Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Proud Family: Louder And Prouder’ On Disney+, Where Penny Proud And Her Funny Family Make A Comeback (2024)

Anyone who remembersThe Proud Family, which aired on The Disney Channel from 2001-05, remembers that it was a lot more sophisticated than the average Disney family fare. It was funny, it explored issues in a way that was both funny and thought-provoking, and it had an ensemble of characters that were well-rounded and distinctive. Sixteen years after the last episode aired, a new series with Penny Proud and her family is now streaming on Disney+.

THE PROUD FAMILY: LOUDER AND PROUDER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We see a magic sparkle in the sky split apart and go all over the town where Penny Proud (Kyla Pratt) lives. She wakes up and notices that she’s suddenly shot up almost a foot and a half, and suddenly she’s developed on top and bottom. In other words, Penny is growing up.

The Gist: Penny may be changing, but things around the Proud house are pretty much the same state of chaos they’ve always been. Her dad Oscar (Tommy Davidson) is trying to invent some gummy edible goo with the help of Penny’s twin toddler siblings BeBe and CeCe (Aiden Dodson, Bresha Webb). Her mother Trudy (Paula Jai Parker) is going to start a mobile veterinary lab, which Oscar’s industrious brother Bobby (Cedric The Entertainer) has tweaked a bit.

Oscar sees his blossoming 14-year-old daughter and immediately objects, throwing her in a suit of armor. Suga Mama (Jo Marie Payton) comes in, smashes her cane on her son’s foot, and tells him that he’s being overprotective.

Penny meets her buddies Dijonay Jones (Karen Malina White), LaCienega Boulevardez (Alisa Reyes), Michael Collins (EJ Johnson) and Zoey Howser (Soleil Moon Frye). All of them have been touched by the magic of puberty: Dijonay is more extra than usual, Michael has his usual put-together look; Zoey is so tall her legs look like stilts, and LaCienega has so much hair and acne on her face she hides under her hood.

They go to Sticky Webb’s house, mainly so Dijonay can harass him some more, but run into the Gross Sisters (Raquel Lee). They no longer bully the neighborhood kids; they now manage hip-hop acts and more or less intimidate people into using their clients. For the dance that the friends are organizing, they want them to use a new client who dresses like a baby.

Much to Dijonay’s dismay, Sticky has moved to Japan and a new family is at his house. Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins (Keke Palmer) and her brother KG (“A Boogie” Dubose) move around a lot due to the jobs of their fathers Barry and Randall (Zachary Quinto, Billy Porter). Penny immediately tries to ingratiate herself to Maya, but she’s having none of it.

Maya repeatedly turns away Penny’s attempts at being friends, eventually telling her that she sees superficial types like her at every school she goes to. Penny tries to prove that she’s deep by volunteering to help her protest the captivity of a panda at the local zoo. She ducks out of the dance to do it, but finds out that Maya wants to do more than just protest: She wants to liberate the panda. When they get to his cage, they find out, though, that the panda is just fine where he is, causing Penny to go off on Maya and tell her what shereallythinks.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is a continuation of The Proud Family, created by Bruce W. Smith, which ran on the Disney Channel from 2001-05. But its family sitcom vibe also reminds us of a more manic version of a show likeMy Wife And Kids.

Our Take: One of the reasons why we enjoyed the original run ofThe Proud Family so much is that it’s sensibility is more like a family sitcom rather than being purely a kids’ show. Ralph Farquhar, a sitcom veteran, co-created this new series with Smith (Jan Hirota and Calvin Brown Jr. join them as producers), and that background is evident inLouder and Prouder.

Not only does each half-hour episode pack in a lot of story, like its predecessor, the show isn’t afraid of showing extreme sight gags and a lot of physical comedy. Those gags can come fast and furious, but a lot of them land for the viewer, even ones as extreme as Oscar giving Penny a suit of armor. Later in the episode, he fits her with army fatigues so she can wear it to the dance, but she learns from Michael to “be ready”, simply unzipping the uniform to reveal the outfit underneath.

But there’s plenty of time for story, and lots of jokes that come from what we already know about the characters from the original show. You don’t really need to have watched the original show to appreciate the sequel, though, which is always a plus, especially when 16 years has elapsed between seasons.

It doesn’t take long for the show to dive into specifically 2022-era issues either. In episode 2, Penny tries to combat everyone’s blind following of an influencer named “Makeup Boy” by making her own social media videos. She soon becomes an influencer herself, and the power she has goes to her head. The show has never been afraid of diving into issue-oriented stories, and we hope to see more of that as the season goes along.

What Age Group Is This For?: The show is rated TV-PG, but we definitely think it’s good for the 7-and-up crowd. There are a few semi-suggestive scenes, like when Penny walks in on her disheveled parents, who may or may not have been fooling around. But it’s all pretty innocent stuff.

Parting Shot: Oscar, who crashed the dance, begrudgingly realizes that his little girl is growing up, and lets her dance with a boy. She takes the VR glasses off KG’s head and grabs him for a dance.

Sleeper Star: Suga Mama, who seems to be the hippest member of the Proud family, has always been this show’s secret weapon. She continues to be in this new series, thanks to the fun performance by Jo Marie Peyton.

Most Pilot-y Line: None we could see.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Even if you didn’t seeThe Proud Family the first time around, you’ll enjoyThe Proud Family: Louder And Prouder. It’s a funny family sitcom with well-drawn (and written!) characters. If you think it’s just a kids’ show, you’ll miss out on some pretty funny stuff.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

StreamThe Proud Family: Louder And Prouder On Disney+