Every episode of Lizzie McGuire, ranked

On Jan. 12, 2001, Lizzie McGuire aired for the first time on the Disney Channel. Do you feel old yet? We ranked all 65 Hilary Duff-starring episodes from worst to best. Which one claims the top spot? We'll figure it out on the way.

65. "Magic Train" (Season 2, Episode 34)

Lizzie (Duff), Miranda (Lalaine), and Gordo's (Adam Lamberg) guilty pleasure — a children's TV show called Clover and Daisy's Magic Train — was coming to town for a live performance, and they all wanted to go. They attended secretly, but were seen by Kate (Ashlie Brillault), who was there babysitting, and they were teased to no end. We always forget this episode exists.

64. "The Longest Yard" (Season 2, Episode 7)

Lizzie babysat Matt (Jake Thomas) and they accidentally ruined their father's prized autographed football. Surprise! They came up with a solution.

63. "Gordo and the Dwarves" (Season 1, Episode 27)

Lizzie's grandmother gave her a fantasy board game (think Dungeons & Dragons) and Gordo became obsessed with it, so much so that his grades started to drop — and Lizzie, Miranda, and Matt had to intervene.

62. "My Dinner With Mr. Dig" (Season 2, Episode 32)

Lizzie's dad became best friends with the school's favorite substitute teacher, Mr. Dig (Arvie Lowe Jr.).

61. "Xtreme Xmas" (Season 2, Episode 20)

Steven Tyler guest starred in this episode as Santa Claus at a Christmas charity drive where Lizzie and Gordo were donating Matt's toys. At the drive, they met Nobby Frostybump (Shelley Berman), a senior citizen who played one of Santa Steven Tyler's elves. Lizzie wanted to create a float for the upcoming Christmas parade but faced some stiff competition from Kate and Larry (Kyle Downes). But her float-building was taken off-course when the McGuires and Gordo spent their time fixing a plumbing problem set to ruin Christmas at Nobby's retirement home. Steven Tyler saved the day and sang "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" on Lizzie's float. Casual. Totally believable.

60. "Sibling Bonds" (Season 1, Episode 17)

Matt accidentally handcuffed himself to Lizzie and they had to spend the entire day together at her class charity drive.

59. "Obsession" (Season 1, Episode 16)

After volunteering for a school project, Lizzie became obsessed with making the world a better place (and the episode made it seem like this was a horrible thing). Meanwhile, Gordo was obsessed with winning the Science Olympics and Matt was obsessed with being the hall monitor at school.

58. "Facts of Life" (Season 1, Episode 25)

Mr. Dig coached Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo to win the school's "Fact-athlon" contest. Matt and Lanny (Christian Copelin) started their own rock band.

57. "Gordo Shuffle" (Season 2, Episode 31)

We all learned a lesson about how credit cards work when Gordo received one in the mail with a $5,000 line of credit — and didn't manage it well. (This episode is why we were scared to get a credit card for YEARS).

56. "One of the Guys" (Season 2, Episode 33)

Apparently, Lizzie was jacked, because in this episode she set a new school record in P.E. and then beat Ethan Craft (Clayton Snyder) in arm wrestling. Everyone was impressed and she was invited to play touch football with all of the cute guys in school. Lizzie eagerly accepted but then started to feel insecure when Ethan kept calling her a "dude," thinking she was not feminine enough anymore. Coach Kelly (Dot-Marie Jones of Glee fame) reassured Lizzie, saying that she could be feminine AND athletic.

55. "My Fair Larry" (Season 2, Episode 30)

Miranda was having a party, but wouldn't invite Larry Tudgeman. Lizzie felt really bad about it and decided to give Larry a makeover to sneak him in under Miranda's nose.

54. "Gordo's Bar Mitzvah" (Season 1, Episode 31)

Gordo had his bar mitzvah! But it was more focused on the "becoming a man" part and less focused on the fun party part.

