Throwback Thursday: Lizzie McGuire

Before talking about my recent obsession with Lizzie McGuire I need to mention my love/ hate relationship with the show and its star- Hillary Duff.

As you may know- Hillary Duff used to date Aaron Carter back in the early 2000s. As you may not know- I loved Aaron Carter in the early 2000s. I know- bad taste right? He's pretty terrible now. But back then I had some rage towards Hillary Duff because of that... but I liked the show either way. Now when I'm watching this I have to say... I still have some rage towards Hillary Duff. I WANT THEM TO DO THE LIZZIE MCGUIRE REBOOT ON DISNEY+ AND I DON'T CARE! I understand Hillary Duff wanting Lizzie to go through some more adult situations- I totally get that. But do we really want to see Lizzie getting drunk and having a one night stand with Ethan Craft or Larry Tudgeman- or do we want to see the Disneyfied version of her on again off again relationship with Gordo? As someone that kind of loves the lightheartedness of shows like The Mighty Ducks: Gamechangers and The Big Shot... I would have liked to see Lizzie McGuire come back.

Either way- this show is just really fun. It dealt with a lot of real issues that teens have... and even some adults have and things that my parents and grandparents used to laugh at when I watched it. The chemistry between the whole cast is what really makes the show. Not just with Lizzie and her friends Gordo and Miranda- but also with her family too. Even with Matt's friends... it's all just really funny. Two of the episodes that I think show this the most are "Rated Argh" and "The Longest Yard." In "Rated Argh," Lizzie and the gang try to sneak into an r rated movie- but get busted when Lizzie saves a man's life by giving him the Heimlich Maneuver and finds herself on the news. In The Longest Yard- Lizzie babysits Matt- who ends up ruining their dad's prized possession and Lizzie has to try and replace it and find Matt who is also trying to replace it. That really just shows all of the kids- including my favorite character, Lanny- and it just ends up really funny and kind of different than any "we need to replace the thing we broke" episode.

Another thing I love about the show is that Hillary Duff actually voices the animated Lizzie... I just don't think they would do that today. I feel like they'd get a professional voice actor instead of having a kid do it... and I feel like it just worked so so well because it was Lizzie's actual voice. It was really part of the charm of the show that I don't think they would do today. And Hillary Duff is totally underrated for that- I don't think she has many if any other voice acting credits.

Some things I don't like... they just wrote Miranda off... and that sucked. Like RIGHT before Graduation too. I get that they did it to get Lizzie and Gordo closer together and to show characters like Ethan, Larry and Kate more... but I love the dynamic between Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda so much that something gets lost without Miranda. Especially when Lizzie and Gordo fall for each other!

And the relationship between Gordo and Lizzie does feel very sudden also so... yeah.

Overall... there are definitely episodes I know I'll watch again and again. Besides the ones mentioned I love "Best Dressed for Much Less" "And The Winner Is..." "She said, He Said, She Said," "We've got Rhythmic." Basically any of the ones that were on the ABC Kids loop back in the day. I think next week I'll talk about The Lizzie McGuire Movie- which is what I'm currently watching- and have less nostalgia for and overall a lesser opinion about.

TTFN!

-Shannon