Disney Channel was my favorite as a kid, and it’s no exaggeration to say that the late 90s to early 2000s were when the network was in it’s prime. Being responsible for shows like the "Even Stevens," "Lizzie McGuire," "Phil of the Future," and more, we lucked out in the department of classic childhood entertainment. But recently, I heard that one of my favorites was coming back.
"That’s so Raven" was released in 2003, and ran with 4 seasons, ending in 2007. I remember learning so many lessons from this family and the things that they did. To my knowledge, it was the first Disney Channel sitcom starring a black family, but any kid could look up to these hilarious, loving, and honest characters.
I went to watch it on Xfinity recently, only to realize that I’d seen every single episode at least 5 times. But now that I am (only legally, let’s be real) an adult, I’m excited to see the show is coming back.
Nicknamed “That’s so Raven 2,” (name hasn’t been decided) the yet-to-be-released spin off features Raven Baxter (still played by Raven Symone) as a single mom of two kids, the oldest of which learns that she is also a psychic.
This sounds like a great idea for a sequel, and I hope that with Raven back on set, they are able to do it justice, but for now, I’d rather reminisce. Here are my top 5 favorite episodes of "That’s so Raven."
5. “Hook up my space”: Cory surprises Raven with a free room makeover, and she’s nothing but excited, until she finds out he gets to design it. She continuously spies on him and tries to convince him to design it how she wants. He turns out doing more than that, and this episode was cute to me because we see how siblings are, and I relate to the love/prank relationship that comes with siblings.
4.”Driven to insanity”: Raven gets asked out by an older boy who offers to drive her to dinner, and lies to her parents to go. During the date she finds out that he is super immature and gross, and begs her parents to take her home. This made me think about honesty toward my mom and who I tell her I’m with at that age.
3. “Five Finger Discount”: Raven has a vision of Cory’s new friends pressuring him into stealing at the mall. She tries to intervene, convincing him to return whatever he took. This is an obvious lesson, but was a good one to see on TV.
2. “That’s so not Raven”: In this episode, Raven gets a design put in a fashion show, but her pictures get photoshopped to make her look slimmer. She confronts the company, and teaches her audience about the importance of body positivity.
1. “True Colors”: This episode was a monumental moment for Disney. While parents Victor and Tanya are trying to teach Cory about Black history for a school project, Raven goes undercover to expose a manager at a clothing store who refused to hire her because she was black. This is a super simple plot, but for the only show on the network that focused on black characters, this episode was important to teach the audience about equality, racial pride, and to give kids everywhere, along with myself, a positive role model of sorts.
