CHARACTERS

Drake Parker

Drake's a cool guy who's into having a good time, playing his guitar and hanging with the girls. He's not big on responsibility and he'd rather be doing anything than his homework-or work of any kind, for that matter. Did we mention that Drake's a big fan of the ladies?

DRAKE BELL: Drake and his TV namesake both play a mean guitar and can sing up a storm. But the resemblance between the actor/musician and the smooth-talking slacker on the sitcom stops there. "I'm much mellower, and I can't fib with a straight face like Drake Parker," says the Beatles buff whose past acting gigs include "The Amanda Show" and guest spots on "Seinfeld" and "Home Improvement." Drake also composed all of the music his character performs, including the "Drake & Josh" theme song. He has released two albums and a third is on the way. Drake was featured in "Superhero Movie" and can be heard in the animated film, "The Nutty Professor 2: Facing The Fear."

Josh Nichols

Josh is a super-smart kid who's not exactly a risk taker. To say Josh lives life by obeying all the rules would definitely be an understatement. But since he's the total anti-troublemaker, adults think Josh is the greatest thing since the triple latte. He's sweet, respectful and very well mannered. In other words, not exactly in-crowd material.

JOSH PECK: Josh will be the first to admit that he and his TV counterpart have a lot in common. "We're both great guys who are fun to be with... I like to think I'm less nerdy," says the show biz vet. Josh caught the acting bug at age 8. "I became enamored with performing when my mom took me to plays and comedy clubs on a regular basis," he says. Nicknamed Josh-man, the Scorpio likes playing chess and the piano. He also co-starred with Drake on "The Amanda Show" and made his feature film debut in the Nickelodeon comedy, "Snow Day." Josh voiced the character of Eddie the mischievous possum in the "Ice Age" movies and was recently featured in the movie, "Drillbit Taylor."

Megan Parker

Megan gives new meaning to the word mischievous. She's a major practical joker and she'll stop at nothing to embarrass her brother (or anyone else). Drake is absolutely terrified of his 9-year-old sis, and is always suspicious of her plans. Deep down, Megan's just trying to figure out where she fits into her new family. Until then, expect piles of pranks from this one...

MIRANDA COSGROVE: Miranda was 10 years old when she scored the role of Megan, Drake and Josh's sweet but scheming sister. Miranda says, "Megan drives them crazy with her pranks. She even drenches them from head to toe with paint!" Spotted by an agent at age three, singing and dancing around a restaurant table, Miranda has been featured on "Zoey 101" and "Unfabulous." Summer Hathaway, the overachieving manager of Jack Black's grade school rock band in "School of Rock" was her break out film role. A fan of fencing and cupcakes, Miranda now stars as Carly Shay in Nickelodeon's hit show, "iCarly." It is her voice (with Drake Bell's) in the show's theme song, "Leave It All To Me."

Walter Nichols

Josh's dad, Walter Nichols, just so happens to be marrying Drake and Megan's Mom. He's a super nice guy who tells a mean joke-or at least Josh thinks so. Drake and Megan, on the other hand, aren't exactly ROFL.

JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN: Jonathan, who plays Josh's father, Walter Nichols, waited tables for 10 years to help pay the bills between acting gigs. In a bizarre twist of fate, one of Jonathan's regular customers turned out to be "Drake and Josh" producer Dan Schneider, who didn't recognize his fave waiter on the audition tape. "After he picked me his wife Lisa looked at the tape and said, ‘Hey, isn't that our waiter, Jonathan?'" Goldstein said. Jonathan honed his acting skills at New York University and Northwestern University before landing a role on "All My Children" and heading for Hollywood. His TV credits include "The West Wing, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Once and Again."

Audrey Parker-Nichols

Drake and Megan's mother is the ultimate mom. She's super-cool and knows how to have a good time. She can hang with the kids just as easily as she can hang with the grown-ups. You know, she just GETS it. Audrey Parker-Nichols isn't ALL laughs, though. She takes her job seriously and works hard. But her kids and her new family definitely come first.

NANCY SULLIVAN: After honing her acting and singing skills at the University of Utah and in Off-Broadway productions, Nancy, whose role models include comedy queens Lucille Ball, Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett, nabbed the role of co-host on The Game Show Network's "Game-TV." After playing the school teacher and the oblivious mom on "The Amanda Show," Nancy was delighted to have a hipper hairdo as Audrey Parker-Nichols, mother and step-mother to her "Amanda Show" castmates, Drake and Josh, respectively. She's also appeared on "Melrose Place," "Beverly Hills 90210," "JAG," "The Pretender" and the soap opera, "One Life to Live."