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All Grown Up

The bell rings at Hillridge Junior High and students scurry from classroom to classroom. Roaming the halls looking for mischief, Principal Tweedy finds a gathering of students huddled close to the lockers in the hallway. His intrigue turns to frustration as he strides towards them. “Mr. Gordon,” Tweedy exclaims, prompting the surrounding students to disperse, “how many times must I break up one of your little schemes before you actually stop them?” The boy closes his jacket and he rolls his eyes, revealing that it is filled with candy, electronics, gum, and other things for other students to buy. “Mr. Gordon I am far too old and have been put through too much for your mischief, Lord knows how much your uncle tormented me,” Tweedy says with defeat.

“You’re right Principal Tweedy, I’m so sorry” the boy says with faked remorse. Tweedy tiredly dismisses his mocking apology as he pats him along to class knowing his battle was not, and probably will never be, won. The boy walks sluggishly to his classroom, disrupting the lesson that has already started as he appears in the door. Apathetically walking towards his desk, the boy’s eyes light up as he notices an empty chair near the front of the classroom next to new student in class, a pretty well put together blonde girl. The boy excitedly settles himself in the seat, flashing a smile to his neighbor. She smiles back kindheartedly, giving the boy a glimmer of hope.

When class ends, the kids pack up their stuff so they can head to the cafeteria for lunch. Mustering up the courage to say something, anything, to the girl sitting beside him, the boy is interrupted by pushes and noogies from another student. “James, when did the wells of our friendship run so dry that you began to to quench your thirst from another?” the student tease, referring to James’s impromptu seat change. James looks back up at the girl who is now already halfway to the door, saddened that he missed his chance.

“If she loves you, she will return” he mocks, laughing at himself. “Whatever man,” he says ceasing his lighthearted role play, “can we get some food now cuz?”

The two of them sit at the lunch table together and we finally officially meet James and Adam. James is the troublemaker, always getting himself into something with his parents and at school. But James also has a kind heart and a soft spot for those he loves, uncannily similar to Matt McGuire. Adam is James’ cousin, but the two are very different. James is an earnest poetry writing, theatre loving, art class taking kind of kid who has a wicked sense of humor. As much as he keeps James’s schemes from getting too catastrophic, he also doesn’t shy away from stirring the pot.

In their last period of the day, science, James sits alone at a two-person desk. “Now James,” the quirky and compassionate teacher says, “your partner Ellie won’t be in class anymore but no need to fret! We’re lucky to have another student transfering in to take her place.” As the words come out of her mouth, the pretty girl from the previous class strides through the door. “Aaaand here she is!! James, this is Lucy your new lab partner. Class, please make Lucy feel right at home in our house of discovery! Now, let’s revisit our conversation about ecosystems. Who’s excited?”

Lucy makes herself comfortable beside James who is obviously trying to suppress his visible excitement. “James, right?” she says extending her hand towards him. Confused by this gesture James dumbfoundedly points to himself mouthing ‘me?’ in a puzzled state. “Yes, you James” Lucy says through harmless chuckling.

James extends his hand to shake hers, “nice to meet you too Lucy. I assume you’re going to be our President one day, you know, going for the handshake and all.”

Flattered, Lucy smiles. “I bet you’re pretty stoked that you’ll get to say you were my lab partner then, right?” The two smile at each other for a brief second before returning focus to the lesson. James is evidently on Cloud 9.

After school, James and Adam walk home discussing what funny business they have planned for the family dinner they’re having that night. “Ok, and then,” Adam says, “I’ll do that to make everyone distracted”

“Yeah yeah yeah, that’s good” the wheels of creativity are turning for James. “Then with no one going I’m going to –”

“Going to what?” a man interrupts, stopping James and Adam in their tracks. It seems that James has arrived home, as we see his dad (Gordo) pulling up to the house at the same time. “Please boys, no picking on Sarah tonight. Can we, I don’t know, take a night off maybe?” Gordo is trying so hard to persuade them, even though he knows it’s a lost cause. The boys exchange mischievous glances. “Well, you can tell your mother I tried to stop you at least,” Gordo says putting his arm around James, ushering him into the house. “See you tonight Adam!” he says as Adam hops over to his house across the street.

“How work today, dad?” James asks as they approach the front door of their home.

“It was good son. Met with some producers for a new movie they want me to direct!!” Gordo says beaming with joy. But clearly James’ mind is occupied by something else. His dinner scheme? His new crush?

