Season 3 of “Good Luck Charlie” kicks off this Sunday, May 6 at 8pm with back-to-back episodes. This season will see big changes for all the members of the Duncan family as they prepare for the arrival of their newest baby.
We had the chance to chat with Leigh-Allyn Baker, who graciously took time from her vacation in Paris to chat with us, all about the new season, what’s in store for Amy, and how amazing the show’s fanbase is. Leigh-Allyn is even expecting her own second child later this year and she talks a little about how her life and the show are very similar.
Read our full Q&A below and also check out an exclusive clip from the premiere episode.
Season 3 is upon us. What are you most excited for fans to see with the new season? I’m excited for them to see the first episode. To really see the transition that the Duncans go through preparing for this new baby.
Each of the characters goes through some big changes with the arrival of this new baby. What will we see Amy going through? Amy has a real internal struggle with going back to work. She says that the new baby really needs her but the truth of the matter is I think she really needs them so she decides to stay at home and of course meddles where she shouldn’t and goes a little stir crazy. She goes to work at as a nurse at Gabe’s school which as you can imagine, doesn’t go over well for anybody at Gabe’s school, let alone Gabe. She goes back home and starts an adventure as a mommy blogger and finally achieves the stardom she’s always craved.
Do you actually read mommy blogs? Did you read any to prepare? Sure, I’ve read some mommy blogs. Certainly when you’re pregnant that’s one thing to do.
Congrats on expecting your second child. This happened after the second baby storyline was written into the show, but is it fun having your life kind of following the same path as the show? It’s really interesting because it played into the storyline with Charlie too. When the series started, Charlie was about 9 months old and my baby was about 6 months old. So the same with this one, my baby will be just a few months behind the new Duncan baby.
Have you found that portraying some of the scenarios on the show has prepared you for dealing with these issues with your own kids, especially when they become teenagers? I hope so because our teenagers on the show are fantastic. I’m really hoping that’s what I have to look forward to. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case with teenagers.
We hear that you have some new sets this season. What’s it like having a new atmosphere? We do have a few new swing sets coming in. It’s really interesting. It keeps the show moving and the pace up. I’m really looking forward to you seeing the first episode to see what you think about that.
Do you have a favorite episode coming up, besides the premiere episode, that you’re looking forward to fans seeing? There’s a very special episode, called Special Delivery, where the new baby comes into our lives. There’s the episode where we bring the baby home for the first time and get to see how all the different siblings react with another child in the house. It’s very interesting.
This season we’ll see PJ and Teddy deal with some big milestones like graduating and preparing for college. You’ve seen Bridgit Mendler and Jason Dolley grow up on the show. Do you feel motherly towards them? I always tell them that I’m not really old enough to be their parents in real life and I’m not really young enough to completely be their best buddy, but I always tell them I’m an adult tween. Like Bradley [Steven Perry], I’m a tween in between those ages. Sometimes I feel like I’m a mother to them and other times I feel like we’re best friends.
Do you all pull any pranks on set? We started a new one recently and I’m not sure if our producers are big fans of it. If there’s a scene that all of us are in, we like to do something to keep the writers on their tows. For example, one night with a live taping with an audience, we did this scene twice and on the third time to do it, we picked Jason and he said this one word in the middle of his line and we all froze. We did not move. We didn’t move for 5 minutes and the only one who got it was the director. The writers and the producers were hitting the monitor thinking that their monitor had frozen. We just love to pull pranks on them because their much more serious that we are.
If you could write an episode of the show, what would you like to see happen? I’d want to take it in a whole new direction. I’d want to see the Duncans go into a family business together. Just something fun for them to do like an ice cream shop or a restaurant, selling sports equipment, who knows. Just for us to do something family oriented together.
What are two reasons people should watch the new season of “Good Luck Charlie”? Because it’s going to be a fresh start for every character. Every character is facing different obstacles and they’re having to respond to this new baby coming into their lives. Secondly, because there’s a lot of new laughs coming their way they don’t want to miss.
You have a wonderful fan base. Do you have any message for them? Thanks for the support. It’s really amazing and overwhelming how much fan support we have worldwide. Truly I was just walking down by the apartment here [in Paris] and like 20 teenagers and their parents flocked over to us and they were so sweet. They were saying thinks like “We love Amy Duncan,” “we love the show.” They were just so sweet and appreciative and thankful.
Do you find that you get more recognition from parents or kids? Both. I would say it’s equal. I would also say there’s this crazy demographic that I would have never imagined of 20 to 30 year-olds without children that watch our show. It always starts the same way, “I know I shouldn’t be watching your show, but I love it.” The truth of the matter is, it is a show for the entire family. Every single person in the world falls into a family somewhere.
Check out a clip from “Make Room For Baby.” In the premiere episode, Amy Duncan, now in her third trimester, decides it’s time for her expanding family to move into a bigger house. Immediately following the premiere, in an all new episode, Gabe thinks he is being sent to a boarding school, PJ has a hard time letting go of his old hair salon, and everyone at school thinks Teddy is a jinx on Spencer.
In the second episode, “Bad Luck Teddy,” everyone at school thinks Teddy is a jinx on Spencer since the basketball team has been losing ever since they got back together. Meanwhile, Gabe misunderstands a conversation he overhears between Amy and Bob and thinks he is being sent to a military school, and PJ has a hard time letting go of his old hair salon until he discovers that his new hairdresser is a cute girl.
Be sure to watch the season 3 premiere of “Good Luck Charlie” at 8pm on Disney Channel May 6.
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