It was the 2000s, I was watching Zoog on Disney Channel and well the two new shows Even Stevens and Lizzie Macguire were going to launch so I started to watch them. I knew Lizzie was aimed like towards girls but I watched it anyways and liked it enough to always watch it alongside the other programming they had. I can’t say it was ever my go to show, but it was one I didn’t mind leaving on. It wasn’t even because I had a crush on Hillary Duff. I rewatched Lizzie a couple of years back and I thought it was fine but nothing special and well nostalgia got the best of me and watched it again and well it’s an alright show, a product of its time though nothing special if you aren’t the target audience.
I’ll talk about the family:
Lizzie: Unsure girl of herself, experiences life.
Cartoon Lizzie: Slapstick, annoying.
Mother Jo: I get the vibes she’s one of those bad mothers even if she had good intentions. Stricter than the father instead of his laise faire way.
Father Sam: A more traditional parent, not too much focus either of htem, just let the kdis be the way they are. He’s a bit more laid back but no strong personality. I like them in general since they don’t intervene much.
Matt: Annoying little borther but that works since he has a lot of personality, good actor, he plays the job right. He is easily one of the stand out characters. I also like his interactions with others including his mute friend Lanany Onasis who is awesome.
Friends & School:
David Gordon Gordo: Friendzone the guy, he can be rally annoying with his know it all atittude, but being the voice of reason and getting treated like crap you feel for him. I feel awful for him and as stuck up as he can be, I still feel he’s underrated by the gang. What a simp.
Miranda Sanchez: Best Friend, annoying, not a big fan of her, she’s a horrible friend if you really think about it.
Ethan Craft: Lizzie’s crush, dumb and just trying to fit in, not necessarily a bad person, he’s portrayed well.
Kate Sanders: Stuffs her bra, former best friend, the annoying rival, doing anythign to be popular. Annoying but that’s what her character is meant to be.
Larry TUdgeman: The Geek, fun character, they give him good plots usually.
Alright, cartoon Lizzie is just pure cringe, never a big fan. Lizzie in general as a character is just annoying and a bit stereotypical. Matt the younger brother is actually interesting most of the time. Parents and the other secondary characters are fine though it can also depend on how they are written. Lizzie is just talking about how hot that guy is and Gordo is like speaking sanity to them and the only mature character int he show. He’s based in the episode he stops liking a certain type of music once the normies took it away from him and made it uncool by making it cool, my respects. The kids also look like kids which is nice you don’t have to pretend these adults are just kids instead. It’s a girls show for the most part but you can watch it even as a male. The Aaron carter episode really got a lot publicity back in the day, hell he was featured all over the Disney Channel. he was heavily pushed and so was that episode, no wonder he took Hillary’s Flower as he mentioend in his book, he was a superstar for like 6 months. Though officially only her first kiss. They shilled him hard.
One of my favorite episodes is Lizzie Gone Bad and she’s just rebellious. It’s so sad to see Gordo be such a Simp. Plots skew younger than say Smart Guy and well it’s Jr. high Life as viewed from an elementary school kids POV. I like how they communicate through Instant Messaging, retro of the time. THey pair up Gordo and Matt a lot which amkes sense but kind sucks for Gordo dealing with a kid much younger than him. I like the black Lanny the black friend who doesn’t talk but there is one random episode where instead we get this other black friend that does talk, he was cool too though never to be seen again. I like how they changed the status quo of the extended cast in the second season. The parents are a bit bland as I mentioend but they have good moments here and there. Second adn final season is a big step down like it also was with Even Stevens. They have great characters and they misuse them. The whole gordo getting friendzoned is the worst. Matt Is great but they make him worse off in season 2 with his new girl friend. Both shows finished when they had to, no reason to get another one since the episodes were already suffereing. The finale is pretty good and work, too bad the epsidoes are lame.
Miranda is absent in the last 5 episodes or so and it’s really felt especially since you watch those episodes back to back, had they suffled the episodes around it would’ve worked better. She does get 2 coff comments explaining her away but that’s about it. But not being in the finale is really noticeable.
The Lizzie Mcguire movie:
It does feel high budget and it’s a end off. I don’t particularly like the plot. Aimed strictly at girls unlike the show and feels like an Olsen Twins movie plot, nothing like the tv show, not grounded, and weird idols. Not a great send off honestly. I guess a revival would’ve been fine years later, I don’t know if Disney would’ve done a great job nor if Hillary’s version of the revival would’ve been great either. Perhaps it’s best it died. I do have a crush on Hillary Duff now though.
Lizzie finishes 7th and 8th grade, that could’ve been used better as a plot point in episodes. How come there’s no crossover with Even Stevens? They were the perfect match, Same age, same audience, same channel, same popularity. Both actors were good. At the very least an episode if not a Disney Channel original movie, Hell even the characters all seem to have a near perfect match with who to interact with.