22 'Lizzie McGuire' Episodes, Ranked From Least To Most Iconic

Let this be an early reminder that Gordo's nice guy reputation is built on a throne of lies: in this episode, he films all his classmates without their consent and captures their most embarrassing moments, then exposes them publicly. Props for getting in on the reality TV game early, I guess. Gordo definitely has a job at Bravo in 2019.

Who could forget Lizzie being dragged along by her family to an embarrassing Wild West theme park? Me, kind of. Familial humiliation was a recurrent theme on this show, so it can't go unremarked upon. This episode also focused on Lizzie growing up and leaving behind childish things — though she still shows up for a nostalgic Western singalong with her parents.

Lizzie becomes a tween athlete for a single episode, then fears that she's losing her femininity because Ethan Craft calls her "dude" one too many times. In 2003, Lizzie learned that she could be feminine and athletic all at once, but hopefully in 2019 she'd learn that she doesn't have to be feminine at all if she doesn't want to be.

In the Season 1 finale, Gordo feels self-conscious about his own masculinity and decides to usher himself into adulthood with a Bar Mitzvah. It's a typical coming of age experience for many kids, but the show tailors it to Gordo's personality and explores what it means for him.

This episode has one of those fan fiction school assignments that has never happened in the real world anywhere, but makes for delightful TV drama. Lizzie's class is paired off into faux spouses (which Dawson's Creek also did several years earlier) so they can... learn about adult responsibilities? I don't know. Miranda makes Lizzie jealous by being partnered with Ethan (would ship), while Lizzie and Gordo implode because their relationship would never actually work. I said it.

Sadly, Lizzie does not go the full Tracy Flick in "Election," but she does have a total personality transplant all the same. She decides to represent the "normal" kids in the school election against nerd Larry Tudgeman and popular girl Claire Miller. But success goes to Lizzie's head and she abandons her friends to chill with the drama club, then loses anyway because she lost sight of herself. Deep.

Lizzie endures a date with the much-maligned Larry in this episode, but has a surprising amount of fun with him once they're out. It doesn't hurt that his "weekend shirt" gives him a style upgrade. It doesn't work out between them in the end, to which I say: missed opportunity. Larry had hidden depths!

The tables turn on Lizzie in "Just Friends," in which she is the Larry to Ethan Craft's Lizzie. She invites Ethan to a Sadie Hawkins dance (again, I ask: is this a real thing that happens in actual schools?) but he turns her down because he sees her as a pal. Lizzie's response is to pull a Sandy in Grease and change herself so Ethan will like her; Ethan thinks it's cool that they have so much in common all of a sudden, but still doesn't like her-like her. Lizzie slow dances with Gordo as a consolation prize and learns something about feelings. Don't change yourself for a man? You can't make someone like you? Something like that.

Long before Lizzie puts on a brown wig and pretends to be Italian, she has a much more lowkey brush with fame. When Frankie Muniz himself arrives in town to film a movie, he and Lizzie strike up an unexpected friendship. She learns that teen fame is tough, and works well enough with Muniz to end up in Agent Cody Banks later on.

Growing up involves trying out different aspects of your identity, and in "Bad Girl McGuire," Lizzie does just that. A new friendship with troublesome Angel results in Lizzie adopting her style and bad behavior. In the end, Lizzie is too much of a goody-two-shoes and abandons Angel for her old friends. Also, is it just me, or does Lizzie's bad girl drag seem to be copying a classic Miranda hairdo?

This is the very first episode of the show, and it puts Lizzie in hot water fast. Even in 2001, technology could destroy your life, which Lizzie learns when a private IM she sent to Miranda ends up all over school. She has gossiped about Kate allegedly stuffing her bra, which does not endear her to her former bestie. I assume the revival will open with Lizzie accidentally sending a private text to her group text thread and disrupting her entire adult life.

