Date of airing: June 8, 2001 (Disney Channel)
written by: Douglas Tuber, Tim Maile
directed by: Steve De Jarnatt
I know Hilary Duff had (still has?) a music career, but did Lalaine? In every Disney Channel show, the central star gets an episode where she (yes, the Disney Channel likes girls as the central character of their TV sitcoms, as boys rarely get the number one spot on the call sheet in a Disney Channel sitcom, and I wonder why that is) is allowed to present her musical talents, even if the rest of the show does not dwell into the music of it at all, like that one episode of WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE that had Alex and Justin form a band and were performing a kind of kickass-sounding song by the end of that episode.
I do not mind that premise of a central character on a Disney Channel show starting to find music and starting to sing, but after 14 episodes, I am surprised that Hilary Duff was not the first to get a musical episode in her own series. And I have not googled yet whether Lalaine had a record label contract by the time this series was in production, although I will assume that Hollywood was at least taking a good look at her, trying to figure out how to milk her talent into stardom, so that kids will buy her CDs and the studio will rake in all the money. Plus, it is generally a nice idea when an equally talented supporting player is being given a chance to flex their artistic talents on a show that is being headlined by the actor whose character name bears the title of the series.
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| Acting is hard when your scene partner flubs the line. |
The episode was good enough. The conflict between Lizzie and Miranda
was great, and I liked that the two girls learned their lessons and got
the moral of the situation independently and on their own (okay, Lizzie
was helped along by the lessons of her mom), essentially strengthening
their friendship and bond, even if it means this was another episode in
which Lizzie and Miranda broke off their friendship for five minutes and
got back together before the end of the episode. I would love it if the
friends stay broken up for longer than that, although that would have
meant creating an ongoing storyline, which was apparently a no-no for
the Disney Channel during the early 2000s.
But this series has been pretty good lately in building a pool of supporting and recurring characters. This is Lanny’s second episode, and his silence is becoming a running joke. Larry Tudgeman continues to show up in episodes and be the punchline every once in a while. However, I am sure everyone has forgotten by now that he is class president (or his character is proof that class presidents are useless in middle school). I hope that one of the supporting characters will be the central character of a story at one point, and maybe, just maybe, a story manages to be threaded into another episode. Because really, Larry’s status as class president could be used in another episode or two, creating a straight continuity of the show that would do some good to it. And Lizzie does not have to be the focal point of every one of the episodes – this one essentially has her play second fiddle to Miranda, but still, Lizzie got involved to remind us all she is the star of the show, which is why it is bearing her name.
I also liked that the writers used this episode to promote extracurricular activities at school and that there is nothing shameful in spending some extra time in the building of learning that has nothing to do with school work. School journalism and theater were interesting for me (I did both, but theater was a class I took and was graded on for my final two years in school), so I was able to connect to the major themes of this half hour, but if those elements would become recurring themes, it would help the show. What the characters need right now is some consistency and a stronger continuity that is not being killed after every episode resets by the end. Miranda could be someone if she continues to be part of the Glee club, and yes, while this is the second episode Lizzie’s school journalism is part of the story (the first time being her efforts to get into Aaron Carter’s music video shoot – oh hey, there is continuity after all!), it needs to be more central in more episodes. Give the viewers something to think about. This is what the show is already doing, as the writers focus more and more on the story and less on the comedy aspects of it.
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| Matt is living rich without his possessions. |
Meanwhile, Matt continues to be the waste of the series, as he is not getting the stories he deserves to be a worthwhile character. I get that he is being used to lead the parental characters into a storyline about teaching their kids certain lessons and have the watching target audience learn something about parenting (as well as give parents some pointers on how to give life lessons to their kids), while Matt himself continues to be the kid-friendly comedic foil, but the kid can be used for so much more than that. In a way, he is just a plot point in the show at the moment, serving the kid-friendly comedy in a kid-friendly TV show that may or may not be watched by a few too many girls. There is no siblings storyline with Matt and Lizzie (the only one they had was when she babysat for him), and there is nothing that would suggest Matt is learning something and starting to grow up.
Not to mention, is he going to school? Because I do not think I have ever seen him in a school environment. At least the joke of Matt selling all of his belongings from his room, and Sam and Jo being dumbfounded over having to pay for the replacements when they could have come off cheaper by just giving Matt the $90, was hilarious. “Let’s not teach him anything else for a while” is quite a funny quote for any parent to say.