53. "In Miranda Lizzie Does Not Trust" (Season 2, Episode 10)

When Miranda got caught shoplifting, Lizzie had a hard time standing up for her. This really messed up P.E., where they were dance partners.

52. "A Gordo Story" (Season 2, Episode 26)

Gordo asked a girl to the dance, but she turned him down because of his height.

51. "Courtship of Miranda" (Season 1, Episode 29)

Lizzie tried to talk to Miranda's crush because she was too nervous, but he ended up thinking Lizzie had a crush on him. Gordo escaped the girl drama by hanging out with Matt.

50. "Untitled Stan Jansen Project" (Season 1, Episode 22)

Stan Jansen (Sean Hogan), a documentary filmmaker, decided that Hillridge Junior High would make a super entertaining documentary and picked Gordo as his subject. He encouraged Gordo to be rude to other students in front of the camera, and even coaxed Lizzie and Miranda to turn on each other. This was Making a Murderer-level coercion.

49. "Over the Hill" (Season 2, Episode 11)

Lizzie had a full-on life crisis at 14 when she realized that all of her friends had special talents and she...well...didn't.

48. "Grand Ole Grandma" (Season 2, Episode 29)

Doris Roberts guest starred as Gordo's cool grandmother who was living life to the fullest, which concerned Gordo. Meanwhile, Lizzie's parents were sick and Lizzie and Matt had free reign of the house.

47. "Grubby Longjohn's Olde Tyme Revue" (Season 2, Episode 27)

"How y'all doing, y'all?!" Not great if you were Lizzie and everyone in your family — except you — was excited to take your traditional trip to the Wild West theme park Grubby Gulch.

46. "Bunkies" (Season 2, Episode 25)

A water pipe burst in Matt's room, causing Matt and Lizzie to share a room for a week.

45. "Last Year's Model" (Season 1, Episode 23)

Lizzie was hand-picked to model in a fashion show at the mall presented by Teen Attitude magazine and everyone started treating her differently because of it. Girl, just wait until you're suddenly an international pop star.

44. "Gordo's Video" (Season 1, Episode 30)

Budding filmmaker Gordo installed cameras all over the school and everyone got mad (especially Miranda) when his final product showed his classmates in embarrassing situations and revealed personal secrets — especially when he decided to enter it into a film competition.

43. "Educating Ethan" (Season 1, Episode 20)

Gordo started tutoring Ethan in math, but Lizzie ended up being a much better tutor (because she used cheerleaders to illustrate fractions, duh).

42. "And the Winner Is" (Season 2, Episode 6)

Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo got into a huge fight just in time for a treasure hunt school project. Because they refused to be teamed up together, Kate and Gordo, Miranda and Larry, and Lizzie and Ethan ended up in pairs. Along the way, Matt joined the older kids and ended up beating all of them to the treasure, and the three friends figured out that their friendship was more important than a silly fight. Plus, Ethan's iconic "I don't repeat" moment is from this episode.

41. "Jack of All Trades" (Season 1, Episode 6)

Gordo was convinced that their science teacher, Mr. Pettus (Craig Anton), had a personal vendetta against him because he had stopped getting As on his projects. To prove it, Gordo switched science projects with Lizzie. A model of a brain exploded. Lizzie said, "Come on, you guys, my bangs are growing out faster than you're moving!"

40. "Mom's Best Friend" (Season 2, Episode 3)

After reading a book in school where the main character was BFFs with her mom, Lizzie and her mom set out to be best friends. But Lizzie realized that maybe she couldn't handle being BFFs with Jo (Hallie Todd) just yet (Don't worry, it can happen when you're older).

39. "The Greatest Crush of All" (Season 2, Episode 28)

Every girl in Lizzie's class, including Lizzie and Miranda, had a crush on their new English teacher, the very Scottish Mr. Keith (Grant Thompson). All of the girls competed to be the biggest teacher's pet and win over Mr. Keith, even if it involved loving haggis.

