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Disney Channel Returning to Old Roots: 2 or 3 Seasons per LA Show?


My predictions were false about GMW, seeing as it concluded after the 3rd Season, not following Riley all the way through schooling to Graduation, unlike with Cory in Boy Meets World (seeing what Riley had been going through had me think of GMW having a 5th Season). I say, good luck for whatever the cast gets up to now, with whatever new shows they'll be appearing in. Lately there've been fishy stuff bout DC like the return of shows that last only 2 seasons, Disney getting some seasons over and done with, and none of the 2 Live Action DC Shows that premiered in 2014 got a 4th Season, which could mean only one thing. Disney Channel's returning to it's old roots, 2 or 3 seasons per show.

Stuck in the Middle or Bizaardvark which premiered last year could be next to only be 2 Seasons like IDDI and BFW had been (those shows didn't have many episodes, didn't have a good way to end the series, weren't announced to be concluding months in advance before the last episode of those shows had finished filming, had only 1 Christmas ep, not having Spinoffs or anything to make up for not getting a 3rd season, and they were getting the last season of the latter show over and done with by premiering 5 eps in one week and getting through it all quite fast in only 13 episodes). Makes me wish I was a Time Traveller myself, so there could've been a future for those shows. Live Action Disney Channel shows that premiered between That's So Raven in 2003 (the first show to get a 4th Season) and Liv & Maddie in 2013 (latest and probably last show to get a 4th Season) all had 3 or 4 Seasons (those that weren't were either spinoffs or new shows that later received a spinoff like Sonny With a Chance and it's Spinoff So Random). I also have the feeling that the 3rd Season of KC Undercover will also be the last.

Could there be any other explanation to what's been happening with Live Action Disney Channel shows lately other than the possibility Disney Channel going back to it's old roots with it's Live Action Shows? We can still enjoy what's left to offer of these still running shows anyway, even if we don't see a 4th Season of a Show again after L&M. This year we can expect Andi Mack, Right Hand Guy and Forever Boys, 3 new Live Action Shows, premiere date is unknown though for all of them.

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I think you are right. I think, the jury is still out on Stuck in the Middle, it will have to have a really good season 2, and Bizardvark is finishing season 1, will get a third. However, I think they have decided that 3 is enough if it is a good show, and 2 is plenty if its is not.

I think if not the success of Decendants we would have never seen a season 4 of Liv and Maddie.

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GMW pretty much sealed it's own fate with the extreme longevity of the triangle. If that was a long time for us as adult viewers, just imagine how long that would've been from a ten-year-old's perspective. And even children can see when lessons and morals are being shoved down their throats. I remember hating that sort of thing as a kid.

Disney may or may not cut back on their shows. I think they're going to look at SITM as their current bread winner. They've got a lot riding on Jenna Ortega between SITM and Elena of Avalor. Plus they've been re-airing GLC more and more, putting more emphasis than other on sitcoms about big families, I'm sure to boost the ratings of SITM even more.

I ate a pear. I ate three pears. - Lizzie Borden

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And even children can see when lessons and morals are being shoved down their throats. I remember hating that sort of thing as a kid.


You GMW fans may complain about the other shows and how GMW Is better but that's why those other shows do it. Kids hate being talked down to.

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The pointy ends of that blasted triangle poked holes in what was otherwise a very good show. And finally after Girl Meets a Christmas Maya all the creative air leaked out. Yes that was a long, ridiculous stretch for me to make a joke, but that's how the series felt in the end, like it was gasping for breath. They should have resolved the triangle at the end of season 2.

Plus they've been re-airing GLC more and more, putting more emphasis than other on sitcoms about big families, I'm sure to boost the ratings of SITM even more.


I posted elsewhere in this thread about the serious cutback in number of episodes ordered for many series. I like that Disney Channel is emphasizing whole families more with the parents as central characters (Stuck In the Middle, Dog With A Blog; the comeback started with Good Luck Charlie). It was ridiculous the number of shows even two years ago where the parents were listed only in the end credits and appeared rarely. Not only is Good Luck Charlie back in prime time, but Disney Channel's cable On-Demand (I can't speak to the On-Demand version through the Disney Channel website) is airing all episodes of Good Luck Charlie through May 31. It's also airing all of Wizards of Waverly Place (two-parents actively involved) through May 31 and all (or almost all) of Hannah Montana (widowed single-dad actively involved) through Labor Day.

Yeah, I know filankey is not a word, but it's gonna catch on.

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What about Jessie? Jessie was a mother figure and it centered around a family too.

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My predictions were false about GMW, seeing as it concluded after the 3rd Season, not following Riley all the way through schooling to Graduation, unlike with Cory in Boy Meets World (seeing what Riley had been going through had me think of GMW having a 5th Season).


Wow it's almost like they're on different networks with different rules.

Lately there've been fishy stuff bout DC like the return of shows that last only 2 seasons


What do you mean "return of"? Do you mean DC going back to that? Because some people might think you mean these 2 season shows come back.

Ya its frustrating how Disney Channel can't seem to be honest about these shows! I didn't want GMW to be canceled but it imagine how super frustrating it is when all these johnny come lately GMW fans talk down about the other shows and maybe you start to think thats why Disney Channel is doing this! Probably not but it makes you think! And if they can do it to GMW then they can do it to anything!

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Yes, Disney Channel has a Different Policy from ABC by keeping a limit to how long their shows last (not so much for their Animated Shows though). I know GMW would never have followed all the same Paths as BMW, like seasons that take place in College (which DC shows don't usually do).

