day 3.40

goodbye, hannah!

i give to you the final episode of hannah montana.

day 2.52

montana says sayonara to disney

hannah montana is officially over. well, technically. the fourth, and final, season is set to enter production this month, ending lensing sometime this summer when. while the third season hasn't even finished airing, disney stockpiles episodes out of convenience and to keep the look of their series as consistent as possible - they want the kids to look and stay young. this 4 year run is quite the feat for disney and may make hannah montana the longest running show in the network's history. before that's so raven, all disney series were limited to 65 episodes - which in the normal tv world is the equivalent to 3 seasons. while hannah is sure to stay on the net through 2012, both through new episodes and reruns, miley cyrus is officially done with the series. the final season will focus on character miley stewart getting older and trying to figure out if she can really be hannah forever or if she'll just have to be herself. um, isn't that the plot of the entire series? the show's final season will reportedly also include miley and co moving out of their plush malibu pad, but no word on where they're going. let's hope miley sticks with the mouse house (and they're many production imprints) as to avoid the less-than-stellar careers of the disney stars before her, like hilary duff and raven symone. the star already has the last song and the wings series - a fantasy about fairies based on the book of the same name- lined up for disney, so i'm pretty sure she's on the right path.

just in time for the demise of hannah montana, disney has released the first trailer for their the series' replacement, good luck charlie. the series stars two disney vets - cory in the house's jason dolley and wizards of waverly place's bridget mendler. the series looks network sitcom worthy, a bit of a departure for the net. as the traditional sitcom dies off on network television, the writers and creators of past mainstream hits are turning to children's networks where the format is still favored. hence, the shows become more sophisticated and adult-friendly. check out the trailer for the series above. i don't think the show will do anywhere near the success of hannah montana, but it's sure to be more popular than recent additions to the disney lineup like jonas. maybe i'm finally becoming too old for the disney channel, because i'm less and less interested in what they're offering to the public. this show looks promising, but the fact that the sprouse twins haven't aged in about 5 years creeps me out.

day 224

miley is the new whitney

well at least in the eyes of the movie business. the disney darling is becoming quite that movie star, with the hannah montana movie under her belt and filming of her next big project, the last song, already underway. next up? personal security, a reworked version of the whitney houston star-maker the bodyguard. the new flick, which will pair cyrus with hugh jackman, would follow the exploits of a new york cop (jackman) who is forced to protect a spoiled heiress (cyrus) when death threats start to pour in. the movie probably wouldn't start production until next year, but cyrus and jackman have already started discussions with movie execs and were spotted dining together earlier this summer.

and...

one of my favorite songs this summer, "good girls go bad," by cobra starship and leighton meester has finally been joined by a music video. check it out below.

Cobra Starship - New Music - More Music Videos

day 146

hannah montana = easter gold

there's no question that disney isn't going to let go of hannah montana and miley cyrus anytime soon.  the double life themed series turned movie turned into a box office rock star this weekend, raking in $34 million dollars.  that's the biggest easter weekend number since 2006's scary movie 4, making it the second biggest easter weekend opening ever (scary movie 4 took in $40.2 mil). and that's not the only record the film made; it's friday take ($17.3 million) was the biggest friday opening for a g-rated movie for all time. not too shabby, right? the movie "over-performed," taking in $14 million more than projected - disney was hoping for $20 million at the most! along with fast and furious and mosters versus aliens (which were second and third respectively), miley is helping the movies rebound in the economic slump.  sales are up 13.4% from last year and attendance up 12%.  if the movie holds up, hannah montana could do what high school musical 3 couldn't and become one of the biggest movies of the year...or all time. plus, i wouldn't be surprised if miley's song, "the climb," was nominated for an oscar.  hey, scarier things have happened. 

why?

why can't heidi montag make a legitimate music video? why? god knows she and spencer have made enough money to invest in at least one.  above is a preview of the video of heidi's latest single, "look how i'm doin."  the sadder part is that heidi isn't even signed to a label - she releases all the music on her own. someone, somewhere must be willing to offer her a contract, right? just as long as spencer stops filming her/making all the music choices, i'll be happy. 

day 73

bigger view for elisabeth hasselbeck 

former survivor contestant and current panelist on the view, elisabeth hasselbeck, is pregnant with her third child in a little over 3 years.  the conservative chatter has been married to football star tim hasselbeck since 2002, shortly after her tv stardom took off with her hosting gig on style network's the look for less, and welcomed daughter grace in april of 2005, about 2 years after she replaced lisa ling as the "young voice" on the lady-themed chat fest.  and, two years later, the twosome welcomed son taylor thomas, now 15 months.  with the arrival of the newest hasselbeck scheduled for august, hasselbeck will have 3 kids under 5.  she's bound to have fun with that.  the only question i have is whether or not it's practical to be raising 3 young kids in nyc?  it's so expensive to live their alone, let alone with a family of 5.  hasselbeck is not currently signed to any team, so the family really doesn't have any ties other than elisabeth's tv gig.  the next question will be whether or not she returns after the third birth.  tim is currenty a traveling sports announcer for espn, so his schedule is probably pretty flexible and the two probably have a fortune in the multimillions from their careers. and, with tensions always on the rise at the view (and usually surrounding hasselbeck), i wouldn't be surprised if she was replaced  by next season.  

hannah montana, a rip off?

when something hits big, everyone wants a piece of it.  richard fronduto has filed a lawsuit against disney, claiming that he created the concept for the tween hit that has made the house of mouse millions.  fronduto claims he wrote a script in 1990 called the secret life of sindi, which the network ordered a 2 hour pilot of under the name the family business.  the show focused on a 13/14 year old middle class girl who lives the "secret life" of a rock star.  now, it seems hard for me to believe that disney would delve into the records of nearly 20 years ago to create new programming, as most of the people at the channel probably weren't even affiliated with the company at the time.  and, the show was created outside of disney (as far as i know) and sold to them from the creators of that's so raven.  chances are slim to none that fronduto will get his demands, including a "created by" credit on the title sequence, as this is the second attempt at getting credit for the series.  in 2007, tv writer buddy sheffield sued the show for the same reasons, saying he pitched rock and roland, a show about a kid who lived a double rock-star life (sound familiar?), to disney in 2001. since disney didn't show him the money - and his claim was less than 10 year ago - why would a 20 year old concept get the credit?

j hud, back to the hollyhood

jennifer hudson has finally taken the big step in getting back in the swing of things after her family's tragedy late last year.  hudson's video shoot - which was originally scheduled for production around the time of the murders last year and was postponed twice after the ordeal - kicked off yesterday in los angeles.  the song is hudson's next single, "if this isn't love," and will premiere february 9th, the day after hudson attends the grammy awards - where she is nominated for 4 trophies, including best female r&b performance and best r&b album.  before that, hudson kicks off her return to the spotlight on sunday, where she'll sing the national anthem at the super bowl, and a performance at february 6th's  musicares person of the year gala.