38. "Lizzie in the Middle" (Season 2, Episode 15)

Frankie Muniz (as himself) was in town to film a movie and became friends with Lizzie. Lizzie and her pals then got famous by association, and Matt signed up to be his sister's secretary to use her newfound fame to his advantage. FUN FACT: This episode aired a year before Hilary Duff and Frankie Muniz starred together in Agent Cody Banks.

37. "I Do, I Don't" (Season 1, Episode 10)

In a classic social studies class project (that we never had to live through, thank God), all of the kids in Lizzie's class were paired off to pretend they were married. Miranda got to be Mrs. Ethan Craft and Lizzie, who was paired with little ol' Gordo, got super jealous.

36. "Party Over Here" (Season 2, Episode 18)

Kate invited the entire class, including Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo, to her birthday party. But the kids' parents wouldn't allow them to go because the only "adult" supervision would be Kate's cousin, Amy. The gang snuck out to go to the party. When things at the party got out of hand, Lizzie did the right thing and called her mom for help. FUN FACT: Amy was played by Hilary Duff's sister, Haylie Duff.

35. "El Oro de Montezuma" (Season 2, Episode 2)

Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo got SUPER into a Mexican game show called El Oro de Montezuma and Miranda's cousin Carlos (Shalim Ortiz) recruited them to be on his team. It was all fun and games while Carlos was there to translate for the pals, who didn't speak Spanish, but, when he was cut from the team during the game, all hell broke loose. Tapioca pudding made a major appearance.

34. "She Said, He Said, She Said" (Season 2, Episode 19)

After a HUGE food fight in the cafeteria, Lizzie, Kate, and Larry were forced to stay after school and clean it up until one person confessed to starting it. After they all told their side of the story, they cleaned up the cafeteria on their own and wrote Principal Tweedy (Phill Lewis) a Breakfast Club-style letter (as the Lunch Bunch, of course), explaining that they were all responsible for the food fight.

33. "Just Like Lizzie" (Season 2, Episode 14)

Now an older, wiser, eighth-grader, Lizzie started mentoring a seventh-grader named Andie (Amy Castle). Andie became every tween girl from 2001 to 2003 and started dressing, talking, and acting exactly like Lizzie — but to like, a creepy degree.

32. "Come Fly With Me" (Season 1, Episode 13)

Gordo's latest obsession was going full 1960s Rat Pack. But like a true hipster, he got super bummed about it when Ethan Craft made it cool and it became a school-wide phenomenon.

31. "Lizzie and Kate's Excellent Adventure" (Season 1, Episode 28)

Lizzie and Kate were paired together for a school project — and ended up actually getting along.

30. "Movin' On Up" (Season 2, Episode 17)

Gordo was given the opportunity to skip a grade and head to high school, and he took it. Lizzie and Miranda were super happy for him, but once he was gone they totally missed him and Gordo found out that he might not actually be ready for high school. Meanwhile, Matt and Lanny wanted to try out for the cheerleading squad, but Lizzie's dad didn't think it was "manly." In the end, he thankfully changed his mind and encouraged Matt to try out for the squad.

29. "Bad Girl McGuire" (Season 1, Episode 11)

Lizzie got in with the wrong crowd and became friends with a "bad girl" at school — meaning she put weird dark highlights in her unfortunate hairdos, wore a bunch of makeup, got a fake nose piercing, and developed a bad attitude.

28. "Lizzie Strikes Out" (Season 1, Episode 21)

A miracle happened and Ethan Craft invited Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda to go bowling. But there were two problems: Lizzie's dad wanted to spend quality time together on the same night, and Gordo was terrified of bowling. The solution to the first problem ended up being the sweetest father-daughter moment on the show.

27. "Working Girl" (Season 2, Episode 5)

Lizzie got her first job working as a busser at the Digital Bean, and it was not all it was cracked up to be. Matt developed a hilarious crush on Miranda.

