‘The Suite Life of Zack & Cody’ aired from March 18, 2005, to September 1, 2008, and revolved around the adventures of the twins Zack and Cody Martin, played by Dylan and Cole Sprouse, at the Tipton Hotel in Boston. Yet, few know the behind-the-scenes details about Dylan, along with his twin brother Cole, felt the need to conclude the show.
In a video from 2013, Dylan shed light on their reasons for wanting to conclude the show. For Dylan and Cole, the desire to end ‘The Suite Life of Zack & Cody’ came from two main reasons. First, they believed that the earlier series represented the best days of the show. As reported by Digital Spy, Dylan remarked:
“My brother and I actually quit the Disney show because it had been six years, and we thought the glory days of the show were definitely in the younger series. Â And we stopped it then.”
The second reason was related to the duo’s vision for the future of the show. They presented an idea to Disney in which Zack and Cody would return to the Tipton Hotel for the final season, befriend a child there, and then move on to college and work in a used car dealership. They hoped this concept would pave the way for a new spinoff series.
The Sprouse twins were also keen on having producer credits for this final season. As Dylan said, their goal was twofold:
“The reason we wanted to do that too – it would also set up all the cast and crew we’ve worked with for six years, so they would not lose their jobs because of our decision to go to college in real life. They could continue to work, and we’d also be making money off the producership.”
Despite their longstanding relationship with Disney, the Sprouse brothers’ proposal was declined. Dylan commented on the matter, sharing that they felt Disney didn’t trust them with the project despite their years of experience with the channel:
“At the time, we were like, ‘We don’t want to do that.’ Previously, when we had pitched our idea, it was kind of this situation where they had almost laughed in our faces and pushed us out the door, and it was really disrespectful, so we were like, ‘We’ll hear them out, but only so far as we want.'”
In a subsequent meeting, Disney put forward a concept similar to the Sprouse twins’ pitch but set it in Miami and introduced Selena Gomez’s character. This proposal did not sit well with Dylan and Cole, who were told they wouldn’t get production credits either:
“And Cole and I turned to each other, and we basically laughed in their faces and walked out, and that was the last meeting we had with Disney.”
‘The Suite Life of Zack & Cody’ had an impressive track record. Created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan, the show was the third Disney Channel Original to surpass 65 episodes, following in the footsteps of ‘That’s So Raven’ and ‘Kim Possible.’ The series also received three Emmy Award nominations and was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award three times.
Given the show’s popularity, it’s no surprise that ‘The Suite Life’ birthed a sequel, ‘The Suite Life on Deck,‘ which ran from 2008 to 2011. Moreover, fans were treated to ‘The Suite Life Movie‘ on March 25, 2011, bringing together elements from both the original series and its sequel.