Personally, I always had a soft spot for Lizzie and Kate's friendship-turned-rivalry, especially in episodes like this. Every so often they would realize that they still got along pretty well, despite Kate's relentless rudeness. It was a nice hint at the complicated nature of teen friendships, though it was rarely in the spotlight on the show.

When revisiting a young adult show as a real adult, you may find yourself more sympathetic to the moms than ever before. Lizzie learns her mom is much cooler than she seems during a school camping trip in "When Moms Attack." Lizzie was always relatively close with her parents, but it was still nice to see them bond.

Gordo gets the opportunity to jump ahead to high school, which seems like a great idea at first. Lizzie and Miranda encourage him to move on since high school seems a lot more fun than junior high. But they miss him too much when he actually goes through with it. And Gordo has trouble adjusting to high school because he's younger (and shorter) than everyone there. He returns to his pals in the end, crisis averted.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that nothing is more fun that sticking your characters in zany costumes. The murder mystery party in "Clue-Less" allows everyone to dress up and try out some shaky accents, which is a fun departure from the rest of the show. The only downside is that Gordo is nasty to Lizzie the whole time because he has a crush on her (teen boys, why?) and she ends up capitulating to his nonsense to make him feel better. Lizzie, next time you should just destroy him.

Lizzie decides to try and snag Best Dressed in the yearbook by sporting a part of hideously bedazzled 2002-appropriate jeans. Sadly, that probably would have worked at the time. Her mom won't buy them for her because they're ridiculously expensive and tries to teach Lizzie about bargain hunting, to no avail. Lizzie loses the title, ruins the expensive pants, and is humbled. Hopefully she absorbed those thrifty lessons, because they'll serve her well living in NYC as an adult.

Lizzie takes on an advice column in "Dear Lizzie" despite the fact that she is generally the person who needs to be advised. Maybe that's why she ends up being so good at it. Unfortunately, it becomes too overwhelming and Lizzie is ready to quit — but she decides to take on just one more letter, from a guy with a crush on his best friend. She doesn't know it at the time, but the letter is from Gordo. She tells him to follow his heart, but Gordo chooses to keep his secret a little bit longer. And shippers had nowhere to vent their feelings about it, because Twitter hadn't been invented yet.

Ah, the very special episode. Like many tough topics dealt with on relatively light shows, Miranda's eating disorder doesn't exactly get an in-depth exploration in "Inner Beauty." The superficial message is a decent one: Miranda is encouraged to stop dieting and try to be comfortable with her body, culminating in a triumphant music video dance alongside Lizzie. But it treats an eating disorder like an easy fix, which it isn't in the real world.

Yet another celebrity cameo! I don't know about you, but this episode was a big deal when I was 11 years old. Pop star Aaron Carter inexplicably arrives in town just in time for Christmas, and to share a random smooch with Lizzie. The hearts of pre-teen girls everywhere were heard exploding. Somehow, Lizzie completely forgets about it by Season 2, when she has a second first kiss with someone else.

This episode will live in infamy. Lizzie tries to sneak a bra purchase past her mother by being a total brat, but ultimately has to turn to Mom for help. Bra sizing is basically alchemy, so I get it. Does Lizzie actually get a bra? I have no idea. But I do recall her screaming "I WANT A BRA" in the McGuire kitchen, to the horror of all.

This was a big episode. Lizzie gets her first boyfriend (and first kiss, not counting Aaron Carter), but he breaks her heart so he can date a girl at his own school. Teen boys, I swear. Gordo helps cheer Lizzie up in yet another hint at his secret crush on her. It's a sweet and emotional episode that leans on the show's relatable strengths without much of its surreal silliness. I remember that I taped it on VHS and brought it to my middle school cafeteria the next day so a friend could watch it. That’s the way we had to live before streaming. That's how major this episode was for us.

Lizzie McGuire has undoubtably made an impact on many of the viewers who grew up alongside her, so it's exciting to see where the decades have taken her now.