2One of the writers on the canceled Hulu reboot of Lizzie McGuire recently revealed details about the show’s plot, and it’s way spicier than we thought!
Lizzie McGuire was a household staple for tweens during its two seasons, which ran from 2001 to 2004. The Disney Channel show starred Hillary Duff (Lizzie McGuire), Jake Thomas (Matthew McGuire), Adam Lamberg (Gordo), Lalaine (Miranda), Ashlie Brillault (Kate), Clayton Snyder (Ethan), Hallie Todd (Jo McGuire), and Robert Carradine (Sam McGuire). It also inspired a film sequel, The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003).
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Duff, Thomas, Lamberg, and more were set to reprise their roles in the reboot, which was scrapped during early production in 2021. Now grown-up fans have long hoped that their childhood role models would return after Disney+ merged with Hulu, but it hasn’t materialized.
This week, though, Lizzie McGuire revival writer Jonathan Hurtwiz gave fans some crumbs of information about early plans for the show. According to his videos, the first two reboot episodes were at least partially filmed, and the third was written when the series was canceled. Hurwitz even shared a photo of himself and Duff during their first meeting.
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According to Hurwitz, the show wasn’t family-friendly enough for Disney: “They greenlit a show about a 30-year-old woman, so we wrote a show about a 30-year-old woman doing things that 30-year-old women do.”
@jonathanhurwitz Cheating boyfriends, gay roommates, high school crushes, oh my! #lizziemcguire #lizziemcguirereboot #hilaryduff #fyp #foryou
Hurwitz explained that the show would’ve started with Lizzie working in New York City as an interior designer, dating a handsome chef. She soon realizes that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend and returns to her parents’ home in Los Angeles for a reset.
“She’s in her childhood bedroom where little animated Lizzie has been waiting for her,” Hurwitz said.
Later, she meets up with Gordon, who is happily married and expecting a child with his wife. To fans’ surprise, Lizzie and Gordon didn’t end up together.
@jonathanhurwitz Replying to @kujorg Consider the ☕️ spilled 🤭 #lizziemcguire #lizziemcguirereboot #hilaryduff #arianagrande #bangs #greenscreen
In episode three, Hurwitz said Lizzie would wake up in the bed of her high school crush, Ethan Craft. Animated Lizzie would pull out a “to-do” list and check “Ethan” off.
“There are certain storylines as to why Disney wasn’t comfortable with it,” the writer explained. “My guess is that moment was probably one of them.”
In addition to the sexual themes, Disney executives allegedly objected to Lizzie’s gay roommate and the use of vulgar language, including “t*ts” and “*ss.”
Fans were even more disappointed that the Lizzie McGuire revival was canceled after hearing writers’ plans for the reboot. Many were furious that Disney would acquire R-rated content via 20th Century FOX and Hulu, violent Marvel properties, and other non-family-friendly titles but shut down Hurwitz’s team.
“Every single time Disney+ puts out a Marvel show that is clearly not family friendly, I think of Lizzie and get angry all over again,” @maryfelicee wrote.
“I wish this never got canceled,” @moonbunnycakes agreed. “It would have been amazing.”
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