Raven-Symoné breaks down That's So Raven's most memorable episodes

"Yup, that's me!" proclaims Raven Baxter in the intro to the Disney Channel's That's So Raven. Raven-Symoné's teenage psychic and fashionista was always unapologetically herself — loud, hilarious, and caring to a fault. Her efforts to flex her psychic abilities to fix problems before they happened led to more chaos than harmony, but it all came from a deep well of love.

Now, 20 years after That's So Raven premiered, Raven-Symoné speaks with EW about the legacy of the series. Originally, she says she auditioned for a show called Absolutely Psychic, but after impressing Disney executives they decided to name the main character, and the show itself, after her.

At the time, she was the youngest Black female to have a TV show named after her. "It didn't impact me as much then as it does now because I was 15," Raven-Symoné says. "I was like, cool, I got my own show. It means so much now because I understand the [gravity] of what it means and the caliber of humans that I am in the pool with. I think it was kind of a good thing that I didn't let it go to my head. It was just about working and wanting to create great content at the time."

Raven-Symoné says that growing up she admired the fearlessness of comedy legends like Dick Van Dyke and Carol Burnett. Their style heavily influenced the physical comedy Raven Baxter would go on to be known for. "I've always been a fan of variety shows," Raven-Symoné says. "I don't think I came into that character knowing that that's what it was going to be, and I think it morphed into that for sure."

She's now starring in the Disney Channel series Raven's Home, which began as a story about Raven Baxter and her best friend Chelsea (Anneliese van der Pol) raising their children together after the collapse of their respective marriages. Raven-Symoné says the series, which premieres its sixth season on April 9, has been creatively satisfying.

"It was absolutely amazing to be able to come back home and work with the channel in the way that I always wanted to, which was creating from the bottom up," she says. "Working with the writers and the EPs, to really tell a story about what Raven Baxter has been through and what she will go through in the seasons to come. I think that we tried hard not to make it a 'reboot.' It was two characters that you knew and what their life is now, that was really important to us."

Reflecting on the longevity of both her career and the character of Raven Baxter, she added, "It's interesting having a career as long as I have. In different age brackets, [audiences] understand me and know me from different character perspectives."

As for what's to come in the new season? "There's going to be awesome guest stars, which I can't tell you who now, but really cool, nostalgic guest stars."

Speaking of nostalgia, Raven-Symoné took us on a stroll down memory lane and provided some insight into some of the most memorable episodes from That's So Raven.

"Country Cousins"

Raven and Chelsea head to a farm to reunite with Raven's cousins.

"When I think of those two episodes, my mind immediately goes to the writers. I have to give them full credit for creating these characters that I'm able to use as a foundation and then take it to another level. When it comes to makeup, working with Todd Tucker was actually absolutely amazing. One of my favorite characters to play was actually the baby. Eddie Murphy, obviously, was a big source of inspiration for that episode because of The Klumps, and I knew it was possible because I saw him do it. And people were like, 'But it was a guy.' Exactly, I can do anything a guy can do, and I can do it better."

"That's So Not Raven"

Raven enters a teen magazine fashion contest and her design wins a spot in the show. But when she's told her body is not the right size to model her own dress, she rebels and walks the runway with confidence.

"I think it was very important at that time to showcase a confident young lady in her natural size. It reflected what I was going through in my own personal life, in the sense of always having to put on that strong exterior, so that comments or rejection didn't hurt me. I felt like, what a great episode to do. You see the joy and the help that you give to other people in that age bracket if you just stand your ground and stay strong. I'm glad we did that episode, and I think that opened the door for a lot of people in the industry and outside of the industry to embrace who they are."

"True Colors"

Raven loses out on a job at a clothing store due to the manager's racist behavior. She disguises herself and, with the help of Chelsea, exposes the manager's bigotry on the local news.

