Braceface



Braceface is an animated Canadian show produced by Alicia Silverstone (who also voices the main character for the first two seasons). The show follow the exploits of Sharon Spitz, an average eighth grader who at the start of the series is forced to get braces for her teeth. Typical of teenage life, she worries about how this will affect her usual status amongst her peers as she goes through her daily life.

The show, when first advertised, put much emphasis on Sharon's braces, as they were affected during a lighting storm while being fitted onto her mouth. Every now and then they would occasionally affect the environment around her (lockers, water fountains, radios, etc). As the show went on, this focus was dropped for the usual slice of life and "teenage issues" stories (though it does occasionally pop up).

The series lasted from June, 2001 to August 2005. A total of 78 episodes in roughly three seasons. Only the first two aired in the States starting on ABC Family first then moved to Disney Channel before being dropped. The third season never made it for some odd reason--though the inclusion of a gay character (Dion) and some of the subject matter may have been a factor.

Now has a character sheet.


 * All Just a Dream: A rather ludicrous episode in which Shannon dreams that her dad married Nina's mom.
 * Alpha Bitch: Nina Harper. Partially subverted - she's as rich, popular, and nasty as any proper Alpha Bitch, but is not Book Dumb. She's actually at the top of her class.
 * Always Camp: Dion.
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Be Yourself: Plenty of episodes showcasing this.
 * Beta Couple: Eventually, Brock and Maria.
 * Black Best Friend: Brock to Alden.
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Sharon (blonde), Maria (brunette), and Nina (redhead).
 * Braces of Orthodontic Overkill: Subverted; Sharon got off relatively easy with her braces despite the side effects they bring.
 * Breast Expansion: One episode dealt with this hilariously.
 * Canada, Eh?: Averted; it's set in Canada (around British Columbia) but doesn't feature any of the stereotypes.
 * Celebrity Toons: Wouldn't have been noticed if Alicia Silverstone didn't voice and promote the show.
 * Channel Hop: From ABC Family to Disney Channel.
 * Cool Loser: Brock (at least at the start) and to a lesser extent, Sharon.
 * Crazy Cat Lady: Subverted with Miranda in "23's a Crowd". She has 23 cats, but she's not crazy. Just lonely and a little eccentric.
 * Cross-Dressing Voices: Averted, though the only prepubescent male regular is Sharon's younger brother Josh (played by Michael Cera, whose voice actually did break during the show's run).
 * Deus Angst Machina: Sharon's braces would often kick in at the worst possible time.
 * Deus Ex Machina: And on other occasions, Sharon's braces did save her a couple of times.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Nina's Alpha Bitchiness to Sharon was started over a doll she had during childhood that got its head popped off. She instantly accused Sharon for the crime despite no proof to claim her as the guilty party. In the third season, it was eventually revealed that Nina's cousin was the culprit.
 * Foot Focus: During the winter-themed episodes, the animators certainly loved to show off characters in socked feet.
 * Former Friend of Alpha Bitch: Sharon and Nina. See above next to Disproportionate Retribution for the explanation.
 * Four-Fingered Hands: As well as four toed feet.
 * Free the Frogs
 * Fur and Loathing
 * Granola Girl: Hannah
 * Heel Face Turn: Alyson, Nina's friend, and Nina herself in the end.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Alicia Silverstone for starters. 3rd Season Sharon is Nikki from 6teen Alyson's voice was also in that show as Starr/Nebula . Brock is Tucker from Are You Afraid of the Dark? and the dub voice of Ray from Beyblade. Nina Harper's voice was also in Beyblade (Mathilda and Ashley) as well as Julie Makimoto from Bakugan. Alden: Tuxedo Mask of Sailor Moon and perhaps the most surprising Josh Spitz (Sharon's younger brother) is George Michael from Arrested Development.
 * Hollywood Nerd: Connor MacKenzie.
