation needed]}
• Larry Kubiac's first name is actually Francis, as revealed by his younger brother Bobby in the pilot episode. Larry's first name appears again twice in "The Parker Chronicles" (S2 Ep9) when Grace Musso, and then Frank Lemmer announce the "Kubospective Ceremony". Bobby never appeared in any other episode of the show.
• Robin Fecknowitz, the love object of both Parker and Mikey in the pilot, was played by actress Milla Jovovich.^{[citation needed]}
• "Sloane", the name of Lewis' girlfriend, is also the name of Ferris Bueller's girlfriend in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the movie on which the show is thematically based.
• In one episode, Parker Lewis pulls a Debbie Gibson's "Out of the Blue" 12" EP into frame, saying that life is just as sweet and wonderful as a "Debbie Gibson record".

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment currently has no plans to release the show on DVD, possibly due to music clearance issues. Both Corin Nemec and Abraham Benrubi have expressed an interest in seeing the show released, and it is currently one of Sony's most-requested TV titles for release.

• Parker Lewis Can't Lose at the Internet Movie Database
• Episode Guide - TV.com