The little-known Disney Channel rule that canceled your favorite childhood show too early

nypost.com:

Lizzie McGuire, which made a bona fide star of US actress Hilary Duff, abruptly ended after just two seasons in 2004 at the height of its popularity and shortly after the release of its successful feature film.It turns out, that was all due to a 65-episode rule at the beloved children’s network at the time.Prior to 2005, a flurry of shows including Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens, and Phil of the Future were cancelled after, or even before, hitting the 65 episode count, despite favorable ratings and large fanbases.Why 65 episodes, you ask?

That count would allow four other shows to air during the week over a year so the network could keep delivering fresh content.That was, until That’s So Raven, starring actress Raven-Symone, completely changed the game.Debuting in 2003, the teen psychic series following the adventures of the Baxter family was a blockbuster hit for the network, becoming the highest-rating original program in the network’s history, surpassing Lizzie McGuire.It was sensationally commissioned for a fourth season in 2005, which marked the first time in Disney Channel history that it had gone beyond three seasons for an original series.“It is our most successful series,” former Disney Channel president Rich Ross said at the time. “It has taken us where we got with Lizzie and ratcheted it up to another level.”That’s So Raven reached 100 episodes when its series finale aired in November 2007, and pioneered an entirely new generation of shows – the golden era for Disney Channel – to go beyond the dreaded 65-episode rule.After Raven set a precedence, the animated spy series Kim Possible became the first to go over 65 episodes.Upon releasing a movie spin-off So The Drama in 2005, which was initially intended to be.