thats-so-weird

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Thoughts on So Weird's 25th Anniversary

It's hard to believe So Weird premiered 25 years ago. It feels like we JUST celebrated the 20th anniversary, but then again the pandemic has completely distorted my sense of time.

Maybe it's because I'm in my 30s now or maybe it's because I was fortunate enough to meet the wonderful actress who brought her to life, but I have discovered that I am in my Molly Phillips era and Molly has overthrown Jack as my fav.

I truly have had a different favorite character for different stages of my life and I love how as I grow older, I continue to love this show for different reasons.

Now as the show is 25, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the lost episode Chrysalis and the character Molly Phillips and the content that is on Disney Plus now and the content we were denied. It was such a missed opportunity.

At the time that So Weird was airing, I was 6-8 years old and my dad was struggling with a disease. I remember asking my mom what it was that my dad had that made him have to sleep on the couch or stay in the hospital and her just repeating "He has a disease!" until I stopped. It wasn't until I was adult that I learned he struggled with alcoholism.

At 6-8 years old, all I knew about diseases were that they could be caused by smoking and that they can kill you so I assumed it was related to his cigarette smoking and feared he was going to die. I also knew that he had stopped smoking for 4 years, around the time he and my mom got married. My sister and I are exactly 4 years and 6 days apart. At 6-8 years old I knew basic math and the conclusion that I came to was that having a second kid (me) must have bad so stressful it led him to smoking. I fully believed for my whole childhood that my mere existence was killing my dad by driving him to smoke.

That is some heavy shit to carry as a 7 year old and a whole lotta shit to unpack in therapy as an adult.

And it was all because everyone thought it was in my best interest not to explain things like alcoholism in a way that I could understand because they thought children shouldn't know about such things.

As a latchkey kid, I was raised by television as much as I was raised by my parents and if the execs at Disney would have allowed So Weird to do that issues show they were so afraid of, it could have been lifechanging. Being able to see my favorite characters discuss alcoholism and provide some context that shows and explains what it is in a way a kid could understand would have been so valuable.

But Disney was too afraid to do an issues show.

Earlier this year, I watched the new Goosebumps series on Disney+ and was surprised to see kids openly making fun of one of the moms for being a wino. I'm glad that Disney is no longer afraid to show real life situations in that alcohol is a thing that exists and kids (well, the ones who aren't extremely sheltered like I was) are aware of it. But as happy as I am to see Disney is evolving to include these elements and showing more kid-friendly horror, all I could think of was the missed opportunity they had with So Weird. They could have done so much good with Chrysalis.

One of my favorite things about So Weird as a kid was that I never felt like I was being talked down to.

As an adult, I absolutely love the depth to Molly that a past struggle with alcoholism brings. It indicates just how visceral losing Rick was, how much pain Molly was in that she needed to self-medicate it away and stop feeling feelings because they were too hard. It shows how strong she is as a person for getting her life together since then, being able to do a comeback tour and be the amazing mom we see her as. It humanizes her on such a real level. She's the best portrayal of a tv mom because she very much is a MOM-- she doesn't try to be best friends with her kids, but she makes sure they know they can talk to her and go to her for help.

Dealing with my dad's unexpected death in my early 20s (which was surprisingly not due to smoking, or at least not primarily) showed me that my parents are above all else PEOPLE-- with flaws, with struggles, who just did the very best they could with the hand life dealt them. Molly represents that so well and I think it's why I've been drawn to her lately.

25 years of So Weird and I am still finding so much to relate to and gush about with this show.

Forever keeping the faith that one day So Weird's full story will be told, either by graphic novel or reboot.

It is still absolutely timeless.

#so weird #zoog disney #disney channel #molly phillips #alcoholism #issues show

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So Weird S02×18 - James Garr (2000)

#molly phillips is the best tv mom fite me #so weird #james garr

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Molly & Fi Phillips- Hush Hush Baby

Molly is the best tv mom. Love them <3

#so weird #molly phillips #fi phillips #molly and fi #fanvidfeed #vid #vidding #mackenzie phillips #fiona phillips #disney channel #zoog disney #mother/daughter relationship

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Meeting Mackenzie Phillips

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Mackenzie Phillips at Classic Rewind Weekend in Atlantic City. It was AMAZING.

I could barely get words out at first besides “It’s an honor to meet you,” but then my sister mentioned that we’re big fans of So Weird and SHE STARTED SINGING MORE LIKE A RIVER. I fangirled because that’s my fav song and she said it was hers too. My sister mentioned that me and some friends have a podcast for the show and she immediately LIT UP and talked about how she wanted to be on it. She even said that she had been hoping those of us from the podcast would be there!!!

She lamented that she didn’t have any photos from So Weird at her table, so I brought out my copy of the book Family Reunion and she was excited to see it. She said she had a copy of that book as well and said that the moment she read the name Molly Phillips when she first got the script, she knew she had to get the role. I told her no one could have done it better and it was basically made for her. I mentioned it was a shame Disney never released the soundtrack for the show and she said that Disney never really understood the show; they were the second highest rated show on the channel at the time of cancellation and the new executives at Disney just didn’t like that it dealt with topics like grief, loss, and monsters. I said that’s exactly what makes it a timeless show and she agreed. We were both fangirling over how great So Weird was-- she was so animated discussing it, arms in the air-- you could really tell she still loves the show as much as we all do.

We took a selfie and I told her that Molly was my fav tv mom and that the moment in James Garr when Fi asks, “What do you do when you want to help somebody so badly but you can’t?” and Molly responds, “Even if you can’t help somebody, you can love them” and how that line always stuck with me and helped shape the person I am today. She brought up the moment from Medium where Molly tells Fi, “I can’t even fix myself” and how great the show was for not talking down to kids and showing that adults struggle too and how kids and adults need to come together to find solutions for problems.

