#soweird20

[crookedheartedlove]

So Weird (1999-2001)

[soweirdondisney]

So Weird in 2020

This year was a whirlwind in many ways and a lot of it was negative, but let’s focus on the positive before we put it entirely behind us.

🎧 In 2020 The So Weird Podcast:

interviewed So Weird musician Annmarie Cullen/Montade

interviewed Molly’s bass player Dino DiNocolo

debunked show rumors

reviewed the entire So Weird soundtrack

and opened video submissions for interactive episode premieres  

🛍 Regarding merch, So Weird had a four page feature in Rue Morgue and the new designs in the Redubble shop have gotten so much praise!

In August, the first two seasons of #SoWeird20 wrapped and culminated in a weekend-long celebration of Twin. October was the first Halloween So Weird was available on a public platform! 🎃 And November was the one year anniversary of Disney+. 🥳

🎥 Not coincidentally, 2020 saw a boom in YouTube reaction and review videos about So Weird as fans rediscovered the show or saw it for the first time.

In cast news:

Mackenzie Phillips is now program director at Breathe Life Healing Center

Patrick Levis welcomed his fourth daughter

Alexz Johnson became a mother and opened a Patreon and P.O. Box to connect with fans

Chris Gibson shared never before seen set photos with us

Erik von Detten joined Cameo

Kyla Pratt signed on to reprise her role as Penny Proud in The Proud Family revival

Dave Squatch Ward hosted FB livestreams with his band and performed solo on YouTube

Erik and Patrick teamed up for a Brink! Reunion

Henry Winkler attended (virtual) SDCC, published another book in his Alien Superstar series, and turned 75

Dionne Warwick turned 80 in between being on The Masked Singer, hosting the National Covid-19 Remembrance, and becoming a Twitter icon

And that was all before a design from one of our forum members made it to Jon Cooksey for Christmas!

Phew... Still there?

One more thing: THANK YOU for helping keep this blog - and the other So Weird accounts - active. Every read/like/comment/listen/reblog are small gestures that add up to a big impact. It keeps the faith for our favorite show and momentum going for the community that's grown around it. 👽

2020 wasn’t easy, but if you’re reading this, you made it through. No matter where you are or how you celebrate, we wish you a safe and lovely New Year.

💕 Thank you for letting So Weird be part of your life, and we’ll see you in 2021 to help that continue.

[lppunk]

[thats-so-weird]

Why I Love So Weird

Words cannot express how much this show means to me. It has been a constant in my life since I first discovered it at six years old in 1999.

As a kid, it had all of the story elements I loved: a girl with a sense of adventure, scary moments, humor, and quintessential late 90s-00s fashion.

It was there for me when three of my best friends moved away and when my fourth and final best friend transferred schools. Not only did Rebecca give me something to cry to when I needed it, Fi gave me someone to model-- a girl who was okay being away from her best friend. As a kid who found herself without a best friend nearby, that was a big deal.

In my middle school years, I spent my afterschool hours scouring the internet for any traces of the show I could find. It led me to So Weird communities on LiveJournal and Geocities and stories on fanfiction.net and became my first introduction to fandom (and crackshipping-- that Molly/Carey love site brought so much laughter into my life and I will never forget it).

It also led me to youtube in 2005 when episodes were uploaded there and I got to rewatch the series for the first time since it had stopped airing. When rewatching the episodes wasn’t enough, I found fanvids and when the ones I found weren’t enough, I created my first youtube channel and made my own.

I still have my journal from when I was 12 years old and can still feel the anger burning through that entry on the day So Weird episodes were stricken from youtube due to a copyright claim from Disney. I had just discovered what nostalgia was and was still so in love with So Weird that to have it taken away from me was heartbreaking. Not long after, I convinced my dad to buy me bootleg DVDs. He said I’d regret it when Disney released the show in high quality a few months or year later. He was wrong.

Throughout my teenage and college years and into the present, I’ve continued to watch and rewatch this series. I just love it. The humor, the wit, the drama, the life advice, the depth of the characters and plot... everything about this show <3

I loved it long before my dad died, but when he did this show helped me cope unlike anything else. When I couldn’t express what I was feeling, I could vid the Phillips family in their grief and let out some of my own. It was immensely cathartic.

I’ve loved it on my own, and I’ve loved it with other fans though livestreams and tumblr and forums and the SW Podcast. I loved it when I six and if I live to be sixty, I’ll love it then, too.

When I first rewatched the series at 12, I loved it because it was my first taste of nostalgia. But my love for So Weird goes way beyond that. I don’t love the show now because I loved it when I was 6. I’ve grown up with the sho. I have allowed the show to shape who I am as a human being because it was a solid moral compass wrapped up in dark storylines and light delivery.

So Weird has a very special place in my heart and always will.

[klairabelle]

So Weird - Favorite Episode - Strange Geometry

There are so many episodes that can qualify as a favorite. Though, Strange Geometry is one that really satisfies all that I want to see in an episode. I love seeing Molly record a music video and having fun banter with ex band-mate John Kane, who is amazing side character we got to meet here. I also love seeing Fiona, Jack, and Carey explore the abandoned building they are shooting Molly’s music video in. That just is a guilty pleasure for me, seeing my favorite character doing the hobby that I love of exploring. I also enjoyed seeing Fiona using what she learned of the Fibonacci sequence to investigate the building further and finding a secret room that led to a portal to the spirit world! Isn’t that the coolest thing you want to see in a kid’s show? I sure thought so!! I’ve always had the wanderlust of exploring and finding a secret room that led to something amazing and otherworldly. I also can’t forget to mention the drama of the episode. Fi makes a tough, heroic decision of saving lost souls instead of having a chance to speak to her father. This leads to the climax of the season, with Molly finally confessing to Fi about Rick’s same interests in the paranormal. The argument between them was so raw and real. You just don’t see that in kid’s shows now a days. 

I love the emotion, I love the drama, I love the adventure that this episode brings. 

[soweirdondisney]

It’s been 20 years since “Twin” premiered!

A last minute rewrite for the cast and crew, the end of Fi’s era, a series finale for some viewers, one of the last moments before a network’s overhaul - this episode was I👏CON👏IC👏.

It’s impossible to think about So Weird and not recall the emotional impact of Twin’s final moments.

After years of following in Rick’s footsteps, Fi’s statement from an earlier episode was realized when her faith was tested like never before.

“The more I see, the more I believe, only love is stronger than evil.”

[soweirdondisney]

“Transplant” and “Twin” both turned 20 this week!

Check out this promo from the event, and join our discussion about the episodes over on the So Weird twitter page.

[soweirdondisney]

So Weird, officially available to watch on Disney+

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the debut of So Weird and what a year it’s been! While it seemed that Disney wanted to forever sweep this show under the rug with no mention of it ever in any way, fans still kept the spirit alive through blogs, reviews, fan videos, fan fiction, art, discussion, and even a podcast. The show later earned “cult classic” status by reviewers and article writers. 

Thank you to Disney+ for making this great show finally available but most importantly, thanks to the fans who stuck around after 15-20 years by keeping the faith.