Season five of Raven’s Home, the spinoff to That’s So Raven, premieres on Disney Channel Friday, March 11. The season sees Raven, played by Raven-Symoné, and son Booker move back to San Francisco to help out her father, who has had a heart attack. Raven finds herself being a parent to her parent, who at times pushes the limitations he has due to his health. 

That’s So Raven, about a teen with psychic abilities, was on Disney Channel 2003 to 2007. It’s all available on Disney Plus. The show was set in San Francisco, while Raven’s Home has taken place in Chicago.

“As we started to work on the fifth season, we wanted to change things up and make it feel fresh again,” said Jed Elinoff, a showrunner and executive producer. “We wondered, what would it be like to send Raven home again?”

Elinoff is showrunner along with Scott Thomas and Anthony C. Hill. 

Issac Ryan Brown plays Booker and Rondell Sheridan plays Raven’s father, Victor. Booker is the new kid at the high school where his mom attended. 

Back in the world she knew as a teen, the new season sees Raven revert to her teen ways, to a degree. Elinoff called it “a really fun way to get back into it.”

The show shoots on a soundstage in Hollywood. Anything that looks like San Francisco–a cable car, the Golden Gate Bridge, even Alcatraz–had to be constructed. 

The third episode sees the kids, including Booker and some new Bay Area friends, visit Alcatraz and get stuck in a cell together. “It’s the first moment we see the characters become friends, and that was really fun,” said Thomas.  

New kid cast on the show includes Mykal-Michelle Harris as Raven’s cousin Alice, Felix Avitia as Booker’s classmate Neil, and Emmy Liu-Wan as neighbor Ivy. Harris, who is 10, has been on Mixed-ish. The producers said she has an exceptional knack for delivering a punchline. “She says a line and everyone erupts,” said Hill. 

The producers also rave about Raven. “She’s an incredibly gifted comedic actor but she’s also kid-funny,” said Thomas. “She’s adult-funny and kid-funny. We’re very lucky to have an adult on the show that kids find funny.”

Thomas said she’s also “an incredible mentor” to the kids in the cast. 

As the producers sought to build a series that both kids and their parents will enjoy, Hill said they kept Shrek in mind as a model. “We wanted to create that balance between a show that kids watch and one that parents want to watch with them,” he said. 

Writing the scripts, the producers said they relied on their own children, along with younger writers in the writers’ room, to get the youthful language correct. 

“It’s, what should we say here, what’s the word that means the old thing I’m trying to say?” said Thomas. ■

Children’s-targeted programmers such as Disney Channel and Nickelodeon are rebooting popular kids shows from the 1990s and early 2000s in an effort to reach a new generation of kids, as well as their parents who grew up watching them on both traditional television and online streaming platforms. 

Shows with brand identity and familiarity have an advantage over new programs trying to establish themselves in a crowded multiplatform content universe, network executives and industry observers said. But such advantages don’t guarantee success for reboots, regardless of the original show’s popularity. 

“If you can provide an entertaining show to the current audience and use established characters in an established format that also attracts past viewers, then you’re on the right track,” TV analyst Bill Carroll said. “Yet in any show, whether it’s a reboot or an original, it has to stand on its own, whether it’s entertaining or whether the audience finds it attractive.”

As young viewers consume content across multiple platforms — kids 2 to 11 averaged 14 hours as week of viewing on connected-TV devices and 10 hours of live or time shifted TV viewing according to Nielsen’s Total Audience Report for third-quarter 2020 — content distributors are turning to more established intellectual properties (IP) to reach more kids, as well as their parents who grew up with such properties. 

“It absolutely helps break through the clutter and connect to audiences,” Paul DeBenedittis, Nickelodeon’s executive VP of programming and content strategy, said. “We have the ability to bring back properties so that parents who are now 40 years old can experience Nick with their children.”

Aggressive IP Revivers

Nickelodeon in particular has been aggressive in developing reboots and spinoffs for its older titles, having brought back this past May animated series Rugrats with new episodes featuring the original actor voices from the 1990s. On the live-action front, the network in June revived its 2010 series iCarly, featuring the original kid stars Miranda Cosgrove and Nathan Kress reprising their roles as adults. 

Both shows debuted on upstart streaming service Paramount Plus and not Nickelodeon, where the original shows ran. DeBenedittis said the streaming service allows the network to reach both fans who watch reruns of the original series on Paramount Plus as well as new viewers who may not be familiar with the franchise but are viewing other shows online. 

The strategy seems to be working. The iCarly reboot, whose June 17 debut reached 145,000 households within the live-plus-three-day window according to Samba TV, was recently renewed for a second season on Paramount Plus.