It was a fantastic meeting and then my sister and I continued on, looking at different tables, and also meeting the actors from Pete and Pete who we learned are Mets fans (LFGM!).

We also got tickets for a pro photo op with Mackenzie Phillips and only had about twenty minutes to kill before time for that.

It was surprisingly hot for an indoor event so my sister and I were all sweaty. So before it was time for the photo op, we went to the bathroom to wipe away the sweat and as I am wiping my gross sweaty face, Mackenzie Phillips who is washing her hands sees me in the mirror and says Hi, that it was so great to meet us (like no girl, it was great for us to meet you!) and my sister tells her we’ll be seeing her again in two minutes for a photo op with her and she says it’ll be a fun time. I still cannot believe I just happened to run into her in the bathroom.

At the photo op, she sees us and is all “Oh my girls!” waving us in. Then she recognizes that I’m wearing an In the Darkness Is The Light tshirt and STARTS SINGING IT!! And makes me sing the “In the darkness is the light” parts, which is mortifying because I can’t sing at all but when Mackenzie Phillips aka Molly Phillips prompts you to sing the backup lines to the theme song of your favorite show, you just gotta do it. And then the photographer and some other guy she works with had WTF looks on their faces so she explained that it’s from a show she used to do where she played a singer and she seemed so thrilled to talk to other people about so weird and I could hear another girl outside fangirling saying “I’m here for So Weird too!” Mackenzie Phillips was absolutely gracious and brought up the podcast again saying she’d sing on it.

It was amazing and I’m still starstruck.

I started this tumblr blog back when I still felt like the only person who remembered this show and through here, I found other fans, made some incredible friends, got to be on a podcast for the show, got to speak with so many amazing people involved in the show, got to see the show officially released on Disney+ and now Mackenzie Phillips knows about The So Weird Podcast and I got to meet her and talk about it with her.

In spite of all the shit currently going on in the world, I feel incredibly fortunate and blessed. This was an amazing day.

#so weird #mackenzie phillips #molly phillips #classic rewind weekend #personal

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Do you remember what the website link was for Fi's website? I can't remember it. I want to find it on the wayback.

I believe it was just soweird.com and that would redirect to zoog disney's page for So Weird where you could pull up Fi's website during her seasons. I remember Fi's website was taken down and replaced with a MP tour bus interface for season 3.

#so weird #asks #fi's so weird webpage #zoog disney

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This song was made for Fi Phillips.

#so weird #fiona phillips #fi phillips #fanvid #vid #disney channel #zoog disney #fanvidfeed

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Hello Weirdos! Join us on June 28th 5:30pm PST/ 7:30pm CST/ 8:30pm EST, as we celebrate 5 years of The So Weird Podcast! We will be streaming LIVE on YouTube and inviting fans to join in as we chat about So Weird and all that has happened these past 5 years!  If you want to join in on video/audio, all you have to do is be a part of the YouTube chat and click the invite link whenever it is posted in the chat. We will give each participant a few minutes and then move on to the next participant. 

#im so excited for this #so weird podcast

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Molly/Carey moments

I don’t care if it’s controversial-- Molly and Carey definitely had a thing going on. They went on two dates in season 3. It’s canon.

#so weird #otp #marey #molly phillips #carey bell #molly/carey #gifset

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So Weird + Cards Against Humanity

#so weird #cards against humanity #zoog disney #lol

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So Weird Realizations

Is it just me or does this Earth 101 screenshot appear to include a photo of young Molly and Rebecca riding bikes together?  👀

#so weird #season 3 #earth 101 #screenshot #photos #rebecca #molly #so weird realizations

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Join The So Weird Podcast as we read a script draft for the So Weird pilot episode, “Family Reunion” this Wednesday, May 12, at 7:30 CST | 8:30 EST!

Use this link to set a reminder and join us then!

#the sw podcast #script reading

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Jannie + Dasey Parallels Pt 2

Okay now that I’ve noticed the similarities, I can’t stop seeing them EVERYWHERE.

#this is like molly/carey hints all over again #you cant unsee it #jannie #dasey #parallels #shipping #otp #jack/annie #gifs #gifset #so weird #lwd #life with derek

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Jannie + Dasey parallels

Someone brought up Life with Derek on the So Weird discord and it suddenly struck me just how similar the dynamic between Jack and Annie is to Derek and Casey. Granted, Jack and Annie aren’t actually step-siblings, but Molly does refer to her as her “adopted daughter” and Jack is very bothered by this (as he should be).

So much teasing, prolonged eye-contact, unnecessary touching, and pure chemistry make you go AW JUST KISS ALREADY but the awkward taboo of quasi-family ties (and, y’know, the whole airing on Disney Channel thing) hold both ships back.

I’ll still ship them both forever though.

#jannie #dasey #jack/annie #derek/casey #so weird #life with derek #lwd #disney channel #otp #ships #gifset

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Jack Phillips- Soldier by Fluerie

He is truly the backbone of the Phillips Family and can never be appreciated enough.

#so weird #jack phillips #patrick levis #soldier #fluerie #fanvid #vid #disney channel #zoog disney

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The photo album from Grave Mistake has some great pictures in it!

#so weird #grave mistake #season 3 #cast #Disney Channel #zoog disney

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Some Rick and Molly Phillips Family Feels.

#so weird #rick phillips #molly phillips #phillips family feels #vids #Mackenzie Phillips #chris gibson #fanvid #zoog dinsey #disney channel

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Imma survive, and keep on surviving.

Reminder that Fi Phillips is an absolute badass and I will stan her forever.

#fi phillips #so weird #fiona phillips #fanvid #zoog disney #vid #cara delizia