Liv and Maddie is an American comedy television series created by John D. Beck and Ron Hart that aired on Disney Channel from July 19, 2013 to March 24, 2017. The series stars Dove Cameron, Joey Bragg, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Kali Rocha, Benjamin King, and Lauren Lindsey Donzis.
A significant feature of the series is that Dove Cameron plays dual roles, one being Liv, an actress who has returned to her home after starring on a popular television series in Hollywood for four years, and the other one being Maddie, Liv's identical twin who remained behind. Another significant feature of the series are documentary-style cutaways where characters speak to the viewers to explain their opinions on various situations in each episode.
Main
Liv Rooney Olivia "Liv" Rooney (Dove Cameron) is one of a pair of identical twins of the Rooney family. She is the eldest child of the family and older sister to Joey and Parker. Liv left the family for four years, beginning at the age of 11, to star in a popular television program, "Sing It Loud!", to which she continually refers. During her time on that show, Liv was living with her Aunt Dena. Liv is a sophomore at Ridgewood High. When Liv and Maddie celebrate their sweet sixteen in "Sweet 16-a-Rooney", Karen states that Liv, who was born at 11:56 PM, is six minutes older than Maddie, who was technically born a day later. Liv's siblings affectionately call her "Hollywood". At the end of the first season, Liv begins production on "Space Werewolves", a film adaptation of a fictional graphic novel series of the same name. Liv stars as Tristan Lycanth in the film adaptation after being able to fully master all the traits of the wolf with the help of writer Emmy "Fangs" Wulfert. Although the protagonist of the story was originally a boy in the graphic novels, Liv was picked for the role because of her acting career on "Sing It Loud!" and the role of Tristan was changed from a boy to a girl.
In "Skate-a-Rooney", it is referenced that between seasons of "Sing It Loud!", Liv filmed a movie called "The Skateboard Bandit". In "Brain-a-Rooney", Liv shows that she is smarter than people think she is by helping Joey and Artie win the Brain Olympics. It is shown that Liv shares the personality quirks of her mother, Karen, as seen in "Shoe-a-Rooney", when the pair reveals their affinity for shoes. In "Voltage-a-Rooney", Liv stars in a TV series adaption of the comic series "Voltage" that was mentioned in "Continued-a-Rooney". She portrays a cheerleader named Tess who was struck by lightning and becomes the superhero SkyVolt. In "Californi-a-Rooney", Liv and Maddie have a falling out at the time when Maddie goes to live with Aunt Dena after being accepted to the same college that Willow is at. After the two of them reconcile, Liv is persuaded by Maddie to stay with her. In "Linda and Heather-a-Rooney", the effects of Liv leaving Voltage to be with Maddie caused her to have a hard time finding another role. She does get a guest role on "Linda and Heather" which she nearly causes to stop production until she and Parker come up with a plan to keep it from ending. By the end of the episode, Liv is told that they want her to reprise her character for the sequel to "Sing It Loud!" called "Sing It Louder!!"
The back of Emmy Buckner's head is used to help create the character of Liv. She is Dove Cameron's look-alike double.
Maddie Rooney Madison "Maddie" Rooney (Dove Cameron) is Liv's identical twin sister and the second eldest child of the Rooney family. Like Liv, she is older sister to Joey and Parker, as well as a sophomore at Ridgewood High. She is captain of the girls' basketball team of Ridgewood High and is equally diligent to her team captain duties as her studies. Her main love interest is Diggie, captain of Ridgewood High's boys' basketball team. However, because of his constant moving, they break up. Her new love interest is Liv's co-star in Voltage, Josh. Her catchphrase is "Bam! What?!", a phrase she came up with once at age 11 when she was telling Karen that she beat the boys at basketball. She is sometimes called Mads by Diggie and Willow, such as in "Slump-a-Rooney" and "Shoe-a-Rooney".
In "Sleep-a-Rooney", it is revealed that Maddie's full first name is "Madison". It is shown that Maddie shares the personality quirks of her father Pete, as seen in "Dump-a-Rooney", when the pair shows their competitive side while preparing for a two-on-two basketball tournament. In "Shoe-a-Rooney", Maddie becomes addicted to a comfortable pair of high heel shoes that she borrows from Liv. When the addiction becomes problematic, Liv, Willow, Diggie, and Stains stage an intervention which ends with Liv dropping the shoes into a woodchipper. In "Space-Werewolf-a-Rooney", Maddie injures her leg and is unable to play basketball. In "Pottery-a-Rooney", Maddie tries taking up the new hobby of pottery; however, it does not work out and she ends up going back to basketball. In "Helgaween-a-Rooney", Karen uses hypnotherapy to try to get Maddie over her fear of using her injured knee to shoot a three-pointer, but Maddie instead has a nightmare that she and Liv have a triplet named Helga. Maddie temporarily becomes the new sensei for Parker's karate class in "Match-a-Rooney". In "Muffler-a-Rooney", Maddie recovers from her knee injury and successfully plays basketball again.
The back of Shelby Wulfert's head is used to help create the character of Maddie. She is Dove Cameron's look-alike double.
