Disney's Live Action

Spark Of Spirit · October 29, 2011, 05:21:04 PM

I figured, we have a thread for Nick, why not Disney?

Do you guys have any favorite Disney live action shows either current or from years past? I've honestly never really enjoyed their live action all that much, but Even Stevens was pretty decent from what I remember. As for their current stuff... ugh. Sorry, I could never get into tweencoms even as a tween. Still can't.

Avaitor · October 29, 2011, 05:37:11 PM

Even as a kid, I never was a big Disney Channel fan. For me, the best parts of it were Even Stevens and Boy Meets World repeats. The rest of the live-action shows and the DCOMs did nothing for me. I see a lot of people yearn for Lizzie McGuire and That's So Raven on tumblr and what not, and to be honest, I don't get why. They were never really good shows. They were shallow, had poorly written characters and predictable plots, and never really went anywhere.

As for their more recent shows... I have a lot more to say about some of them. And while I was honestly going to keep this under wraps for when I had more time to work on it, but you know how I mentioned before that I was going to review the Camp Rock movies?

I decided that I should do one better and wait for Wizards of Waverly Place to air what's left and do retrospectives on them where I crack down on some of these shows. Because what's weird is that while I wasn't crazy on the earlier shows, I find merit in Suite Life, Hannah Montana, Wizards, and Sonny With a Chance, but there's a lot in them that piss me off, and I think there's ripe potential for critique in each of them. Give me time, and I'll work on them.

Commode · October 29, 2011, 06:24:38 PM

I loved that show The Torkelsons a lot as a kid(it used to run on Disney Channel, not sure if they were reruns or not), but I haven't heard anything about that show in well over ten years; I think right around the time Zoog Disney* started up the show vanished from the schedule.

Other than that(and the others mentioned, Even Stevens and Boy Meets World), I did really like Lizzie McGuire back in the day, but now I realize it was rather bleh.

*I was one of the cool kids that had Disney Channel quite awhile before it started that, back when it was supposedly a pay channel(it wasn't for us, it was on basic cable, channel 22 in fact).

Avaitor · October 29, 2011, 07:46:38 PM

I should have been a little more specific. We got previews of the Channel back when it was still a premium channel in the 90's, and those lasted like a week or two each. Honestly, I loved it back then. I liked the preschool shows they had on like Adventures in Wonderland and Welcome to Pooh Corner, and they still showed classic Disney movies and cartoons as well as the Disney Afternoon shows.

And I think that if I got the channel around when Zoog Disney started, I would have liked it a little more. I got the channel full-time between the point in time when Lizzie McGuire and The Proud Family (which I actually used to really like for a while, if only because it was the only animated Disney original for a while- I got tired of it fast though) premiered. So I kind of missed out on shows like So Weird and Famous Jett Jackson, or just never got the time to watch them.

Oh, and I loved Vault Disney. I wish they still aired that. Besides the movies and cartoons, I've always had a soft spot for the original Mickey Mouse Club, silly conventions and all. Disneyland was very interesting to me even then, and I love it when Disney DVDs come with episodes or segments from it now. And I actually got to buy the first Zorro set when it came out a year or so ago, and still really enjoyed it.

Also, I'm watching the Wizards movie for this project, and right now, I'm listening to the worst Steppenwolf cover I've heard. I can't tell if it's Selena Gomez singing "Magic Carpet Ride" or not.

Spark Of Spirit · October 29, 2011, 10:14:16 PM

I think I only got it here around the time Toon Disney was starting (now that channel was awesome) and I didn't really care for it all that much, but it did have some variety. However, unfortunately most shows ended up being Lizzy McGuire clones which was probably my least favorite show on the channel at the time, and now the channel is pretty much nothing BUT those type of shows.

Disney TV needs to be doing what Disney movies are, and that's going back to attracting the whole family again. Not just the tweens.

Avaitor · November 18, 2011, 07:54:17 PM

So I just found out that Lalaine (Miranda from Lizzie McGuire) got arrested for crystal meth a while ago.

Heh, never would've thought, actually.

Commode · March 11, 2012, 07:44:42 PM

Used to love shows like Brotherly Love and Smart Guy too. I don't think they were Disney shows though, I think they came from somewhere else(like Sister Sister coming from the WB), but I first saw them on DC.

Also, anyone remember the game shows they had in the late 90s, probably capitalizing on Nick's? Used to watch Mad Libs and Off the Wall! after school, then stayed tuned for Muppets Tonight and finally whatever Disney movie they were airing at 8 or 9.

Avaitor · March 11, 2012, 07:58:23 PM

Smart Guy was a WB show, and I'm pretty sure that Brotherly Love was on AB. I used to watch Brotherly Love and Sister, Sister a little along with BMW, not so much Smart Guy.

Avaitor · April 21, 2012, 07:38:57 PM

Found one of these and totally loving it.

I'd love to see something like this again.

Dr. Insomniac · April 21, 2012, 07:45:28 PM

Quote from: Avaitor on April 21, 2012, 07:38:57 PM
I'd love to see something like this again.

Too bad preteen girls won't get anywhere near that.

Avaitor · April 21, 2012, 07:53:23 PM

Very true. But hell, I'd even sit through one for Selena.

Avaitor · June 12, 2012, 09:03:29 PM

I'm watching some old Disney Channel commercials. Like, old Disney Channel. From the 80's and early 90's. I was too young to experience this era of the network, but it looks really cool. Like a combination of Nickelodeon and MTV at their peaks, plus the original Toon Disney, TCM and Hallmark.

The originals don't look too great, but it's hard to knock a channel that would air Darkwing Duck, Bambi, Katherine Hepburn movies, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a showcase of the short-lived Judy Garland variety show, and a Billy Joel concert all in one week. I'd watch it if it was still on.

Avaitor · October 29, 2012, 04:46:32 PM

lawl

I'm watching an old Disneyland special from 1970, and the Osmonds just did a CCR cover.

That's... something I'd never expect to have seen at one of the parks.

Avaitor · January 05, 2013, 02:19:39 PM

You know how Disney has made some movies based off of their rides over the years, to mixed results? They're trying it with TV now, as well.

The strange thing is, I think this could turn out to be pretty good. It'd be cool to see a western on TV that's a 180 of Justified, which it sounds like this would definitely be.

hobbyfan · February 10, 2013, 08:33:42 PM

FWIW, Brotherly Love was, IIRC, either a WB or NBC show, since it had the Lawrence brothers.

Disney used to shove That's So Raven down everyone's throats. Now, that languishes in the vault, MIA, while the flavors du jour are run nearly daily, even though not enough eps are made to justify a daily run.

There was one show I watched when DC first shifted from premium to standard cable in my area, So Weird with Mackenzie Phillips (her comeback vehicle). That's gone, too, without so much as a peep. I really wish DC or DXD would actually do something smart and pull So Weird or Jett Jackson or Danger Bay from the vaults and reintroduce them to a new generation.

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Disney's Live Action