“That’s so cool dad,” James says walking into the house. “I’ll be in my room,” he shouts racing up the stairs.

“No shenanigans at dinner!” Gordo yells after him, knowing that his words will do absolutely nothing. He then walks into the kitchen to find his wife, Lizzie, sorting through mail. The two of them hug and kiss and discuss their days. When Gordo brings up the possibility of directing a new movie, Lizzie perks up.

“That’d be amazing! I’m so excited for you. And, not the mention how useful the money would be” she says pointing to the mail, “Sarah still hasn’t gotten any acceptance letters yet, when do school start sending them out?! Does she get it by email now?! I don’t know how any of this works anymore” Gordo calms Lizzie down and assures her that their daughter will get into a good college, hopefully not one too far from home. Putting the mail and her worries away, Lizzie and Gordo begin preparing for dinner.

That night, Adam and his father (who we find out is Lizzie’s brother Matt) come join the Gordon’s (Lizzie, Gordo, James, and Sarah) for dinner.

Matt and Lizzie get along like dignified adults, no longer fighting like they did when they were younger. While Matt is clearly all grown-up, with a kid and a wife who is currently out of the country for work, he still hasn’t lost his troublemaking antics. Matt and James are very close as Matt sees a lot of himself in James and vice-versa. James loves his uncle very much and often goes to him instead of his father for many things.

As a senior in high school, Sarah has no patience for her brother and cousins’ relentless stupidity and scheming. She’s far too preoccupied with her schoolwork, friends, and boyfriend. Sarah is a straight A student, school President, involved in debate team, the robotics club, the daily broadcast, and many other clubs that you wouldn’t think she’d have enough time for. She is very fixated on her studies and dreams of getting into Yale, but still makes time for fun with friends. At dinner we see that she is polite and refined but also clearly cool and popular. While she doesn’t get along well with Adam and James, her and her parents have an amazing relationship.

When the family sits down for dinner, Adam spills the beans on James’ new crush and everyone erupts with incessant questions and inquiries. “Does she have a name?” Sarah asks.

Knowing he won’t be able to avoid such questions for long, James drudgingly reveals her name, “uhhhh, it’s Lucy. She’s in my science class.” Sarah squints her eyes.

“Wait…” she says, “does Lucy have blonde hair?” James is clearly taken aback by Sarah’s accurate guess. Adam is loving watching the story unfold as he stuff his face with pasta. “Omg!” Sarah exclaims, “your new crush is Ben’s little sister!! She just transferred to Hillridge” And with those words, all the blood flushes from James’ face.

“Brother and sister dating brother and sister, huh? Let’s see what happens here and maybe I could make a movie on it,” Gordo laughs nudging Lizzie. Adam’s eyes light up as the plot thickens and it’s revealed that Lucy is Sarah’s boyfriend Ben’s little sister. Now, every family member is chiming in trying to give James advice on how to woo Lucy, but James is having none of it as his annoyance with Sarah grows. He raises his eyebrows at Adam indicating that now is the time for their prank.

With that, Adam begins fake choking which gets everyone up from the table trying to help him. Adam gets up out of his seat and walks towards the family room diverting everyone away from the table while James stays put. He douses Sarah’s plate next to him full of spaghetti with vinegar, noding at Adam that it’s time to stop. As Adam lets out his final cough, he assures the family that everything’s fine. “I’m all good now! Just went down the wrong pipe, oops!”

The family sighs with relief as they make their way back to the table. James and Adam smile at each other mischievously. Before Sarah twirls another forkful of spaghetti, Adam quickly distracts her asking, “hey Sarah how’s the whole college thing coming along?” But, before she can answer, her phone lights up. It’s an email notification from Yale. With Sarah distracted now by her phone, and with James not knowing that she had just received an email from Yale, he considers now the perfect time to sneakily pour baking soda overtop of the vinegar in her spaghetti.

“OH MY GOD” Sarah shrieks at her phone, “I GOT INTO YALE!!!!!” Immediately Sarah’s entire plate of spaghetti explodes all over her. Taking in what just happened, Sarah shoots James an angered look.

“…Congraaatttss…” James says sheepishly, bursting into laughter thereafter.

“YOU GOT IN?!” Gordo and Lizzie scream in unison, getting up from their seats to hug Sarah. Soon enough, the whole family is covered in spaghetti after exchanging hugs and celebrating in excitement.

After dinner, the family sits in front of the TV while Sarah beams over the phone to Ben about her acceptance. “I know I know!!! And it’s only a 2 hour drive from NYU if you’re going to be there…I can’t wait!!”

