Featuring many members of the original cast, this was sure to answer a lot of questions from fans that we've had through the years, for one: Are Gordo and Lizzie together? However, Terri Minsky, the showrunner of the revival, left the show due to creative differences with Disney. Now, it's been revealed it was because the show wasn't deemed "family-friendly".
So for now, the show's put on hold, despite two episodes already filmed. It brings up an interesting question though: What's better for the show? To be on Disney, where it's probably contractually obligated to, or to have a new platform. Hilary Duff has spoken up and said that she show was about 30-year-old Lizzie, so the show wanted to deal with 30-year-old trials and tribulations. This is apparently not "family-friendly" for Disney, so I'm not sure what direction Disney intended for the show to go in. However, since being held on production, Hilary Duff has outcried for the revival to be transferred to Hulu, so it can be done properly.
Minksy was considering the original audience of Lizzie McGuire and expanding the show naturally, rather than being a cash-cow which lacks any actual substance
I think personally Disney didn't really consider the integrity of the show. Yes, Lizzie McGuire was originally on the Disney Channel and for kids/teens, but those fans have grown up since then, alongside the character of Lizzie McGuire. A 'sanitised' version of the show wouldn't satisfy anyone, who wants a PG-rated Disney Channel-esque story about a 30-year-old? It just doesn't make sense. Duff posted on Instagram saying “I feel a huge responsibility to honor the fans’ relationship with Lizzie who, like me, grew up seeing themselves in her. I’d be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30-year-old’s journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating.”, and I completely agree.
She isn't in middle school anymore, she would be an adult and life isn't always "Hi, this is Hilary Duff from Lizzie McGuire and you're watching Disney Channel!". I think Minsky was considering the original audience of Lizzie McGuire and expanding the show naturally, rather than being a cash-cow which lacks any actual substance. Alongside this, it seems like literally all of the cast liked the direction of the show, so in terms of the product, I'd rather have a show that the cast actually enjoyed making.
So honestly, if Hilary Duff's public outcry to put the show on Hulu works, I'd rather have that any day than whatever Disney are digging out from their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The thing that made Lizzie McGuire so important to people was that although it was dramatised for sure, there are real moments within the show and from the characters that are relatable. To suck 30-year-old Lizzie McGuire's relatability from the revival would mean a loss of everything that made the 2000s hit so loved.
So, for right now the Tide is High but I'm holding on (to my hopes of a Lizzie McGuire revival done properly)
