We might have to wait a while (or forever) for new Lizzie McGuire, but Hilary Duff has brought us the next best thing.
In a 44 minute Instagram video, Duff and the original cast of Lizzie McGuire reunited for a virtual table read of an episode, and it may or may not be the first episode of Lizzie McGuire you think of when you think of the show: the bra episode! Which just so happens to have aired on May 11, 2001!
The reunion featured Duff, Jake Thomas (Matt McGuire), Hallie Todd (Jo McGuire), Robert Carradine (Sam McGuire), Adam Lamberg (Gordo), Lalaine (Miranda), Davida Williams (Claire), Ashlie Brillault (Kate), Kyle Downs (who played Larry Tudgeman, but was reading David Carradine’s lines), writers Nina and Jeremy Bargiel, and former writer and father of Jake Thomas, Bob Thomas, who narrated during the table read. Duff also had a small animated Lizzie by her side.
The event began with an intro from Duff, who explained that this was all Jake Thomas’ idea before introducing the cast and writers. Then, they all attempted to sing the theme song, and let’s just say it’s clear they did not practice that ahead of time.
You can watch the video below!
We were supposed to be getting close to new episodes of Lizzie McGuire, featuring Lizzie turning 30, but the project got stalled when there were creative differences between Disney and original creator Terri Minsky. Minsky left as showrunner, and a new showrunner had not been announced.
In February, Duff alluded to Disney having an issue with the adult material in the show, and Minsky told Variety she was hoping her episodes would still be seen.
“I am so proud of the two episodes we did,” she said. “Hilary has a grasp of Lizzie McGuire at 30 that needs to be seen. It’s a wonderful thing to watch. I would love the show to exist, but ideally I would love it if it could be given that treatment of going to Hulu and doing the show that we were doing. That’s the part where I am completely in the dark. It’s important to me that this show was important to people. I felt like I wanted to do a show that was worthy of that kind of devotion.”
Lizzie McGuire aired on the Disney Channel from 2001 to 2004.