26. "Lizzie's Nightmare" (Season 1, Episode 15)

Ethan invited Lizzie to sit with him at lunch at school that day and Lizzie was freaking out. Matt put a wrench in her morning by putting honey on her phone (what a great prank). Lizzie's mom took pity on her and drove her to school, forcing Matt to take the bus. BAD MOVE, MOM. Matt got on the wrong bus and ended up spending the day being the coolest kid at Lizzie's school, right by Ethan's side, a.k.a. Lizzie's Nightmare.

25. "Rated Aargh" (Season 1, Episode 18)

The coolest movie on the block was Vesuvius: The Eruption, and Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo had to see it. The only problem? It's rated R. After their parents refused to let them see the flick, the gang snuck in anyway. But, while they were waiting in the lobby to go in, Lizzie saved a choking man from dying (yay, CPR!). They missed the movie and totally got caught by their parents when Lizzie's heroics were documented on the news. Also featured: a super cool velcro wall that Lizzie's mom built for Matt's school fair.

24. "Best Dressed For Much Less" (Season 2, Episode 12)

Lizzie made it her mission to be voted Best Dressed in the school yearbook and had her sights set on some expensive jeans at the mall. Unfortunately, her mom insisted that they find a pair of bargain basement jeans that would look just as good. FYI, both pairs of jeans were bedazzled.

23. "Random Acts of Miranda" (Season 1, Episode 14)

Budding journalist Lizzie gave Miranda a horrible review when she was simply awful as the lead in the school play (Greasier, natch). Meanwhile, Matt and his friend Lanny sold all of Matt's personal belongings to get money for walkie-talkies.

22. "Gordo and the Girl" (Season 1, Episode 19)

Gordo got his first girlfriend (Kyla Pratt!) and everyone FREAKED OUT because relationships ruin friendships in junior high.

21. "The Rise and Fall of the Kate Empire" (Season 2, Episode 4)

Kate dislocated her shoulder and lost her position as cheerleading captain, and, thus, her popularity. Lizzie took pity on her and helped her get her spot back on the squad (thanks to Hilary Duff's IRL gymnastics skills).

20. "Scarlett Larry" (Season 1, Episode 26)

Surprise! Larry Tudgeman had a crush on Lizzie and asked her out. Lizzie was too nice to say no and they ended up going on a pretty great date. But, most importantly, we found out that Larry had a weekend shirt!!!

19. "Those Freaky McGuires" (Season 2, Episode 9)

Lizzie and Matt switched bodies for a day, Freaky Friday-style, and ended up solving each other's problems at school. The next day they returned to normal — or was it all just a dream?!

18. "Misadventures of Babysitting" (Season 1, Episode 8)

Lizzie tried to prove to her parents that she was responsible enough to babysit her younger brother, Matt. MAJOR hijinks involving a lawn gnome, kiddie pool, popsicles, and a toy train set ensued.

17. "Election" (Season 1, Episode 9)

It was class president election time, and Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda were not happy that the only candidates they had to choose between were über-nerd Larry Tudgeman and cheerleader Claire Miller (Davida Williams). So, Lizzie decided to run to represent "The Normals." Lizzie got off to a great start, gaining major approval from her classmates, but it all went south when she hung out with the "second-tier popular" Drama Club (Okay, in what world is the Drama Club second-tier popular?!) and let it go to her head. She turned into a coffee-drinking, sunglasses and beret-wearing monster, and lost the election to Larry because she stopped being herself. Plus: Matt was a little genius and made up an imaginary friend to con his parents into buying him stuff.

16. "You're a Good Man, Lizzie McGuire" (Season 2, Episode 13)

Lizzie and Kate were both on the Spring Fling committee and Kate accidentally knocked over the bust of the school's founding principal (whose inscription read "Hey you kids, cut that out!"). Principal Tweedy was PISSED and canceled the Spring Fling until someone fessed up to breaking the bust. Lizzie took the blame and was banned from the dance. When everyone found out, they all ditched the dance and held the party at Lizzie's house.

