Raven's Home
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Raven's Home is an American comedy and family television series created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman and developed by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas that premiered on Disney Channel on July 21, 2017 and ended on September 3, 2023. It is the second spin-off to That's So Raven, the first being Cory In The House.
Plot
Seasons 1-4
Best friends Raven and Chelsea, both divorced single mothers, are now raising their children in an apartment together in Chicago. Their house is turned upside down when they realize one of Raven's children, Booker, has inherited the same psychic abilities as his mother.
Seasons 5 & 6
Follow the hilarious adventures driven by somewhat psychic Raven Baxter and her son Booker, who has inherited his momâs gift to catch glimpses of the future. Raven and Booker move back to San Francisco to help take care of her dad, Victor, after a mild heart attack. Now Raven finds herself parenting her parent, raising her young cousin, Alice, who attends a school for gifted children and is wise beyond her years, and settling into life in her old hometown. Meanwhile, Booker is âthe new kidâ at Ravenâs old high school, Bayside High, and has to keep his visions a secret from a new group of friends, including Victorâs young neighbors, Neil, enterprising Ivy Chen, who babysits Alice, and Cami Rivera, a popular and ambitious girl with a rebellious streak, although Ivy and Neil find out about his visions later in the season. Ravenâs arch-nemesis Alana Rivera is now the principal at Bayside High.
Why Her Home Rocks
- Very likable new characters, such as Booker, Nia, Levi and Tess, and the original characters from the original show are refreshingly the same as they've always been, except Devon is arguably better.
- The child actors are amazing actors for their age, as they manage to make their characters believable and sympathetic in every situation they face.
- Hilarious humor that's funny as the original, like the first episode when Chelsea bends for a kiss and her son Levi kisses her on the forehead and says "Make good choices".
- Teaches great life lessons, especially when it comes to family.
- Ended Disney's dork age (along with Andi Mack, Milo Murphy's Law, and DuckTales (2017 TV series)).
- Sometimes has sweet moments and sad plot-lines, such as Booker and Nia's father having to leave them for a certain opportunity.
- Accurately shows us what Raven Baxter's life will be like when she's in her 30s.
- Awesome intro.
- Most of the episodes don't focus on the one character or one set of characters along, it rotates and nicely focuses on all of the characters.
- Very well-written episodes that don't just rely on nostalgia.
- It brought back a classic Disney Channel star, Raven-Symoné. The show is so aware of this, that the first episode is even titled "Baxter's Back!"
- The first four seasons is filmed in front of a live studio audience, so it has genuine laughs from a real audience instead of painful laugh tracks.
- However, the last two seasons is not filmed in front of a live audience, likely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Sometimes deals with serious issues, such as family members in jail, self-insecurity and of course, divorce.
- The crossover with Bunkâd is decent.
- Raven returns to her original house from her original show in the fifth season premiere after That's So Raven aired its last episode in 2007. Raven's dad, Victor Baxter is now part of this show's cast (even though he did a guest appearance in the season 2 episode "Just Call Me Vic") during this season along with 3 new child characters like Booker's cousin Alice, and his new friend neighbors Neil and Ivy after Nia, Tess, Levi, and Chelsea left after season 4.
- Raven's mother, Tanya Baxter return as guest appearance in the show during the season 5 episode "Bridge Over Troubled Daughter" after years of leaving the original show in 2006.
- Chelsea return in the 100th episode "Keeping it 100" after being removed in Season 5.
- Tess returns to Raven's Home in the Season 6 episode titled "Tess Friends Forever."
- Some season 5 episodes borrowed some clips from the 2003 series for the flashbacks.
- This is the first series in the Raven franchise to ever get a season 5 as well as the second Disney Channel original live-action series to be renewed for season 5. The first was Bunk'd.
- Coincidentally, they're both spinoffs.
- The final episode "Whose Line is it Anyway?" was a good way to end series.
Bad Qualities
- The character Tess may have been created just for the writers to try and be cool and hip with the kids. She is also literally a copy of Eddie from the original show.
- Booker is a punching bag as he doesn't get as much respect as everyone else.
- The children can be annoying sometimes.
- Raven's friend Eddie Thomas and her little brother Cory Baxter had never come back for guest appearances in this show. It may be because Kyle Massey got arrested for texting a teenage minor back in mid-summer of 2021, as well Orlando Brown being a drug-addict and has faced various legal and personal challenges over the years, which might be why Disney chose not to bring him back for the spinoff.
- Mitch is a painfully unlikable character and a genuinely unnecessary addition to the show, thankfully, he was removed after season 2.
- There are other recurring characters that are unlikable such as Sienna and Zeena
- Shameless and blatant product placement for a Disney show such as iPhone, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Hershey's, Market Pantry, Starbucks, Ghirardelli, and among others.
- The fifth season (despite Raven Baxter returning to her old house from her original show while she brought Booker there) made Raven's Home to be considered it's own separate show due to the way they removed Nia, Levi, Tess, and Chelsea. It felt more like a That's So Raven reboot than an actual season, but without her mom, her friend Eddie, and her brother Cory Baxter.
- There are many episodes in the last two seasons that do not have any visions which is very stupid.
- The last two seasons while good, was unnecessary as the 4th season would be a perfect way to end the series.
Reception
After the popular (and questionable) disappointment of Girl Meets World, another spin-off of a classic sitcom, a lot of people were skeptical about Raven's Home when discovering it for the first time, as expected. However, the majority were so loyal to the original show That's So Raven that they had the courage to try watching Raven's Home, and most of them were pleasantly surprised. Many claimed Raven's Home to be a "breath of fresh and familiar air" and that it made "Disney Channel fun to watch again". Many nostalgic fans, new fans and critics have agreed that Raven's Home saved Disney Channel from going completely downhill, much like The Loud House did with Nickelodeon. As a result, the show managed to get an 7.2/10 rating on IMDb.