Created by Emmy(R) Award-nominated writer, showrunner, and executive producer Mark Reisman (“The Exes,” “Frasier“), season three of Disney Channel’s popular daughter/father comedy “Sydney to the Max” continues to deliver its boldest season yet with a new episode exploring the social impact of microaggressions, premiering Friday, June 11 (8:25PM EDT/PDT), on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW. The episode, entitled “Do the Write Thing,” was written by Patrice Asuncion and Nick Rossitto and directed by multitalented Raven-Symoné (“Raven’s Home“).
In “Do the Write Thing,” Sydney suspects her teacher, Ms. Anderson, has assigned everyone in her class historical figures to write about based on their race. When Sydney talks to her classmates, they confirm her suspicions and explain how uncomfortable they felt when they received their assignments. The students agree it’s time to stand up for themselves and elect Sydney as their spokesperson to talk to their teacher. In the ’90s, Vice Principal Virmani arranges for a local reporter to interview Leo about his work as founder and president of the school’s computer club, the same club he encouraged his buddy Max and his cousin Alisha to join. Leo provides a great interview and highlights of his work and is excited until the story runs, incorrectly featuring a picture of Max with the title of club president.
“The goal of this season was to tell stories that reflect what’s going on in our society and to bring to light issues that are overlooked and affect diverse groups of people,” said Reisman. “There was a lot of passion for this story from the writers because of their personal experiences with the subject. We wanted to both explain what microaggressions are to our young viewers who don’t know and to validate the feelings of those who have experienced them.”
Geared for Kids 6-11 and their families, both stories impart invaluable lessons on identity-based microaggressions, their impact, and the importance of people feeling a sense of belonging while also illustrating the power of standing up for yourself.
The series stars Ruth Righi as Ruth Reynolds, Ian Reed Kesler as Max, Caroline Rhea as Judy Reynolds (in both decades), Ava Kolker as Sydney’s best friend Olive, Jackson Dollinger as young Max, and Christian J. Simon as young Max’s best friend, Leo.
Returning guest stars include Cassidey Fralin as young Alisha and Julia Garcia as Emmy. Additional guest stars include Rizwan Manji as Vice-Principal Virmani, Arjun Sriram as Pete, Paul-Mikél Williams as Ned, Jama Williamson as Ms. Anderson, Grace Lu as Roxanne, Cali Dicapo as Callie, and Josh Duvendeck as Mr. Ames.
“Sydney to the Max” is a production of It’s A Laugh Productions, Inc. It carries a TV-G parental guideline.