Joey Rooney Joseph Gilligan "Joey" Rooney (Joey Bragg) is the middle child of the Rooney family. He is the middle brother to Liv and Maddie and older brother to Parker. Joey is a student at Ridgewood High. Parker affectionately calls him "munch". Although close in age to his older twin sisters, only a school year younger as a freshman, Joey is perceived as immature and awkward, but also somewhat of a brainiac. Joey has a close relationship with his younger brother Parker, especially in pranking or being manipulative, but with Liv and Maddie's assistance, there is hope for growth. He is bitter rivals with Artie, one of his classmates.
In "Helgaween-a-Rooney", Joey and Parker want to see a haunted house magic show and use a magic amulet to clone themselves so they can sneak out for the night, but later the clones try to cook and eat the parents. Later, Karen tries her hypnotherapy on Joey to make him feel ready to take on the world, but all Joey can say is gibberish. Later in the series, he realizes that he is starting to develop a crush on Willow and they start dating.
Parker Rooney Parker Rooney () is the youngest child of the Rooney family. He is 13 years old and a sixth-grader at an undisclosed school. However, he attends Joey's robotics club at Liv and Maddie's school twice a week. Parker is an intelligent and clever child with growing "playground buzz" who does karate and is somewhat manipulative. Parker even created his own set of tunnels which run to different parts of the house, Ridgewood High, and other locations. He is not a troublesome child, but somewhat of a trickster, as shown in "Fa-La-La-a-Rooney", when he swindles money from Joey in order to purchase an expensive toy he suspects no one would give him.
In "Kathy Kan-a-Rooney", one of Parker's dojo buddies, Splat, caught Parker watching "Linda and Heather", a show about two girls who are besties. It is eventually revealed that his other dojo buddies, including Splat, watch the show as well. Both Splat and Reggie go to Parker's house to watch the show together. In "Gift-a-Rooney", it is revealed Parker has an embarrassing middle name, which is skipped over by Parker's cutaway when Karen says it due to how much Parker hates it. In "Californi-a-Rooney", Parker's tunnels collapse due to Joey's bad move to preserve them, causing the entire family to move in with Aunt Dena as revealed in the final fourth-wall cutaway. When Parker plans to recreate his tunnels, the rest of the Rooneys shout no. This causes Parker to make plans to take his projects to the sky.
Karen Rooney Karen Rooney (Kali Rocha) is married to Pete, the mother of Liv, Maddie, Joey, and Parker, and the older sister of Dena Rooney. She is the school psychologist for Ridgewood High and later the vice principal as of the second season. Karen often ineptly uses her knowledge of family psychology at home, sometimes forming family meetings and sharing her "punching pillows".
In "Sweet 16-a-Rooney", it is revealed that Karen had kept a secret that the twins were born on opposite sides of midnight and technically have separate birthdays, with Maddie being born six minutes and one day after Liv. In "BFF-a-Rooney", it is revealed that she chomps on ice when she is nervous. She has also demonstrated a tendency for blatant manipulation, compulsive hoarding, as shown in "Brain-a-Rooney", when she refuses to sell stuff that used to belong to members of the family, such as a box of toothbrushes that they have used, and "Rate-a-Rooney", when she refuses to get rid of unnecessary house decorations. In "Helgaween-a-Rooney", it is revealed that both Maddie and Joey have been hypnotized by Karen. In "Californi-a-Rooney", Karen has nastily taken over Parker's tunnels, which collapse when Joey cleans out Karen's belongings, one of which was holding the entire house up.
Pete Rooney Pete Rooney (Benjamin King) is married to Karen and father of Liv, Maddie, Joey, and Parker. He is the gym teacher at Ridgewood High and coach of the girls' basketball team. Pete enjoys bringing competition into the home, often wearing his whistle and pushing Maddie to improve her basketball ability. Pete shows typical father characteristics, such as his misunderstandings of his daughters' emotional development. He shares his sons' creative mentality and becomes overprotective whenever Liv and Maddie have love interests. He also can disagree with Karen frequently, such as in "Rate-a-Rooney", when he wants to get rid of useless house decorations of which Karen cannot let go.
In "Ridgewood-a-Rooney", he becomes the coach of a college team in Beloit, Wisconsin, which Maddie later decides to attend in "Dream-a-Rooney". As a result of Pete's new job in "Coach-a-Rooney", he is succeeded in the coaching of the girls' basketball team by Mrs. Snodgrass. In "Sorta Sisters-a-Rooney", Pete is no longer a series regular and is said to be overseeing the rebuilding of the Rooney home while continuing his job in Beloit.
Ruby Ruby (Lauren Lindsey Donzis) is the 11-year old cousin of the Rooney children and the daughter of Dena who resides in California. She is younger than Parker and plans to follow in Liv's footsteps by becoming an actress herself. She joins the series as a series regular in the fourth season.
Recurring
Diggie Digbert "Diggie" Smalls (Ryan McCartan) is Maddie's main love interest. He is the captain of the boys' basketball team of Ridgewood High and is perceived as confident and strong. Diggie affectionately calls Maddie "Rooney", though in "Twin-a-Rooney", he calls her "Rooney Classic" to distinguish her from Liv.