Austin & Ally

In my reviews of "Hannah Montana" and "Big Time Rush," I mentioned that notion that the programming executives of both the Disney Channel and their competitors at Nickelodeon were the only reason teen pop musicians still have a market. The rise of Justin Bieber from YouTube should make me eat those words, but I can't because Disney's still relying on this formula.

Austin Moon(Ross Lynch) is an extroverted fun-loving wanna-be teen pop musician, sort of a combination of Bieber and either David or Shawn Cassidy (I'm really showing my age with those references, aren't I?). His favorite hangout is a music store in the "Mall of Miami," called Sonic Boom run by a man named Lester Dawson(Andy Milder) and managed by his daughter Ally(Laura Marano), a brilliant but excessively shy songwriter with a severe case of stage fright. One day, Ally finds that Austin has become an overnight sensation by making a music video of one of the songs she wrote and posting it on the internet, and she wants his head on a platter. He realizes how good she is, and talks her into being his main songwriter, and the series takes off from there. Do they fall in love? Not necessarily, or knowing the track record with Disney shows, at least not yet. Be that as it may a lot of fans want it to happen, and are looking for signs of romance between the two of them everywhere. But the third episode seems to have established that their relationship is completely platonic. There doesn't even seem to be a hint of jealousy when the two of them seek other girlfriends and boyfriends, as you found with Kim Possible & Ron Stoppable.

Ally's best friend is Trish(Raini Rodriguez) a short Latino girl who can't hold down a job and is proud of it, yet somehow becomes Austin's manager. Austin's best friend is Dez(Calum Worthy), an aspiring film maker, who shoots Austin's music videos, including the one that made him famous.

Two songs make this show worthwhile. The first is "A Billion Hits," from the second episode "Kangaroos & Chaos," which has a killer hook and was written in response to some fear that Austin would quickly become a has-been who is mistaken for a kid in a dog food commercial. The other is the ninth episode "Deejays & Demos," where Austin overhears Ally working on a few bars of song called "You Don't See Me," which she writes just for herself, and is just as impressed by it as I was. I don't care if the song was written by some of the staff, or by Marano herself, I want to hear more of it. Plus, I'm convinced that the song made the Disney executives give the green light for a second season, and they're keeping a full-length version from the rest of us which they will release whenever they see fit. There are episodes that make shows more worthwhile, and while for "Less Than Perfect," "Sonny With a Chance," and "Victorious," it was the fourth episodes, in this case it was the ninth.

Something about the two protagonists reminds me of a classic 80's sitcom, albeit without the romance; You know, the one at a bar in Boston where everybody knows your name. Add some romance between the songwriter and the pop-star, and subtract Ally's frequent failed efforts to act cool, and you've got a contemporary teen-aged Diane Chambers right here on this show. And though Austin Moon is hardly the womanizer that Sam Malone was, he still likes having fun, a fact that he repeats often. The network has found it's heir apparent of Hannah Montana, and it's here rather than either "Shake It Up!," or "A.N.T. Farm," not that either of those two shows are necessarily repulsive in any way.

Disney's newest venture into the sitcom/music market is "Austin & Ally", a show about a teen songwriter (with extremely bad stage fright), and an aspiring musician (who needs help writing songs). What a perfect match. Although they don't always get along, Austin and Ally end up working together. Although I do believe the golden age of Disney Channel (High School Musical, Hannah, Jonas, Camp Rock, Wizards) is ending, I believe Austin & Ally gives the new DC some hope. The new DC shows now try to hard, such as shoving China McClain down our throats with her mediocre singles. Shake it Up, although decent, gets tiresome. And Jessie is boring, clearly showing us Disney did not strike lightening with Debby Ryan being the new "It Girl." However, I feel as if Austin & Ally can bring Disney in a new direction, while still staying true to their song and dance formula that has been working (has been, I repeat). Instead of trying so desperately to create the new Miley, DC can put a lot of promotion into Ross Lynch (Austin), much like their attention to the Jonas Brothers a few years ago. Nothing sells better than a heart throb, and Ross Lynch is likable, attractive, and can sell crowds of 6-12 year old girls. The writing is surprisingly good for a DC show, although it is still campy, cheesy, and over the top. The chemistry between Austin and Ally can also be much better, I feel as if the actors are not truly aware of their character yet. But these are early episodes, most kid shows progress over time (A.N.T. Farm, Victorious). Not every DC show is going to compare to HM and their will not be another star like Miley for years to come. Disney has to understand this, and move on to the next thing. Instead of trying to create little pop starlets, they should shift their direction on a guy and hopefully Austin & Ally makes progress in acting and writing.

I remember watching this show when it came out 10 years ago.

Being in my late teens, I can see why I used to love this show so much. Almost every episode has an interesting story line- with most ending in a catchy song.

There was always the thought of will-they/won't-they when it came to the 2 main characters Austin and Ally, but you always kinda knew that they would end up together in the end.

On a side note- the character "Dez" has to be my favourite character because he is played so well by the actor: Calum Worthy.

Every song in the show is catchy... and sometimes I even find myself listening to the music on spotify!

My rating stays 8/10.

Ally Dawson (Laura Marano) works the family music store Sonic Boom on Miami Beach. Her best friend Trish De la Rosa (Raini Rodriguez) can't hold down a job. Ally is also a shy songwriter. Austin Moon (Ross Lynch) takes one of her songs and becomes an overnight internet sensation. Dez (Calum Worthy) is his irreverent clueless friend. The four become best friends as they tackle the music world with Ally as the songwriter and Austin as the performer.

It's a wacky Disney kids show. It's completely harmless. It's lovable. It's silly. The four leads are a nice, lovable lot. Laura is adorable. Ross is equally adorable. Raini brings the spice. Calum is the tall, lanky clown. It's a fun show for the kids and a safe one for their parents.

I think Austin & Ally is super amazing for a Disney show. Its dialogues are hilarious. Each character is an individual. Austin is a performer and you can see that Ross Lynch feels good on the stage. He doesn't need to act, he feels the moves. A lot of people are pointing out, that he is playing hot guy that is not hot. His cheeky smile is adorable, I don't think he is meant to be hot. He is meant to be cute. Ally is adorable and dorky character that reminds me of Zooey Deschanel's character Jess from FOX's New Girl. Very adorkable. Austin and Ally's chemistry is beyond amazing. They remind me of Brennan and Booth on Bones or Castle and Beckett on Castle as teenagers. Trish and Dez are the funny duo, reminding me of Scooby Doo characters. Dez would pull a pretty good Shaggy. I find it much more enjoyable show then was Hannah Montana or Wizards of Waverly Place. Those ones were just boring, comparing to Austin & Ally.