Hannah Montana is an
American Emmy Award-nominated[1] children's television series, which debuted on
March 24,
2006 on
Disney Channel. The series focuses on a girl who lives a
double life as an average teenage school girl named
Miley Stewart (played by
Miley Cyrus) and a famous pop singer named
Hannah Montana at night, concealing her real identity from the public, other than her close friends and family.
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Production
Michael Poryes, who is credited as co-creator, also co-created the hit
Disney Channel Original Series That's So Raven. The show is produced by
It's a Laugh Productions, Inc., in association with Disney. It is filmed at Tribune Studios in Hollywood, CA. The series premiere scored record ratings for
Disney Channel: 5.4 million viewers, a response "beyond our wildest expectations," according to the president of Disney Channel Entertainment.
[2]The original idea for this show was based on the
That's So Raven episode "Goin' Hollywood", which was supposed to be the
pilot episode for a sitcom called
Better Days, in which a child star of a popular TV show of the same name was to try her hand at going to a normal school. The episode "
New Kid in School" has the basic premise as that aforementioned episode. Other names considered for the title were
The Secret Life of Zoe Stewart (discarded as too similar to
Zoey 101 on
Nickelodeon),
The Popstar Life!, and
Alexis Texas. Former
American Juniors finalist
Jordan McCoy and pop and R&B singer
JoJo (who rejected the role)
[3] were considered for the role of Zoe Stewart. Miley Cyrus originally auditioned for the role of the "best friend"
[4] Lilly Romero, later changed to Lilly Truscott, but they thought she would be better for the
main character, so she tried out for Zoe Stewart/Hannah Montana. Zoe Stewart was later changed to Chloe Stewart, which was eventually changed to Miley when she got the part. The names of Hannah Montana were changed a few times. Three of the previous names were Anna Cabana, Samantha York, and Alexis Texas.
In December 2006, Disney announced plans to release Hannah Montana products, including: clothing, jewelery, apparel, and dolls, at select stores.
[5] Play Along Toys released the Hannah Montana fashion dolls, singing dolls and Miley Stewart doll, and other merchandise in August 2007. More Hannah dolls were released in November, along with Oliver and Lilly dolls. They became one of the most popular Christmas toys in 2007.
[6] Hannah Montana is signed for at least one more season according to
Disney Channel. Filming for the second season started in December. The new season started in April, 2007, in which she is in high school.
[7]As stated by
Jason Earles at the launch of the
High