Questionable Things We Ignored In That's So Raven
"That's So Raven" was one of Disney Channel's biggest success stories. Starring Raven-Symoné, the teen sitcom about a young psychic trying to make sense of her visions of the future got consistently high ratings and even produced two spin-off shows, the short-lived "Cory in the House" and the currently airing "Raven's Home." Not only was the series very funny to watch, but it also had special episodes dedicated to tackling real-life issues like racism, healthy eating, and body positivity.
The series is filled with many iconic moments and phrases, but it also features a fair share of questionable ones. Most of these usually involve some inappropriate jokes or weird plot inconsistencies that were never explained. It's understandable that you might not have noticed some of these when you were young, but more observant adults will definitely pick up on these if they watch today. Here are some of "That's So Raven's" most questionable moments.
The other teen psychics
For most of the series, Raven is the only psychic on the show. However, certain episodes see her interacting with others who have the same gifts. Raven's grandmother Viv (Jenifer Lewis) reveals herself to be a psychic in the episode "To See or Not to See," when she uses her visions to get ahead of the pranks played by Raven's brother, Cory (Kyle Massey). Raven's friend Chelsea (Anneliese van der Pol) begins dating a psychic boy in "Double Vision," and the two use their combined powers to save Chelsea's school event. And her other friend, Eddie (Orlando Brown), briefly gets psychic powers in "He's Got the Power," allowing him to get visions whenever he wants. Raven even encounters a whole group of teens with various powers in "Saving Psychic Raven," with abilities ranging from telekinesis to pyrokinesis.
All of Raven's encounters with new psychics are short-lived. The series never bothers to elaborate on the mythology of how psychic powers work in this world, so many of these instances become one-offs. The sequel series "Raven's Home" has given Raven's son Booker powers, but the original series squanders any chance to expand the supernatural part of the show.
Raven's disguises
Most episodes of "That's So Raven" follow a similar formula: Raven has a vision, misinterprets it, gets her friends or family in trouble, and has to find a way to make things right. Usually, Raven's attempts to correct her mistakes involve her donning outrageous disguises so that no one will recognize her. From pop superstar Liz Anya to spacey folk singer Sunshine, Raven gives us multiple crazy characters. Each one has a strange voice, wears over-the-top clothes, and has a very extra personality that usually leads to some of the show's most memorable quotes.
As iconic as these disguises are, it's hard to believe that Raven is able to get away with so many over four seasons. It's similar to the debate regarding the illogical premise of "Hannah Montana." People who have been around Raven long enough would be able to recognize her face and voice easily. Also, where does Raven get the money to purchase all of these disguises? Several episodes show her struggling with money. Does she spend it all on these costumes?
Cory's crush on Chelsea
Early episodes of "That's So Raven" see Cory crushing hard on Chelsea. He calls her "baby" every chance he gets and constantly hits on her, much to Chelsea's dismay. There are times when Cory's crush on Chelsea is cute and funny, but much of the time it goes a little too far. In the episode "Driven to Insanity," when Chelsea and Eddie babysit Cory, Cory tortures Eddie into leaving the house in order to spend some alone time with Chelsea. The torture includes stealing Eddie's clothes while he's in the shower and locking him out of the house while throwing eggs at him.
There are also times when Cory is a little inappropriate with Chelsea. In the episode "A Dog by Any Other Name," Chelsea mocks Cory for wearing childish pajamas, and he responds by saying he'll wear them if it "turns her on." Since Cory is still a small child at the time, it's shocking to hear him talking about turning women on. Luckily, Cory grows out of his obsession as the series progresses. His character later focuses on get-rich-quick schemes, which became his defining character trait for both this show and "Cory in the House."
Chelsea and Eddie's moves
The friendship between Raven, Eddie, and Chelsea is tight for the entire show. However, there are times when the group fractures for silly reasons. One of these instances is in the episode "Out of Control." Eddie and Chelsea are avoiding and keeping secrets from Raven, which causes her to get suspicious. Things get worse when Raven has a vision that appears to show her two friends about to kiss. She follows them to Chelsea's house disguised as a plumber, but is unable to get any info out of them. When she confronts them about it near the end of the episode, Eddie and Chelsea talk happily talk about doing some of their "moves" on stage for everyone to see.
In reality, Eddie and Chelsea are practicing dance moves as part of a performance for the opening night of a new restaurant. But Raven didn't know that before, and while she never explicitly accuses them, the "moves" Raven is thinking about are clearly not stuff that children and families should see. At least everything is resolved in the end when Eddie and Chelsea begin their performance.
Tanya and Victor's alone time
The restaurant where Eddie and Chelsea perform is called The Chill Grill, owned by Raven's father Victor (Rondell Sheridan). He and his wife Tanya (T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh) always do their best to raise Raven and Cory right, but they're also adults who like their alone time. Whenever Raven and Cory aren't around, Victor and Tanya look for ways to "have some fun." It usually begins with the two on the couch happily exclaiming that the kids aren't home, before slowly approaching each other ready to kiss.
