Long time Disney Channel fans — who are now in their twenties and thirties — have a soft spot for shows like Lizzie McGuire and Even Stevens. These were series that portrayed realistic kids with believable problems, and the storylines still speak to viewers twenty years later.
Lizzie McGuire evolved into a franchise pretty quickly with soundtracks, a feature film, and loads of merchandise. Hilary Duff became a household name shortly after the show aired, and young girls wanted Lizzie to be their best friend. As much as the show means to its fans, there are still some things about it that never made sense.
Lanny Never Talks
Matt McGuire has an awesome best friend in Lanny Onasis, who accompanies him in twenty-one episodes of the series. Matt gets crazy ideas of his own, but he is often prompted by Lanny’s nods and squints along the way. Fans never understood (and probably will never know) why Lanny never speaks, though.
The silent child adds comedic flair to his scenes, but fans wish he would just say something. In an interview with the author, Jake Thomas, who played Matt, said he had no idea where Lanny (Christian Copelin) is these days.
Ethan’s Backstory
Ethan Craft is the show’s resident heartthrob. He is usually compassionate and often confused. Ethan reveals a couple of details about himself and his past, like his family going through a tough time when he was little. Or like his stepmom being a little spacey (viewers learn this in the murder mystery party episode of season two, “Clue-less”). Other than that, Ethan has a few random puzzle pieces.
When Lizzie tries to impress him, she learns that Ethan loves to play golf and drink grape soda. In the early days when Ethan’s character is still being established, he’s a pretty rough dude, but he comes a long way. In sum, Ethan is a cool guy, but the finer details of his life and history need some fleshing out.
Lizzie’s Room
This is a nitpick, but Lizzie’s bedroom set never quite made sense. Sometimes, it’s simply the angle of the door and entrances or exits. But other times, it looks as though the bedroom set is an entirely different room than what was last seen.
Lizzie has a smaller room in the first season (like before her camping trip when her mom wants her to pack Mr. Snuggles), but it looks much larger in the later episodes (like when she and Miranda dress up like little kids to go see Grover and Daisy).
Lizzie’s Confusing School Year
Season two, episode 14 is titled “Just Like Lizzie.” Season two, episode 17 is titled “Movin’ on Up.” Both of these episodes center on school, and eagle-eyed fans will remember exactly what doesn’t make sense. “Just Like Lizzie” makes it clear that Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo are starting eighth grade, and Lizzie is annoyed that a seventh grader is following her around (well, she is flattered initially before becoming insanely irritated). “Movin’ on Up” once again acts as if the group is just starting eighth grade, and Gordo even has the opportunity to move up early to ninth grade.
These episodes are fairly close together, so it could technically still be the beginning of the school year. It just doesn’t make sense for the series to cut to the Frankie Muniz episode and Miranda’s eating disorder episode only to circle back to the wonderful smell of new school supplies.
Where In The World Does Lizzie Live?
No one knows exactly where Lizzie McGuire lives. Fans know that she is somewhere in California, mostly because reboot news everywhere stated that Lizzie would begin her new journey in New York but would be pulled back to California. The exterior of Lizzie’s house is in Los Angeles, and nostalgic podcasters Grace Isaacs and David Hopping of Back to the Best visited Lizzie’s neighborhood earlier in 2020.
In an interview with the author, Lizzie writer Jeremy Bargiel suggested that the fictional world of Lizzie and her family might be in someplace like Van Nuys. Because nobody can ever know for sure, this will always be one of the show’s great mysteries.
Miranda’s Family & Stevie
Miranda Sanchez is Lizzie’s girl best friend. She has a great style of her own and isn’t afraid to stand up to Lizzie or anyone else. Lizzie McGuire doesn’t spend too much time establishing Miranda’s family, or Gordo’s, for that matter. Miranda’s mom and dad are occasionally seen, but there’s an extra family member fans are dying to know more about.
Miranda mentions her baby sister once and never speaks of her again. This isn’t unheard of in sitcoms, but Disney tried to make an entire spin-off out of the barely existent sister, Stevie Sanchez. An unreleased pilot exists for What’s Stevie Thinking? in which Selena Gomez plays the elusive Stevie.
Sam’s Mysterious Job
Kind of like with ’50s dad Ozzie Nelson, Sam McGuire’s job is an enigma. Fans never understood what he did for a living because it was never expressly mentioned in any episode. He would call out that he was going to “the office” once in awhile, and he wore a tie most days, but where was he going and why does it pay so well?
All fans know is that Sam is a dedicated dad who works hard to take care of his family. No one’s questioning his parenting skills; fans are just curious as to what he’s actually doing for a living.
Lizzie’s Dances Galore
Lizzie sure loves to dance — it’s just a fact of life! She had to practice for her spotlight moment in the movie, though, so Lizzie was constantly at a school dance. The need for dedicated training obviously makes sense, but what doesn’t is just how intense Lizzie’s school dance schedule is.
The show features a Sadie Hawkins’ Dance, a Spring Fling, a Rat Pack dance, and another random dance where Gordo gets rejected. Dances are fun, but why so many moves? Keep in mind that Lizzie — as gifted as she is — is still a teenager. How is she able to attend all these dances?
Mr. Dig’s Teaching Career
Mr. Dig is one of those guys who makes no sense and a lot of sense all at once. He is lauded as the best and coolest substitute teacher of Hilldridge Junior High. One would think that the school would hire such an awesome teacher for full-time work, but maybe Mr. Dig likes his schedule the way it is.
Fans don’t learn any finer details of his life until he starts having dinner with the McGuires and bumps into his old flame, Matt’s teacher. Even if some of his methods don’t make total sense, Mr. Dig has a nice philosophy for life.
Melina’s Motives (Or The Lack Thereof)
Melina Bianco is Matt’s sly, devious friend who appears later in the first season. She loves to get Matt’s attention with her pranks and is sometimes a bad influence on him. There is no denying that some of her practical jokes are funny, but others are a little unnecessary.
That being said, no episode dives deeper into Melina’s life to explain why she acts the way she does. Even if her motives aren’t all known, fans can be assured that she loves Matt McGuire.