James and Adam linger in the kitchen, eating the dessert cookies no one else is touching. “Well,” Adam says, “pretty poor timing for our prank.” The two shrug. They’ll do better next time. Giddy from tonight’s events, and now wearing clean clothes, Sarah comes over and grabs a cookie.

“So,” she says to James, “Lucy, huh?” James buries his face in his hands, knowing that Sarah must’ve said something to Ben. On the contrary, “I didn’t tell Ben anything…” she says. James raises his head suspiciously. What does she want? “…and I won’t if you stop pranking me for the rest of the school year.” Adam’s jaw drops as James’ eyes widen. “Yup, you heard me. It’s the girl or the pranks, your choice,” and with that Sarah grabs and cookie and skips up to her room.

“Well that’s rough man,” Adam says. “No more pranks on Sarah? What are we going to do?!”

“I’ve got a couple ideas,” James says as his eyes fill with mischief.

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Click through to see the cast list for... The Lizzie McGuire Movie 2: A Reunion!! 

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Lizzie McGuire: High School Graduation

It is May 2006, and it is about to be their high school graduation. Lizzie is so excited to start the next 4 years at NYU, eager to take on The Big Apple. Gordo, however is starting school at UPenn. Their best friend group consists of Lizzie, Gordo, Kate, Ethan, and Vanessa, who was never introduced in Season 1 nor Season 2. Kate will be attending University of Miami, Ethan will be attending Indiana University, and Vanessa, who viewers will come to learn and love throughout Season 3-6, will be going to University of Michigan. 

They are all very close friends, and while both Lizzie and Gordo dated throughout high school, as well as Kate and Ethan, they all decided that they would be better off staying best friends rather than continue dating in college. They believed that they need to have enjoyable college experiences, where they will not feel inhibited because their significant other is somewhere else. 

The morning of high school graduation feels very similar to their graduation morning from Hillridge Junior High. Lizzie’s brother Matt catches Lizzie dancing and singing to her favorite song, “SexyBack,” by Justin Timberlake, and records her on his spy camera. 

Then, as they arrive to their school auditorium for the graduation ceremony, Lizzie all of a sudden has been called to speak, because both their class president and vice president have a stomach virus. Lizzie, as the class secretary was called upon to speak, and she is having a nervous breakdown. “NO, this is just like junior high!” I’m going to ruin EVERYTHING!”

However, Lizzie decides she must persevere and redeem herself for what happened 4 years ago. She needs to get on that stage, be confident, and represent her class of 2006! After the students receive their diplomas, Lizzie gets back on stage to begin the president’s commencement speech. 

“To my graduating class, congratulations! We finally did it. We have worked so incredibly hard over the last four years, and we are soon going to be at amazing colleges all around the country. You have all inspired me to do my job each and every day, and I am so proud of each and every one of you.” 

The scene fast forwards to the end of her speech when all of the students throw their caps up in the air, and there is a lot of applause. 

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Season 3 Opening Scene

Scene opens with Lizzie making a cup of coffee in the kitchen. She grabs the cup, takes a sip, and begins walking down the hallway. It’s sunny outside and birds are chirping. Halfway down the hallway she turns to the left to crack open a door. When she peeks in we see a young toddler sleeping soundly in her bed and Lizzie smiles. She shuts the door and continues down the hallway into an office room. The room is filled with boxes and garbage bags, the scene of someone moving into a brand new house. She places her coffee mug down on a side table and sits herself down next to a half-gone-through box of papers. She reaches in and pulls out her high school diploma. Suddenly her animated alter-ego, still with the same appearance as from the original series, pops up and begins to speak: “Remember when you tripped on stage at graduation and brought the whole curtain down? That was smooth Lizzie.” Animated Lizzie vanishes. Lizzie, in real life, places the diploma on the table next to her coffee mug. She then reaches in and pulls out a journal. She dusts off the cover, takes a deep breath in, and opens to a random page. Animated Lizzie pops up again and voices the diary entry as a reflection of her inner thoughts:

Dear Diary,

Matt is the most annoying little brother on the planet. He handcuffed us together yesterday because of his stupid magic tricks and LOST the key. Ugh!  

Lizzie flips the page.

Dear Diary,

Today we were on the set of an Aaron Carter music video!! Gordo Miranda and I found out he was coming and just knew we had to go.

Lizzie flips the page again.

Dear Diary,

Being voted best dressed in the school would do wonders for my social life. Maybe Ethan would notice me, maybe Kate would get off my back.

