That's So Raven

That's So Raven is an American television fantasy teen sitcom that was created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman, and aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between January 2003 and November 2007. The series centers on Raven Baxter (Raven-Symoné), a teenager with hidden psychic abilities. Episodes show Raven experiencing visions of future events; she must also deal with the social and personal issues of her youth. Raven often misinterprets the events she foresees, and intervenes to prevent a vision from coming true or to protect her friends and family. She uses her skills in fashion design to create elaborate disguises she wears during these schemes. Raven's secret is shared with her best friends Eddie Thomas (Orlando Brown) and Chelsea Daniels (Anneliese van der Pol), along with her brother Cory (Kyle Massey) and parents Tanya (T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh) and Victor (Rondell Sheridan). The series explores supernatural elements, family, friendship, and adolescence.

The Walt Disney Company created the series as its television network's first multi-camera sitcom after the success of its earlier single-camera comedy series such as Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire, the former of which executive producers David Brookwell and Sean McNamara concurrently worked on. Their joint company Brookwell McNamara Entertainment produced That's So Raven, which premiered on January 17, 2003. The series concluded on November 10, 2007, after becoming the first program on the network to reach 100 episodes, and ended because the actors were aging beyond the show's target teenage demographic. All four seasons of the show have been distributed through digital download and on the streaming service Disney+.

That's So Raven enjoyed high viewership on broadcast television in the United States, and gave rise to the development of merchandise, soundtrack albums, and video game adaptations. Television critics praised Raven-Symoné for her physical comedy in what is considered her breakthrough role. The series received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Children's Program in 2005 and 2007. A spin-off entitled Cory in the House, which stars Massey and Sheridan, aired on Disney Channel for two seasons from 2007 to 2008. Raven-Symoné, van der Pol, Sheridan and Keymáh reprised their roles for the spin-off Raven's Home, which aired for six seasons from 2017 to 2023.

Raven Baxter is a high-school student who has a secret psychic ability that allows her to experience short visions of future events. Often, she finds herself misinterpreting the events she sees, resulting in trouble for herself, her friends and family. Raven keeps her supernatural ability a secret; only her close friends and family are aware of it. Raven attends school alongside her best friends Chelsea, who is described as "ditzy", and is an environmentalist and an artist; and Eddie, who is an aspiring rapper, is athletic and plays on the school basketball team. Raven lives with her younger brother Cory, an aspiring businessperson, and her parents Victor and Tanya. Victor initially works in a restaurant as a chef, and in the second season he opens his own restaurant called "The Chill Grill". Tanya halted her studies to raise her family but decided to continue studying law once her children were older; after the third season, she leaves the family to study in England. Raven is an aspiring fashion designer who frequently creates costumes to disguise her identity; she often implements schemes to rectify a situation or her own mistakes. In the fourth season, the show's format is slightly revised; Raven works as an intern for the famous fashion designer Donna Cabonna.

The series explores the fantasy of wanting a supernatural power children may experience. It shares similarities with series such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch and other fantasy television programs in which adolescents experience and learn to deal with miraculous abilities. Disney Channel president Rich Ross stated Raven's powers are not "dark" but rather a metaphorical representation of the unpredictability of future events. The series does not explore the origin or discovery of Raven's powers; however, her grandmother Vivian also has psychic powers. Raven often intervenes in situations to prevent a vision from coming true but she does not regularly try to control her ability or take advantage of it. Her visions sometimes represent a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many of the program's stories take place in the high-school setting.

In the early 2000s, The Walt Disney Company's pay television network Disney Channel experienced success with single-camera comedy series Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire, and others that were also aimed at a pre-adolescent audience. That's So Raven was intended to appeal to a family audience while having a female character in the comedy lead role. Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman created the series. Sherman first conceived the idea of a buddy comedy for a pre-adolescent audience, and she and Poryes decided to base it around the idea of being able to see the future, which they thought would interest young viewers. The creators pitched the concept to network executives under the working title The Future is On Me and later as Absolutely Psychic. Poryes said at her audition, Raven-Symoné read for the role of the lead character and for the comedic best-friend character Chelsea, and that she wanted to play Chelsea. Subsequently, a pilot episode in which she starred as the best friend rather than in the central role was filmed but after the test audience responded well to her and producers were impressed, the program was re-written with Raven-Symoné in the main role. Test audiences also responded favorably to the show's supernatural premise and its comedy. The series was also retitled That's So Raven. Poryes also served as an executive producer alongside David Brookwell and Sean McNamara, who concurrently produced Even Stevens for Disney Channel. Their joint company, Brookwell McNamara Entertainment produced the program in association with the network. That's So Raven became Disney Channel's first multi-camera sitcom. The series is centered on an African American family in a deliberate attempt to represent the diversity of the network's audience.

That's So Raven and Raven-Symoné's involvement as the titular character Raven were announced in a press release in November 2001. Twenty-one episodes were ordered for the first season, which began filming in Los Angeles, California, in the same month. The series was initially expected to premiere in early 2002 but the whole first season was filmed before it aired on television. The premiere broadcast of That's So Raven, which included the first four episodes of the series, occurred on Friday, January 17, 2003.

The program and its primary cast were announced in November 2001; Raven-Symoné was revealed to be portraying the titular character Raven; she had previously worked as a child actor on the sitcoms The Cosby Show and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. Raven-Symoné was reported to be Disney's first African American female star, and the first African American woman to have her name in the title of a comedy series at the network. Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club called Raven-Symoné's role on the show her "most successful phase" and praised her physical comedy. Marsh cited her humor and commitment to comedy as a reason for her success. She is credited as "Raven" throughout the series.