How To Watch ‘Lizzie McGuire’ In Order
Disney Channel shows in the 2000s excelled at capturing the awkwardness of being a teenager who is trying very hard to understand themselves amidst school, crushes, and their social life (and this was before social media!). Among a fleet of them, one such show was Lizzie McGuire. Lizzie (Hilary Duff) was relatable; on some days she was awkward and funny, and on others, she’d be dramatic and get into embarrassing situations. Basically, she was all of us (and I desperately miss those butterfly hair clips).
When we talk about Lizzie, we can’t forget the real star of the show: the tiny animated version of her in the pink top and platform shoes who popped up whenever her real-life counterpart couldn’t quite articulate what she was feeling. Don’t we all have our own versions of Animated Lizzie? And then there’s the case of the reboot that never came to fruition. We didn’t get to see what Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo would have been up to in the present day, which was such a disappointing turn of events!
Lizzie McGuire ran for two seasons and a movie, so surely figuring out the viewing order shouldn’t be a Herculean task, right? Well, there’s a small wrinkle.
The episodes weren’t always broadcast in the same order in which they were filmed (I’ll come to that in a while), so the broadcast sequence doesn’t really line up with the show’s internal chronology. If you’re not too interested in watch-order politics and are just looking for a casual watch, then the easiest way to do that is by watching the two seasons in its entirety, and then diving into The Lizzie McGuire Movie. You’ll get the same basic story this way, so if you don’t want to complicate things, then that’s where you can begin.
However, if you still occasionally wonder about what-could-have-been after that little glimpse of grown-up Lizzie and Gordo that Duff shared, and it only made you want to revisit the original properly, then this is your sign. As it stands, the order of the episodes on Disney+ are a bit wonky, but don’t worry, you don’t need to memorize all 65 episode titles (that’s our job). Thanks to some super fans on Reddit, we have a chronological order we can follow.
Welcome to Hillridge Junior High and our first stop on this Lizzie McGuire marathon—Season 1 of the show. Lizzie McGuire follows Lizzie and her best friends Miranda Sanchez (Lalaine) and Gordo (Adam Lamberg) as they navigate the wonderfully chaotic world of middle school. Between that and Lizzie’s family life with her parents and pesky little brother Matt, Lizzie has her hands full.
Hear me out, start Season 1 with Episode 4, “Pool Party.” Though it was aired as the fourth episode, it was filmed first, and it’s the episode where Lizzie and her world are introduced by Animated Lizzie, making it a beautiful starting point for what’s to come. Then, watch the episodes in the order below.
Season 1 — Chronological Order
Pool Party
Picture Day
Rumors
I’ve Got Rhythmic
When Moms Attack
Jack of All Trades
Misadventures in Babysitting
Election
I Do, I Don’t
Bad Girl McGuire
Between a Rock and a Bra Place
Come Fly with Me
Random Acts of Miranda
Lizzie’s Nightmare
Night of the Day of the Dead
Obsession
Gordo’s Video
Aaron Carter’s Coming to Town
Sibling Bonds
Gordo and the Girl
Rated Aargh
Educating Ethan
Lizzie Strikes Out
Last Year’s Model
The Courtship of Miranda Sanchez
Facts of Life
Scarlett Larry
The Untitled Stan Jansen Project
Gordo and the Dwarves
Gordo’s Bar Mitzvah
Lizzie and Kate’s Excellent Adventure
Season 2 — Chronological Order
Just Like Lizzie
Movin’ On Up
First Kiss
El Oro de Montezuma
Mom’s Best Friend
The Rise and Fall of the Kate Empire
Over the Hill
Inner Beauty
Party Over Here
Working Girl
And the Winner Is
In Miranda, Lizzie Does Not Trust
The Longest Yard
Those Freaky McGuires
A Gordo Story
You’re a Good Man, Lizzie McGuire
Best Dressed for Much Less
Just Friends
Grubby Longjohn’s Olde Tyme Revue
Bunkies
Magic Train
She Said, He Said, She Said
Lizzie in the Middle
The Greatest Crush of All
One of the Guys
Grand Ole Grandma
My Fair Larry
My Dinner with Mr. Dig
Lizzie’s Eleven
Dear Lizzie
The Gordo Shuffle
Clue-Less
Xtreme Xmas
Bye Bye Hillridge Junior High
It’s imperative to end the second season with “Bye Bye Hillridge Junior High” as that episode works as the chronological series finale. Lizzie and her classmates are getting ready to graduate from middle school, leading us into the events of The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Without watching it this way, you’ll find continuity problems galore, like Miranda randomly disappearing from episodes or Larry Tudgeman’s hair color changing.
What makes the original show so charming is that the problems are usually small, low-stakes, and solved at the end of the episode’s short run time, but it feels like it’s the end of the world when you’re thirteen. I can also never stop gushing about the absolute icon, Animated Lizzie, because while it’s a simple gimmick, it gives the show a personality that sets it apart even to this day. The friendship between the trio is precious and Lizzie’s rivalry with Kate Sanders is fun to watch, because every protagonist needs a trusty sidekick (or two) and an arch-nemesis! Fans of shows like Hannah Montana or That’s So Raven will probably feel immediately at home with the McGuires. But wait! Don’t switch gears yet because there’s one more stop to make: Italy.
All outfit repeaters, fall in! Honestly, after everything Lizzie went through surviving middle school during the show, she deserved the Italian vacation coming her way. Also, a vacation in Italy for a bunch of 13-year-olds is wild, but so cool. The Lizzie McGuire Movie picks up on the day of Lizzie’s middle school graduation, after which she (and her classmates) are taken on a class trip to Rome. Of course, nothing can ever be simple, so Lizzie is mistaken for the famous Italian singer Isabella, who turns out to be Lizzie’s brown-haired doppelgänger. The fish-out-of-water element stays the same, but Lizzie has taken her misadventures to an international level. We’ve gone beyond Hillridge hallways now!
The Lizzie McGuire Movie was released in 2003, but the television series continued until 2004. Thus, the best way to capitalize on Lizzie’s actual journey is to finish the show with “Bye Bye Hillridge Junior High” and then watch the film as it serves as the canonical ending to the Lizzie-verse. If beautiful settings and mistaken identities are your cup of tea, then you can’t go wrong with The Lizzie McGuire Movie. And, if you want more beautiful settings and cases of mistaken identities, allow me to lead you to Monte Carlo! Oh, ever come across the song, “Hey now, hey now, this is what dreeeams are made of?” Yeah, it’s from this film, which is simply iconic because if there’s anyone who can make a song go viral once again years after it was first released, it’s our girl Lizzie.