Inevitably, whenever this happens, Victor and Tanya get interrupted; sometimes they even do it to themselves. One instance has Tanya ready to give Victor a big kiss, only for Victor to jump up and get the door because his pizza order arrives. In another instance, during a Halloween episode, both look like they're ready to make out, but instead start gorging on their kids' Halloween candy. It may be a little suggestive to make this joke numerous times, but at least Victor and Tanya still love each other enough to try.
How Victor helped
Victor and Tanya are good parents, but that doesn't stop them from being embarrassing sometimes. One of their best moments was in "That's So Not Raven," an episode that packs a lot of great jokes in between some important messages about the dangers of body shaming. In the episode's climax, Raven decides to walk the runway wearing a dress she made for herself after the head of a modeling agency told Raven that her figure wasn't right for the stage. As Raven confidently models her work, Victor and Tanya cheer her on. Victor proudly proclaims that his "baby" made that dress, and Tanya joins in saying, "And I made that baby!" Victor then happily responds with, "And I helped!"
The entire room stops what they're doing to look at Victor in disgust, and he sits back down, embarrassed. Don't worry, Victor. We all knew what you did to "help" Raven get "made." At least, the adults in the room know.
Where Tanya went
By the time "That's So Raven" ends, Victor is the only parental figure on the show. So, what happens to Tanya? Around the beginning of Season 3, Tanya decides to go back to school to become a lawyer. During the rest of the season, her character appears less and less on the show. In fact, Tanya only appears in 17 of that season's 35 episodes. Every other main character appears in every episode of that season. Her final appearance is in the Season 3 episode "Food for Thought."
In the beginning of Season 4, Victor explains that Tanya got a scholarship to study law in England, and her character is effectively written out. Her character still gets mentioned both on the main show and the spin-offs, but she's never on screen again. In reality, Keymáh chose to leave the show partially due to having to take care of her dying grandmother. It's understandable that the actress chose to leave, but the show still should have addressed her exit in a better way. While Tanya isn't the heart of the show, she's still an important character to Raven and the gang, and her absence is definitely felt.
The food court episode
As previously stated, Tanya's last episode is Season 3's "Food for Thought," another episode with an important message tied to it. This time, it was about eating healthily and enjoying your favorite foods in moderation. A new lunch program at Raven's school brings a food court to her cafeteria, serving unhealthy and fattening foods to the teens. After Raven has a vision that she and the other students will suffer serious health issues if the food court continues, she and Chelsea attempt to educate their classmates on the dangers of too much fast food.
As important as the message is, the entire episode just feels weird. As pointed out here, why would a school allow such an unhealthy eating option into their cafeteria? The extra-large portions that they serve students are especially bewildering. Raven's hot dog ends up being a yard long, and Eddie's onion rings are the size of his head—not exactly economical. The episode even ends with Raven wearing a jumpsuit filled with air to simulate weight gain. The suit overinflates and pops, causing Raven to fly around the cafeteria like a balloon. It's a very strange ending to an already strange episode.
Crashing her boyfriend's father's wedding
Raven has many love interests throughout the series. The most prominent is Devon Carter (Jonathan McDaniel), her boyfriend for most of Season 2. During the episode "There Goes The Bride," Raven learns that Devon is moving away after his father gets remarried. Raven attempts to crash the wedding to convince Devon's father to stay. She ends up impersonating the bride and is forced to walk down the aisle.
Since she is wearing a bridal veil, no one knows that the bride is really Raven. Without taking it off, Raven tells Devon's father that she loves his son, causing the whole wedding party to gasp. Raven then explains that she's only 15, further shocking and disgusting others. Raven finally takes off the veil to reveal who she really is. In the span of one scene, we get two jokes about someone being in a relationship with an underage teen. Not really something kids should joke about.
The Juicer
Introduced in Season 4, The Juicer (Dan Mott) is a bully who torments Cory when he starts junior high. The Juicer is mean to Cory every chance he gets, but they also strike up a reluctant friendship in certain episodes. His name comes from the fact that he can "squeeze the juice" out of anything, even if it contains no fluid. You can see The Juicer squeezing the juice out of lunch bags filled with food, which doesn't look too out of place, but there are times The Juicer gets the extract out of some of the most random objects. In one episode, he's able to squeeze the juice out of a basketball, and another episode sees him squeezing juice out of a pack of cigarettes.
Not only is this running gag illogical, but it is also incredibly gross. Seeing unidentifiable liquids pouring out of random objects is stomach-churning. Thankfully, it only happens in a few episodes.
The pick-up line gadget
Another character who constantly annoys Cory is Stanley (Bobb'e J. Thompson), Eddie's next-door neighbor. His initial appearances saw him obsessively crushing on Raven, but as the series progresses, his role changed into that of a conman selling Cory shady products that never work.
In "Fur Better or Worse," Stanley gets Eddie and Cory to help him sell a gadget that emits pick-up lines to women with a press of a button. Unsurprisingly, the gadget doesn't work. Eddie ends up getting beaten up by the women he tries to pick up with the scam device. After all the times Stanley played them before, Cory and Eddie shouldn't have thought his gadget would work. Even if it did, is this really something people should buy? The pick-up lines themselves aren't good at all, with crass jokes and cheap shots at foreign accents. Overall, this is a subplot that's both questionable and unfunny.