Lizzie laughs and flips the page again.

Gordo and I kissed. We kissed and I can’t believe it.

Lizzie pauses, but lingers on this page of a journal. Then keeps reading at a quick, frantic sounding pace.

I don’t really know how it happened, everything is a blur. We both needed up on the rooftop at the afterparty of the Italian Music Awards, which by the way, how crazy is that. We are just supposed to be some awkward 13-year-olds but all of these crazy things keep happening. Is this real life?? We kissed but didn’t get a chance to hang out that much more before I had to get on my flight home. That’s where I am now, sitting on the plane staring out the window hoping Gordo will appear on the wing or something but more realistically hoping Matt won’t wake up anytime soon to bother me. Gordo and I had gone right back down to the party after the kiss to avoid getting in more trouble, but that could’ve been an excuse because he had felt awkward. Am I overthinking things??

Lizzie abruptly closes the journal and animated Lizzie vanishes with the clap of the book closing. She peers down at her left hand, to reveal a wedding ring, smiles and sighs. But we aren’t  yet cued into who she is married to. Then a man walks into the room. Leaning on the doorway he says “What are you up to this early?”. It’s a blonde haired blue eyed man, clearly not Gordo. Lizzie responds “Just going through some old things”. She stands up approaches him, and gives him a kiss, then continues “Let’s wake up the kids, I’ll make breakfast”. The scene fades into the opening credit sequence.

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#BringLizzieMGBack

#BringLizzieMGBack

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The Never Before Seen Lizzie McGuire Season 3 Premiere

The cast just got returned home from their 9th grade trip to Rome, and Lizzie is grounded by her parents. She is so frustrated because all she wants to do is hang out with Gordo as she now has these romantic feelings for him. However, her parents will not let her leave the house--even if she is now a semi-famous pop star.

Lizzie uses her ‘evil’ brother Matt to actually hand-deliver notes to Gordo’s home explaining her feelings, and Gordo sends them back to her house via Matt, as well. These ‘love notes,’ essentially, consist of expressions of confusion, even though they both are very much into each other. They feel confused because they are worried that their new romantic relationship may ruin their best friendship. Nevertheless, through these letters they decide that they should give it a chance because they are about to start high school, and they think that being in a relationship in high school is the ‘cool thing’ to do.

Anyways, after a couple of weeks, Lizzie is finally ungrounded, and they still have some time before high school begins. They decide to go on their real first date to their usual pizza place. Gordo picks Lizzie up, and they enjoy their date together. Lizzie cannot stop concentrating on the fact that they are actually dating…

At the end of their date, Gordo drops Lizzie back off at her house, and they kiss. Lizzie invites Gordo to come inside and hang out, but he’s too nervous to make a bad impression on her parents--even though they know him very well because they have been best friends for so many years. Gordo is such a perfectionist, and it is clear that he is and always has been so in love with Lizzie-- even at 14 years old. Time passes in the show and it is about to be the first day of high school. Lizzie is so nervous, but also excited for the next four years even with Ms. Ungermeyer. Although, she’s anxious about Ms. Ungermeyer thinking Gordo is a ‘sneaky brown noser with a hidden agenda.’ However, Lizzie is definitely reassured by the fact that she has Gordo by her side because Miranda is no longer with them at school, and she never knows if Kate is going to be nice to her regardless of them ending Rome on a high note.

Unexpectedly, they arrive to school that Monday morning, and everyone in the high school already knows who Lizzie is. They already know all about her Italian popstar fame, and are so excited for her to be at the school. Gordo cannot believe how popular Lizzie already is in highschool, and he’s getting nervous that the upperclassmen boys will pursue her, and she won’t be as interested in Gordo anymore. During lunch time, Lizzie accidently makes a comment that frustrates Gordo when she says, “I can’t help it that I’m so popular all of a sudden,” which is definitely not representative of her typical personality. Gordo gets upset, and he storms off to go to his next class.

Clearly, Lizzie is overthinking the whole situation. Gordo just needs to calm down a little. So at the end of the day, they reconvene at their lockers, and decide to speak about the incident. Lizzie explains that she was just getting wrapped up in her popularity, but that does not mean those students are her real friends. She tells Gordo how much he means to her, as he is not only her boyfriend, but also her best friend. However, with Miranda no longer in school with them, Lizzie definitely wants to make some more girl friends beside Kate. Gordo understands and sympathizes with Lizzie for her concerns. The couple goes home for the day, and all is well between the two of them.