But Disney Channel are still going past their abandoned 65 episode limit for their shows which they once had, GMW managed to get 72 episodes total of all the time it lasted in it's 3 Seasons, and KC Undercover will've had more than that many episodes by the end of it's 3rd Season (not sure how many there are planned for that season yet).

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kc undercover?

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More than 65 episodes KC Undercover will've had by the end of it's 3rd Season. A show doesn't have to have more than 3 Seasons to have more than 65 episodes.

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im wondering if it will get s4

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KC Undercover is the only one of the current returning series strong enough for a coveted S4. It depends on how strong S3 will be, with the return of Zane as a Cooper family arch-nemesis. Season 2 finished very strong. Zendaya is a bankable star.

Yeah, I know filankey is not a word, but it's gonna catch on.

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yeah i can see it getting a 4th season since disney wants to keep zendaya around as long as possible since she's getting pretty big

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CuriousUserX90:

I think Disney is positioning "Stuck In The Middle" as its Next Big Series, with the SITM "Waterpark" movie as its S2 premiere, and those holiday season shorts of the family at a Costco-like warehouse store.

I wonder if Disney Co. is trying to cut costs all around on its TV channels. I've noticed fewer episodes of most Disney Channel series the last two seasons: Only 17 of SITM, 21 of GMW season 3 (also of season 1), only 15 of Liv & Maddie season 4 (after only 20 in season 3), and only 12 of Best Friends Whenever season 2 (according to its IMDb episode listings), and I've been reading that it's canceled. Five years ago Disney Channel shows routinely ran 24-28 episodes per season.

On Disney XD they seem to throw up a new animated series every four months, usually for a short run; lately overdubbed Japanese anime shows.

Could there be any other explanation to what's been happening with Live Action Disney Channel shows lately other than the possibility Disney Channel going back to it's old roots with it's Live Action Shows?


My history as a Disney Channel regular goes back only to early 2007, but you could be right. Seemed like about half of the live-action shows airing when I first started watching were single-camera, no-live-audience, shows.

Yeah, I know filankey is not a word, but it's gonna catch on.

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I agree, especially if thats so raven spinoff fails. Disney, Nick, and CN are getting pretty bad ratings across the board, 1/3-1/4 of what they were getting 5 years ago and it might be in their best interest to start completely airing outsourced content (like backstage). Hell Nick has basically spent the last 3 years only airing spongebob reruns for 50% of the day and spending the other 40% on nick at night syndication of other channel's content (friends, george lopez, etc).

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They better not be. They mind as well not be making shows. It kills me how they made all of these and yet give them such limited runs. A waste of potential of what they could bring if they could go forward, a waste of shows period. What good is two to three seasons? You have shows running six to ten seasons at the most now on other networks. Disney needs to follow the routine. That way, these shows get to last longer and saves them from having to make new ones every year and preserve their ideas. Ideas should be running slim because of how many shows they created throughout the past three decades and all were given little runs. Had they let all of them last longer, the amount of shows they made would probably be cut in half. If they keep this up, they might not even have a channel in ten years. Their ideas have grown stupid too so you can see they're at their creative block: a kid with a hand that can think for itself? SERIOUSLY?

I really don't get them. They broke their 65 episode limit with That's So Raven and Wizards of Waverly Place broke the 100 episode limit (reaching 109 episodes) in just a few years tops. It's certainly time they broke their Season 4 limit and start having their shows reach six seasons at the least. Phineus and Ferb should have been the first given it's eight year run, but for some reason, Disney couldn't budge and squeezed everything into four seasons. The show should really have EIGHT. If Girl Meets World was such a HUGE SUCCESS, huger than anything the channel had before, there certainly would have a Season 5 had they kept this going through Season 4. There would have been a Season 6 too so that we could see the characters could graduate high school. GMW was the target show for this change to happen due to it's connection to BMW and also the spark for Disney shows to start exploring heavier topics which have lost their way in the mid-2000s. That's been blown terribly thanks to the cheesy kiddie material this show was plagued with.

Hopefully we get a better luck with the "That's So Raven" sequel show coming out this year.

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its more expensive to keep a show for more seasons

its cheaper to just reset with a new series

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Six seasons is not going to hurt. That's usually how long a lot of shows on other networks run for. If they have to cut costs, then let them be normal family shows which doesn't involve music or the use of special effects and also keep the regular cast members at a minimum. Making shows with such short runs make them useless to begin with.

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Thanks for proving for the 1,344,532 time that you don't know nuthin'.

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Thanks for continuing to be a part of what's killing IMDb up to the very time of its death. The world will celebrate you no longer having a platform in order to be a troll and advertise how much a big fat idiot you are.

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Two can play that game moron:

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Big fat idiot? I'm sure that title fits well with you better, so go lose the weight and go back to school. I'm big skinny smart person to you. And even if I was a troll, you'd think this is the only place I can be one at? Apparently you're too ignorant to see there's other message board and social sites on here for anyone to troll at and I'm not surprised if you caused your trouble elsewhere. Don't come at me with this crap.

Oh sure, continue looking like the victim when you're the one always coming in my face with your stupid ass comments that smell like fish water and provoking me nonstop. Are you too illiterate to realize that? Honey, you're the reason these boards are going away. I actually write meaningful things while you just act like a toddler most of the time. Report me all you want. It's not going to take away the fact you're the real idiot here. Keep lying to yourself. It's humorous. 

And as I said in my comment you pathetically had deleted, Disney it's not going to be that expensive for Disney to have their shows last a couple more seasons passed the usual Season 4 limit and as long as they don't make shows that require a big budget like music-based or high special effects, then they're good. They need to do this so their shows run longer and don't look useless by having short and forgettable runs that won't do them good in the long run. Get it straight.

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