Disney Show Tries Grown-Up Themes
BURBANK, California — Grandma is mad. Her grown daughter, Bex, who got pregnant as a teenager, just returned to town and let a big secret slip. Grandma had raised 13-yearold Andi to believe that Bex was her older sister. Well, the truth is more complicated.
Meanwhile, Andi’s school life is only a little less unsettling. A boy is coming to terms with his sexuality. And Andi has her own budding love life to consider.
Hang on to your mouse ears: Disney Channel — land of safe, sweet family comedies — is exploring this charged terrain with “Andi Mack,” a comedic drama aimed at children 6 to 14 and their parents.
While it is just one show, it represents a startling new direction for the network, whose ratings are declining as children, reaching puberty earlier and raised on Netflix, gravitate to live-action programming with more edge and authenticity.
“I know I can’t go to the hugely dramatic space,” said Gary Marsh, head of Disney Channels Worldwide. “Where can I go that would elevate the content and get people talking about us in a way that is different from the way they talk about us normally?”
Whether “Andi Mack” connects with viewers when it makes its premiere on April 7 is anyone’s guess. ( Disney Channel has released the first two episodes on its digital platforms.) But Mr. Marsh’s willingness to even take the risk is revealing: As storytelling tastes change and viewing habits shift, the predictable formulas are no longer enough.
The internet has created more curious and progressive kids. That has led to what the industry calls “age compression” — getting older younger. At the same time, Netflix in many ways has become the go-to outlet for families. YouTube has also had an enormous impact.
“Andi Mack” got its start in 2015, when Mr. Marsh asked a television writer named Terri Minsky to have breakfast. In 2001, Ms. Minsky helped a then- struggling Disney Channel find its voice by creating the hit show “Lizzie McGuire.” The network began pumping out comedies in its polished likeness, to enormous success.
ABC Family, a Disney- owned channel aimed at viewers 18 to 34, was radically rebranded as Freeform in 2015. Ratings have dropped sharply since.
Emboldened by Mr. Marsh’s entreaty of “looking to do something different,” Ms. Minsky — whose other credits include HBO’s “Sex and the City” — pitched an idea she got while reading an article about Jack Nicholson’s life; the woman he thought was his sister (until he was nearly 40) was his mother. To Ms. Minsky’s shock, Mr. Marsh liked the concept. It was a self- discovery story that, in success, could appeal to both children and their parents.
For the crucial lead role, Ms. Minsky cast the newcomer Peyton Elizabeth Lee. Aside from Ms. Lee’s presence on camera, Ms. Minsky liked that the young actress did not look as if she had fallen off a child-star assembly line: Ms. Lee, who is of mixed ethnicity, has short hair and a crooked grin. “Disney was, like, ‘Should we grow her hair out?’ And I was, like, ‘No!’ ” Ms. Minsky recalled.
“Andi Mack” stands out for more than its subject matter. Scenes were shot outside. Sets were built to look like the real world. Story lines play out over a full season. The characters, not the situation, are meant to be compelling.
Mr. Marsh emphasized that “Andi Mack” was written in a “relatable, respectful and age- appropriate way.” The advisers emphasized “taking responsibility for choices” and “the enormous responsibilities of a parent or guardian,” a Disney Channel spokeswoman wrote in an email.
Sitting in his office, Mr. Marsh mused about breakthrough shows for adults like “Orange Is the New Black” on Netflix and “The Walking Dead.”
“There has to be an equivalent in our space,” he said. “Stories that matter, that deal with more complex issues, that are emotional, resonate longer. They stick to your guts.”