Top 10 Best The Proud Family Episodes

As every adult knows, having a credit card can be a dangerous thing; it can burn a hole in your pocket and leave you in a mountain of debt. However, when we’re talking about a credit card with your mother or father’s name on it, things tend to work out a bit differently. Penny is given a card strictly for emergencies, and for a while, resists the urge to use it - that is, until it starts talking to her with the voice of Steve Harvey! Unable to resist its lure, Penny has to learn the hard way what it means to be financially responsible.

“Romeo and Juliet” might be just about the most cliche production a high school can put on, but for Penny it ties in quite nicely to the problems she’s having with her Romeo, Kwok. Due to family traditions, Kwok is engaged to be married to a girl his parents have chosen for him. Struggling to consolidate this knowledge with her feelings for Kwok, Penny almost ruins the play, only for her mother, the true star of the episode, to come through and save the day. With its trademark wit and manner of tackling issues in unexpected ways, this episode is quintessential “The Proud Family”.

Penny and her friends enter and win a dance competition as the group “LPDZ”. Instead of focusing on the group’s dance talent, all anyone can talk about is their outfits, with their parents banning them from wearing them again. Ignoring the rules in favor of being seen as cool, LPDZ go to a high school party that they’re invited to on the condition that they wear those outfits. With a very gentle nod to the sexualisation of young girls, “The Proud Family” gives us both an enjoyable episode and a thoughtful one, as the girls figure out what is and isn’t worth doing for fifteen minutes of fame.

While the central narrative of most episodes focuses on Penny, her friends and their exploits, every now and then another member of the Proud family really gets to shine. “Seven Days of Kwanzaa” is one such episode. Oscar, pushed into doing something nice for a homeless family, finds that he is forced to reassess the meaning of the Christmas holidays when he finds that not everyone celebrates Christmas, and that the holidays aren’t always about gift giving and material possessions. It’s a lesson in compassion that makes Oscar realise that there are more important things in the world than getting gifts like fancy watches - and one that we can all still learn from.

In this episode, a new group of bullies enters the scene, stealing money from Penny and her friends. When Sticky joins the Altos and helps them cheat in a competition, Penny and co. become understandably concerned about what’s happening to their friend. This episode teaches a lesson about being able to talk about your problems and your emotions, instead of resorting to acting out to deal with them. It’s also an important reminder that your support network can comprise of anyone - friends, family, even the parents of friends. Thankfully, when Sticky sees how much he means to everyone, he turns his back on his bullying group of new friends.

The Gross Sisters are the blue skinned trio of bullies who keep stealing lunch and money from Penny and her friends. Undeniably scary and intimidating though they might be, that doesn’t mean that they don’t experience the same insecurities as everyone else. When Olei, the muscle of the trio, is given a makeover by Penny at the insistence of her sister Nubia, the power dynamics in the group shift. It’s a cute take on what it means to fit in at school, and an important lesson about changing yourself to meet the expectations of other people. It also reminds viewers that you can’t always change people, but that a little kindness does go a long way.

When Sugar Mama’s sister, Spice, turns up at the Proud family home, things between the two become fraught with tension. With her sister there, Sugar Mama has to acknowledge that she was overlooked as a child because of Spice’s special powers and that she treats her own children the same way her parents treated her and her sister. While Spice’s charisma shines through, Sugar Mama is angry and bitter and it’s up to her to make her family realise that her sister is nothing but a fraud; Spice preys on the insecurities of children and adults alike to help her business grow. And that’s why you don’t mess with Sugar Mama. Whoever said family was simple?

In typical teenage fashion, Penny has more than a few things to complain about when it comes to her parents’ rules. In this episode, it’s all about the fact that her parents have not let her throw a house party. So when she finally convinces them, she goes all out, only to face disappointment when no one turns up.It turns out that LaCienega has convinced people that Jennifer Lopez will be making an appearance at her party, and so Penny is forced to accept that her own party is a flop. Though she’s understandably disappointed, with a little help from Lou Rawls, Penny learns from the experience.

Sports teams are an important part of any school, and at Willy T. Ribbs Middle School, the boys flock to football as a way to show off their masculinity. When Penny decides she wants to play football alongside the boys, everyone is surprised, and more than a few people are discouraging - others are outright hostile. Since the school has no girls football team, it’s decreed that Penny can play with the boys, only to find that the coach never puts her on the field. Struggling against the pervasive gender prejudice, Penny has to prove beyond a doubt that girls are just as capable as boys on any field of play.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions:

“Suga Mama's Believers”

“A Hero for Halloween”

“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

“Thelma and Luis”

“Forbidden Date”

Black History Month is a crucial part of any American high school education, but that doesn’t make Penny and her friends any more enthusiastic about the assignments they’re given. Penny is particularly vocal about her disinterest in the past, but when she gets sent back in to 1955, she learns firsthand the ugliness of prejudice and racial division. Bringing together the importance of the accomplishments of African American people throughout history with the everyday lives of her friends, Penny comes to understand that history is not something separate from yourself, but something you are an active participant in.