that time Disney Channel accidentally made an incest show
i need to get this off my chest </3
What does this exchange of looks convey to you? Trust? Understanding? Love?
Whatever you see, it’s the look that appears over and over again in the Disney Channel show, “Life with Derek,” a sitcom following the step-sibling rivalry forged between type A Casey and slacker-bro Derek after their parents (her mom and his dad) get married.
That’s right. Step-siblings. That charged look was meant to convey something familial.
If you interpreted the situation differently, you wouldn’t be alone. Thousands then and thousands since have taken to Casey and Derek’s— shall we say unique — sibling dynamic. Users came out with their own anecdotes about the show when #LifewithDerek trended on Twitter a few years ago. Some didn’t know how to translate those longing looks when they were younger; others shipped them without realizing they were siblings, but the overall feeling was there was definitely something suspect going on between the two.
The year was 2005 when My Life with Derek first premiered. The commercial successes of films like Cheaper by the Dozen (2002) and Yours, Mine, and Ours (2005) likely made a sitcom about a big, mismatched family seem like safe bet — or so they thought. What the network execs didn’t anticipate was the raw chemistry forged between Derek and Casey, played by Michael Seater and Ashley Legat respectively.
I don’t think it was ever the writers’ intention to put them together — nor do I think they failed to catch some accidentally suggestive dialogue. Take a look at the script yourself and it reads like normal sibling banter. Rather, their flirty dynamic was a manifestation of Seater and Legat off-screen sexual tension.
When characters happen to develop an unexpected chemistry, the powers-that-be on any another show will just write it into the story; some of TV’s most beloved couples have had such serendipitous origins. Unfortunately for Life with Derek, this was not an option. I mean sure, Disney Channel had some brushes with “edgier” moments in the past but an outright endorsement of (step) incest by The Mouse himself? Unthinkable.
And so the show chugged along for four seasons, trying its best to distract viewers from their obvious tension and pairing them off with other, non-family members that could still embody the “opposites attract” dynamic fans so desired. By the show’s finale, Casey is with bad boy Truman and Derek with the sweetly headstrong, Emily. They pretty much redirected Casey and Derek’s relationship through socially acceptable avenues. But fans were not convinced. In fact, they were furious at writers for withholding the #Dasey moment the show had ostensibly been hinting at all these years. To ignore it was patronizing.
In an inspired Livejournal post, user “sugah66” posted a missive entitled “A letter to Life With Derek TPTB” addressed to show runner, Daphne Ballon, mere minutes after the show’s finale was broadcast. The 800+ word diatribe calls Casey/Truman “disgusting,” Derek/Emily “ridiculous,” and the attempt to promote those relationships as “... just sad. And degrading. And disgusting.” The letter continues, reminding the show-runner: “they’re not really related. Related by marriage is not related… trust me on this — I’m from Appalachia.” OP cites episodes like “March Break,” “Tuesday Afternoon Fever,” and “Summer School Blues” as clear and undeniable proof they liked each other.
Like… like liked.
The letter, operating at an obsessive — dare I say — Kaczynskian frequency, is a pretty fascinating examination of the show’s diehard fans. Most people I talk to have likened the show to a hazy memory, but here is a manifesto about the show, buttressed by by troves of comments. “This should be sent to Daphne. It pinponts everything the Dasey community is expressing right now,” comments one fan; “I love this. took the words right out of my mouth,” writes another.
Luckily for sugah66 and their constituents - and unsurprisingly for us - Disney announced Life with Derek was getting a second life with a spin-off movie called “Life with Luca.” The sequel will follow Derek and Casey navigating parenthood as they raise kids with personalities completely opposite to theirs, Derek with a studious honor-roll kid; Casey with a prank-loving tomboy. When they both move back to the same house, Derek and Casey’s daughters (respective daughters I should clarify) have to figure out how get along under one roof. “Oh whoa so it’s like the original Derek-Casey dynamic but flipped? That’s gonna be hilarious!”-
Is what the Disney execs are hoping we’ll say. But what the fans really want?
Dasey.
With everything from our childhood getting edged up and rebooted, maybe they’ll finally get together. If Bubbles can be a coke addict , why can’t Casey and Derek just make out?
The craziest part is the actors are not only aware of Dasey — they love to joke about it too. When the two reunited for an interview in 2015, they were asked “what the funniest thing people have people have been wanting them to do for this reunion.”
(Kind of a leading question, but go off king)
The two co-stars give each other a knowing look, Michael then responds “make out. A lot,” and then THEY PRETEND TO KISS.
Fake kiss aside, the entire interview is full of that infamous sexual tension that may or may not have literally gotten the show canceled (Ballon has denied such rumors).
Ashley Leggat also dropped this picture on Instagram when the reboot was announced.
Like bro, they’re just toying with us now.
And before you call me some tinfoil hatted Dasey truther, now, look at this Tweet from Michael (Derek) himself!
“Life with Luca” is set to premiere in 2023. Will history repeat itself? Or will they finally deliver on — as sugah66 put it- “the stolen glances, the abundance of touching, the secret smiles, the chemistry.”
Edit: Life with Luca is out. No #Dasey, but there is this “Casey and Derek being "exes" in Life with Luca for 10 minutes” video compilation of our heroes, per one comment, seeming more like “divorced parents forced to co-parent” than (step) siblings. Media companies trying to revive their family-friendly IP work hard, but the shippers work harder.
