That's So Raven. Anyone who's ever flicked their remote button to switch to Disney Channel a few years ago must know what this series is, and why I am so obsessing over it. That's So Raven is basically about a teenage girl named Raven Baxter (played by Raven-Symoné) who, well, is just your average almost-ordinary teenage girl trying to live life, date the cute guys, avoid the occasional bullies, cheat ("study") for tests, have parties behind her parents' backs, keep her little brother under control, and figure out how to live life to the fullest. But there's a twist: she is actually a psychic, who has the ability to see the future with almost 100% accuracy, what the show calls her 'visions', although she can't control where and when she will get a vision (the funny thing is, she always makes a silly face whenever she gets these visions). It's her biggest secret, an only her family and closest friends know this.
Drake and Josh. This is yet another excellent teenage sitcom, aired on Nickelodeon. It's about two two teenage boys, Drake Parker (played by Drake Bell) and Josh Nichols (played by Josh Peck), whose mom and dad respectively get married. So what happens? The two boys become stepbrothers, but they immediately find the other guy is more than they can handle. Drake is naturally easygoing, fun-loving, and mischievous. He loves to joke around, lies a lot, plays the guitar in a band and dates a lot (a lot) of girls. While Josh, he's your stereotypical honor student/nerd: hardworker, studies all the time, talks too much, has weird geeky likes and doesn't go out much. He works in a theater, loves the local science fair, hates to workout and can panic easily. The two brothers don't really have much in common, so initially they argue about every single little thing in their brand new household: bathroom privileges, privacy issues, personal habits, and later on things like who gets to use the car, how to get into parties, etc.
The show mainly revolves around the lives of these brothers, and how they have to find a way to be able to live with each other without driving the other guy nuts. And that's pretty hard, considering both Drake and Josh find each other irritating, to say the least. But with time, they come to love each other and treat them as family (but not a normal one, at that!). One unique thing here is that, at the beginning of each episode, both Drake and Josh will be talking about something that's somehow relevant to that episode, in different frames and talking to us, the viewers. And it's always very nicely done. But above all, the thing I love most about Drake and Josh is that it actually teaches me something: how to be family to someone. Because they're originally unrelated, they have to start from scratch, and I was lucky enough to see a true process of becoming family, with all the good humor, pranks, magic tricks and hot girls along the way. It also teaches me the true value of brotherhood and how to tolerate people who are different. Really, my favorite episode was just simply touching. This show is one of the best that I have ever watched. Stupendous! :-)Well, sadly both series have come to an end now, although you might find reruns playing on their respective channels, depending on where you live. I guess all good things must come to an end, huh? Ahh, but those old days were more than satisfying for me. I highly recommend these two series to anyone who enjoys a good laugh and likes to watch teenage sitcoms. Trust me, you'll probably learn a thing or two. Wish I could say the same to the two shows' spin-off series, though.
