7 Raven Symoné movies and TV Shows you should see at least once

Raven Symoné is an American actress, singer, and director. Raven started her career as a child actress and rose to fame by playing the role of Olivia Kendall in The Cosby Show. Her breakout role happened in the Disney Channel series, That’s So Raven, where she played the lead role of Raven Baxter. She earned numerous awards for her role, including Kids’ Choice Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and others. She is also an Emmy-nominated actor and has appeared in movies like Dr. Dolittle, The Cheetah Girls, and more. She has also directed for shows like The Ms Pat Show, Pretty Freekin Scary, and others. Plus, Raven Symoné has sung in movies like The Cheetah Girls, That’s So Raven, and others, while also releasing her own albums. Here’s a look at her TV and film appearances.

The Cheetah Girls, The Cosby Show, and other movies and Tv shows featuring Raven Symoné

1. Raven’s Home

A spinoff of That’s So Raven, this sitcom series is created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman and is executively produced and starring Raven Symoné. Anneliese van der Pol, Isaac Ryan Brown, and others also feature in the show. The series aired from 2017 to 2023 and focuses on a now-adult Raven Baxter, who was previously married to Devon but is now divorced and is the mother of two preteen twins, Booker and Nia. The show revolves around Raven’s new adventures and exploits that she gets into as she lives with her childhood best friends Chelsea and her son Levi in Chicago. The show is a lighthearted sequel/spinoff of the original hit show, and Rave does a stellar job of portraying an adult version of her character, who is now more nuanced and mature but has the same energetic and chaotic spark in her. In the show, Raven and Chelsea are both divorced and single mothers living together with their kids, and they soon realize that Raven’s gift of psychic abilities has been inherited by her son Booker. The show is great at balancing familiar faces with younger talent, and each episode is full of hilarious exploits. Viewers who were fans of the original show and grew up watching it in childhood should definitely watch this show as well.

2. The Cheetah Girls

Still from the movie (Image via Disney Music)

Directed by Oz Scott and based on the book series of the same name by Deborah Gregory, this Disney Channel musical television movie features Raven Symoné, Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan, and Kiely Williams. The film is co-produced by Whitney Houston, and the movie was a smash hit with the viewers upon its release. Raven plays the role of Galleria “Bubbles” Garibaldi and is a part of a four-member teen girl group in Manhattan that forms the band in the titular name. The four members, named Galleria, Chanel, Dorinda, and Aqua, decide to become the first freshmen to win a talent show. However, they face a lot of challenges and internal conflicts on their road to success. Raven gives a spirited and dedicated performance as Galleria and sings well and delivers a headstrong performance. The movie was the first Disney Channel musical movie and spawned a sequel as well, which also starred Raven. The movie is upbeat and lighthearted with some touches of drama and is a childhood classic for many viewers. Fans of Raven should definitely watch this one, as it showcases the early days of the actress and is sure to take viewers on a nostalgia trip.

3. Revenge of the Bridesmaids

Still from the movie (Image via Amazon Prime Video)

Starring Raven Symoné, JoAnna Garcia, David Clayton Rogers, and others, this ABC Family Original movie is directed by Jim Hayman and written by David Kendall, Bob Young, Stephanie Phillips, and Mark Amato. The movie is about two friends, Abigail (Raven Symoné) and Parker (JoAnna), who come back to their hometown of Louisiana from New York City. However, when Parker’s parents are celebrating their wedding anniversary, the two friends get to know that another friend of theirs, Rachel, has lost her love, Tony, to their former friend, Caitlyn, who decides to have a fake pregnancy and trick Tony into marrying her so that she can use his money to keep her family estate. The two childhood friends decide to go undercover as Caitlyn’s bridesmaids and wreak havoc upon the wedding so that Tony does not marry Caitlyn. The movie was a hit with the viewers, and as usual, Raven delivers an energetic and terrific performance as the fierce friend who wants to save her friend’s love life. The actress even won at the Teen Film/TV Series International Awards, where she won in the Best Actress category. The film is a hilarious rollercoaster and is the perfect watch foror a laid-back viewing.

