Disney Channel (2009-2016)

Disney Channel (originally called The Disney Channel from 1983 to 1997 and commonly shortened to Disney from 1997 to 2002) is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of owner Disney Channels Worldwide unit of the Walt Disney Television subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.

"Aw phooey!" -Donald Duck to this era of Disney Channel

While the channel was great from 1983-2008 and 2017 onwards were well received, the same can't be said for 2009 to 2016.

Why Most of Them Weren't Magical

1. The main problem with this era of the channel was that they didn't stay true to the channel's original routes and lacked the charm, wit, and creativity of the sitcoms from 1983-2008 and 2017 onwards and they shared many of the same problems as the modern Nickcoms and Viacom's reality shows.
2. Many bad sitcoms from this era, such as:
   • So Random (a bad spin-off to Sonny with a Chance)
   • Jonas (which started the downfall of the Disney Channel sitcoms)
   • Shake it Up
   • A.N.T. Farm
   • So Random!
   • Dog with a Blog
   • The first two seasons of Bizaardvark
3. Terrible writing that consisted of the following things:
   • Poorly executed or done parodies.
   • Unfunny puns and/or jokes that dragged on for far too long, gross-out humor, and generally obnoxiously annoying humor.
   • Insulting the intelligence of their audience and treating them like a bunch of idiots.
   • Pure filler padded in whenever needed.
   • Mean-spirited moments.
   • Childish/nonsensical plots.
4. Some of the Disney Channel songs were terrible.
5. The channel was involved in many controversies:
   • The channel pulled episodes (even once having to reshoot an episode) that featured subject matter deemed inappropriate due to its humor, the timing of the episode's airing with real-life events, or subject matter considered inappropriate for Disney Channel's target audience.
   • In November 2008, the Hannah Montana episode "No Sugar, Sugar" was pulled before its broadcast after complaints from parents who saw the episode through video-on-demand services due to misconceptions regarding diabetics and sugar intake (the Mitchel Musso character of Oliver Oken is revealed in the episode to have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes). Portions of that episode were subsequently rewritten and re-filmed to become the season three episode "Uptight (Oliver's Alright)," which aired in September 2009
   • In December 2011, Disney Channel pulled episodes from two of its original series from the network's broadcast cycle – the season one Shake It Up episode "Party It Up" and the So Random! episode "Colbie Caillat" – after Demi Lovato (star of So Random! parent series Sonny with a Chance, who was treated for bulimia nervosa in 2010) objected on Twitter to jokes featured in both episodes (the Shake It Up episode, in particular) that made light of eating disorders.
   • On May 17, 2013, the channel pulled "Quitting Cold Koala", a second-season episode of Jessie, prior to its scheduled premiere broadcast, due to parental concerns over a scene in which a character's gluten-free diet leads to him being ridiculed.
   • The governments of Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Pakistan banned the Indian feeds of Disney Channel and Disney XD in 2013 because the program Doraemon was being continuously broadcast throughout the day in Hindi rather than in English, over fears that it would have a negative impact on their children as the shows were mainly aired in Hindi.
6. The acting ranged from being mediocre to laughably bad.
7. Bad morals. For instance, A.N.T. Farm said that you shouldn't stand up for someone when they're getting bullied.
8. They sometimes had unlikable, one-dimensional, obnoxious, annoying, stereo-typical, unoriginal, or cliched characters.
   • Lexi Reed from A.N.T. Farm was a rip-off of Jade West from Victorious, and that character herself was no better.
9. They tried too hard to be hip, modern, cool, and edgy with kids.
10. The sets looked very cheap, boring, and pathetic.
11. Some sitcoms had no character development or redemption.

Magical Qualities

1. These shows did have some good and/or decent episodes.
2. Some of the shows had creative concepts, but were poorly executed.
3. Some shows had a few funny moments and jokes that worked.
4. There were some good/decent sitcoms in this era, such as:
   • Sonny with a Chance
   • Good Luck Charlie
   • Jessie
   • Austin & Ally
   • Liv and Maddie
   • I Didn't Do It
   • Girl Meets World
   • K.C. Undercover
   • Best Friends Whenever
   • The first two seasons of Bunk'd
5. Some of them had good acting, mainly with the good Disney Channel sitcoms in this era.
   • MOST of the bad sitcom shows had good endings! Here are the examples: "Band of Brothers", "Remember Me", "The New York ExperiANTs" and "Stan's Secret Is Out" were good examples of how to end the series.
6. The theme songs were usually catchy.
7. Some of the Disney Channel sitcoms in this era, such as Shake it Up and A.N.T. Farm, did slightly improve over time.
8. Unlike the modern Nickcoms, Disney Channel's sitcoms have improved and gotten redemption since 2013 and it massively redeemed itself in 2017, unlike Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.

Reception

Disney Channel's sitcoms from 2009 to 2016 have received mixed reception from critics, audiences, and fans of the network. The network became notorious for its focus on teen sitcoms and idols.

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