disneychannel

The Disney Channel has ordered six additional episodes for the third season of their ridiculously successful series Hannah Montana. The series stars teen icon Miley Cyrus in an effort to maximize her exposure before she is sacrificed for the harvest.

This brings the number of total episodes of the season to 30. When does any show get thirty episodes per season? The number I've always understood to be the maximum is 24 (and that's only for a series that is actually called 24). My guess is they're trying to wring as much they can from Miley before she goes to her inevitable solo career. Perhaps Disney should just create a new character for the franchise: Miley Mouse.

As a side note, Disney has also ordered more episodes of The Suite Life on Deck, a series I've never heard of but I'm sure parents of very young children will be sick of before too long.

It was the first theatrical release of the franchise. The first two were direct-to-television movies on the Disney Channel. However, High School Musical 3 stomped the competition with a $42 million opening and the number one spot for this past weekend.

Given the amount of merchandising and publicity the entire franchise has (walk into any Toys R Us to see it), this outcome is really no surprise. It's a wonder the second movie wasn't released directly to the theater rather than the Disney Channel.

I was once forced to watch the first movie and found it to be this generation's version of Grease. I understand the franchise for what it is: a saccharine, watered-down, feel-good musical for kids that have the depth of a potato chip using the same sort of music sung by Britney and her pop kin. I just don't get the appeal. But then, I'm not the target demographic.

But even if this particular franchise ends, the market for Disney kid's movie musicals will sadly drive onwards. Two words: Camp Rock.

I have a tween-aged girl in the household, so we watch a fair amount of Disney Channel. I'll come clean and even announce that Miley Cyrus, The Cheetah Girls, and Demi Lovato share iPod space with AC/DC, Jeff Beck, and Aerosmith. Hey, those Disney Channel tunes are catchy, and they're easy to dance, I mean, walk to. I draw the line at the Jonas Brothers, though.

But about 10 minutes into the new Cheetah Girls: One World movie the other night, my daughter looked at me and said, "I was really hoping these Cheetah Girls movies would get better." Yeah, me, too.

I actually liked the first two movies, in 2003 and 2006, respectively. The second, directed by High School Musical alum Kenny Ortega, was a downright cute tale about the Girls' escapades in Spain.

What should come as no surprise to anybody: Disney is now hard at work to the sequel of its High School Musical trilogy follow-up, Camp Rock. The Disney Channel is hoping to broadcast the sequel in spring or summer of 2009.

The first Camp Rock debuted to 8.9 million viewers on Friday night, the second highest viewership ever for the network (but still far below the 17.2 million they got for High School Musical 2).

Give Justine Bateman credit: She could have been typecast after playing the dippy, fashion-obsessed Mallory Keaton on Family Ties, but she's been able to build a nice career for herself over the last twenty years by playing interesting supporting roles in movies like The TV Set and series like Desperate Housewives. But she's also been -- just like 75% of the people in Hollywood -- an aspiring writer, struggling to get her scripts produced (and you think having connections helps ... she knows Michael J. Fox and her brother is Jason Bateman, and she still couldn't get her scripts produced).

But now she can add "sitcom writer" to her credits; she just wrote an episode of The Disney Channel's hit Wizards of Waverly Place, according to the New York Daily News. Apparently, she's a friend of executive producer Peter Murrieta, and she got to know some of the show's writers during the writers' strike. So, when the strike ended, she was invited to write an episode for the show.

Give credit to the House of Mouse: they really know how to use their media empire to the fullest when it comes to premiere events. Especially if it is a made-for-TV movie featuring the popular (but not Hannah Montana popular) Jonas Brothers. That's why Camp Rock, the newest musical movie from Disney, is premiering on not one channel, not two channels, but four media outlets in four days.

The festivities begin on June 20th. That's when the malls will be empty as millions of tween and teen girls flock to their high-definition televisions to watch Camp Rock on Disney Channel. The next day, the movie moves over to ABC, making it the first made-for-TV Disney Channel movie to premiere on the company's parent network. The day after that, June 22nd, Camp Rock will make its way over to ABC Family, where it will be a bit more family-friendly than some of the shows and movies that air on the cable network right now. Finally, on Monday, June 23rd, the movie will premiere on Disney.com in beautiful DXD.

