6teen is a Canadian 2D-animated teen comedy drama television series created by Jennifer Pertsch and Tom McGillis which originally aired for four seasons and 93 episodes on Teletoon from November 7, 2004 until February 11, 2010.^[1][2]

Majority-directed by Karen Lessman and produced by Nelvana and Fresh TV for two seasons each, it also aired in the U.S. on Nickelodeon from December 18, 2005 to May 13, 2006 and on Cartoon Network (along with Total Drama Island and Stoked) from October 23, 2008 until June 21, 2010. Nelvana produced 78 of the overall 93 episodes and two 45-minute television specials.^[3][4][5]

As of February 2023, it is available in various compilation bundles on YouTube.^[6]

6teen is an animated comedy that delves into the themes of friendship, personal growth, self-discovery, and the challenges of being a teenager. Set in the Galleria Mall, a fictional large shopping mall based on the Toronto Eaton Centre and the West Edmonton Mall, the show revolves around the lives of six sixteen-year-old friends who work on part-time jobs at different stores within the mall. The main characters, Jude, Caitlin, Jonesy, Nikki, Jen, and Wyatt, face various adventures while dealing with typical teenage issues, such as crushes, relationships, friendships, school and jobs. The group frequently hangs out at the mall's central food court, where they share their experiences, provide support to one another, and engage in banter.

The show's creators, Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch, researched by taking the writers to visit the Toronto Eaton Centre to observe teens hanging out in there.^[7][8] They have also observed multiple students in their classrooms and homes.^[9] According to its research, preteen-aged children watched adult-targeted sitcoms on the basis of their smart writing, fast-paced dialogue and various plot lines.^[9] The working title of the show was The Mall in reference to shopping and teenage antics at the Toronto Eaton Centre.^[9]

Among the team of writers and directors for the show include Sean Cullen (The Sean Cullen Show), George Westerholm (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Gary Hurst, Alice Prodanou and Hugh Duffy. The series' main characters were designed by Brad Coombs and the music was composed by Donald "Don" Breithaupt and Anthony Vanderburgh.

The show was produced with a then newly-implemented hybrid-2D-computer animation animation software called "Opus" through a development partnership between Teletoon, Nelvana and Montreal-based acclaimed animation software company Toon Boom Animation.^[9]

An acoustic version of the theme music by Brian Melo is included in the show's final episode, "Bye Bye Nikki?".

A special reunion public service announcement titled "Vote, Dude!" was released on YouTube on September 12, 2018,^[10] with the original voice cast reprising their respective roles to raise awareness for voting in the 2018 US midterm elections.

The show received generally positive reviews. Alex Kucharski of The Toronto Star described the show as a "funny, exciting new teen comedy-drama", though he criticized some of the elements of the show as "unrealistic".^[12]

In the winter/spring season of 2005, 6teen ranked among Teletoon's Top 10 for children aged 10+ in both English and French markets, and was also the only Canadian production to be nominated for that year's Italian "TV Series for All Audiences" Pulcinella Award.^[13] Furthermore, it received an award from the Alliance for Children and Television for being the best of children's television to fall under the 9–14 age group on June 2, 2007. Carole Bonneau, the then-vice-president of programming at Teletoon, has remarked about the show:

Aesthetically appealing, with an upbeat musical score, combined with its power to invite empathy from teens towards the main characters, with 6teen Teletoon delivers a series that is a perfect match for today's generation.^[13]

Locally, the show garnered about 2.5 million viewers each episode and about 1.8 million viewers each episode on Cartoon Network in the United States. It soon became one of the network's top shows between October 2008 and September 2009 with the steady increase in ratings up to its peak of 3.7 million viewers on June 11, 2009 following the season premiere of Total Drama Action. As time went on, starting in October 2009, the show declined in ratings falling to its lowest rating at 1.6 million viewers for its June 21, 2010 series finale.

In 2009, the show won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song (Main Title and Promo) for its theme song which was performed by Phil Naro.^[14]

24 out of the 93 produced episodes were considered too risqué or inappropriate for younger children by its American broadcasters Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, leading to either their censorship or removals.^{[lower-alpha 1]} With the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada occurring around the time of the series' release, many of its episodes included references and innuendos to homosexuality, most of which were censored in the U.S.^[15] Other censorships and bans in the U.S. included a plot line that focused on shoplifting and nude images that were modified from the series' original blur-out to a full black bar.