Kyle XY is an American science fiction television series created by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber and produced by ABC Studios. The central character is a teenage boy (Matt Dallas) who awakens naked in a forest outside Seattle, Washington, with amnesia and no belly button. He is taken in by a family and given the name Kyle. The series follows Kyle as he tries to solve the puzzles of who he is and why he has no memory before that day. Although set in present-day Seattle, the series was filmed in the Vancouver, British Columbia area. The show premiered June 26, 2006, on the ABC Family cable channel. Episodes were also broadcast on the ABC network for the first season, but only for part of the second season, after which it was only seen on ABC Family. After the 10-episode debut season on ABC Family during summer 2006, news reported a total of 23 new episodes were ordered for the second season, which started on June 11, 2007, with rebroadcasts on ABC beginning on June 15, 2007. The second season's 13th episode, "Leap of Faith", aired on Monday, September 3, 2007; the remaining 10 began airing on January 12, 2008. The German version was aired December 8, 2007. The show started its second season in the UK on September 3, 2007. On April 5, the first season was broadcast in France on M6. On October 5, 2007, TV Guide reported that ABC Family had renewed Kyle XY for a third season of 10 episodes, which began airing on January 12, 2009. On January 31, 2009, ABC Family announced that Kyle XY would not be returning for a fourth season. The season finale of the show aired on March 16, 2009, leaving several unresolved dramatic cliffhangers. Following the last episode, writer Julie Plec revealed what had been planned for further seasons. She revealed that the season three DVD would contain a "mini wrap-up" feature for the series. The wrap-up, Kyle XY: Future Revealed, features the series' writers and actors explaining the plans for future episodes and how the series would conclude.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Episodes

Home media

Reception

Ratings

Kyle XY was ABC Family channel's highest-rated original series from June 2006 to July 2008. The show lost its reign when the series premiere of The Secret Life of the American Teenager brought in 2.8 million viewers. According to the same press release, Kyle XY received a household rating of 2.1 and reached 2.6 million viewers. The repeat showing of the first episode on sister broadcast network ABC had more than 5.2 million viewers. Several news sources said low ratings is one of the reasons for the series' cancellation. The third-season premiere (in a new time slot, with high-viewership lead-in The Secret Life of the American Teenager) was 1.5 million total viewers, down 33 percent from the Season 2 opener, and most ABC Family shows significantly outperformed the show. The second episode slid to 1.426 million viewers.

Accolades

In other media

Novels

Two novels based on the series have been published, both written by S. G. Wilkins. The first, Kyle XY: Nowhere to Hide, concerns Kyle's first Halloween, while the second, Kyle XY: Under the Radar, concerns the school's election for student president, with Kyle as a candidate.

Soundtrack and music

On May 22, 2007, a soundtrack for Kyle XY was released. It was released on the same day as the release of the first season. Track listing is as follows: The music supervisor for the show is Chris Mollere. Michael Suby wrote the opening theme, and most of the score and cues. Neither the theme nor any of the score appear on the soundtrack CD.

Alternate reality game

Kyle XY featured an online alternate reality game during the first season in which players were "invited" to help solve the mystery of Kyle's actual identity. ABC Family and Touchstone hosted a website by the fictional business The Mada Corporation that served as the game's rabbit hole introducing players to the in-game universe, but the project ended during the second season.