I grew up during one of Disney Channel’s peaks with original TV shows and movies. Therefore, I watched and loved so many of the best ones. I grew out of my Disney Channel Originals phase when Wizards of Waverly Place premiered, but I was excited to learn about the reboot, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, because it opens the door for more revivals.
Disney has a fairly respectable and impressive catalog of original TV shows, so the options are endless. However, there are a few Disney Channel Original TV shows that I would like to see return to the cable network or streaming service.
Lizzie McGuire
Every former Disney Channel Original TV show fan of a certain age was robbed when Disney decided to scrap the Lizzie McGuire revival. Learning some details of the original pilot, I am kind of glad the initial ideas won’t happen now (sorry, I am Team Gordo and Lizzie forever), but I still think that the revival needs to happen. We want to see adult Lizzie deal with some of the highs and lows of adulthood. She helped some of us through the highs and lows of being a tween and teen. Additionally, some adults can still relate to the ideas and messages from the original series, so A Lizzie McGuire revival can fulfill a need.
The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody
Many fans of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody would love to see a revival. The Tipton Hotel could reopen for a new set of children. However, it might be difficult to get Dylan and Cole Sprouse involved because they have spoken numerous times about not exactly wanting to work together again on a revival of their series. J-14 even collected quotes from the Sprouse twins about the revival idea. However, in a July 2024 interview with Clutch Points, Dylan presented an idea that allows Dylan and Cole to have minimum involvement while helping to bring back the spirit of The Suite Life.
The funny thing is, Cole and I actually talked about it for a long time, and we talked about it with our writers. Originally, we were planning on potentially doing one more season where we went back to the hotel and raised a kid in our image who also lived there with his dad. That way, we could depart from the show, and [it] could still be running while we went to college.
Most of the current Disney Channel Original revivals focus on the next generation, so this premise could work. I know many would like to see the Sprouse brothers back full-time, but Dylan’s idea could be a good compromise.
Liv And Maddie
Liv and Maddie is one of the more recent Disney Channel Original shows so it could be a little too soon for it to come back. However, it’s nearly been a decade since the finale. This means a revival could easily follow Liv and Maddie ten years after the finale. The twins (both played by Dove Cameron) were already leading fascinating lives as a basketball star and an actual TV star. A revival could show their lives and careers post-fame as a potential professional athlete, and even more famous actor. The series would just need Cameron to agree to return. Then we could see guest appearances by some of the cast, including Jordan Fisher and Jessica Marie Garcia.
Liv and Maddie was one of Cameron’s best projects, so she might be willing to show off her talent again by playing these drastically different sisters.
Kim Possible
As an animated series, Kim Possible should be one of the easier shows to revive. Additionally, it’s considered by many to be one of the best animated TV shows. There is a passionate audience who would love to see Kim, Ron, Wade, and others return. The network made a Disney Channel Original live-action version of Kim Possible that premiered in 2019. However, I am sure many would love to see a full animated series revival.
Kim Possible’s voice-acting stars, Will Friedle and Christy Carlson Romano, seem open to the idea of returning to their iconic animated characters. It may come down to whether Disney and the Kim Possible animators want to bring these characters back. We hope the team behind the original series considers reviving it, because it’s what the people want.
Austin And Ally
Austin and Ally is another Disney Channel Original series that ended less than a decade ago. However, that doesn’t mean it needs to wait another decade or so to return. The premise makes it an easy one to revive, because Disney is all about multitalented stars. A new series could focus on a new set of opposite performers who bond and help each other explore their musical talents. Ally and Austin could launch the new series by introducing the new characters, or maybe it could be a spinoff about their married life.
Ross Lynch seems busy with his music career, and Laura Marano seems to have quite a few upcoming TV and movie projects. Therefore, it might be hard to get either of them to commit to returning full-time, but there could be some way for them to make occasional appearances.
K.C. Undercover
Zendaya is one of the most successful former Disney stars, so she would probably get a huge check to return to K.C. Undercover. Plus, she is quite busy with upcoming projects, including a film with Christopher Nolan. Most likely, if Disney decided to revive K.C. Undercover, Zendaya probably would have minimum on-screen involvement. However, that doesn’t seem like a huge barrier for the show.
The name of the series would have to change but it could easily start with Zendaya making an appearance in the pilot, similar to Selena Gomez with Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, to help set up new leads and characters. A show about young spies shouldn’t be impossible to figure out how to reboot.
So Weird
This is a pretty niche suggestion because many may not have loved So Weird as much as I loved it growing up. The show only aired for three seasons in the late '90s and early 2000s, but it was a show that I always remember because it was one of the small but fascinating number of children’s programming with paranormal encounters.
The first two seasons followed Fi while on tour with her mother, her brother, and their friends. A reboot could follow Fi and her children as new paranormal things start to haunt them. So Weird star Cara DeLizia has retired from acting, so it might be hard to get her to return for a revival. However, the show could work around that and maybe have Fi become the now-deceased parent and follow her daughter’s quest to try to communicate with her beyond the grave. It could still have at least one of the original cast make an appearance to link this show to the first.
With the success of Raven’s Home and Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, Disney Channel should look towards some of its older programming to tell new stories in the same worlds. Many shows don’t need reboots or revivals, but some of these series definitely need to make a return.
