Liv und Maddie

Another IMDb User called "Dog With a Blog" "The Brady Bunch" meets Mister Ed," or something to that effect. Likewise, "Liv and Maddie" is a new version of "The Patty Duke Show." Not "Double Trouble," "Sister-Sister," or "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," and it's spin-off series. In those twin-coms, the main characters were played by real twins. In fact, in an interview, Dove acknowledged the connection, and said she would love to see Patty Duke have a guest appearance on the show.

Some of you already know the story; Teenage actress Liv Rooney has just finished the final season of a sitcom called "Sing It Loud!," and returns home to her family in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, including her Twin sister Maddie both of which are played by Dove Cameron. While Liv is a star on the small screen, Maddie is the high school basketball star. The other family members include nerdy brother Joey Rooney (Joey Bragg), diabolical little brother Parker Rooney (Tenzing Norgay Trainor), school psychologist Karen Rooney (Kali Rocha), and high school basketball coach Pete Rooney (Benjamin King). Many of the episodes involve Liv's attempts to adjust to a normal high school life.

Liv Rooney, is the definition of girly-girl to the extreme. Combine Ann Marie with Quinn Morgendorffer, and jack the girliness of the two of them up past ten, and you've got Liv. Maddie is supposed to be the tomboy, but not much of one. Maddie's teammates include a girl named "Stains" played by ex-So Random player Bridget Shergalis, and Willow (Jessica Marie Garcia) who has a gigantic unrequited crush on Joey. The show also gives credit to Cameron's body doubles, something which as far as I know, the producers of The Patty Duke Show never did (although I could be wrong).

As Liv, Dove Cameron is an unbelievably fantastic singer; Way better than Laura Marano, and she's amazing herself. Therefore she was a terrific choice not only for the starring role, but the show within the show. But the true measure of her skills as an actress can be found in the episode "Skate-A-Rooney," where we meet Liv's brain dead skater-dude of a boyfriend who dumps her in a text message. One viewing of a crucial scene from the episode, and you will know the definition of a broken songbird.

Later episodes deal with Liv being sought out for the role of the hero of a graphic novel series about a Space Werewolf (No, I didn't make that up), who would be better off played by a 28-45 year old man than a teenage girl. Normally, casting a 16-year-old diva girl like Liv Rooney in the starring role would make John Wayne playing Genghis Khan look like casting Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. Yet Hollywood chooses her anyhow, and she actually looks good as the hero. Meanwhile Maddie has to try to deal with her feelings towards another Jock at school best known as "Diggie," played by Cameron's real-life boyfriend Ryan McCartan. Mainly, they involve Maddie's willingness to admit to everyone else that Diggie is her boyfriend, something that comes to a head when an ex-cast member of Liv's old sitcom flirts with Diggie, even as Maddie is about to leave town to join the Junior Olympic Basketball Team.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the season finale. From what I gather of the promos, it looks triumphant, and I mean that in the traditional sense of the word.

Disney seems to have entered another 'dark age' with its sitcoms. Bland shows that last for 2 seasons tops, low ratings and a lack of fresh ideas.

Liz and Maddie seems to be the last good sitcom this channel had. (Not saying that the shows that aired alongside liv and Maddie were good, but live and Maddie on its own was the last good show.)

Dove Cameron plays both roles really well, and the acting from others is fine as well. Some characters can be written annoying such as Joey, but they have lots of charm. Least favorite character was that friend Maddie has, think name was willow or something. Jokes are more hit and miss than I like, but they do hit.

Biggest problem seems to be that it doesn't have the quality the older Disney sitcoms have. And most of those weren't even that great! If it didn't air on Disney Channel, but on Fox or another cable network as a family friendly sitcom, the show would get a 4. I'm just happy that this show was good at the time it aired.

The show is really just a well written success. Liv and Maddie is an American sitcom created by John Beck and Ron Hart and produced by It's a Laugh Productions for Disney Channel. It stars Dove Cameron playing identical twins. The series began production in April 2013 with a pilot episode aired on July 19, 2013.[1][2] The first promo for the series was seen on Friday, June 28, 2013, after the premiere of a Disney's Mickey Mouse Shorts.

On January 13, 2014, Disney Channel renewed Liv and Maddie for a 13-episode second season slated to premiere Fall 2014.[ ... .... JUST A REALLY COOL SHOW

Dove Cameron, playing two major roles in this split-camera show, delivers an endearing feel to the Disney Channel. Liv, who is musically enhanced, shows off her witty side from being in her own television program. The only part that I find unappealing about this character is that Liv plays too much into being in "celebrity mode". Maddie, an ordinary high school athlete, brings in situations some teenagers may face and relate to. Despite their characters' differences, the twin sisters bond together to solve problems. In the end, sticking together as family is key. Some aspects from past Disney Channel shows take place here as well. The obvious would be from the "Suite Life" series which featured real twins, Cole and Dylan Sprouse. The confessionals originating from "Lizzie McGuire" are also added to restate what is going on in Liv and Maddie's minds about the problems they are facing.

As for the comedy factor, it's just bad. The jokes are stale and most of the time, the laugh tracks do not make it any better. However, this show is considered a gem compared to Jessie or A.N.T. Farm. How many people can relate to living in a rich Manhattan penthouse suite or elementary school students in a high school (then transferred away from their parents to a specialized facility)?

EDIT (9/26/13): As of recently, this series has been lukewarm, featuring the warmheartedness of family from Liv, and the crazy antics of Liv and Maddie's two brothers. I will continue to enjoy this as the season progresses.

I think this show is very good, the best show produced by Disney channel in a while actually. I like the idea of the two twins being complete opposites of each other and have to teach each other how to survive in each others company. I also think that is very clever that both twins are played by Dove Cameron, who by the way is an extremely talented singer and actress as she is able to play both Liv&Maddie who are both complete opposites. Disney hid the twin thing so well that for a while i thought they were played by 2 actual twins. I also like the other family members like joey, parker, the mom and the dad. I especially think the 2 parents are hilarious! However, the one thing i don't understand is that Liv,Maddie and the parents are all white but Joey is Mediterranean and Parker is Asian and there is no mention of them being adopted. The cast is: Dove Cameron as Liv&Maddie Rooney, Joey Bragg as Joey Parker, Tenzing Trainor as Parker Rooney, Kali Roacha as Karen Rooney and Benjamin King as the dad.