Okay, so the post below was written by mistake. What I mean was, I was on the wrong page, and I thought I was responding to the newest statements. Anyways, I wrote so much on it, that I'm posting it anyway. I think I was going to write more, but then I saw the mistake I was making...
Avaitor wrote:I honestly never got the love for Lizzie McGuire. I always thought it was as shallow and banal as anything Disney has made since. I think most of the people that find it to be a better show just grew up watching it.
I also don't understand the love for Phineas & Ferb. To me, it's nothing more but an Ed, Edd, n' Eddy rip-off without any of the qualities that made that series so great.
I didn't truly grow up with Lizzie, I was in college at the time, but I still developed a HUGE crush on Hilary Duff. Don't mind admitting it, because it was actually pretty common among 20-somethings, ha. Even Jimmy Fallon admitted to having a crush on her at the time. Not that I ever usually mind admitting to crushing on Disney girls. I have occasionally watched that awful show "Austin and Ally" because the actress who plays Ally is strikingly gorgeous. Though, in this uptight country, it is better to wait till their 18 these days to say anyone is attractive. Sooo technical, but they wouldn't even be cast in those roles is they weren't beautiful.
Anywho, my point is, I didn't "grow up" with Lizzie, but I did crush on her, so of course that also gives me a bias. However, it was still a far better show than anything on Disney today. for one thing, yeah, it wasn't over the top. It was as much drama as it was humor, but that junior high drama over stupid little things (and not the fake kind, at least fake when I grew up, in which all the junior high kids are in hot and heavy relationships, like on a Nick show). In that way, it was a much more realistic show. Not that I feel shows have to be realistic (I don't actually watch any realistic shows), but today their shows are over the top, obnoxious, AND unrealistic, all at the same time. It's like if Santa Clause 3 was a TV Network.
Yeah, the new shows are rather like Cars 2. They are as much about merchandise as making a show. Heck, like the direct to video Disney sequels, they pretty much ARE merchandise. Lizzie was about making a good show, but towards the later half, they did start to test out the "let's make her a pop-star" deal, but that wasn't on the actual show, just on the side. They did do it in the movie though, which was pretty absurd really. In a lot of ways, when Hannah Montana first came on, it seemed like it could have been an idea they had for more seasons of Lizzie to follow the movie, though of course it would have ruined the whole Lizzie McGuire thing. And, as for merchandise, a nice little pile started to come out towards the end of the show, but this stuff came out because the show was popular. It was an afterthought, even if it did pave the way for the future. I had a ton of the merch. I actually wish I could get rid of it now, ha. Though, I will keep my official Lizzie McGuire doll, the one made to look like Hilary, not the cartoon, which is still in the box and everything, and I'll keep a few other items. I do wish the rest of the show would come out to DVD.
Uh, but where was I? In regards to Nick, which folks have mentioned, my problem with that Network's teeny bopper shows was that, and this was clearly related to the fact that MTV owns Nick, or something like that, their tween shows are just so skanky. Well, maybe not now. They seem to be copying Disney more. Maybe it was more Jamie Lynn Spears' show than anything, but that put a bad taste in my mouth. Also the bits I got of Emma Roberts' show. Maybe skanky is a strong word, but I'm a bit put off by junior high shows that are all about dating drama and making out and stuff. I'm sure that's how junior high is now, but when I was in it, only a select handful of kids were doing that stuff. As for Nick's toon stuff, though in later years it looked like some of it I might like, I never have given much of it a chance since I hated the art on the early stuff, especially like Rugrats and Aah! Real Monsters, and stuff like that. Later stuff like Danny Phantom, Avatar, and Spongebob looks better though. I need to check some of it out more thoroughly. I don't have cable when I'm in Austin, but I do watch it when I'm back at my mom's. If I'm not watching my main shows though, I usually have it on Cartoon Network or Disney (my current main shows being Once Upon a Time, Being Human, Napoleon Dynamite, and The Walking Dead, but there are a few others too which I'm just way behind on; the ones I mentioned I make the effort to keep up with online here in Austin).
Incidentally, I actually know some people who won't let their kids watch these Nick and Disney shows, and I can kinda understand it. They are more and more pushing this fantasy world where the kids do what they want when they want, often don't have any parents around, act obnoxious... then the kids watching imitate it. Though, in the end, I feel a parent's real job is not to shield a kid from seeing and hearing stuff, but teach them to deal with it and not let it affect how THEY behave. Then again, I am just about ready to emulate Rumpelstiltskin.
Anyways, continuing. I kinda don't get the love for Phineas and Ferb myself. However, I also never got the love for Ed, Edd, and Eddy. I just found that show sooo obnoxious, and I hated the art too (I mentioned being picky about toon art before, but in truth, most shows have bad art now, *sigh* so I did get used to it). However, to me, Phineas and Ferb is just an overthetop take on Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Plus the annoying stuff about Doofenshmirtz (sp?) and the platypus. I can watch the show, especially if Vanessa is onscreen, but basically I usually wish something else was on. I really miss the repeats of Emperor's New school, Lilo, and Kim Possible, though I have that stuff downloaded, ha. I wish they'd make some new shows of that caliber though, whether based on features or not. Curious to see that TRON show. Is it on yet? Though, I don't have DisneyXD even at my moms, though I guess I can find it online.
