How to be Indie

2009
4.0
3 reviews
TV-Y7
Rating
Eligible
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Season 1 episodes (26)

1 How To Make Your Rep
1/1/09
Season-only
Starting eighth grade, Indie is determined to have a cool rep. And though her parents made her spend the summer studying Mandarin in her basement, she hides her boring vacation by wearing a camp t-shirt to the first day of school so everyone will assume she did something cool and fun. But after she embellishes her camp experiences in class, the Outdoors Club is so impressed they ask her to lead their weekend expedition into the scary wilderness. Unprepared for life in the wild and unhindered by her usually strict parents, Indie’s caught between a rock and an uncool place. But could Mandarin somehow save the day, her life and her rep? Meanwhile, Marlon tries to up his rep, too, by getting his own entourage… with mixed results.
2 How To Have Your Samosa And Eat It, Too
1/1/09
Season-only
It’s ‘World O’ Food Day’ at school, and Ram Ramachandran is already boasting that he has the best food for the South Asian booth. Indie, tired of his bragging and bossing (and even more tired of Ram’s constant lovey advances), gets into a ‘whoever has the best food wins’ contest, and if she loses, it means a date with Ram. But when Indie’s plan to bring her mom’s heavenly samosas tanks, how will she win against the guy who can’t wait to call her Mrs. Ram Ramachandran? Meanwhile, Food Day isn’t easy for anybody. Abi’s forced to bring the culinary rejects from her family’s restaurant (fortuneless fortune cookies, anyone?), and Marlon, who finds his culture super-bland, decides to invent one of his own - with mixed results.
3 How To Get On Carlos Martinelli's Capital "L" List And Live
1/1/09
Season-only
Carlos Martinelli, the kid who makes bad things happen to good people, has chosen Indie as his latest, greatest project in humiliating others . How to nip this in the bud? Throw a party, become cooler, and get a noticed at school in a good way. But Babaji’s ‘chicken sitting’ and Mum’s ideas for party favors throw a wrench in the works. Will Indie and her friends somehow figure out how to use their fine feathered friends to save the day? Meanwhile, AJ has a new telescope to look at the cosmos but his friends want to use it to look at other “heavenly bodies.”
4 How To Trick Your Parents Into Treating You Like A Grownup
1/1/09
Season-only
Halloween brings scary movies to TV, and Indie can’t wait to watch them with her family, but her parents nix the idea, sure their youngest is not ready. But when Indie sets out to prove how brave she is, a gift from her aunt in India - a creepy doll - scares her silly! In front of everyone! And if that weren’t bad enough, fuelled by Marlon’s horror movie learnings, Indie is pretty sure the doll is after her and her family! Is it all in her head? Or will Indie, with horror movies as her guide, take the doll on, proving that she is easily the bravest person in the family? Meanwhile, Abi, ever the voice of reason, refuses to be scared by all this “nonsense”, but can Marlon prove everybody freaks sometimes?
5 How To Strike A Balance
1/1/09
Season-only
When Abi wins an award for the cleanest room and it ignites some heavy competition between Indie’s and Abi’s moms, the girls have had enough of the one-up-mom-ship. But the girls’ attempts to outwit their moms backfires when Mrs. Mehta hears accomplished Abi practicing piano and thinks beginner Indie is a prodigy. Overconfident in Indie’s talent, Mrs. Mehta signs Indie up for a piano recital… against Abi. Will practice make perfect? Or will Indie decide to show the world her true talent? Meanwhile, when AJ and Chandra come down with the chicken pox, Mum quarantines the squabbling siblings in the same tiny room. But brother and sister soon unite against a common enemy: Mum’s home remedies.
6 How To Be a Mehta
1/1/09
Season-only
When Indie tries to outdo her siblings on the “Mehta Family Graph of Excellence,” her push for an A in gym winds up earning Indie her first “F” ever. But when she tries to hide it from her parents long enough to pull up her grade, she gets caught, and they threaten to send her to a super-strict “boarding school for hooligans” in India. The more Indie learns about this place, the worse it seems. So bad, in fact, that it starts to sound a little… unbelievable. Meanwhile, when Marlon finds out his trend-setting new shoes are knockoffs, he loses his cool - so much so that he and his biggest fan, John Lu, actually switch roles, with John Lu getting all the girls and Marlon following after him like a lost puppy dog. How can a world so upside-down ever be righted again?
7 How To Make A Comeback
1/1/09
Season-only
When the Quiz Bowl sign up comes around, Indie sees the perfect opportunity to finally end Rexdale Junior High’s losing streak. With her friends by her side and her quiz-master dad coaching them, what could go wrong? Turns out - lots! Mr. Mehta’s training is both grueling and bizarre and soon pits Indie’s friends against her. Will Indie be able to curb her dad’s ‘enthusiasm’ in time to make a winning comeback for her school? Meanwhile, AJ thinks his featherweight status will keep him safe in wrestling, until super-strong super-geek, Mike O’Donnell, becomes his opponent. When all of his weight-gaining strategies fail, Babaji’s terrible-smelling ‘miracle tonic’ starts to look like a pretty good idea.