15. "Just Friends" (Season 2, Episode 8)

It was Sadie Hawkins Dance time at school and Lizzie decided to finally ask out her crush, Ethan Craft, but he rejected her, telling her he liked her more as a friend (We've all been there, girl). Lizzie then tried to turn herself into Ethan's ideal girl, but, in the end, he told her that they just didn't have chemistry. Lizzie learned the hard lesson that "knowing someone's wrong for you doesn't change the way that you feel." The episode ended with Lizzie slow-dancing with Gordo in her backyard — thanks to the club Matt and Lanny opened back there during this episode — because they knew what we REALLY wanted to see.

14. "Inner Beauty" (Season 2, Episode 16)

Miranda got very insecure about her body and started to skip meals and obsess over her weight. Lizzie and Gordo got super concerned and, in one of the most poignant moments of the show, they convinced Miranda that she was beautiful just the way she is. The episode ended with a wonderful music video (directed by Gordo) where Lizzie and Miranda danced around the school.

13. "I've Got Rhythmic" (Season 1, Episode 5)

Through a gym class, Lizzie discovered that she was a rhythmic gymnastics prodigy, only to give it all up in the end. Kate got jealous, there was a Rocky montage, and Lizzie taught us that no matter how good you are at something, you shouldn't keep doing it if you don't love it.

12. "Dear Lizzie" (Season 2, Episode 22)

Lizzie started an advice column for the school's e-zine (how early-2000s). Things started off well, until Lizzie's good advice started to backfire — but not before Lizzie nearly found out that Gordo liked her as more than a friend.

11. "Night of the Day of the Dead" (Season 1, Episode 24)

Possibly one of the best Halloween episodes of all time. Kate said Lizzie could be the "dungeon mistress" (a little inappropriate for seventh grade?!) at the school's Halloween Fright Night if she cleaned out the janitor's closet. But, in true Kate fashion, after Lizzie cleaned up the closet (with Gordo's help) Kate forced her to be a clown while she took the dungeon mistress role. To get revenge, Lizzie, Miranda, Gordo, and Matt concocted a plan inspired by Miranda's family's Mexican heritage and Day of the Dead decorations to embarrass Kate in front of everyone. Lizzie pretended to be a zombie and chase Kate around the school yelling, "KAAAATEEE, KAAAATEE," giving us Hilary Duff's best comedic moment, ever.

10. "Pool Party" (Season 1, Episode 4)

Lizzie and Miranda were elated that they were invited to Danny Kessler's (Byron Fox) pool party (Remember when Danny Kessler was the Cute Guy before Ethan Craft? What happened to him?) but Lizzie wasn't allowed to go because she had to go to her grandmother's birthday party. Miranda ditched Lizzie, briefly became friends with Kate, and then ended up having a horrible time at the party (karma). Thankfully, during Miranda's absence, Lizzie found solace in her nerdy friend Gordo, who taught her what true friendship means. FUN FACT: This is technically the pilot. The house was totally different! The Animated Lizzie was hella janky! The school's different!

9. "Rumors" (Season 1, Episode 1)

Every early-2000s teen's worst nightmare: Lizzie IMed Miranda that "Kate stuffs her bra," and Miranda accidentally sent the Comic Sans message to the ENTIRE CLASS ROSTER. Miranda was a good friend, and took the blame when Lizzie couldn't deal with the fallout of double-crossing the most popular girl in school — only to fess up just in time for a "U. G. L. Y. You ain't got no alibi!" cheer directed at her in front of the whole school. That's what you get for using Comic Sans, Lizzie. That's what you get.

8. "Here Comes Aaron Carter" (Season 1, Episode 7)

In the words of Miranda, "AARON. CARTER. COMING. HERE." We've never forgotten Aaron Carter's perfect Christmas cameo complete with mistletoe kisses and a performance of "I Want Candy."

