A keen eye for 'tween' foibles

By Lynne Heffley

Jan. 17, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Can the Disney Channel strike “tween” gold twice?

Disney’s signature TV show, “Lizzie McGuire,” the hot, mega-merchandised series about a teenage girl’s comic but resonant coming-of-age experiences, is a competition leader in its time slot.

Hoping to keep “Lizzie”-style momentum going (the show’s a hit with girls ages 9 to 14 and draws women in the 25-to-54 age bracket as well), the Disney Channel is launching another girl-centric family sitcom. “That’s So Raven” begins with four back-to-back episodes, starting at 7 tonight.

Its star is the actress who cut her comedy teeth playing young Olivia on “The Cosby Show.” Then known as Raven-Symone, now simply called Raven, she plays young teen Raven Baxter on the new show.

Like “Lizzie,” the new series is all about great clothes and coping with school, friends and family. One difference is its central focus on broad physical humor, a la “I Love Lucy” -- although a closer comparison may be Nickelodeon’s notable “tween” star Amanda Bynes, who won raves for her comedy chops on “All That” and “The Amanda Show.” The other difference is a fantasy twist: The Raven Baxter character can see into the future -- just enough to get herself into trouble.

“She’s not powerful,” said Rich Ross, 40, the Disney Channel’s youthfully ebullient president of entertainment. “There’s no dark side. It’s not ‘Buffy,’ it’s not supernatural. In a way, it’s metaphorical. Teens and ‘tweens’ look at the world and they think they know what’s going to happen, but life throws some curveballs. When we tested the show with kids, the reaction was that seeing into the future is cool, but they loved that it’s comedy.”

Raven, 17, talks about the show with a sparkle in her big, exotic brown eyes and with a curling smile that hasn’t changed since she was giving comedy master Bill Cosby significant competition in the scene-stealing department. The show’s physically challenging, often slapstick material is a blast, she says.

A stunt coordinator “breaks everything down so that it’s easy to do all the pratfalls and stuff,” she says. “The challenge is not to laugh on the set. That’s the main thing I have a problem with.”

In one episode, Raven’s attempt to head off a parent-teacher meeting puts her in a fat suit. The young actress’ ability to improvise comic bits while in the costume impressed her Disney Channel boss. “She’s fearless,” Ross said.

The show, created by Susan Sherman and Michael Poryes, has also catapulted Raven headfirst into a basketball hoop while jumping on a trampoline in a barracuda mascot outfit; she’s been wheeled around in a full body cast; and she’s danced with a live python around her neck. With co-star Anneliese van der Pol, who plays best friend Chelsea, Raven has had to deliver lines while swinging wildly back and forth on a window-washer’s platform.

Raven’s co-stars -- Van der Pol, Orlando Brown as another buddy, Kyle Orlando Massey as her little brother, stage actor and comedian Rondell Sheridan as Raven’s chef dad, and “In Living Color” veteran T’Keyah Crystal Keymah -- take the comic spotlight too.

With the success of “Lizzie McGuire” and another sitcom, “Even Stevens,” pushing comedy has become a key strategy for the Disney Channel.

“We wanted a show that would allow a girl to do [comedy] that would appeal to boys and girls and their families,” Ross said, adding that the message of “That’s So Raven” is that it’s OK for a girl to be funny.

“And I love that the things Raven Baxter goes through in her life are the things that Raven really goes through,” Ross continued. “It’s that world -- one hand grasps the stuffed animal, the other hand grasps the cell phone.”

Disney’s attempt to reflect that “tween” world alluringly is part of its master plan to serve two groups of viewers: preschoolers, with an educationally and developmentally driven lineup that includes “Bear in the Big Blue House,” “Rolie Polie Olie” and “Stanley”; and 9-to-14-year-olds, who would traditionally move on to Nickelodeon and MTV.

Besides targeting a specific age group, the Disney Channel has also pursued what Ross said is “a mandate” to reflect the diversity of its audience. It’s not coincidental, he noted, that “That’s So Raven” is about an African American family. The cable channel’s message “from the get-go” was that it would represent its viewers.

“If you turn on our channel, you say, ‘There are a lot of kids and a lot of families and they’re all different shapes and sizes, generations and religions,’ ” Ross said.

But he added that what the shows have in common is a respect for family. “It’s not about perfect, it’s not about ‘Pollyanna’ or ‘Father Knows Best.’ It’s about realistic situations that can yield comedy, can yield drama, excitement and pathos, and at the end of the day, a kid looks at it and goes, ‘I get it. I see me there.’ ”

Except for Raven Baxter’s touch of psychic ability, actress Raven, who’s as quick to giggle as to turn thoughtful during an interview at Disney’s Burbank offices, does seem remarkably close to the effervescent character she plays.

A suggestion that juggling school and a TV series must be a challenge struck a nerve.

“It is,” she says. “Hey, you know, adults need to give the kids in this business more credit, because we have to be on set, plus three hours of school, so we have to know the whole script, plus the War of 1812 and take a test on it.”

Raven’s been meeting that particular challenge nearly all her life, going from “The Cosby Show” to “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper,” other TV shows and such feature films as Eddie Murphy’s two “Dr. Doolittle” movies. As a singer, she’s made two CDs, and she toured at age 13 with ‘N Sync. She’s just finished shooting an original Disney Channel movie, “Cheetah Girls,” about a girl singing group.

When asked whether she plans to go to college, Raven answers firmly: “Yes, ma’am. Hopefully, I will stay in the business, but it’s very flaky and you never know if you’re going to get a job. So when I go to college, what I major in is going to be something different than acting, just in case it doesn’t work out.”

And, if she could go back in time and talk with her 3-year-old self, what would she say?

“I would say, ‘Don’t change, ‘cause I think your future is going to go pretty well,’ ” she says. “I’m very happy with what I’ve done.”

‘That’s So Raven’

Where: Disney Channel

When: Premieres today, 7 p.m.; regular time slot: Fridays-Sundays, 7 p.m.