8 How To Be Ridonkulous
1/1/09
Season-only
Ridonkulous, the hottest new band, is in town and everybody’s going! Except Indie who missed the ticket line-up because of a family gathering. But that’s O.K., because Indie sees her chance to win tickets through a radio contest. Problem: she needs a cell phone so she can say the ticket-winning catch phrase when the station calls her. Luckily, Marlon is selling cell phones, and they convince the Mehtas that Indie would be safer “from hooligans” if she had one. But when Indie manages to get tickets and also get grounded at the same time, will there be any way to convince her fun-challenged mom that everyone needs to be ridonkulous every now and then? Meanwhile, Marlon’s cell phone job seems to be going well until he realizes he’s actually losing money! Can Abi’s crash course in sales save him from himself?
9 How To Get A Pet
1/1/09
Season-only
Indie’s favorite movie, ‘L’il Bingo’re-ignites her desire to get a puppy, but her Mom will not hear of it. Determined to prove she’s pet-worthy, Indie gets the bright idea of taking care of Abi’s turtle from the animal shelter and talks Mrs. Roland into making it the class pet that she can use to impress the parents on Parents’ Day. But when the turtle escapes, will Indie be able to fake her way into getting a dog anyway? Or will she come clean to save her slimy pal from certain soup? Meanwhile, AJ faces off with Mike O’Donnell in a grueling and ridiculous competition for membership in the exclusive uber-geek club, the Shadowkings.
10 How To Succeed In Business Without Really Lying
1/1/09
Season-only
Against all advice Indie signs up for the Micromanagers business club and goes head to head with her evil cousin Ruby in their annual sales challenge. And to prove a point, she’s going to beat Ruby, who’s known for bending the rules and cheating, honestly. At first her invention, the Cookie Tosser, flies off the shelves, and Indie is thrilled she might actually win. But then she discovers the tosser has a fatal - and messy - flaw. Will Indie and her pals figure out a way to reinvent her product in time for a food fight and an honest win? Meanwhile, Abi is sick of always working at the Hut after school, and Marlon thinks landing her in detention will solve her problem. He’s wrong.
11 How To Get Some Cred
1/1/09
Season-only
After Indie spit-takes a spicy meal and can’t follow a conversation about South Asian pop stars, Evil Cousin Ruby and her pals enjoy making Indie feel like a loser when it comes to her own culture. How can she get her cred back? With a new glam look and a South Asian cheat sheet - that’s how! But her plan works a little too well when Ruby invites Indie to dance the Bharatnatyam at the World Dance festival. Indie accepts before she realizes just how difficult the dance is. Will she be able to fake her way through the performance? Or will she and her pals discover something in the Mehtas’ own culture that makes her reconsider what cred really means? Meanwhile, Marlon’s mom shrinks his jeans so tight that he can’t sit down. But can Abi help him turn his uber-skinny-jeans into the next big fashion without creating a trendsetter monster out of Marlon?
12 How To Prove You're Actually A Nice Person And Not A Jerk Like Everybody Thinks
1/1/09
Season-only
In a freak turn of events Indie accidentally insults Fiona, the new girl with the screechy voice, in what looks like an act of cruel ridicule. Of course, it’s not, but tell that to the whole school who thinks Indie is a real jerk! How can she change everyone’s mind? How ‘bout by doing some good deeds? Indie signs herself and her friends up for every charity fundraiser and “-athon” there is in an effort to break a record for generosity and kindness. But after pie-eating, Air Guitaring for Air Pollution and all manner of ridiculous events, she only manages to dig herself deeper into jerkdom. But will a small genuine act of kindness close to home be her saving grace? Meanwhile, Carlos Martinelli ropes Marlon and Abi into taking care of his ‘locker beast.’
13 How To Make A Good Impression
1/1/09
Season-only
Indie has a ‘level three’ crush on her new neighbour, Chad, so she pleads with her family to please “act normal” so as not to scare him away. But in her effort to hide her family’s eccentricities, Indie is the one who comes off looking like a ‘level three’ oddball. Will Indie and the eccentric Mehtas discover that sometimes the only way to save yourself is to be yourself? Meanwhile, Marlon sets off a giant, take-no-prisoners prank war when he accidentally drops Abi’s retainer in the toilet.
