Well the reason I made this post is because I went back to watch Zack and Cody again since it was my favourite show when I was younger, and it was legitimately funny. Like I was laughing out loud, not just amusedly exhaling through my nose. I could probably write a thesis on this, but I think one of the main things is nobody on that show ended up fucked up. Like, many Disney child stars were so messed up by their time on Disney that they went ‘crazy’ and felt the need to compensate for their controlled childhood by being excessively sexual and crass in their later work, or else they went onto drugs and forsook their career. All of the people on Suite Life, however, went on to be perfectly well turned out. Cole Sprouse is on Riverdale, Dylan is doing short films, Ashley Tisdale is Ashley Tisdale, Phil Lewis was in Heathers and Friends and I know that’s before SLOZAC but that’s a permanent win in my book (he still has a steady career, anyway), and Brenda Song is still doing films AND TV. Even Kim Rhodes is still doing stuff and she was the one I was all ready to see scandals about, but she’s doing just fine. Compare that to Hannah Montana which was actually of the same era, and you can tell something went on behind the scenes that really messed with Miley Cyrus’ head.
Additionally, Zack and Cody was about twins with a divorced mother who was poor and struggling and could only afford to keep her twins in the hotel because she was singing there and Mr. Moseby, a black man who posed as a father figure to basically everyone, was an absolute legend who let them stay, despite seeming to be annoyed by the twins. Waverly Place was about a latinx family with magical powers who ran a sandwhich shop. These shows were diverse and progressive. Nowadays when I turn onto the disney channel or disney xd there’s a 99% chance I’m tuning into a white family with a mum, dad, son, daughter and, if they don’t have one straight away they get one in the later seasons, a dog, all cheerily bickering with each other. There are exceptions, but these seem to be the most frequently produced shows now. While the 2010s have been progressive, they have also been rather regressive in many ways.