"Honestly, at that age there's so much pressure to just show up to work. You're like 15, 16, and you're like, Do I wanna be at a party or do I wanna be at work? But, getting that script, obviously knowing how important that topic was, I was able to pull back a moment in my life to where I went to a mall once and I was trying on clothes. There were hangers in the dressing room before I got in there, but I was younger and I was with my mom and this man ran us down, "You stole something, you stole something!" And my egotistical brain was like, 'I'm on TV, what are you talking about? I can buy everything in here.' I didn't say that, obviously. I was really young when that happened. But it was because of the color of our skin that he decided to make that assumption. Having Raven Baxter go through that is important in that age bracket, in that timeframe.

"One thing I love about Disney Channel, and the one thing I love about That's So Raven, is we try to tell stories in a way where the younger generation can understand. They might not go through it, but if they see others go through it, they will be more empathetic and aware to help out others. One of the things that I fully remember from that episode was Raven Baxter's costume of the bald man coming in and doing all kinds of crazy stuff. I really liked the way we flipped the stories on their head afterwards and gave hope to those who might be going through situations like that. We showed the ignorance from the other side."

"Food for Thought"

Raven's school cafeteria is bought out by a corporation and now only serves unhealthy options. She and Chelsea present their fellow students with a lesson on nutrition and healthy eating.

"Wow, right? When we were filming that, I don't think that a lot of food chains were sponsoring different schools at the time. I also don't know if Super Size Me had come out already. But I do know that the trajectory of how our nutrition system is going as of right now, I think a lot of people need to look back and watch that episode. I feel like I probably should have listened to that even more because I'm learning about nutrition as an adult.

"Again, Disney Channel, really on the curve of things and trying their best to shine a light on something without it being a wagging of the finger. I like to call it a spoonful of sugar, you know, although sugar's bad for you, so I should probably change that. But I won't, because I love Mary Poppins. Nutrition is hard nowadays, but I think Raven Baxter said it best. You just gotta stand up for what you believe is right, and if you can't change a whole corporation, you can change yourself."

"Don't Have a Cow"

Raven and Chelsea perform a wishing spell for Halloween and accidentally turn themselves into cows.

"It's so much fun being able to morph into many things and to use my facial expressions to make a character come to life. Working with Anneliese van der Pol on that episode was so much fun. It's really cool to be able to have that on my résumé, like, 'What have you done?' Well, I've been a cow.'

"I loved that episode. I see people dress up as Raven Baxter for their Tik Toks, which is another kind of crazy thing. I'm amazed, honestly. It's weird to look back and you see these people dressing up like you when at that time you were just, you know, doing what was cool. I didn't really think of it as a character. I was playing a bigger version of myself and, I'll say, a lot bigger version of myself. I see a lot of Cheetah Girls, I see a lot of Raven Baxters and it brings me joy."

"Boyz N' Commotion"

Raven attempts to get the hottest new band Boyz N' Motion (one of whom was played by Veronica Mars star Ryan Hansen) to perform at her school.

"Some of the Boyz were real friends of mine and we would chill outside of work. I still remember some of the moves, it's still in my body, which is so weird. And to know that there have been so many people on our show to graduate to such extraordinary careers is also humbling as well."

"That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana"

In the epic That's So Raven/Suite Life of Zack and Cody/Hannah Montana crossover episode, Raven visits the Tipton Hotel and designs an original dress for London (Brenda Song).

"The biggest memory I have is that That's So Raven filmed on a stage that was connected to the stage of Suite Life of Zack and Cody. So we shared hallways. So when they told us that we were doing a joint episode, before they told me who it was with, I'm like, 'I don't wanna move stages, I don't wanna move outta my room. I'm super comfy, it smells like me.' And then I was like, 'Oh, we're running next door? Cool. Never mind.' So that was awesome. And to be able to work with Brenda Song, absolutely lovely, love that girl. Ashley Tisdale and I actually used to model together back in New York. Good luck finding those pictures."

"Dylan, Cole, Miley, and everyone, it was a really cool, interesting set 'cause we were all like, 'What you doing? What you doing? What you doing?' And to bring all of that energy together, I think, is one of the reasons why it did so well. Because we all wanted to showcase how much we loved our own show and how much we loved the channel that we were working on. So all of our magical powers came together."

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