Controversy continues to swirl around the Disney Channel's once-squeaky-clean Hannah Montana series. Now Kathy Griffin is telling Entertainment Weekly she was fired from the series for comments she made at last year's Creative Arts Emmys.

I dunno. Does "Suck it, Jesus! This award is my god now!" seem all that bad? That's probably one of the classier things the D-List comedian has ever said.

But Griffin didn't go quietly into the night, opting instead to fire off a few shots at the show's star, Miley Cyrus, whose racy Vanity Fair photos are making the water cooler rounds this week. "[She] has been flashing her green bra and posing topless," said Griffin. "I was basically told, 'Disney doesn't want you anywhere near the building.'"

Miley Cyrus is doing mea culpas all over the news about the racy photo shoot in Vanity Fair, basically saying she's embarrassed, but blaming Annie Leibovitz for the pictures. Umm, Miley, you were there. You could have said, "Oh, no, I won't do photos like that cause I'm a Disney girl and Hannah Montana can't do that, get it?" Whatever. Her story is getting press, but it's another Disney Channel star, Brenda Song, who's filed a lawsuit. She really has a reason to gripe.

Brenda Song, who co-stars on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody as London Tipton -- sort of a Blair Warner for today's teens (and if you don't know Blair Warner, you never watched The Facts of Life), has filed a lawsuit with a company that used her image in an escort service print ad that appeared in L.A. Weekly.

May I please have the attention of all of those parents who have taken out a second mortgage from purchasing anything and everything related to the Disney supermega-hit Hannah Montana. Are you all reading this? Good. I am letting you know beforehand that you will probably need to take a third mortgage out because the supermega-hot Jonas Brothers are coming to the Disney Channel in a regular series.

Uh, could we get some cold towels and smelling salts out there for the parents, please? Thank you.

The Jonas Brothers ... Jamie-Lynn Spears ... Miley Cyrus ... find out where they rank on our list.

Once upon a time, it was possible for a TV child star to get by on an impish smile and cute catchphrase.

Today's crop of kiddie performers don't have it so easy; they need to be double or triple threats who not only head up their own shows and/or TV movies, but sing, dance, star on the big screen, sell out concerts and launch clothing lines (despite some occasional personal missteps).

Here we count down the 20 hottest faves of the teen and tween pack.

The Muppet News Flash, always a great place for Muppet scuttlebutt, has written that The Disney Channel will be introducing a series of interstitials featuring the Muppets as well as characters from various Disney Channel programs. The goal, apparently, is to introduce the Muppets to the next generation.

Muppet News Flash also mentions a possible new Muppet movie and Muppet Web series, but nothing has been announced to the public yet. I'm just happy to see more Muppet stuff being developed, no matter what the medium.

Speaking of Muppet projects, I haven't heard much about Tinseltown since Jim Henson began shopping the series around back in November. The series centered on two gay puppets (a bull and a pig) who adopt a human child. I loved the concept, but I fear it may have disappeared into the ether. Bummer.

TV Squad commenter khalidur asks the following question:

I remember when I was 10 or something I used to watch a cartoon on Disney Channel UK, called Teacher's Pet. Now that I am 16 and enjoying a long, long, long, summer holiday I am hoping to watch old episodes. Is a DVD of the episodes out, and do you guys have any info on the show generally?

To answer the second part of the question, Teacher's Pet premiered in the United States back in 2000 on ABC, and moved over to Toon Disney in 2001. The run of first-run episodes ended in 2002. It was the story of a dog named Spot, voiced by Nathan Lane, who decided that he was tired of staying at home while his master, Leonard, went to school. So, he decides to dress up and portray himself as Scott, a run-of-the-mill elementary school student. Of course, it helped that he could walk on two feet and talk as well. I'm sure if your pet golden retriever dressed up and walked into your school on two legs you would've been a bit freaked out.

Our pal Jay over at Blogging Baby had the opportunity to interview Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley, creators of the Disney Channel's Kim Possible. The girl secret agent cartoon is a big hit in Jay's house--especially with his 9-year-old daughter, Neve. Click on over to learn why McCorkle and Schooley started the series in the first place, what they're going to do with Season 4, and about their own childrens' viewing habits (it is Blogging Baby, after all, they've got to get the parent angle in there!).