7. "When Moms Attack" (Season 1, Episode 3)

Lizzie's science class embarked on a school camping trip, and Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda were all kinds of excited to get away from their parents for a weekend. But, much to Lizzie's dismay, her mom was pulled in as a last-minute chaperone. While Lizzie found her mom unbearable and embarrassing, she actually turned out to be pretty cool (She made Survivor references! She lead TP raids on the boys! She took the rap so all of the girls don't get in trouble!), and we all learned to appreciate our moms a little more.

6. "Bye Bye Hillridge Junior High" (Season 2, Episode 24)

Middle school graduation was almost upon Lizzie and Co. Everyone was signing each other's yearbooks ("You rock, don't ever change!"), but Gordo had no idea what to write in Lizzie's book due to his secret crush on her. He ended up writing the sweetest message, and Lizzie kissed him on the cheek during the class photo.

5. "Lizzie's Eleven" (Season 2, Episode 21)

It was Casino Night at Hillridge Junior High, and Lizzie used it to hatch up an Ocean's Eleven-themed scheme to get all eleven of her pictures in the yearbook under editor Kate's nose. All of Lizzie's friends and family coming together to help her out made for a super fun episode. Plus, Lizzie wore a beautiful pinstriped pantsuit.

4. "First Kiss" (Season 2, Episode 1)

Ahh, yes, young love. In this episode, Lizzie got her first boyfriend, the spiky-haired paperboy Ronnie (Joe Rokicki). They went rollerblading and Lizzie had her first kiss while a Michelle Branch song played and Gordo stood in the background (and everyone's heart crumbled just a little bit). Lizzie fell head-over-heels for Ronnie, as you do with your first boyfriend, only to have her heart broken, as you do with your first boyfriend. But don't worry, Gordo swooped in, delivering one of the sweetest scenes in the show's history.

3. "Clue-Less" (Season 2, Episode 23)

Lizzie's friends and family all came together in her house for a murder mystery game night. The mystery! The costumes! The accents! But, most importantly, we got the adorable beginnings of Lizzie and Gordo's budding romance. The moment when Gordo was about to ask Lizzie out on the McGuire's front porch was adorably awkward and had viewers yelling "JUST ASK HER" at their TVs. But then, Lizzie's dad interrupted them and we all had to wait until the movie for that tension to FINALLY be resolved.

2. "Between a Rock and a Bra Place" (Season 1, Episode 12)

This episode had arguably the most iconic Lizzie McGuire moment: "I. WANT. A BRA." That moment itself put it at No. 2, but the episode overall is fantastic. There was the awesome David Carradine guest appearance (don't forget, Lizzie's dad was played by Robert Carradine!) where he helped train Matt to be Jet Li's sidekick, and an all-too-real portrayal of how middle school girls are horrible to their mothers in public and then realize after the fact that they were horrible (been there). It's awkward, it's fun, and boy, does it have a great lesson.

1. "Picture Day" (Season 1, Episode 2)

This is the perfect, quintessential episode of Lizzie McGuire. It has everything: Lizzie approaching a school bus while "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" played, Matt's hilarious faking-sick plotline, but, most importantly, Lizzie was forced to wear the infamous unicorn sweater (which, to be honest, we'd like to own) on Picture Day. What made this episode the best is how universally relatable it was. Everyone has had some Picture Day crisis, and this episode gets it. From Lizzie's unfortunate outfit, to Miranda and Kate's accidental matching outfits (although we do find it hard to believe that two people would power-clash orange and blue zebra print), to the peer pressure for Gordo to look cool in his photo, it covered a wide spectrum of Picture Day anxiety.

But, most of all, this episode had the ultimate Lizzie McGuire lesson. After Gordo came to Lizzie's rescue by scrounging up a cool outfit (even by today's standards that white top is super cute), Lizzie then sacrificed said cool outfit to come to Miranda's rescue and dive in front of a green paint bomb that Kate orchestrated. When it comes down to it, this episode, and the show as a whole, was about friendship. It's about knowing when to jump in front of flying green paint for your best friend, even if it means ruining your own Picture Day. Plus, Lizzie ended up having the best school picture ever.