14 How To Keep Your Cool In A Heatwave
1/1/09
Season-only
It’s a late season heat wave, and the Mehta kids can’t sleep. Mum and Dad say heat builds character, and spicy food and hot tea are the answer, not air conditioning. But it’s wreaking havoc on Indie’s school life because she’s falling asleep in class, and the phrase ‘bad hair day’ doesn’t cover what’s going on up there on her head. Abi, too, is suffering without A/C, so Indie decides to get them invited to her evil cousin Ruby’s air-conditioned sleepover so they can finally get some rest. But the girls soon discover that sleepovers aren’t for the sleepy, because if you drift off, you are the victim of Ruby-inflicted pranks. While Indie and Abi struggle to stay awake, Marlon and John Lu, hoping to make the rite of passage to manhood, crash the sleepover… with mixed results.
15 How To Party Like Chandra
1/1/09
Season-only
When Indie gets a coveted invite to the party of the year, she hopes to use the opportunity to impress her crush, Chad, so that he will notice her as a girl, not just a neighbour. So she goes to Chandra who gives her little sister and Abi patented Chandra tips on how to look and act more teen and less kid. But it all backfires horribly when Indie accidentally gets Chandra busted for trying to sneak out of the house, igniting a battle between the siblings, that gets them both banned from the big event. But will Indie’s mature move to spare her sister be just the thing to catch Chad’s attention? Meanwhile, Abi breaks her glasses but is afraid to tell her mom so she enlists Marlon’s help as the world’s worst guide til she can afford to buy new ones.
16 How To Make The Most Of Being A Host
1/1/09
Season-only
When Indie’s supposedly-perfect cousin, Baldev, arrives, her parents treat him like a gold and expect Indie to do the same. But it doesn’t take long for Indie to figure out that most of Baldev’s accomplishments and claims are hot air, and that he’s coasting on his rep so he can live like a king at the Mehta house. Unfortunately, when Indie tries to prove to her parents what she’s learned, things go from bad to worse when Baldev fakes an injury, and the Mehtas make Indie wait on her cousin hand and foot. Unless Indie and her friends figure out how to bust Baldev, she’s going to have to spend the next three months as his servant! Meanwhile, Abi’s idea of a great sales pitch goes awry when she gets stuck in a hot dog costume - at school.
17 How To Get Gotten
1/1/09
Season-only
After Babaji eats her diorama, Indie tries to get out of the doghouse with Mrs. Roland by offering to be a new student’s ‘buddy.’ But her new charge, Todd, is a trouble-magnet and soon has the whole school turned against both of them! Can Indie find a way to use Todd’s gift for angering people to save the both of them? Meanwhile, the class is given the dreaded task of parenting an egg: one hairline crack in the egg and you fail. Straight-A student Abi reluctantly teams up with cavalier coasting-by-on-C-grades Marlon enjoys feeding her worst scrambled-egg fears. Is it only a matter of time til she cracks?
18 How To Be A Hit On TV
1/1/09
Season-only
Sunday mornings at the Mehta house means watching ‘Metro Mosaic’ with Pinky Param. The who’s who of South Asian locals appear on the show, so when Indie’s evil cousin Ruby’s dad is featured, Indie wants to get her “way better” family on, too. With help from Ram’s contacts she sells Pinky on a feature idea and gets to work on it, taking sneaky hidden camera footage of her family who flatly refuse to be filmed. But when Indie accidentally sends the station, not her finished project, but the Mehta family’s too-awful-to-ever-be-forgotten secret-shame wedding video, how far will Indie go to get the DVD back? All the way to Bollywood? Meanwhile, Abi struggles with the Hut’s new hire, the amazingly lazy Chandra.
19 How To Pass The Smell Test
1/1/09
Season-only
Indie's parents have gone mothball crazy and now that's all anyone can smell every time she's around... which wouldn't be so bad if Carlos Martinelli weren't looking for someone new to make fun of. But in trying to avoid the wrath of Carlos, the kid who makes bad things happen to good people, she accidentally lands in detention with him and accidentally wows Carlos so much that he invites her join him and his group of ‘bad kids.’ At first Indie is horrified by this turn of events, but when she learns about the perks of being a bad kid, the situation starts to seem not-so-terrible. But will Indie enjoy life on ‘the other side’ enough to stay? Meanwhile, Abi becomes an out of control hall monitor.
20 How To Cement The Win
1/1/09
Season-only
News of their favorite science teacher being let go at year-end upsets Indie, Abi and Marlon. The principal makes them a deal that if the worst student in eighth grade science (Marlon) can win the Science Fair, the teacher can stay. The friends work day and night to think of a project that can cement the win and decide on a volcano because it always wins on TV. Unfortunately Carlos Martinelli, the kid who makes bad things happen to good people, would like to use their project for evil, not good. But when the kids try to stop him, volcanic lava-glue cements them all together… with Carlos. Is there anything this flailing ball of human beings can do to turn this thing around? Meanwhile, AJ and Mike O’Donnell face off in a contest of geek-will and video game guitars.