 * ISophagus: In the first season, Sharon's braces had the power to play music and electromagnetically control metal. Sadly, the premise was dropped beginning in season two.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: There are a few moments where Nina drops her Alpha Bitch attitude and show some genuine kindness.
 * Hot for Teacher: Maria in the aptly titled "Teacher's Pet" -- until Sharon points out that students can't date their teachers.
 * Keep Circulating the Tapes: Nothing after the first season is available on DVD.
 * Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Sharon, especially when it comes to activism. She is very stubborn in insisting that her reasons are the right one and can never see things from the other person's POV most of the time. Though its this attitude that powers most of the conflicts she gets into. More often then not she has to learn the hard way you can't always get what you want.
 * Last-Minute Hookup:
 * Lightning Can Do Anything: Having her braces put in during a lightning storm did something to Sharon's braces so they have unpredictable and sometimes bizarre effects on things around her. Hilarity Ensues.
 * Middle Child Syndrome: Sharon is the middle child of the family, having two brothers doesn't help either.
 * Naive Everygirl: Sharon
 * No Periods, Period: One episode showcased this, as you can imagine it ended in embarrassment for Sharon.
 * Official Couple: Sharon and Alden. They're both so obviously attracted to each other that the show surprisingly subverts the Last-Minute Hookup trope and gets them together midway through the first season.
 * Once an Episode: Sharon's braces acting up and causing trouble.
 * Out of Focus: Connor, Nina, and Alyson.
 * Picture Day: It's set during the school years; no surprise this pops up.
 * Promise Me You Won't X: Alden to Brock, near the end of the series.
 * Second Act Breakup: Second season, between Sharon and Alden..
 * Soapbox Sadie: Sharon, not just with animal rights and vegetarianism either. There was an episode where she started a rock band in an attempt to prove that she wasn't as girlie as everyone thought she was.
 * Stepford Smiler: Nina, she makes a big deal how popular she is. But in truth due to her mean spirited nature and the fact her parent are constantly busy, is actually quite lonely. Gets especially noticeable after Alyson leaves her.
 * Sitting on the Roof: Sharon does this occasionally.
 * Slice of Life
 * Space Whale Aesop: A few episodes here and there.
 * The Other Darrin: Stacey DePass, who most viewers may recognize as the voice of Nikki from 6teen, replaced Alicia Sliverstone as Sharon in the third season. Surprisingly enough, she does an uncanny impression of her.
 * Three Amigos: Sharon, Maria, and Connor
 * Token Minority Couple: Brock and Maria
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Maria and Sharon respectively.
 * Twofer Token Minority: Maria Wong, who is half-Chinese and half-Italian.
 * Two Girls and a Guy
 * Uncanny Valley Makeup: Nina in one example but there are instances where Sharon goes overboard on the makeup.
 * Verbal Tic: Alyson has to include the word "totally" in every other sentence.
 * Very Special Episode: A few, most notably the "smoking" episode and the episode in which Maria dates an abusive Arab guy, but thinks Sharon hates him because she has a grandfather who's racist and, by proxy, is a racist herself.
 * Visit by Divorced Dad
 * We Will Not Use Photoshop in the Future: One episode has Nina discrediting Sharon and Maria with a slideshow of doctored photos including Sharon picking her nose and Maria scratching her butt. Unless you hired Industrial Light & Magic, edits like that would not be possible in real life.
 * Maybe. It depends on what the source photos were. A photo of a butt and a hand are not hard to stick together.... and sticking a finger up the nose is relatively easy as well.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: One episode have Sharon and Maria getting back on Nina by sabotaging her performance in a show, but realizes they went too far when she is more humiliated than they intended, even putting her at a risk of falling from her swing onto the stage from a great height. They also took advantage of Alyson's trust in them to go through with it.
 * Wham! Episode: Dear Alden:
 * Younger Than They Look: Adam, Sharon's older brother, who's only seventeen but looks like he's in his twenties due to a growth spurt.