Sonny with a Chance Vs Lizzie McGuire

Breakdown/Shakedown

Lizzie McGuire premiered on the Disney Channel on January 11, 2001, and ended after two seasons on February 14, 2004. The show was created by Terri Minsky and was produced by Stan Rogow. Currently both WGN America and Disney Channel air re-runs of the Lizzie McGuire on a regular schedule.

Sonny with a Chance premiered February 8, 2009, and is currently still running. Steve Marmel created the show, and it is produced by Brian Robbins. You can find older and new episodes on the Disney Channel. Thus far, they have had two seasons, and production recently began on the third season.

Category 1: Main Characters

Lizzie McGuire

Lizzie McGuire
Miranda Sanchez
David “Gordo” Gordon
Matt McGuire
Jo McGuire
Sam McGuire

Sonny with a Chance

Allison “Sonny” Monroe
Tawni Hart
Chad Dylan Cooper
Nico Harris
Grady Mitchell
Zora Lancaster

Who Wins?

Both shows have strong main characters, but at least with Lizzie McGuire they dealt with more realistic story lines, and the role of Lizzie was someone most young girls could relate to. Sonny is an actress, and, I believe, most kids cannot relate to that role, since most kids do not act in a TV show. For rest of the main characters, I will say that many of them seem to play just as side-kicks so that in a way it is hard to say who wins. Each one seems to work well with the story plot line and also help keep the shows fresh.  But for realism in the main role, I think Lizzie takes it.

Category 2: Secondary Characters

Lizzie McGuire

Kate Sanders
Ethan Craft
Larry Tudgeman
Claire Miller
Lanny Onasis
Melina Bianco
Digby “Mr. Digg” Sellers….

As far as I am aware, there are no truly secondary characters on Sonny with a Chance. Which is odd for a show; however they have been known to have plenty of celebrity guest stars on it.

Who Wins?

Clearly Lizzie McGuire wins this one by default. The lack of real secondary characters in Sonny with a Chance makes the show seem strange to me. Granted, it is basically is a show about a show that does skits-still, I feel that they could be stronger if they really had more to it than just sketches. Minor characters really help build and even out a show, so the lack of them makes this show weak, in my opinion.

Guest Stars on Lizzie McGuire

Amy Castle
Frankie Muniz
Haylie Duff
Steven Tyler
Shelley Berman
Doris Roberts

Guest Stars on Sonny with a Chance

Elisa Donovan
Selena Gomez
Raven Symone
Sterling Knight
Joe Jonas….

Who Wins?

Both shows have had some pretty big names guest star on them, with Lizzie McGuire having older guest stars that the parents could enjoy. I think this one’s a tie, since they are their own shows and likely wanted to have different guest stars to target different viewers. The shows are not much like each other, and viewers have likely changed since the days when McGuire aired. So it makes sense that their guest stars would be dramatically different.

Category 3: Over-All Concept

Lizzie McGuire was about kids growing up and dealing with real-life issues that tweens and teens deal with. Likeable characters made the show that much more real, and it started off Hilary Duff’s career. The realistic premise helped shape the Disney Channel to what it is today and is still talked about often. The plot basically say revolved around friends and common middle school issues.

Sonny with a Chance is more of the typical Disney model show, yet is more about a fantasy than reality. It maintains humor and also sticks to real-life issues that kids face. While this show is more for fun, you can still learn life lessons even when they are cracking jokes on the show.

Overall Thoughts

Both shows have their ups and downs in their concepts, like most shows do, yet they both have strong story lines and consistent acting. But it is hard to compare two drastically different shows that just happened to be on the same channel in the same decade. Their concepts are good, and that was part of the reason why they both became to be big successes for Disney.

Favorite Episode or Moment

My favorite Lizzie McGuire episode is the one entitled “Lizzie’s Nightmare,” which was about her crush befriending her younger brother. It was funny and also showed the side of family that almost anyone has to deal with when they have more than one kid.

For Sonny with a Chance, I enjoyed the “That’s So Sonny” episode which had Raven Symone it in. It was cute, and, of course, Raven brought on some drama to that episode. That episode was all about competition between girls who like the same guy, which I think any girl can relate to at some point.

Intangibles

Both shows have a tiny bit of fantasy to them, as an animated self or playing actors in a show. While those might confuse some kids, it was likely a part of the idea that made the shows the hit that they are. I enjoyed that part, even if at times it did get old or seemed awkward.

Another intangible is the characters and their personalities. Each one has an element that thousands of kids can relate to and Disney does a great job on creating roles like that.

Over All Thoughts

I personally like both shows; I think they each have their highs and lows like most series do. But I also feel as if we need to respect their differences that they each have. Both shows were written by two different writers and aimed at different audiences. Lizzie McGuire was very much a realistic girl, while Sonny with a Chance is more about what kids wish they could be or do. Neither shows are badly written or have bad actors in it. Still, one is a winner over the other, and that has to be Lizzie McGuire.

Sonny with a Chance is a cute show and is more about pure entertainment than anything else. That was the writers’ goal, and they made it work. But most shows kids watch should have some sort of lesson to be taught, and Sonny lacks that. Does that make it a bad show? No, of course not! Yet it takes it down a few steps in comparison to a show that does have life lessons.

Lizzie McGuire was all about playing out real life lessons and showing likeable characters that anybody could relate with. It also gave kids hope to see that others deal with those issues, as well, creating a show that made fans feel like they really knew the cast in real life. This is likely one of the best shows that Disney has ever created, and, that is proven by the fact that some networks still air re-runs of it.

Tell us who do you think is a winner–Sonny with a Chance or Lizzie McGuire?