4. The Cosby Show

Still from the show (Image via Amazon Prime Video)

Created by Bill Cosby, Ed Weinberger, and Michael J. Leeson, this sitcom features Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Raven Symoné, Sabrina Le Beauf, and others. One of the most popular shows of the 1980s, the series aired from 1984 to 1992 for eight seasons and focused on an upper middle-class Black American family, which was living in Brooklyn, New York. The show revolved around the family, named Huxtables, and its various members, and the adventures and exploits that they got into in each episode. The series took inspiration from the stand-up comedy routines of Bill Cosby, and the show even had a spin-off called A Different World. The show was a major hit with the viewers and was one of the first few shows to have a huge ensemble cast of Black Americans. Bill Cosby played the role of the family patriarch, Cliff Huxtable, who is an obstetrician. While the show dealt with lighthearted themes and comedic plots, there were also some special episodes that focused on themes like teenage pregnancies and dyslexia. The series was even an international hit and became an integral part of 1980s pop culture. Raven got her first big break in the show and played the role of Olivia Kendall, who is the sweet and witty stepdaughter of Denise Huxtable. The actress was a young child actor at the time and appeared from 1989 to 1992. She thereafter becomes a part of the Huxtable family itself. Even as a young actress, Raven is able to emote powerfully and delivers an iconic performance. Fans of the actress should definitely watch her in her younger years, as she just started working on television.

5. That’s So Raven

Starring Raven Symoné, Orlando Brown, Anneliese van der Pol, and others, this fantasy teen sitcom is created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman and aired from 2003 to 2007. The show was the first series that featured Raven in the lead role, and it focused on her character, Raven Baxter, who is a high school teenager with psychic abilities. The episodes focused on how Raven could look into the future due to her random visions and would often get into hilarious adventures with her friends as she tried to stop something bad from happening. The show also focused on teenage issues like peer pressure, relationships, and family and how Raven navigated all of those. One of the hilarious aspects of the show is that Raven always misinterprets her visions and therefore gets into trouble. Her secret about her visions is only shared with her close friends Eddie and Chelsea, her brother Cory, and her parents Tanya and Victor. Raven Symoné delivers some of her best acting in the show and proves that she has the prowess of playing comedic roles. Her comedic timing is perfect, and as the show requires her to get into various disguises, she is able to perfectly take on the various characters in a funny manner. Fans of the actress know her from this show, and Raven proves why she is the queen of comedy with this one.

6. Black-ish

Created by Kenya Barris and starring Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Raven Symoné, and others, this sitcom aired from 2014 to 2022 and ran for eight seasons. The show is about an upper-class and well-off Black family that lives in a predominantly white suburban neighborhood. The show revolves around the patriarch of the family, Andre “Dre” Johnson (Anderson), who is a successful advertising executive and lives with his wife, Rainbow, who is an equally successful anesthesiologist. The couple has four children, who each have distinct personalities. They also feature Dre’s divorced parents, who keep getting into trouble because of their mischievous nature. Raven guest stars in many of the episodes of the show and plays the role of Dre’s sister, who is a lesbian. The show therefore tackles serious issues like LGBTQ+, racism, gender equality, and religion. One of the core tropes of the show is how Dre tries to stay true to his Black identity and tries to preach about the struggles that his brotherhood has had to go through. The show was a critical and commercial hit and even had two spin-offs called Grown-ish and Mixed-ish. Raven delivers a hilarious yet mature performance, even though she guest stars, and fans of the actress should definitely give this one a look.

7. The Cheetah Girls 2

Written by Jodiss Pierre and Bethesda Brown and directed by Kenny Ortega, this musical comedy movie is the second installment in The Cheetah Girls franchise. The movie stars Raven Symoné, Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan, and others. The movie was an instant hit with the viewers and was the last movie in the franchise to feature Raven Symoné. This time, the movie focuses on the next set of adventures in the life of the four-member band. All the girls, Galleria, Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda, decide to take a trip to Spain to achieve their dreams of singing stardom. The movie takes place two years after the events of the first movie, and all the girls are excited to participate in the Barcelona music festival. Raven once again gives a dedicated performance as Galleria and even shows more nuance as an actor in this movie. As one of the last movies in the film franchise featuring Raven, fans of the actress must watch her performance.