The Weird Life With Derek Controversy, Explained
The year was 2005. "That's So Raven" and "Kim Possible," some of the best Disney Channel shows of all time, were knocking it out of the park with their immense popularity and the House of Mouse wanted to keep things rolling by incorporating some Canadian programming into its wholesome, kid-friendly lineup.
Thus, "Life with Derek" entered the mainstream picture. From 2005-2009, for four seasons and 70 episodes, the teen comedy entertained viewers with typical family sitcom hijinks, with step-siblings Casey McDonald (Ashley Leggat) and Derek Venturi (Michael Seater) forced to co-exist under the same roof after their parents marry. Easier said than done, of course! For four years, "Life with Derek" captivated viewers with standard sitcom shenanigans that constantly befell the step siblings. Each episode was a raucous knee-slapper! After the series went off the air in 2009 all viewers could remember and think about was ... the incredibly awkward and palpable themes of incest that loomed every time Leggat and Seater appeared on screen together.
No, seriously. Go anywhere on the internet. Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, once you look up "Life with Derek," you'll suddenly be bombarded with incest theories. The subtext on the show is the only thing fans remember of the show. In fact, not only was it was so strong that it's still talked about to this day, it got to the point that even the show's stars are acknowledging it.
Several Life With Derek stars have talked about the show's subtext
When it comes to weird theories about Disney shows, the ones surrounding "Life with Derek" take the cake. Fifteen years after the series aired its last episode, and even after two spin-off TV movies, one that aired as recently as 2023, all viewers seem to remember from the franchise is the supposed sexual tension between Casey and Derek. (Actor Michael Seator didn't help things the way his character put a strange emphasis on the word "step" when talking about his stepsister.)
In January 2020, Legatt poked fun at the show's subtext with a tweet. "I love the yearly nostalgic Life with Derek trend that happens. BTW I still go down with this ship," she wrote, posting a picture of her and Seator, and going so far as to use the "Dasey" hashtag. In March 2024, Robbie Amell, who played Casey's love interest in the Disney series, got asked about the incest theories during a BuzzFeed interview. The "Code 8" star immediately howled with laughter. "That's not what it's actually about," the actor replied. "That's just what fans like to think it was about." Well, Robbie, the show still has not made its way to Disney+, which means that some Disney executives might be thinking the same thing as fans.
Overall, "Life with Derek" may not be hitting the rankings for funniest sitcom of all time, but at least it's giving fans (and its stars) the gift of memes. So, so many memes.