“We have an opportunity to reach a broader audience that might not be watching Nick and might not have children, but they’re watching Paramount Plus to see a title that they grew up with,” DeBenedettis said. “These titles generally have a strong affinity with audiences while at the same time they also have the ability to drive new audiences.” 

Disney Channel is preparing to revive one of its more popular animated titles, The Proud Family, with hopes it will follow in the footsteps of successful reboots of That’s So Raven (Raven’s Home) and High School Musical (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series). 

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder will once again follow the exploits of an African-American family, led by teenage daughter Penny Proud. Original series creator and executive producers Bruce Smith and Ralph Farquhar will return for the reboot along with most of the cast members from the original show, which aired on Disney Channel from 2001 to 2005. Though no premiere date for The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder has been announced, it will be available on Disney Plus.  

Disney Branded Television president and CEO Gary Marsh said the multigenerational appeal of reboots provides a catalyst for co-viewing opportunities on multiple platforms. “There is a familiarity with the series among original fans, but the show has new stories to tell and new characters to introduce that will keep the original fans engaged and attract new ones,” Marsh said. 

Marsh pointed to the success of Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home, which finished its fourth season this past May as one of the network’s most-watched and most co-viewed shows. The series starring Raven-Symoné takes place years after the end of That’s So Raven, which ran on the channel from 2003 to 2007, with Raven’s then-teenage character now a divorced mother of preteen twins. 

“When Raven’s Home first launched, the nostalgia factor of seeing Raven-Symoné in her comedic element again appealed to fans of That’s So Raven, while attracting a whole new generation of fans in Disney Channel’s core 6-14 demo,” Marsh said. “What’s great about these titles is that they’re multigenerational and are great for co-viewing.”

The CW will look to capitalize on the success and popularity of Craig McCracken-produced Cartoon Network’s animated series The Powerpuff Girls, having green-lit a live-action version of the series. In The CW’s version, the three adolescent superheroes of the animated series that ran on Cartoon Network from 1998 to 2005 and again from 2016 to 2019, are 20-something women contemplating their roles as crime fighters. 

Carroll said reboots of kids-targeted shows such as Netflix’s Fuller House (based on ABC’s 1980’s sitcom Full House) have succeeded because the new series are able to update the original version to appeal to new viewers without totally alienating former viewers looking for the nostalgia of the original show. Fuller House, in which the kid stars from the original are now adults and drive the main storylines, ran for five seasons from 2016 to 2020.

“Time and time again it has been proven that if a reboot is well-done and it makes sense, then it works,” Carroll said. “If it’s just taking a concept that worked before and is not contemporized then it probably doesn’t work.”

Indeed, not every reboot idea successfully sees the light of day. Disney in 2019 announced plans for a revival of the 2000s Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire, with original series star Hilary Duff reprising her lead role as an adult living in New York. But in a 2020 Instagram post Duff announced that the show would not go forward, saying that the “stars didn’t align” creatively for the much-anticipated reboot. 

Disney’s Marsh acknowledged the challenges in navigating actors, storylines and characters surrounding reboots. “It’s important to honor the heart and soul of the original series because it obviously holds a special place in the hearts of the fans,” Marsh said. “But it’s equally important to evolve and contemporize the characters and storytelling so that we invite new audiences in as well. With every project you start out to make, sometimes the stars align and other times they don’t and that’s OK.”

New ‘Under Wraps’ In Works

Disney is moving head with several other projects in the reboot arena, including a comedic remake of the network’s first ever original movie, Under Wraps, and a Doogie Howser M.D. reimagining featuring Andi Mack’s Peyton Elizabeth Lee as a 16-year-old prodigy juggling a budding medical career and life as a teen, according to Marsh. 

Nickelodeon is putting a new spin on the classic animated series The Smurfs, and a live-action reboot of 2000s animated series The FairlyOdd Parents is also in the works, DeBenedittis said. Other franchises such as Star Trek, Transformers and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are also being primed for new projects. 

“We’re looking at additional content — both movies and series — that we could potentially deliver for the fan base and grow new audiences through both linear and streaming,” he said. “The different platforms offer us the ability to drive broader reach and engagement with beloved properties that fans love as well as introduce kids to these properties.” 

Disney Channel will resurrect it’s successful series crossover programming stunt on  July 24 by bringing together two of its biggest shows, Raven’s Home and Bunk’d, for a primetime special.

Disney vice president of current series Kory Lunsford, who has worked on the previous 10 network series crossover specials dating back to 2007 with the That’s So Suite Life of Hanna Montana event, talks to Multichannel News about the popularity of the specials as well as why the pairing of these two shows will resonate with the network’s core tween audience. An edited version of the interview appears below. 

