Friendships have been a popular theme throughout childhood television shows, from That’s So Raven to Lizzie McGuire. Although these friendships weren’t perfect, there was usually more good than bad. However, when it comes to the friend group of The Proud Family, their main friend group was often filled with betrayals and drama. In the episode “Adventures in Babysitting” Dijanae dishes out punishments to care for her siblings while she goes out to a party, and in the episode “Rumors” La Cienega spreads a rumor that Penny kissed Myron, causing her to be teased. All of this is due to Penny not inviting La Cienega to a sleepover.
Penny Proud’s Friends
When news of the reboot broke, there was a hope that Penny’s friends would be better. But from the first 10 episodes, things aren’t looking too good. Here are five of the shadiest moments from season one of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. La Cienega trying to steal Penny’s boyfriend, newcomer Maya being mean to Penny, La Cienega, Penny and DeJanae’s girl group LPDZ, La Brea and La Cienega’s rivalry, and Penny’s social media popularity going to her head.
La Cienega trying to steal Penny’s boyfriend is a shock to long time fans, as Penny wasn’t known to have a boyfriend in the original series. In the episode, Oscar is assembling a basketball team to beat the Wizard Kelly, and he assumes Kareem can play basketball since he is so tall. But it turns out Penny is the one with the real skills. La Cienega takes this opportunity to try and get with Kareem, and even tries to rub it in Penny’s face that he invited her to his concert. However, Kareem makes it clear that he only likes Penny.
Newcomer Maya is another source of shade in season one. Penny tries to make her feel welcome to the new school, but Maya shows her disinterest. When Penny finally asks her what’s up, Maya lets her know that she thinks she is superficial, lame, and inconsequential. To prove she is not superficial, Maya suggests Penny join her in freeing the panda at the zoo, which Penny refuses. Maya continues to throw shade at Penny throughout the season, despite claiming to not like her.
LPDZ Group in The Proud Family
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LPDZ is the girl group made up of La Cienega, Penny, DeJanae, and Zoe. Oscar wants them to perform at his theme park, but Penny’s voice has gone through a change. They keep pinning out the group and replace her with Maya, not telling her until the last minute. La Cienega is very cold and callous about it, but they make up at the end, and the new group stands as LPMDZ with the addition of Maya.
La Brea and La Cienega’s rivalry is another source of shade in season one. La Brea and her mom Melrose are in town for La Cienega’s quinceanera, and it turns out there is a lot more messiness to the entire Boulevard family than just La Cienega. Melrose is constantly trying to one-up Sunset with her extravagant life and even flirts with Oscar. La Brea and La Cienega get into it over La Brea suggesting new dance moves for the party, and once again at La Cienega’s sleepover, La Brea gives La Cienega a fake gift and attaches a rocket to La Cienega’s back.
Finally, Penny’s social media popularity goes to her head in one episode. She starts counseling almost everyone in town, including La Cienega, and it looks like she got a little bit of revenge.
Overall, the first season of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is filled with shady moments. From La Cienega trying to steal Penny’s boyfriend to Penny’s social media popularity going to her head, it’s clear that the friend group is still filled with drama. Hopefully the second season will bring some more character development to the group and we will see less shade thrown around.
