'Lizzie McGuire' Reboot Writer Reveals NSFW Joke That Got It Canceled

By Rebekah Gonzalez

January 18, 2024

Photo: Getty Images

Lizzie McGuire fans were disappointed after the Disney Channel announced a reboot with Hilary Duff and several original cast members in 2019 but gave it the axe about a year later. At the time, Disney shared that the creators of the show had decided to "move in a different creative direction" that was too mature for their family-friendly brand.

Now, a writer who worked on the show is sharing an NSFW joke that they believe likely prompted the entertainment company to cancel the show. The plot of the reboot— a 30-year-old Lizzie moves back home after she catches her fiancé cheating on her birthday— had already been public knowledge, but writer Jonathan Hurwitz took to his TikTok to share some details about the third episode that prompted Disney to pull the plug.

The writer explained that the second episode ends with Lizzie getting a text from Ethan, her crush from the original show, asking her to meet up. In the third episode, which was written but never filmed, Jonathan explained that it started out with Lizzie waking up in Ethan's bed.

"We weren’t actually going to show them having sex, just Lizzie waking up in Ethan’s shirt and then he comes in with freshly made coffee and they have this cute little catch up," he shared. "Animated Lizzie pops up and she has this little checklist, like a to-do list, and Ethan is on the list and she checks it off,” he continues. “I think she says something like, ‘I checked that box –dramatic pause– twice.’ So if I had to guess, I saw another comment about storylines Disney wasn’t comfortable with, my guess was… That moment was probably one of them.”

@jonathanhurwitz

Cheating boyfriends, gay roommates, high school crushes, oh my! #lizziemcguire #lizziemcguirereboot #hilaryduff #fyp #foryou

♬ original sound - jonathanhurwitz
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