21 How To Not Get Crushed By Your Crush
1/1/09
Season-only
On Valentine’s Day Indie receives a mystery red carnation with a note, and when she tries to find out who gave it to her, all signs point to her crush, Chad Tash! An excited Indie shows up to meet her secret admirer and is horrified to discover, not Chad, but Ram Ramachandran, who takes the date as a clear sign that they are now a couple. And he’s not the only one. Apparently Medieval Club President, Rhonda, has been harbouring a crush on Ram for months, and she’s not giving him up without a fight. She challenges Indie to a duel - medieval style. Is there any way to turn this situation around, let Ram down gently and get Chad’s attention at the same time? Where there’s an Indie, there’s a way. Meanwhile, AJ and Chuck hold an anti-Valentine rally and discover that sometimes “true friendship” is all you need.
22 How To Fight For Yor Rights
1/1/09
Season-only
Indie wants to spend her Saturday mornings sleeping in and snuggling up in front of the TV, but every weekend her mom drags her to the dreaded fish store instead because she does not like leaving her alone for fear of robbers. Indie’s had enough and must prove that she is strong enough to be on her own. So she signs up for karate class and is surprised to find her crush, Chad, in her class! Now how’s she supposed to learn anything with dreamy Chad distracting her? And to make matters worse, a surprising turn of events lands her mom in the same class. Will Indie be able to pull herself together long enough to outsmart them both - proving she is both worthy girlfriend material and strong enough to spend Saturdays sleeping? Meanwhile, Marlon attempts to get through life without Abi’s advice. Who knows where his bad decisions will take him next?
23 How To Manage Your Moms
1/1/09
Season-only
Indie and Abi get the coveted job of organizing the 8th grade dance party. If it is a huge success, their popularity will soar. However their ever-present, traditionally-minded moms could keep Indie and Abi from having anything to do with the dance, so they have to figure out a way to distract them. Solution: get Mrs. Mehta and Mrs. Flores to become friends, so they will have a social life of their own and be too busy to meddle. But when their plan backfires horribly, will Indie and Abi be able to save the dance, their popularity and their moms’ friendship? Meanwhile, Marlon brings his action movie obsession into his real life… with mixed results.
24 How To Have The Last Laugh
1/1/09
Season-only
When Indie discovers that her family has been reading her diary with her bad love poetry about Chad Tash, Indie needs a new hiding place for it - fast! But when she secrets the diary away in a box in the junk closet, she doesn’t expect her mom to hold a garage sale while she’s away - and sell the box with the diary in it to Chad! But in her desperation to get the diary back before he can read it, she accidentally puts it right into the scary hands of Carlos Martinelli, the kid who makes bad things happen to good people. While Carlos goes off to photocopy the diary for the whole school, will Indie find a way to use her most private thoughts for her public redemption? Meanwhile, Abi’s chosen as the teacher’s pet, but can she keep the position when everything seems stacked against her?
25 How To Be Mum's Number One
1/1/09
Season-only
Every year it’s the same. Chandra gives their mom the best birthday present and becomes Mum’s favorite for twelve more months. AJ’s given up trying to compete, but not Indie. And when she discovers a prized old photo everyone thought was lost, Indie’s sure she finally has Chandra beaten in the best-gift department! But when Indie blows the picture up and frames it, Chandra makes another discovery. The photo shows Indie is to blame for a long-standing family feud! Now Chandra has Indie over a barrel and blackmails her into doing all the work for Chandra’s gift instead - lest she blab and ruin not only Mum’s birthday but the rest of Indie’s life! How will Indie and her pals be able to turn things around before Mum blows out her candles? Meanwhile, Marlon uses a life-sized photo of himself to get out of detention… and more.
26 How To Beat Father Time
1/1/09
Season-only
Rexdale High is planting a time capsule, and Indie, Marlon and Abi want to put something in it that will define them, so Indie chooses a photo of her with her best friends. However, it’s cricket season, and Dad is in the basement, and if you enter he makes you stay to watch the game, which can go on for three days. Indie sneaks into the basement to find the photo, but is caught by her dad. And the next thing she knows she’s been roped into cricket lessons! But when her plan to get out of the lessons goes awry with Marlon locking her dad’s prized cricket bat in the time capsule, Indie has to do some fancy footwork to save both the day and her legacy. Meanwhile, when Coach Wexler enlists AJ’s tech help for time capsule security will he let the power go to his head?

About this show

Your name is Indie (“Indira” to your parents), you’re 13 and your only job is to grow up. Sounds simple enough, but things get tricky when you’re trying to blend in at school but your traditional parents are pretty fond of their old-school values.

Ratings and reviews

4.0
3 reviews
M A G Reeve
July 31, 2019
How To Be Indie. Excellent show, highly recommended 5*
Jennet Wheatstone
May 10, 2020
Sks