Lizzie McGuire's first fans are all grown up now, but they still love Lizzie. Many millennials have gotten a thrill from the recent launch of Disney+ because it means unlimited Lizzie episodes any day of the week. As kids, viewers had to wait until Friday night for that new episode to roll in. Now, what's old feels new as adults relive favorite childhood shows for the first time in a while.
So what happens when the rewatch is complete? Before diving back into all 65 episodes of Lizzie McGuire, check out these ten shows that feel like grown-up versions of the beloved Disney Channel series. Everyone needs something to hold on to while waiting for that mysterious reboot!
Ally McBeal (Hulu)
Ally McBeal is such a Lizzie, although she is a lawyer in her late twenties. Ally works at a prominent firm in Boston, and appearances would make it seem that she has her life together. However, she has hang-ups and roadblocks like anyone else. Ally works directly with the former love of her life, Billy, and his wife, Georgia. She deals with the voices in her head, and even if she doesn't have an animated alter-ego, she sees a dancing animated baby. She also learns to imagine the most powerful, confident version of herself. Give her a try on Hulu.
Being Erica (Amazon Prime)
Being Erica is a Canadian show centered on Erica Strange, a woman in her early thirties who is still searching for herself. She has had a few setbacks in her life and career, but Erica gets a chance to redo the conversations and decisions she most regrets. Thanks to a special supernatural form of therapy, Erica goes back in time in almost every episode. Viewers get to know her based on her upbringing and ever-present inner thoughts as an adult. She has a complicated love life and a tricky relationship with her boss, but time seems to be on her side. All four seasons are free to Prime members.
Jane By Design (Freeform App)
Jane Quimby can best be described as a high school companion to Lizzie McGuire. High school on Disney Channel is very different from high school on Freeform, so if Lizzie had continued on Freeform, she could have been friends with Jane. Jane lives with her older brother who struggles to make ends meet. She pursues an internship with a top-tier fashion designer and winds up in a salaried assistant job, eager to pay off her family's looming debt. Jane is kind of awkward, but always fashion-forward. She navigates some weirdness in both friendships and romantic relationships, juggling it all with her fast-paced work world.
Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (Hulu)
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is a legendary piece of ABC's TGIF with a huge fandom to this day. Sabrina Spellman, like Lizzie, wants to fit in at school and be a good person, but she stumbles here and there. Fans have the magic of getting inside Lizzie's head, but Sabrina's whole life is magic (and sometimes includes mind-reading). This is a great show for Lizzie McGuire fans to binge-watch, and it will take a while with seven seasons.
Boy Meets World (Disney+)
It's a TGIF show, not a Disney Channel original, but Boy Meets World hits on some themes that are similar to Lizzie's. Even though BMW can be hilarious, the show goes deeper than the typical sitcom. Characters deal with some serious situations in middle and high school. Lizzie might not face somber life decisions in every episode, but she takes everyone (including herself) quite seriously. In a wild, alternate universe, Topanga could be a good mentor for Lizzie.
Step By Step (Hulu)
Yet another TGIF show is also a great choice: Step by Step. The blended family sitcom brings together Frank, Carol, and their combined six (later seven) children. The character who Lizzie fans might initially feel at home with is Al Lambert.
She begins the series as a tomboy with a love for sports and a disdain for dressing up. Al definitely changes some as the series goes on, but she has a phenomenal bra episode in her early days that could have easily inspired Lizzie's a decade later.
Good Luck Charlie (Disney+)
For those who want to stay in the Disney Channel realm, Good Luck Charlie is a great choice. It continues the family fun of the McGuires and multiplies it with the Duncan family. The show begins with four children and adds a fifth, and Teddy and Lizzie could have absolutely been high school buds. Lizzie doesn't get her hands on too much technology in the early 2000s, so she would have loved Teddy's video diaries to Charlie in the 2010s.
Andi Mack (Disney+)
A Lizzie fan can't not know about Andi Mack. The series was created by Lizzie McGuire's creator, Terri Minsky. Though Minsky wasn't involved with Lizzie past the pilot, there are some clear connections between the two shows. Andi thinks she has a traditional family like Lizzie, but her sister is actually her mother. Aside from that, main characters on both shows are in middle school, and the pattern each time reads: main girl character, girl best friend, guy best friend. Those rollercoaster junior high feelings are also strong in each series.
7th Heaven (Hulu)
If Lizzie McGuire was a drama, it could be a spin-off to 7th Heaven. Imagine that Lucy Camden meets Lizzie at school: Lizzie reveals a big secret, the McGuires are introduced, Reverend Camden intervenes and helps them, and they are ready for their own family drama.
This fantasy will never happen, but both shows do have a family focus, and neither show shies away from heartbreak or consequences of actions.
Younger (Hulu)
Of course Hilary Duff's other big show has to be on this list. Younger doesn't put Hilary front and center, but she is a member of the cast as Kelsey Peters. Kelsey is not the same as Lizzie, but that may very well change. The reboot drama has led some fans to believe that adult Lizzie might be living a similar life to Kelsey when the series begins in New York City. Who knows? In any event, those who have never seen Younger might like to see Hilary in a more adult role.