What’s been behind the previous success of Disney’s crossover series strategy?

I’ve actually worked on every single one of the crossover episodes going back to That’s So Suite  Life of Hannah Montana. They are fun, and this one fell in place. There was a clamoring among our showrunners and writers to want to do one and we wanted to make a big summer splash for the channel, and I think we accomplished that.

Why did Raven’s Home and Bunk’d work best in a crossover special?

You want to make sure you’re authentic in creating these shows. When we had That’s So Suite Life of Hannah Montana you had the [Suite Life of Zack & Cody] hotel serve as the gathering point. We thought, ‘what's a more fun and aspirational setting than summer camp?’ These two shows resonate the most with our audience so that was a great starting off point. They also have great, diverse ensemble casts. We were able to work with each camp -- no pun intended - to mix and match characters from each show and were able to create multiple, rich storylines.

Raven About Bunk’d is premiering in a different television environment than the first  Disney series crossover event in that fewer young viewers are now watching linear television. Do you feel this special will attract more eyeballs to the linear Disney Channel service?

Back in the day if we made it, everyone tuned in. What we’ve learned over the years as consumer viewing patterns have shifted is that if you make great content, viewers will find it. We’re focused on all platforms that offer our content -- whether it’s Disney Now or Disney Plus -- so it's all about making content that appeals to our viewers. We know word of mouth is very powerful with our audience these days, so we believe in our content and know that this story will be aspirational and will resonate with our audience.

Will you look to do future crossover specials featuring other Disney Channel shows?

Absolutely, and it’s something that we’ve already discussed. They are a bit challenging -- it takes two separate production entities merging together and working together when they normally don’t -- but they’re usually always successful. 

Eunetta Boone, veteran Tv producer and showrunner of Disney Channel series Raven’s Home, died Thursday of an apparent heart attack, according to Disney Channel officials.

Boone, 63, served as showrunner for the third season of Disney Channel’s comedy series Raven’s Home before her sudden death. Boone also served as creator and executive producer of the 2000s comedy series One on One as well as co-executive producer of comedy shows My Wife and Kids and The Hughleys.

In a statement, Disney Channel said that Boone “was a wonderful person and a consummate storyteller and teacher, and through her leadership on many productions including Raven's Home, she did so well what she enjoyed most -- mentoring creative talent.”

Raven’s House star Raven Symone said in a statement: “My heart is heavy following the loss of Raven's Home executive producer Eunetta Boone. Eunetta was a pioneer and an inspiration to everyone she met. She was a masterful storyteller, an empathetic leader and a beacon of light to so many. I'm sending love and my deepest sympathies to Eunetta's family and friends and all who knew and loved her. She will be missed. Thank you for everything Eunetta."

Disney Channel has greenlit a second season of comedy series Raven’s Home, the network announced Tuesday.

The series, a spinoff of the network’s successful 2000s series That’s So Raven, features Raven Symoné reprising her role as Raven Baxter from the original series. The July premiere of Raven’s Home was the top cable Tv series premiere in two years among kids 6-11, Tweens 9-14 and Kids 2-11, said network officials.

Symoné serves as executive producer of the series along with Dava Savel (That's So Raven, Will and Grace) and Michael Feldman (That's So Raven, Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn). The series also stars Issac Ryan Brown, Navia Robinson, Jason Maybaum, Sky Katz and Anneliese van der Pol.

"We are incredibly proud of our first season and the fact that Raven has returned home to Disney Channel in a very big way,” said Adam Bonnett, executive vice president of original programming for Disney Channels Worldwide in a statement. “The entire cast and crew have delivered a classic family sitcom that kids and families will be watching for many years to come.”

Disney Channel announced it will launch its new comedy series Raven’s Home starring Raven- Symoné on July 21.

The series, a spinoff of the network’s popular That’s So Raven series, will debut after the premiere of the network’s Descendants 2 movie, according to network officials. Raven- Symoné reprises her role as Raven Baxter, now a divorced mother raising two kids. Anneliese van der Pol also reprises her role as Chelsea in the new series.

In support of Raven’s Home, Disney will make available all four seasons of That’s So Raven on the Disney Channel App and VOD beginning June 1, said network officials. Raven’s Home is executively produced by Scott Thomas and Jed Elinoff (Best Friends Whenever), as well as Raven-Symoné.

"Raven is a one-of-a-kind, gifted performer and both she and Anneliese have an undeniable chemistry that we look forward to sharing with a new generation of kids and families,” said Adam Bonnett, executive vice president of original programming for Disney Channels Worldwide in a statement.