Hannah Montana (TV Show) (DVD)
Keeping It Real
"Hannah Montana" isn't quite as polarizing as Hillary Clinton, but she's close. Either people love her (and Miley Cyrus, the star who plays her) or they loathe her. I personally think that Cyrus is one of the most talented actresses currently in the Disney stable. I don't know if she can act one lick in a dramatic role, but as a comedian in the style of Lucille Ball? She's, well, a hoot. I don't know of too many teen divas that would willingly embarrass themselves by dressing in ugly disguises and taking pratfalls as much as Cyrus does. In case you've only heard about "Hannah Montana" but know as much about it as you do AIG, it's pretty simple, really. Cyrus is the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, the country singer best known for his mega-hit "Achy Breaky Heart." As Robbie Stewart, he plays the father and manager of his real-life daughter Miley, who lives a normal teen life (well, as normal as privileged teens living in Malibu can get) by day, but dons a blonde wig and turns into the rockin' Hannah Montana whenever record labels and concert tours beckon. Given the tendency toward broad humor, stupid parents, and smart-aleck kids on TV shows today, "Hannah Montana" emerges as one of the sweetest Disney shows currently airing. Maybe it's the daughter-father combination of Miley and Billy Ray, or maybe it's the way that reality imitated art, with the real Miley Cyrus suddenly playing Hannah Montana concerts all over the country and reaching a level of fame that her father never enjoyed. There's a poignant subtext that you can feel in each episode, with just enough real daughter and dad to make this show toe a narrower line than the rest of the Disney line-up. Back-talk is kept to a relative minimum, and teen Miley seems to listen to her TV/real dad more than most kids. The acting also isn't as consistently over-the-top as it is with other Disney sitcoms, and the "lessons" behind every episode are more wholesome as well. When the series first aired in 2006, Miley was an 8th grader. She's aged considerably, but probably not nearly as much as her father. Last year, parents did all sorts of crazy things to try to get their teens and tweens tickets to the hottest concert tour in America, a 56-city grind starring Miley/Hannah. The show's premise is simple. Miley lives with her musician father and brother Jackson, all of whom have just moved from Tennessee to Malibu. Miley's brother (Jason Earles) plays it the broadest, except when he has a tender moment with Sis. But when brother Jackson hangs out with friend Oliver (Mitchel Musso) and a snotty little kid named Rico (Moises Arias) who runs a beach concession stand for his father, things get just as over-the-top as any other series. Thankfully, those segments are offset by ones with Miley and her best friend Lilly (Emily Osment), who have as much chemistry together as Hilary Duff and Miranda Sanchez did on that the previous hot-ticket Disney diva sitcom, "Lizzie McGuire." Through no coincidence, the show was created by Terri Minsky, who wrote for "Lizzie McGuire" from 2001-04. But as much as "Lizzie" the model here is clearly "I Love Lucy," because Miley and Lilly could pass for a much younger Lucy and Ethel. They act the same, they get into the same sticky situations based on Miley's jealousy or errant schemes, and they shift gears from normal to exaggerated dialogue and expressions as quickly as a drag racer goes from 0 to 100. The show is at its best when Miley and Lilly get into Lucy and Ethel situations and they're able to display their comic chops in the context of a great, classic sitcom. By contrast, the show is at its absolute worst when the camera spends too much time on the gross, snotty, overplayed character of Rico, or when Jackson joins Rico as a member of the over-the-top gang. There's a little of both in these four episodes (five, counting a bonus episode that's also included). But would it have killed Disney to write down the names of the episodes somewhere? They're not on the back of the box, and they're not on any of the inserts this time. Here's a rundown on the four--make that five--episodes included on this DVD:

"The Test of My Love" (from Season 2). At a charity announcement of a new playground at the Malibu beach where the kids hang out, Miley has a love-at-first sight moment and sidles up alongside the young man. Making small talk, she trashes the obviously egomaniacal man who's making a speech about the playground that will bear his name, only to find out that the boy she likes is the man's son. Still, he asks her out later, and what Miley endures to try to have a relationship with him goes above and beyond the call of duty. The minute they find out she's from Tennessee and she slips in one of her countryisms, they make fun of her the rest of the evening. It all comes to a head when they call her bluff about living in England and want to meet her sophisticated father and brother. This one isn't as over-the-top as some, yet it gives both Cyruses the chance to have some fun with the issue of snobbery.
"Don't Stop Til You Get the Phone" (from Season 2). This is the funniest episode of the bunch, and a nice one for kids to watch. Despite her fame and fortune, Miley still tows the line (sort of) and Dad still has rules and limitations. He refuses to buy her the latest Z phone she wants, and like Lucy and Ethel, Miley and her friend learn a valuable lesson from a paparazzi photographer. You can get a lot of money for an embarrassing shot of a celebrity. Why not fake a shot of Hannah Montana, so she can buy her own Z phone? All seems well and the sale is made to a sleazy tabloid, until Lilly realizes that the new necklace Miley bought ("Miley") shows up in the photo and in effect reveals her true identity. What to do? As with the Lucy episodes, one misstep leads to another, and she makes a deal with the editor to provide an even more embarrassing photo of The Rock (who cameos) in order to get her photo back. What they do to The Rock (and what he allows them to do) is the stuff of hilarity."We're All on This Date Together" (from Season 2) features "High School Musical" star Corbin Bleu as a boy whom Miley had a crush on in school but who ignored her. Now she's Hannah and he's bidding on her at a date auction, unaware of her true identity. The problem is, snotty Rico is also bidding big on Hannah, and the auctioneer asks if Hannah would go on a double date with both bidders to double the amount of money for the charity. Since Johnny (Bleu) agrees, she has no choice. Naturally, the date turns out to be a disaster, partly because of a cold, partly because of Rico, and partly because Miley's way of handling things backfires. Some funny moments, despite the stupid antics of a rather insipid Rico character. "Yet Another Side of Me" (from Season 2) finds Miley worried that her Hannah persona and music isn't edgy enough, and taking the advice of others that she has to reinvent herself in order to maintain a freshness and audience. Trouble is, her reinvention as a hard-rocker is a 180 that doesn't sit well with Robbie, Jackson, or any of the people who hear her. Probably the weakest episode of this bunch. "Ready, Set, Don't Drive" (from Season 3) is the bonus episode. In it, Miley has been failing her driving exams, and has to wait to retake it. But of course she gets the bright idea to use her Hannah identity to retake the test early and pass (because she's Hannah Montana), only to have the plan backfire again, as her plans always do. "Hannah Montana" is pitched at teens and 'tweens, and the show really won't hold much appeal beyond that age group. But compared to the rest of the kid-oriented sitcoms on TV these days, it's well done, and that's enough to earn it a 7 in my book. I've watched a ton of episodes alongside my daughter, as I have other shows, and by comparison this one is pretty painless. Video:These episodes are presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio and have the same level of color saturation and graininess as on Disney Channel broadcasts. Audio:The audio is an English Dolby Digital 2.0, French and Spanish soundtracks and subtitles. For a two-speaker stereo mix it's a bright and lively one, with a strong but not thumping bass and mid-range sounds that drive the music. Extras: Aside from the "bonus episode," the only other bonus feature is a behind-the-scenes fluff piece on "Miley's Makover: Hannah Gets a New Look" from "The Other Side of Me." Not surprisingly, the Disney Channel short feature is aimed at the same target audience.Bottom Line:The episodes on this disc are from the second season, which was nominated for an Outstanding Children's Program Emmy. As teen/'tween sitcoms go, this one at least has heart, and some winning performances. Three out of five episodes are strong, with the other two not bad.