‘Liv and Maddie’: A dramatic, funny show that shaped our personalities

With the same face but opposite personalities, twin sisters Liv and Maddie navigate through their high school years together.

“You, you, the other half of me, me, the half I’ll always ne-ed, the half that drives me cra-a-a-a-azy,” we chanted, singing along to the theme song of our sixth-grade selves’ favorite Disney series, “Liv and Maddie.” As we binged the show’s four addictive seasons throughout our middle school years, we laughed at cheesy jokes, sobbed at tear-jerking plot twists (they were not that sad) and fell in love with the amiable, charming characters (a.k.a., Joey).

The popular Disney series, which was released in 2013, revolves around identical twins Liv Rooney, a bubbly celebrity actress and singer, and Maddie Rooney, a competitive pro-basketball player, as they try to navigate the ups and downs of their high school years. Throughout the series, the Rooney twins, along with their family and friends, work through sisterly conflicts, family arguments and relationship issues (ahem, Mosh over Miggy). 

After watching the first episode, where Liv returns to her family in Wisconsin after being away for four years to pursue her career as an actress – we were hooked. For the next few months of our sixth-grade summer, our days included nothing but eating, sleeping — and of course, watching and rewatching “Liv and Maddie.” 

Although “Liv and Maddie” succeeds in entertaining viewers, the show also touches upon more emotional, realistic topics, such as separating from family to embrace the next stages of life. 

During one of our favorite episodes — part two of the Season 3 finale — Maddie is accepted into her dream college, Southern California State University (SCSU) with a basketball scholarship. In the previous episode, Liv decided to make a life-changing decision: to give up her lead role in a TV show — which was being moved to L.A. — in order to stay with Maddie in Wisconsin. Maddie, who has always dreamed of attending SCSU, decides to accept the scholarship and move to L.A. for college, leaving Liv in Wisconsin by herself. 

In our humble opinion, Maddie’s impulsive decision was an absolute outrage!  Her weak argument was, “I never told you to give up your show for me,” as she then proceeded to accuse her sister of not supporting her dreams — when in reality, she took away Liv’s dreams as well. 

As hardcore “Liv is better than Maddie” fans, we were furious with Maddie’s inconsiderate behavior. After all the unconditional love, support and sacrifices that Liv made for her sister, how could Maddie do this to her? Our eyes were glued to the screen as we watched Liv and Maddie’s relationship deteriorate in a matter of minutes.

However, our hopes and dreams were saved as Karen Rooney, the twins’ mom, brought out the iconic drawing that they made of themselves when they were little, with the title: “Sisters by chance, friends by choice.” We wiped our tears and breathed a sigh of relief as the two sisters forgave each other, acknowledging that no matter what forces threatened to separate them, they would always stay together. 

Liv ended up moving to L.A. with Maddie. Ironically, the entire Rooney family was also later forced to move to L.A. due to Parker and Joey — the mischievous Rooney brothers — destroying their beloved Wisconsin house. Crazy, but that is a story for another day …

This episode, among many others, filled our monotonous days with drama and excitement. We couldn’t wait to end our long days of summer classes with binges of “Liv and Maddie” episodes. 

Although the show ended six years ago, we still find ourselves setting our school work aside to replay our favorite episodes, forgetting all of our stresses and worries and reminiscing about the summers of our childhood years.